Sega partners with Silicon Knights

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23 Mar 2005, 12:22 PM
Andy

Sega partners with Silicon Knights

Quote:

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SEGA PARTNERS WITH SILICON KNIGHTS TO
CREATE NEXT GENERATION CONTENT

Acquisitions of Western Content Prime SEGA for Growth

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (March 23, 2005) – SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA, Europe Ltd. today announced an agreement to acquire and publish next-generation game content from Silicon Knights, the Ontario, Canada-based development team responsible for such hits as Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and Eternal Darkness. The partnership brings SEGA more Western-developed content in preparation for high-growth opportunities presented by next-generation hardware platforms.

Under the terms of the worldwide exclusive deal, SEGA and Silicon Knights will collaborate on creating a new franchise for next generation console systems. This agreement, along with recent partnerships with publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (project: The Matrix Online); developer, Monolith Productions (project: Condemned); and the acquisition of esteemed developer, The Creative Assembly (project: Spartan: Total Warrior) continues to highlight SEGA’s emphasis on the Western market.

“We intend to establish SEGA as a leading publisher on the next generation of game hardware and only the highest possible quality of Western-developed content will get us there,” said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America. “Silicon Knights has a rich history of developing great games that push hardware technology, so we expect this relationship will result in a powerful, new, and highly commercial franchise.”

“Silicon Knights believes that the next generation systems will be the catalyst propelling video games as the dominant form of entertainment in this century,” said Denis Dyack, President of Silicon Knights. “We are very excited to collaborate with SEGA on a next generation project because we share a vision – to take the medium of games to new heights and move people as never before.”
SEGA will manage all marketing and distribution activities and work in hand with Silicon Knights to supervise ongoing game development. Both companies have decided not to release product, platform, or release details at this time.

I fucking knew this was going to happen. I don't know how, but I saw it coming, perhaps if only as God's way of smiting me for hating on Eternal Darkness. Anyway, though I did think Eternal Darkness had some horribly shitty design/gameplay problems, I absolutely loved the presentation, and I'm one of the few that really enjoyed Twin Snakes, too. So never the less, go Sega. Sega is making some very good decisions of late.
23 Mar 2005, 12:26 PM
NeoZeedeater

Meh, they're just going to create another average game like Eternal Darkness. Honestly, if ED was on PS2 no one would have cared about it.
23 Mar 2005, 12:44 PM
Drewbacca

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

Meh, they're just going to create another average game like Eternal Darkness. Honestly, if ED was on PS2 no one would have cared about it.

It didn't really play very well, and once the gimmick of insanity effects wore thin it seemed kind of bland. Sega's really gung-ho about capturing the western market once again, which is a smart idea. I'm not sure if they can do it, but atleast they're trying.

Did Silicon Knights even have a game in production after Twin Snakes?
23 Mar 2005, 12:52 PM
Andy

Too Human, perhaps.
23 Mar 2005, 01:03 PM
Kev

I really wish Sega would go ahead and buy Treasure already.
23 Mar 2005, 01:04 PM
Chux

Yeah, because they're doing about as much as Silicon Knights lately....
23 Mar 2005, 04:42 PM
g0zen

What the hell is with all this Eternal Darkness hate? That game has possibly one of the best stories of this console generation.

Anyway, this is a terrible decision on the part of Silicon Knights. It's like having a dead arm sewed onto your chest, it won't do anything for you and eventually you'll get an infection from it and die.
23 Mar 2005, 06:25 PM
Giga Power

Yeah really. I was just thinking to myself-

"Whoa. Never seen anyone hate on Eternal Darkness before."

Bloody hell.
23 Mar 2005, 06:32 PM
frostwolf ex

Quote:

Originally Posted by g0zen

What the hell is with all this Eternal Darkness hate? That game has possibly one of the best stories of this console generation.

.

we dont agree much, but when we do, we do. ed had hands down the most well crafted story out there in survival horror, the only complaint i can think could be fairly lobbed at it was that in having actual working, responsive controls, some tension was lost, but beyind that some people here are nuts, ED was a majorly underrated game.
23 Mar 2005, 07:58 PM
elfneedsfood

Quote:

Originally Posted by frostwolf ex

ed had hands down the most well crafted story out there in survival horror, the only complaint i can think could be fairly lobbed at it was that in having actual working, responsive controls, some tension was lost, but beyind that some people here are nuts, ED was a majorly underrated game.

I agree. ED was awesome.
23 Mar 2005, 09:21 PM
Kbu Chan

If it wasn't for RE4, ED would be king. Amazing game.
23 Mar 2005, 10:34 PM
Diff-chan

Silicon Knights is really overrated and have yet to make a game that is worthy of their reputation. Nintendo buying them managed to convince a lot of fanboys that they were one of the best development houses out there but they never have been and probably never will be.

