Nintendo and Silicon Knights part??

[OB1]

What the hell??!

April 13, 2004 - IGNcube today learned that Canada-based development studio Silicon Knights has ended its second-party status with Nintendo Co. Ltd. The company will effective immediately be allowed to develop software for multiple consoles including Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation platforms.

Though no official reason was given for the decision, IGNcube speculates that the philosophies of the two companies did not mesh. Silicon Knights has always been a very content-driven studio with strong beliefs in the elements of game creation including content, artistry, sound, and technology. Nintendo has recently downplayed the role of technology in game creation and has been known to de-emphasize compelling story, graphics and sound in favor of classic play mechanics.
"Silicon Knights and Nintendo have agreed to mutually part ways," Silicon Knights' President Denis Dyack told IGNcube.

"Nintendo and Silicon Knights have reached an agreement allowing Silicon Knights to pursue its vision of videogame entertainment with other companies," said a Nintendo of America spokesperson. "Nintendo respects the creative work of Silicon Knights and the parties have left the door open to work on future projects that meet the creative vision of both companies."

Asked if today's news meant Silicon Knights would not continue to develop for Nintendo platforms, Denis Dyack said: "No it doesn't. It's possible that we may do another game with Nintendo, actually. It just means that we've decided to break our exclusivity with Nintendo."

Dyack confirmed that Silicon Knights is now fully able to develop for competing consoles as well.

An official announcement from Nintendo is expected in the coming weeks.

-- Matt Casamassina

source: IGN

Talk about a complete surprise and major dissapointment! Denis Dyack always talks about how much he loves working for Nintendo and how much better SK has been under their guidance and how he wants to work with Miyamoto for a very long time. What could have caused this? The poor sales of both of their GC titles and Nintendo's complete lack of marketing push for Twin Snakes? That has to be it. Their games sell like crap on Nintendo consoles, simple as that.

Fuck, this is terrible news.

First Rare, then Leftfield, now Silicon Knights. Who's next?

[Great Rumbler]

Wait a second! *checks calendar* NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[OB1]

I know, at first I thought it was a really late April Fool's joke.

[Dark Jaguar]

So... this means Twin Snakes is eventually going to get ported to other systems.... doesn't it.

[Great Rumbler]

*finally regains composure*

Well, guys, this is it. I no longer have ANY faith in Nintendo to make sound business decisions anymore. With the Gamecube we thought that Nintendo was finally beginning to change to fight back, however this proves what we knew all along, but didn't want to admit, that Nintendo is NOT changing and because of this they are destroying themselves. And I'm the optimist here!!

If they can bust out with a huge E3 showing and the DS becomes a big hit then I might be able to regain some of my faith for Nintendo's future.

[OB1]

So... this means Twin Snakes is eventually going to get ported to other systems.... doesn't it.

Mmm, I don't know. That depends on how much Nintendo themselves helped with the development or who owns the rights to it.

*finally regains composure*

Well, guys, this is it. I no longer have ANY faith in Nintendo to make sound business decisions anymore. With the Gamecube we thought that Nintendo was finally beginning to change to fight back, however this proves what we knew all along, but didn't want to admit, that Nintendo is NOT changing and because of this they are destroying themselves. And I'm the optimist here!!

If they can bust out with a huge E3 showing and the DS becomes a big hit then I might be able to regain some of my faith for Nintendo's future.

Yeah I agree with you there. Nintendo acquired Silicon Knights in order to attract older gamers to the Gamecube, and while they did a piss-poor job of it by giving their games little (ED) to zero (TS) marketing push now their big mature game developer is no longer exclusive. Fucking brilliant, Nintendo.

Denis Dyack loved working under Nintendo and seemed like a little boy working with Santa Clause in all of his interviews. The only reason I can think of for this breakup is that either a) SK got sick of their games selling so poorly on Nintendo's console and didn't like Nintendo's stance on "good story, good graphics = bad"; b) Nintendo wasn't happy with the sales of SK's games and decided to dump them; or c) a combination of the two. Personally I'm leaning towards b.

