Airtight Games closes, just weeks after debut of new game - Polidicks

[QUOTE=gk99;45275110]That doesn't mean too much. Gordon Freeman didn't have a personality.[/QUOTE] We really don't need to start this again, do we? The story is in a third-person perspective (at least, when in control of Ronan) and he's a character in and of himself trying to solve the game's mysteries with the player at the helm, so it's quite different from a character who intentionally has no personality for a player surrogate position.

And this is why I don't really shit on Publishers and Devs as hard as everyone else. This is the legit fear of Devs, Filmmakers, Theatrical Productions, etc. The idea of putting out an Original IP is always a nice idea, but the problem is really selling it, or rather selling it enough to make back the budget. Lemme explain quick, let's say I want to make a video game, for the resources, computers, rendering farms, voice actors and actresses (more if they're celebs like Patrick Stewart or Jim Cummings), and finally the necessary Advertising to get the word out. For all of this, let's say it would cost me $1 Billion. Unfortunately, even though me and my team put our best efforts into the game, upon release it only made back HALF of the $1 Billion budget. Those few days after release are vital, as the budget has to be paid back ASAP. Regardless of whether people liked the game or not, it doesn't matter, all that matters is making back enough money to pay for the budget, and moving on, otherwise there are layoffs, or worse, Bankruptcy. And we seemingly forget that these devs are people like you and me, who've probably dreamed to work in this industry since childhood, but not will either be lucky to find another company, or just go back home in tears and have their dreams broken. So yeah, this is exactly why "original" isn't easy to sell onto publishers these days, because there is a big risk of failure like Airtight here.

[QUOTE=gk99;45275110]That doesn't mean too much. Gordon Freeman didn't have a personality.[/QUOTE] But they don't try to give him a personality. He's intentionally silent in order to allow the player to attach their reactions and emotions to him. The protagonist in MS:S is just very bland and barely shows any emotion, even in the scenes where he tries to.

[quote=wikipedia]IGN gave it a 5.0 out of 10 stating, "Dark Void is one of those games you'll play, beat, and forget ever existed."[/quote] This is so accurate it's not even funny. I played through the entire game and completely forgot about it until this thread. I even had to google it before I remembered what the gameplay was like. Well, you can't survive as a AAA developer if you aren't going to advertise your games. They were considered AAA right? Sad to see them go.

[QUOTE=Keychain;45276132]But they don't try to give him a personality. He's intentionally silent in order to allow the player to attach their reactions and emotions to him. The protagonist in MS:S is just very bland and barely shows any emotion, even in the scenes where he tries to.[/QUOTE] I got it through buying an R290x, I thought it was going to be like a small GTA but with Ghosts. I guess more like LA Noire I guess?

This reminds me of when Kim Swift left Valve to work for Airtight Games, and Facepunch wished her well on her future endeavors. [QUOTE='[CWG]RustySpannerz;34247547']I know almost nothing about Kim Swift, but my mind treats her like a traitor. I'm sure she's a nice person, but subconsciously I can't help but think, "bitch". [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=itisjuly;45275127]But Gordon Freeman had a game behind him. Soul barely even has a story.[/QUOTE] Sorry, didn't really play it (because like I've said previously, it was a $60 game with no advertising. I had no clue what it was and I had no game savings.)

[QUOTE=Wiggles;45274239]Well, she's 2/2 at the moment, and considering that she left Airtight to join Amazon Game Studios who's debut title was this piece of shit... [video=youtube;iXI898kyBgM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXI898kyBgM[/video] ...I'm gonna go ahead and suggest it'll be an ongoing trend.[/QUOTE] Wasn't the reason of her leaving valve was because the games they made were "Too Hardcore"? And now she's working on this?

What does Kim even do?

[QUOTE=itisjuly;45277013]What does Kim even do?[/QUOTE] Destroying companies by the look of it.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;45274417]So what happens to their IP now? [IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8a/Ghost_Trick_Phantom_Detective_cover_art.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] Yeah, I got that game at release. It was fun as balls and well done. I recommend it.

and it has a pomeranian as a major supporting character

[QUOTE=Hamsterjuice;45277607]and it has a pomeranian as a major supporting character[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://thepopaesthetic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ghosttrickdog-e1296225333622.png[/IMG] man this guy was the most lovable character i have ever encountered in a video game

[QUOTE=theLazyLion;45276874]Wasn't the reason of her leaving valve was because the games they made were "Too Hardcore"? And now she's working on this?[/QUOTE] She left because the polishing endgame on L4d2 after beta was a nightmare, and Gabe Newell said they'd never do another schedule like that again.

[QUOTE=theLazyLion;45276874]Wasn't the reason of her leaving valve was because the games they made were "Too Hardcore"? And now she's working on this?[/QUOTE] No, she wanted the other devs at Valve to only work on her projects and even tried to force them to do this. She wanted her projects to be really worked on and got told that it's not how Valve works. You don't force people onto your projects. She went on to complain about the other employee at Valve because they didn't want to work on her projects. [I]Then[/I] she left and complained about Valve how the "There are no bosses"-structure wouldn't be true, which is stupid because she violated the rules that are in the handbook for employee at Valve and was pointed to it. She thought she would be right, even though it exactly says how Valve works in this little handbook that she obviously didn't want to read.