19th December 2003, 8:15 PM
Sure, you can console yourself by saying 'maybe they will go elsewhere and still work their magic and be great', and you know what? Sometimes that is true. Frequently it seems that other companies do step in to do something to replace them... but you just can't recreate the same magic, even if you can still make great games, I'd say...
How about Sid Meier? By any standards, leaving Microprose was a good idea -- Microprose went steeply downhill from under Spectrum Holobyte to now owner Infogrames, and Firaxis has made some great games... but still... maybe it's with the dispersion of talent and stuff, but Civ 3 dissapointed me. SimGolf didn't look like a Firaxis title. I know they're still great, but compared to what he did under Microprose... you can never quite recreate that magic, even if you can still make great games.
Something similar has been happening with Black Isle and the companies it influenced, Bioware, Troika, and Obsidian... all three are great, but are they as great as they were when their talent was all working together? Probably not... even if they are still really good.
Now... is a big part of this nostalgia? Sure. But it's not 100% nostalgia, I'd say. But what does this say for Sega? Well for one thing it's a much bigger company. Oh, sure, Interplay once released like fifteen games a year, and Sierra in that same category at least (I think we've discussed that one enough to not have me have to repeat it all), but Sega is a huge, huge publisher. It's very sad to see them struggle. As I've said, they've been one of the big innovators... and like Looking Glass Studios, failed despite making some of the greatest games in the categories they have made games in. So sad. Of course Looking Glass is a more depressing topic... sure, one good team escaped (the guys who made Freedom Force and are now doing Tribes 3), and Warren Spector got Theif, but Theif isn't Looking Glass. Looking Glass was about some of the most innovative 3d games ever. I haven't seen anyone seriously try to step into their shoes and really change that genre like Looking Glass did with Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Terra Firma (uh, forget the exact name, but it had mechs or powersuits or something...), Theif, etc. did.
How about Sid Meier? By any standards, leaving Microprose was a good idea -- Microprose went steeply downhill from under Spectrum Holobyte to now owner Infogrames, and Firaxis has made some great games... but still... maybe it's with the dispersion of talent and stuff, but Civ 3 dissapointed me. SimGolf didn't look like a Firaxis title. I know they're still great, but compared to what he did under Microprose... you can never quite recreate that magic, even if you can still make great games.
Something similar has been happening with Black Isle and the companies it influenced, Bioware, Troika, and Obsidian... all three are great, but are they as great as they were when their talent was all working together? Probably not... even if they are still really good.
Now... is a big part of this nostalgia? Sure. But it's not 100% nostalgia, I'd say. But what does this say for Sega? Well for one thing it's a much bigger company. Oh, sure, Interplay once released like fifteen games a year, and Sierra in that same category at least (I think we've discussed that one enough to not have me have to repeat it all), but Sega is a huge, huge publisher. It's very sad to see them struggle. As I've said, they've been one of the big innovators... and like Looking Glass Studios, failed despite making some of the greatest games in the categories they have made games in. So sad. Of course Looking Glass is a more depressing topic... sure, one good team escaped (the guys who made Freedom Force and are now doing Tribes 3), and Warren Spector got Theif, but Theif isn't Looking Glass. Looking Glass was about some of the most innovative 3d games ever. I haven't seen anyone seriously try to step into their shoes and really change that genre like Looking Glass did with Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Terra Firma (uh, forget the exact name, but it had mechs or powersuits or something...), Theif, etc. did.
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