What is Nintendo going to do now? Currently Retro is their only developer who is making games with the older crowd in mind, and they can only pump out maybe one game every two years or so. That is not enough. Third party exclusives are a good start, but there isn't enough of that. The combination of third-party exclusives like RE4, Silicon Knights' games, and Retro's games was beginning to make for a pretty nice combination. Now it has fallen apart.

[alien space marine]

Microsoft shall buy them out!

[Great Rumbler]

Microsoft shall buy them out!

They probably will.

[Dark Jaguar]

:shiggy2: MS makes GOOD business decisions though. The average person doesn't think "must buy" with SK like they did with Rare. They think "who?". I doubt MS would buy out a company that's only made a few games, none of them really big hits. Right Bungie?

[Great Rumbler]

Denis Dyack was awesome. With that in mind I just have one thing to say: Stay awesome, Denis Dyack. Stay awesome.

[The Former DMiller]

Well, we still have n-Space for older games too.

[N_A]

Did Nintendo even really own Silicon Knights ? Or was it just kind of a publishing deal that was up for renewal and Nintendo decided not to renew ?

Its really odd that one day Iwata says they're trying to appeal to all ranges of gamer ages, and the next day they dump one of their "mature" subject developers.

[OB1]

SK was an official second-party, I believe, so they owned a portion of them.

And DJ, SK is still a talented developer whose games could sell well if given enough marketing support and on a console with an older demographic.

[N_A]

Perhaps the problem with Nintendo holding onto SK was similar to RARE, in that it might have been an issue of efficiency ? Didn't SK only produce 2 games for the GC to date ?

If thats the case, whatever it is, I think Nintendo is in the process of cleaning house, and whatever it is, I think we can at least have faith in Nintendo that through all this so called "trouble" they can still come out to be the most profitable game company. It means their business is well upkept.

I haven't been keeping up, but has RARE put out games for MS yet ? Or are they still kind of being a "burden" on them ?

[OB1]

Rare has released one (not so great) game for the X-Box, but MS bought them mainly for the X-Box 2 and beyond.

SK hasn't been with Nintendo for very long so it can't be a matter of efficiency. I still don't know what the problem was since Dyack made it very clear that SK was a part of Nintendo and that they were never going to leave them. Perhaps Nintendo cut them loose because of the poor sales of ED and TS (even though that was Nintendo's fault) or SK wanted to leave because they didn't like the direction Nintendo was heading.

[Dark Jaguar]

In all fairness, why didn't Konami advertise TS?

Also, this says nothing about how well either game was advertised in Japan.

[N_A]

Even then, Nintendo Power actually gave Metal Gear full coverage and previews too, so its not as if Nintendo didn't make it known within their own network.

[Dark Jaguar]

Nintendo Power doesn't matter to anyone ever. :D

Seriously, it doesn't.

Honestly, anyone who has Nintendo Power is the sort of person who totally ALREADY KNEW Twin Snakes was coming.

[big guy]

but konami published TS and should have advertised it. it isn't a nintendo game, so it's not their fault for not advertising.

this is terrible news, maybe it's somehow not true...bah. microsoft IS going to buy them, just because that would make me want to punch myself in the balls out of frustration and the world seems to like to see me do that to myself.

[Sacred Jellybean]

the world seems to like to see me do that to myself.

big guy is onto something...!

Punch yourself in the balls. Do it! Now!

[OB1]

Twin Snakes got plenty of ads in Japan (they even made a series of commercials there, while we got NO commercials whatsoever), so I don't know why Konami or Nintendo didn't do anything about it here. True Konami was the publisher, but Nintendo co-developed the game and should have done something.

