3DO Files Chapter 11

[mikeetler]

In a way I'm surprised they lasted this long.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030528/sfw083_1.html

And it looks like they shut the doors as well.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/421/421216p1.html

[Raccoon Lad]

Let this be a lesson to all game developers; releasing basically the same game over and over and over and over and over and over again will lead to your ultimate downfall.

[Zaxxon]

Yay!!! LOL Maybe now stupid game magazine writers will stop coming to Trip Hawkins for his latest proclamation on the future of the game industry. :roll:

I hope David Perry joins Trip soon.

[zmeston]

In a way I'm surprised they lasted this long.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030528/sfw083_1.html

And it looks like they shut the doors as well.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/421/421216p1.html

3DO's pending demise was the industry's worst-kept secret for a long while, despite the IGN piece's claim that it was "shocking." I was amazed to see them at E3, until I realized it was a great venue to ship around its games in development.

Trip Hawkins is one of the most important figures in the early history of the videogame industry, and watching his company's drawn-out death was painful. Then again, 3DO shipped many awful games for the PS1 and PS2; maybe the company never had the budget to compete with larger developers, or maybe it just didn't have the proper talent.

So who from the industry's late '70s/early '80s genesis is still at the forefront of the biz, now that Hawkins is out? Miyamoto and...uh...

-- Z.

[zmeston]

Yay!!! LOL Maybe now stupid game magazine writers will stop coming to Trip Hawkins for his latest proclamation on the future of the game industry. :roll:

I hope David Perry joins Trip soon.

The reason Hawkins got a lot of press despite his company's low profile is because of his place in the videogame Pantheon. The man essentially birthed EA, the first billion-dollar game-software company, and the largest third-party publisher in the biz. Trip was there at the start of the game industry, and he's watched it evolve for the past 20 years, which imbues him with wisdom and insight far beyond any other videogame-company executive. Yes, his company produced a host of below-average and outright shitty games, but Trip is still a good egg (and a really nice guy in person).

-- Z.

[Ed Oscuro]

*starts laughing uncontrollably*

Out of respect for zmeston, though, I've heard comments about Trip Hawkins that run the gamut of emotions--"he's a bigmouth" to "he's alright." Since you're actually one who's met the guy, I'll assume that he's just the unfortunate recipient of too much attention.

I will say that people made too much of his predictions that 32-bit gaming was simply a stopover to other, more powerful systems--I still think he's ultimately correct on that one.

And I don't give a crap what anybody else says, the Army Men games had a neat concept--they just didn't have the sort of manpower or money necessary to make the franchise work out.

Well, good luck to those guys.

Now a company that I'd REALLY like to see go "Bye-Bye" is none other than Acclaim.

[scooterb23]

At some level, I feel vindicated.

A couple years ago, I bought High Heat Baseball 2001 for my PC, freaking loved it. The best PC baseball game I'd ever played.

A year or so later, I got a new computer with Windows XP on it.

High Heat Baseball wouldn't work on XP, not even in compatibility mode.

I went to 3DO's site to download the updated patch I assumed would be there.

No patch, just a line that said something to the effect of "WE ARE NOT GOING TO WRITE PATCHES FOR OUR OLDER SOFTWARE, GO BUY THE NEW VERSION IF YOU WANT TO PLAY THE GAME ON XP."

I haven't bought a new 3DO title since then.

I do get games for my old 3DO system from time to time, but as for the newer stuff, I won't touch it.

[zmeston]

*starts laughing uncontrollably*

Out of respect for zmeston, though, I've heard comments about Trip Hawkins that run the gamut of emotions--"he's a bigmouth" to "he's alright." Since you're actually one who's met the guy, I'll assume that he's just the unfortunate recipient of too much attention.

I will say that people made too much of his predictions that 32-bit gaming was simply a stopover to other, more powerful systems--I still think he's ultimately correct on that one.

And I don't give a crap what anybody else says, the Army Men games had a neat concept--they just didn't have the sort of manpower or money necessary to make the franchise work out.

