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konny666
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Posts: 219
Location: Babylon 6 |
| Microsoft to buy BioWare? |
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Any truth to this or is it just a silly rumor?
LINK.
Now, would this be a good thing or a bad thing? Assuming you're not a Linux user of course. 
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:: Member of The Nonflamers' Guild ::
:: Visit me on Babylon 6! :: |
Tue Apr 20, 2004 1:39 am |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Good thing. Microsoft games can be buggy but at least they tend to have less Direct X errors/crashes to desktop than other games. Freelancer was a good example of 'game that should have ran like crap because it was so detailed but ran smoothly because the developers of direct x were involved".
Microsoft games are often quick to be patched as well...
Plus, Microsoft owns everything. BioWare did well... their assimilation was inevitable. 
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Tue Apr 20, 2004 5:00 pm |
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Remus
Overgrown Cat
Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 1657
Location: Fish bowl |
Some bad and some good would come out of it. As reported in an article on The Adrenaline Vault, PC game market is shrinking and so their the prices. So Microsoft's priority would be no doubt on the console, and thus we worry what would happen to Bioware's future titles under Microsoft, after seeing the case of Bungie (Halo): not that the game isn't fun but it was delayed too long (outdated engine), dealing with technical (eventhough small things), and quirkiness & gameplay elements that came from its console root, etc (as in the DX2 case). |
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Tue Apr 20, 2004 5:19 pm |
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Arma
Mysterious Lady
Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 1230
Location: in the middle of hell |
Weeel, I actually don't care much. But to some extend agree with EverythingXen -> whatever games they make, at least they will run good on PCs. Whenever they are released and whatever crap they are. I mean face it -> NWN is crap for me, it is so consolish, I still wonder how it is still not released for consoles, KotOR is purely a console title, Jade Empire doesn't interest me at all, while NWN and KotOR still were games I though at some point that they will be good because they are from the people that did BG2, but now I have little to no interest in future BioWare titles. |
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Tue Apr 20, 2004 7:41 pm |
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konny666
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Posts: 219
Location: Babylon 6 |
I dont get why people are so quick to associate MSFT with pure console games. I mean, they invented DirectX *for PCs*. They made Windows XP games-friendly *for a reason*. And they had some incredible successes in the PC market with Age of Empires and that franchise. Linux is for servers, no PC game player uses it for gaming - they use Windows. So basically Microsoft is the OS of the PC gamer, whether they (Microsoft) likes it or not. And I'm sure their marketing people are NOT dumb enough to say "hey, let's just screw the PC market and throw away tons of potential revenue by focussing on our poorly-selling Xbox line - that's my Harvard MBA at work!". (tee hee)
That said... I would be surprised if BW sold themselves out to Microsoft. The owners make tons of cash off Bioware as it is, all facts considered. They pay their employees in Canadian dollars, the cost of living in Edmonton is cheap, Alberta has the lowest corporate tax rates in Canada and 2nd lowest on the continent, Bioware probably qualifies for a whole bunch of federal government "corporate welfare" schemes, etc. etc.
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:: Member of The Nonflamers' Guild ::
:: Visit me on Babylon 6! :: |
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Wed Apr 21, 2004 7:44 am |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Microsoft is renowed for their ablity to get people to sell by throwing huge amounts of money at them, though. Remember the story about the Rolling Stones and Windows 95 ...
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Wed Apr 21, 2004 2:39 pm |
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Remus
Overgrown Cat
Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 1657
Location: Fish bowl |
quote:
Source: Polygon magazine again.
The official story: "To us, it's really thin air."--BioWare spokesperson; "Pure speculation."--Microsoft rep.
What we heard: Conspiracy theories pointed to the reported purchase of the Knight of the Old Republic developer as the latest evidence that Bill Gates is the reigning dark lord of the Sith. However, BioWare and Microsoft reps blew off the story as the usual gamer gossip. However, a source within one of the companies dropped a hint that there may be something to the panicked posts after all--and that the two companies would have something to say at E3. Of course, given their close collaboration on the upcoming Xbox-exclusive Jade Empire, a joint Microsoft-BioWare announcement could have nothing to do with a buyout. But bringing the top developer of console role-playing games in-house must be awfully tempting to the cash-flush software colossus.
Bogus or not bogus?: Guess we'll see at E3.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/04/23/news_6094509.html |
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Sat Apr 24, 2004 4:13 am |
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Sir Markus
Counselor of the King
Joined: 11 Jan 2002
Posts: 369
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA |
The deep pockets at Microsoft combined with the creative talent at Bioware is an awfully appealing marriage, IMO. My only concern is if Microsoft started to strongarm Bioware into stressing XBox titles. I liked Knights of the Old Republic, but I hated the inventory system that was tailored toward the xbox conxole and not drag and drop with a mouse.
That being said, Bioware would be STUPID not to accept an alliance with Microsoft, IMO. |
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Sat Apr 24, 2004 7:06 am |
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konny666
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Posts: 219
Location: Babylon 6 |
Why stupid? Is the company in dire financial straits? No! They're doing great and they're privately held. Some "suit" at Microsoft representing the collective will of a million shareholders can't hold a gun to their head. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk can run the company the way they want it to, not the way Billy-boy down in Seattle wants.
As it stands right now, it's a generally accepted fact that Bioware is one of the best studios in the business; they can pick who to have publish their games, not the other way around. If they get a bad publishing deal with MSFT, they can get their stuff published elsewhere. Any association with Microsoft would have to be amiable to both sides.
And Microsoft throwing money at them shouldn't have THAT much of effect since if the Bioware owners were THAT greedy, they would have sold out already.
There doesn't seem to be any real tangible benefits a direct alliance with Microsoft would give them that they don't already have. My 2 cents.
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:: Visit me on Babylon 6! :: |
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Sat Apr 24, 2004 8:30 am |
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Lintra
Elf Friend
Joined: 23 Apr 2002
Posts: 9448
Location: Bermuda, the triangle place with SANDY BEACHES |
I dunno. You offer a game designer team a huge sum clean and easy we all run the danger of having them think:
1. "Wow, just THINK of the cool things I could do with that sort of money, my next company will be even better"
or
2. "Hmmm, I've a family to worry about. With this much I can retire and stop worrying about the next game being a flop"
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=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Just plain clueless= |
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Mon Apr 26, 2004 1:21 pm |
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