I've been reading a lot of theories on this sudden break-up and none of them really make any sense. Matt from ign suggested that it might have been an issue of creative differences and SK might have wanted more freedom, and while I considered that for a little while I don't believe it. Miyamoto made it very clear that they were allowing SK the freedom that they wanted. They didn't force TS upon them, it was offered. And while Nintendo has been saying that graphics and presentation are not important, games like WW and Metroid Prime prove that it doesn't affect all of Nintendo. Eiji Aunoma places great importance on storytelling, which is why Wind Waker had such a strong story compared to all of the other Zelda games. It also had a wonderful graphics engine and a terrific presentation. Metroid Prime, while not having a great story, also had great graphics and presentation and word has it that Prime 2 will have a deep story. You can see Nintendo's supposed philosophy in games like Mario Sunshine, Pikmin, and Pacman Vs., but it doesn't seem as though this is preventing all of their second and first-parties from going all out with what Nintendo says is unimportant.

[UltraMarioMan]

Considering the date this was announced I have to wonder...could this all be a ploy to get alot of people talking about SK? Then at e3 ED2 is revieled and Denis says "It was an Insanity effect!"

[Dark Jaguar]

...interesting...

Anyway, how well did TS sell in Japan?

[OB1]

I dunno, it hasn't been on any of the March Japanese charts at magic box.

[A Black Falcon]

... this is bad...

And yes, it just doesn't seem to make sense. Bizarre.

[Great Rumbler]

Then at e3 ED2 is revieled and Denis says "It was an Insanity effect!"

You know...Dyack might just be crazy enough to do something like that.

[OB1]

If only that were the case.

[A Black Falcon]

Doubtful though...

[Great Rumbler]

Still...we can delude ourselves into thinking it's the case.

[A Black Falcon]

And more likely be dissapointed...

[lazyfatbum]

This doesn't mean that SK will drop Nintendo. They'll simply release games on all systems which means big bucks... if the developer can handle it. And SK made enough money with Eternal Darkness and Twin Snakes to up their production resources.

[OB1]

If Sony or MS buys them out that won't happen.

[Great Rumbler]

Which one of them might well do.

[lazyfatbum]

They would only do that if their resources weren't up to their own standards. They just got out of an exclusivity with Nintendo. They want to carry their own weight for a while, atleast one or two games multi console. Then they'll see where they go from there.

[big guy]

i like the insanity effect idea...i'm gonna believe it, even if to do so is insane

[alien space marine]

blaims it on the Jews :D

[big guy]

huh...

[Great Rumbler]

What?

[A Black Falcon]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/04/13/...93427.html

Less positive than the news from Factor 5, I'd say. Though who knows...

[big guy]

who blames it on the jews?

[Sacred Jellybean]

Perhaps ASM meant it as an action, ie "I am blaiming it on the jews", and a hilarious anti-semitic joke.

[big guy]

oh...

...huh...

[Sacred Jellybean]

Which still wouldn't make it any more witty or logical.

[lazyfatbum]

I blame the Polish and Dutch for kippered snacks.

I blame the Jews for being so adorable. Have you ever seen a rabbi you can stay mad at? Look at that hair. That's hair you cant be mad at. The curly hair, the little hat, it's like a little hairy kitten that's just got a makeover. They're adorable, look at the way they talk! For shizzle my nizzle. They even have thousands of years of persecution and Hanukkah Bushes! Like a Christmas TREE except it's a BUSH, even their holidays are adorable! Except for the blood on the door, but I heard they use beets now. They're so adorable that if it wasn't offensive to the Jewish people I would own one as a pet along with a Chinese baby. So yes, it's true, they're adorable, and I blame them for being that way.

Alien Space Marine, you have hit the proverbial nail on the head!

[Dark Jaguar]

And Optimus Prime is Jewish!

[OB1]

I might have some Jewish blood... I have a German great-aunt who might have been Jewish.

[alien space marine]

I may also have some jewish blood, My great grand father was a Jew.
Dont tell Hitler!

[OB1]

Yeah... cause then he'll get you!

[Great Rumbler]

Hitler's gonna get ya!!

I may also have some jewish blood, My great grand father was a Jew.
Dont tell Hitler!

I'm part German. Don't tell the Jews!!

[OB1]

GASP!


... but there are lots of German Jews...