Well, good luck to those guys.

Now a company that I'd REALLY like to see go "Bye-Bye" is none other than Acclaim.

Hey, don't give me any respect -- if I can get it from a stranger, I'll start expecting it from my friends and family! Heh.

Trip was an admitted media hog, as evidenced by his infamous appearance in a "50 Most Beautiful People" issue of People Magazine, but he did what he felt he had to do in order to draw attention to his company.

It's certainly possible that Trip has only been courteous to me on the occasions we've met because I'm a press weenie -- Lord knows that thick clouds of smoke are blown up my ass every day by "friendly" PR people -- but he seemed like a decent fellow. If your reaction is typical, though, I guess he's pissed away any and all gamer goodwill. What was the final straw for you -- Portal Runner or GoDai?

-- Z.

-- Z.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm basically new to games, but basically the first time I saw an Army Men game was the last straw, really.

I'm sure I'll catch up on the rest of their stuff...someday, when I run out of good Irem games to play first.

[Charlie]

Hey, there is a reason why 3DO was high up on DP Family Feud's "Worst Game Company" catagory. And Trip Hawkins has always kind of come across as a smug prick. Sadly, I don't think this is the last we've heard of him... although rumor has it the door hit him on the ass on the way out.

[maxlords]

I won't miss their newer games, but I really liked the 3D0 system. I haven't bought a 3D0 published game since Gex 1 though. They don't make things that interest me, and then they rerelease them over and over. This is not a surprise. And yes....please...Acclaim NEXT!!!

[digitalpress]

I'm more shocked that people can judge someone like Trip Hawkins - someone they only "know" based on what they read in magazines - than I am by the closing of 3DO, which I thought everyone saw coming.

I won't necessarily miss the company, but personally I respect what Hawkins has done for the industry. He's had great success and great failure, but the bottom line is that he HAS been an innovator. And anyone who frowns on innovation in THIS industry couldn't possibly appreciate the spirit of video games.

[portnoyd]

JUSTICE - FOR - ARMY MEN - GAMES! YAYAYAYAY!

dave

[ManekiNeko]

"So who from the industry's late '70s/early '80s genesis is still at the forefront of the biz, now that Hawkins is out? Miyamoto and...uh... "

Actually, the current head of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, used to make VIC-20 games for HAL Laboratories back in the early 80's. So it would appear that at least one person out there has benefitted from staying in the industry for so long.

JR

[Ed Oscuro]

[quote="digitalpress"]I'm more shocked that people can judge someone like Trip Hawkins - someone they only "know" based on what they read in magazines...[quote]

I'm even more shocked that people can say what they have said even after zmeston claims he's met the guy and he seemed pretty nice. I suppose everybody can have their dumb moments, but I try to assume that somebody's going to be alright. Now if I would depend on somebody is another instance...but for goodness sake this is a simple forum, we've little reason to bash some guy we've never met.

[zmeston]

"So who from the industry's late '70s/early '80s genesis is still at the forefront of the biz, now that Hawkins is out? Miyamoto and...uh... "

Actually, the current head of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, used to make VIC-20 games for HAL Laboratories back in the early 80's. So it would appear that at least one person out there has benefitted from staying in the industry for so long.

JR

Thank you, sir! I was hoping someone could fill in the blank.

While we're speaking (ill) of 3DO, anyone know whatever happened to R.J. Mical and David Needle, they of the Amiga, Lynx, and 3DO systems? I haven't seen either of them, in print or at trade shows, in years.

-- Z.

[ManekiNeko]

"While we're speaking (ill) of 3DO, anyone know whatever happened to R.J. Mical and David Needle, they of the Amiga, Lynx, and 3DO systems? I haven't seen either of them, in print or at trade shows, in years."

Well, I'm a little fuzzy on this, but I think one of them is dead. @_@

JR

[zmeston]

"While we're speaking (ill) of 3DO, anyone know whatever happened to R.J. Mical and David Needle, they of the Amiga, Lynx, and 3DO systems? I haven't seen either of them, in print or at trade shows, in years."

