Microsoft Game Studios

[Frogacuda]

I hate how Access actually WANTS to make a new Tex game and MS won't givethem money to develop anything but Golf games.

Dammit, forgot all about Crime Wave. That game really did kinda suck. Mean Streets was pretty much a mixed bag, too, but more good than bad. I've played all of the Tex games, actually. Martian Memorandum and Mean Streets aren't easy to find these days.

[NeoZeedeater]

Where did they say they wanted to make a new Tex game? In some interview?

Being owned by Microsoft probably does suck. Although I don't think Bungie has to worry too much unless MS forces them to make more Halo sequels than they want.

[Kinopio]

I'm a big Rare fan. SFA was a good zelda-clone, but its a shame that they haven't done anything other than that for 2 years.

I love Age of Empires. I probably played it for 10 hours this week alone while at work.

[Jeremy]

Rare is hot and cold for me, when they hit, they hit, when they miss, man do they ever miss. Being owned by MS probably has some advantages, I would imagine they get more money for games than most developers do, the downside being than their creative freedom is probably stifled just a TAD.

[xS]

Was Under a Killing Moon released for the Mega CD? I remember playing it years ago, but I forget which format it was released on.

[NeoZeedeater]

I haven't heard of any console ports of UAKM. It's PC-only as far as I know.

I did a bad job at explaining the formats of the various Access games. Here's a list of the releases I know of. It might not be complete.

Beach Head - C64, Atari 8-bit, Micro, Spectrum, CPC
Neutral Zone - C64
Raid Over Moscow - Atari 8-bit, C64, Apple II, Spectrum, CPC, Micro
Leaderboard - Atari 8-bit, PC, C64, Amiga, ST, CPC, Spectrum
10th Frame - C64, PC, Spectrum, CPC
Echelon - C64, PC, Amiga, ST, CPC
Heavy Metal - C64, Amiga, CPC, ST
Mean Streets - PC, Amiga, C64, ST
Crime Wave - PC, Amiga, ST
Martian Memorandum - PC, Amiga
Under a Killing Moon - PC
Pandora Detective - PC
Tex Murphy: Overseer - PC

[Yamcha]

I disagree about Banjo-Kazooie, even though it aped Mario completely, it was still an excellent game with some of the best designed puzzles around. After they they made every game like it is when things started to get dissappointing. I never even got past the second world in Banjo-Tooie despite liking the first.

[Jeremy]

I'm in the same boat as you, Yamcha. I liked BK, but BT was just so monotonous compared to it.

[Error]

Woah, does Microsoft own the rights to Raid Over Moscow? I think that would be a cool game to remake for Xbox, striking deep into i dunno, Bagdad or something, on a solo mission. or do a crimson skies take on the 80s, and actually do a Raid on Moscow.

[Kinopio]

Rare is hot and cold for me, when they hit, they hit, when they miss, man do they ever miss. Being owned by MS probably has some advantages, I would imagine they get more money for games than most developers do, the downside being than their creative freedom is probably stifled just a TAD.

It'll be interesting to see how MS handles Rare. They are obviously a studio who typically needs long development times, and there have been instances where they have tried to get too much out of the hardware they are working on.

Give them 2 years and a big budget and they'll give you a game with totally bangin graphics, from a technical point atleast.