They make C-list games with tons of atmosphere. Thats it.
23 Mar 2005, 11:35 PM
sethsez

Quote:

Originally Posted by diffusionx

They make C-list games with tons of atmosphere. Thats it.

Agreed. The gameplay in Blood Omen and Eternal Darkness was really bland, and ED's plot was just a shameless ripoff/combination of a bunch of HP Lovecraft stories and concepts.
23 Mar 2005, 11:51 PM
Johnny Undaunted

The only Silicon Knights game I've ever played was Twin Snakes, which I thought was a really weak remake.
24 Mar 2005, 12:46 AM
sethsez

It's also their best playing game by far.
24 Mar 2005, 02:11 AM
frostwolf ex

Quote:

Originally Posted by sethsez

Agreed. The gameplay in Blood Omen and Eternal Darkness was really bland, and ED's plot was just a shameless ripoff/combination of a bunch of HP Lovecraft stories and concepts.

maybe, but really point me to a survival horror game that has a better storyline? res evil is shamelessly bad as a night of the living dead clone, silent hill has style but ultimately the story looks good mostly becasue so little of it is really explained, overall its really just a cult story with an alternate dimension added, stylistic but not that great. and fatal frame has its spooky moments, but again the story isnt really that strong. and while i havent played them, alone in the dark has been cited timeand time again for pilliaging lovecraft. its survival horror, most go for style, not a grand storyline. i liked the idea of how the characters you controlled died even when you did everything right, it gave a feeling of how big a thing you were really up against. that sense of scope really sold the game for me.
24 Mar 2005, 02:26 AM
sethsez

Quote:

Originally Posted by frostwolf ex

maybe, but really point me to a survival horror game that has a better storyline?

I'd argue that Silent Hill 2 has far more going for it than Eternal Darkness, and the only thing holding it back is a mediocre translation (which isn't a fault of the original product). Besides, like you said, survival horror games generally don't have what I'd call amazing plots. Eternal Darkness is just (arguably... like I said, I think SH2 is far better) the king of a very undistinguished hill.

Quote:

and while i havent played them, alone in the dark has been cited timeand time again for pilliaging lovecraft.

Yep, almost (but not quite) as much as ED does. I'm willing to give AitD a pass, though, because it was really the first of its kind and established a formula that would continue for well over a decade without any significant changes, so the warmed-over plot was at least being presented in a new and innovative way. Eternal Darkness can't fall back on anything like that.

In addition, I don't think the presentation was all that great, either. One of the reasons Lovecraft worked so well (and this is what Silent Hill gets, since it also takes a lot from Lovecraft) is that very, very little was ever shown or explained. You had to figure the vast majority of the puzzle out on your own, and even then, he waited until the end of his stories before any sort of "big reveal." ED starts weird and stays there for the duration, so there's never really a sense of building dread. It has all the elements of Lovecraft in place, and then botches the execution.
24 Mar 2005, 04:43 AM
Tracer

It's hard to put graphical representation on anything Lovecraftian. It's always a nebulous building fear that slowly slimes all over you and you don't realise its scared you untill your done and you don't want to get off the couch for some dread hanging over you. Ok, the couch thing was more personal experience. I read Call of the Chtulhu late at night on my living room couch and I was kinda creeped, but not by any elder god or anything. It was more of the sence of fear it instills in you, not a particular fear.
24 Mar 2005, 06:14 AM
sethsez

Exactly. The best tributes to Lovecraft understand that his stories work because of the themes, the pacing, and the atmosphere. The worst tributes fail because they think Lovecraft was about big squid-faced monsters and madness!!!. Eternal Darkness definitely was closer to the latter than the former.
24 Mar 2005, 06:23 AM
MrWhitefolks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy

Sega is making some very good decisions of late.

except for the fact that they've generally pissed off the end of their fanbase with all the shit titles that they've(sans sports games) put out this generation.

this is like putting gasoline in a beater with 3 miles left in the engine.
24 Mar 2005, 07:49 PM
Kinopio

I thought ED was pretty damn good. One of the best cameras in any 3D game and it had a lot of detail in every facet of the game. But it also took about 4 years to make and they had Nintendo footing the bill. Under those circumstances just about any studio could make a pretty good game.
24 Mar 2005, 07:53 PM
Thief Silver

Quote:

this is like putting gasoline in a beater with 3 miles left in the engine.

I'm taking this analogy also in the sense, you're wasting valuable resources.
24 Mar 2005, 07:56 PM
Geo

Best of luck to Silicon Knights, as I wouldn't have faith in SEGA in building me a ****ing box at this point.
24 Mar 2005, 07:57 PM
Thief Silver

What's a ****ing box? A fucking box?
24 Mar 2005, 08:47 PM
LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by frostwolf ex

we dont agree much, but when we do, we do.

Wow, that's deep.
24 Mar 2005, 09:05 PM
frostwolf ex

Quote:

Originally Posted by omfgninjas

Wow, that's deep.

Meditate on it and it will lead you to a greater truth.