Well, I'm a little fuzzy on this, but I think one of them is dead. @_@

JR

Yikes! I know that Jay Miner ("Father of the Amiga") croaked a while back, but I wasn't aware of Mical or Needle having also kicked the bucket. We can only hope that Mical (or Needle) gets to spend eternity in Heaven, co-designing hardware with Gumpei Yokoi.

-- Z.

[maxlords]

I don't know Hawkins, and since he's not Brittney Spears, I don't hate him or have any opinion of him. I'd rather form such an opinion if/when I ever met him.

[slapdash]

"While we're speaking (ill) of 3DO, anyone know whatever happened to R.J. Mical and David Needle, they of the Amiga, Lynx, and 3DO systems? I haven't seen either of them, in print or at trade shows, in years."

Well, I'm a little fuzzy on this, but I think one of them is dead. @_@


I'm pretty sure that's right, but I'm fuzzy on that point too. Was it Dave?

And as far as bashing a guy we've never met, funny story -- I ALMOST met Trip Hawkins... It was one of the years (1994?) they held the Summer CES in Chicago and let ordinary folk in, which meant a lot of us fan/faned types showed up. So, some of us had gone out for lunch or something, and we're walking back to the exhibition area, about 4 steps behind Trip Hawkins. Only one of the guys (Dan...) starts saying all kinds of sarcastic things about him, not really making sure Trip hears, but not being quiet about it either. I was mildly mortified, or I might have said a quick hi. But the bashing here is years behind the times... :-)

[tynstar]

Why do people want Acclaim to be next?

[ManekiNeko]

If I were a gambling man, I'd place my bet on Needle as well. I was looking around for information and found RJ Mical's web site, which is still active and fairly recent.

http://www.mical.org/

I can always E-mail him and ask, but if the two were friends it could be a rather touchy subject.

JR

[zmeston]

Why do people want Acclaim to be next?

Acclaim, like 3DO, has long since pissed away gamers' goodwill with many, many awful games. Not 3DO bad, but close. Vexx is a recent example; BMX XXX (which I liked despite its many, many problems -- as usual, large breasts lead me astray) is another.

The company's E3 lineup was poor, with only the Alias tie-in game having real promise. The NBA Jam remake was incredibly misguided -- hello?! NBA Street Vol. 2?! -- and the other games were a blur of mediocrity.

Acclaim has always been very cool to me as a journalist, just as 3DO was, and I don't bear any of its employees any ill will. I just wish they'd crank out better stuff.

-- Z.

[chadtower]

Hey, Killing Time is one of my alltime favorite games. Maybe 3d0 made some games that weren't good but they also made a truly innovative machine and some excellent games too. Maybe they could never find a way to enter that machine into a consumer friendly price range but hey... you can either have something great or you can have something cheap. You can never have both. I am sad at the loss. Loss of a potential competitor never helps an industry.

[zmeston]

Hey, Killing Time is one of my alltime favorite games. Maybe 3d0 made some games that weren't good but they also made a truly innovative machine and some excellent games too. Maybe they could never find a way to enter that machine into a consumer friendly price range but hey... you can either have something great or you can have something cheap. You can never have both. I am sad at the loss. Loss of a potential competitor never helps an industry.

Killing Time is one of my all-time faves, too, although I'm taking heat in the Jaguar vs. Saturn thread for putting it up against the Jaguar's AvP. Heh. Everything about KT works for me -- the incredible soundtrack (of which I have a 3DO-supplied CD-R), the clever level design, the intelligent use of well-acted (!!) FMV within the game, and the very disturbing enemies. I haven't played the PC version, although I have it around here somewhere -- I'm afraid to taint my memories.

-- Z.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm saying Acclaim should go next, but it's not as if they are beyond salvaging.

Acclaim was the first independent 3rd party company formed to make games for the NES, back in the day, but it seems they haven't progressed very far since then. Examples:

1.) Any of their sports games--it feels like their whole lineup is sports games
2.) They've got the guy who was at the helm of Sega US Marketing during Sega's incredibly annoying "SEEEGA!" days. Some people consider that marketing campaign to be a highlight, but I don't. Screaming in your ear indeed.
3.) Turok 2, while a beautiful game, was incredibly workmanlike and dull throughout. Even the "secrets" were awarded in a contest, and instead of putting effort to making a really good, smooth game, they decided to allow the player to choose from any of at least a dozen useless options at runtime.
4.) I mention Turok 2 because it was the last Acclaim game in the public's mind from Acclaim that had any promise.

Finally, their whole image--sort of a more corporate version of Ritual Entertainment, with the jungle theme underlined in the opening of (There it is again!) Turok 2, replete with crazy dual-handshotgun (a Marathon-inspired touch, no doubt) toting Lizard with more personality than Turok himself. This isn't necessarily a bad thing--but it's just that when Acclaim goes looking for image, they head further south towards "bad." Not hellish-heavy-metal-band-bad, but just "as bad as we can muster without getting banned in the whole E.U." With healthy doses of sexism and bigotry wedged in there if they can do it (at least that's what people think--I doubt much of their stuff approaches BMX XXX, but you see what they've done to their image?) SEE: Imitators: Microsoft, Kung Fu Chaos.

I DO think that Acclaim has potential--but right now, they've not been capitalizing on their strengths properly.

[mikeetler]

I was so close to making this topic a poll to see who would be next. ;)

Personally, I see three companies that are very close to following 3DO.

BAM Entertainment has been having huge problems and were just sued by Spyglass over non-payment of rayalties relating to Reign of Fire. Spyglass is looking for at least $260K, BAM agrees that they owe them but has no cash to turn over.

Interplay is all but done. Titus is the majority shareholder and it's really their call when they pull the plug. The Shiny sale is what kept them afloat and they never would have had the cash to ship Enter the Matrix (and it wouldn't have been a million + seller) had they kept Shiny anyway.

Of course Acclaim has been on the verge for a number of years, but for some reason the company has cash, if nothing else. Besides, who else could milk the Olsen's as much as Acclaim? We're only what, a year and half or so from BMX XXX starring Mary-Kate and Ashley?

These are my three picks to most likley fold over the next twelve months.

[Ed Oscuro]

Heh, I sort-of-know somebody who's working at Interplay. Just QA, of course, but I'm sure she won't be happy if they go under.

[slapdash]

Why do people want Acclaim to be next?

Acclaim, like 3DO, has long since pissed away gamers' goodwill with many, many awful games. [...] I don't bear any of its employees any ill will. I just wish they'd crank out better stuff.

I knew someone who was working there as QA/testing. When Acclaim got low on funds, guess who they cut? That's right, a great majority of the testing staff, who were finding bug after bug after bug.

From my limited perspective, Acclaim surely deserves to go under, since they obviously don't give a rat's ass about the consumer if they fire ANYBODY from testing/QA before firing EVERYBODY from marketing...

[Sega Hitman]

Isn't 3DO responsible for the Heroes of Might and Magic series? That's gotta be my favorite PC series of all time. If they are, then this is freaking terrible news. Granted they release a lot of garbage, but come on people. It's not like we actually bought the Army Men games. None of us really know how bad they are right? We know better than to pay money for that.

-Hitman-

[zmeston]

Isn't 3DO responsible for the Heroes of Might and Magic series? That's gotta be my favorite PC series of all time. If they are, then this is freaking terrible news. Granted they release a lot of garbage, but come on people. It's not like we actually bought the Army Men games. None of us really know how bad they are right? We know better than to pay money for that.

-Hitman-

3DO bought New World Computing, the developer (and, back in the '80s and early '90s, the publisher) of the M&M series, so I don't believe that the Heroes of M&M series was done in-house at 3DO -- unless they either laid off or brought in the NWC peeps, which is entirely possible.

-- Z.