big nipples big life posted:

Mr.Tophat posted:

Hobold posted:

I almost put MOMA in your spot, but you're just soo much better at burning him than MOMA is.

VictorianQueerLit posted:

wait, people actually read derek's blogs?

Beet Wagon posted:

Lmao that owns.

Latin Pheonix posted:

I see what you did there!

Mr.Tophat posted:

*Chris turns on the tv*

An image of a drone who labours over code in an office flashes into being on screen and a voice over asks, "Are you tired of deadlines being missed or ignored?" The drone nods sadly. Chris raises an eyebrow and looks around to see if anyone is watching. He draws a little closer.

"Sick of your impressive ambition never gaining traction?" the bodiless narrator asks shrilly, and the drone nods further and gives out a sorrowful, "Sure am." Chris leans further towards to the glow of the television. His eyes widen as hope flutters in his heart.

"Don't you wish there was a better way to ensure your dreams reach the market?" the television blares as Chris crawls towards the television and grasps the set within his hands. The drone on screen nods sadly.

"Yes! Yes!" Chris says excitedly, all fear of those who might overhear him lost at the prospect of salvation.

"Tired of your project making no progress despite all your good ideas and staff?" the narrator cuts back in, "Well, lucky for you, there's a better way!"

"Tell me, tell me! Please!" Chris bellows and shakes the television.

"Well, your answer is here: Get a refund."

Chris howls and curls into the fetal position, his spirit finally as broken as his game.

Cao Ni Ma posted:

The delay report Mr. Roberts

Mirificus posted:

Eurogamer: Chris Roberts "a bit too ambitious"

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/article_29857

doingitwrong posted:

Like MoMA, I am a wealthy rich person who can afford the finer things in life.

So I love to spew money in random directions. Just throw it out there. Bills, blank cheques, no wrong answers. Just get it out there and see what comes of it, you know? Most of the time, not much happens and I never see the money again but one of these days, it's going to lead to the best experience of my life.

The reason I can afford to do this is because I am so financially astute.

radd posted:

FTFY.

Sappo569 posted:

Jesus how anyone can read this and still have faith in Cribblers is beyond my simpleton understanding

He is step for step doing the exact. Same. Thing. Again.

Mirificus posted:

Eurogamer: Chris Roberts "a bit too ambitious"

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/article_29857

quote:

"Loose Cannon" will also be looking for a new publisher, with project lead Tony ["Y'know"] Zurovec leaving the company to complete the game elsewhere.

Mirificus posted:

Eurogamer: Chris Roberts "a bit too ambitious"

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/article_29857

IGN posted:

If you read the newsgroups or message boards at all, then you've heard the rumors that Chris Roberts is out and Microsoft is in over at Digital Anvil. Repeated calls to both Microsoft and Digital Anvil have, until today, resulted in little more than "no comment." But early this morning Microsoft finally put and end to the rumors and issued a press release revealing that they've reached "a preliminary agreement to acquire Digital Anvil." This is just the latest in a long line of studio acquisitions made by the Microsoft Games Groups including FASA Interactive, Access Software and Bungie Software.

We just spoke with Ed Fries, General Manager of the Games Group at Microsoft, and Chris Roberts, founder of Digital Anvil and creator of the Wing Commander series, about the change. Key on our minds were the status of the four titles currently under development at the company -- Freelancer, Loose Cannon, the recently cancelled Conquest: Frontier Wars and the as yet unnamed strategy title for Xbox. We were also keen to discover what effect the acquisition would have on Chris Roberts and producers Erin Roberts and Tony Zurovec. But being the wily interviewers that we are, we decided to open with an entirely different question just to throw them off.

IGNPC: The first thing I want to ask is how preliminary is this deal? What's the timeframe for this?

Ed Fries: We're moving very rapidly. We expect that it's going to be completed. I was down in Austin yesterday and we did the announcement to the employees offers are going out and that people will join up to the company next week

IGNPC: Really? So it should be final pretty soon then?

Ed Fries: Yeah, very soon.

IGNPC: What's the disposition of the existing titles under development?

Ed Fries: You can think of there having been four titles under development. Conquest, which was just wrapping up so that's basically done, Loose Cannon, Freelancer and an unannounced Xbox title. And really those last two are the biggest most ambitious titles. They're the ones that employ the most people down there. And what we're really trying to do is focus on doing a smaller set of things and make sure that they really reach the high bar that we set for Digital Anvil which is to do amazing, amazing things. We're continuing on those two. Conquest we had already announced that we had made the decision not to publish that title and Chris will be taking that out to other publishers and then he'll also be taking Loose Cannon as well.

IGNPC: So those titles are still alive, they're just looking for new publishers.

Ed Fries: That's correct.

Chris Roberts: Yeah, I guess this week and next week I'm actually spending a fair amount of time talking to other publishers about it and hopefully finding a home for those two products. I just hadn't done anything over the past month because we were in negotiations over the acquisition.

IGNPC: I know that you're very connected with Freelancer and Erin's connected with the Xbox title. What sort of role are you going to play in the development of these games from this point on?

Chris Roberts: I'm basically going to be a creative consultant on Freelancer and I'm not involved in the Xbox title.

IGNPC: And what's Erin's status in all this?

Chris Roberts: He's still on the Xbox title so he'll be staying with Digital Anvil.

IGNPC: A lot of the rumors have speculated that you were both leaving.

Chris Roberts: No, it'll be just me and Tony actually. So hopefully we're going to set up Loose Cannon somewhere and then Tony will obviously go with that. I'm going to stay as a consultant on Freelancer and take some time off to kind of rethink what I want to do in the interactive entertainment field.

IGNPC: So you don't have any definite plans right now?

Chris Roberts: No, actually I just want to see Freelancer out the door and then I want to take some time to reassess everything. Taking three and a half to four years to build a massive title just seems like a huge amount of effort, There needs to be a better way to do it.

IGNPC: Right. How does this change the calendar for development? Are you going to have to push the release of the games back further as a result of these changes?

Ed Fries: It's really a little early to say. We have offers out to a lot of the really great people in the company and in the next week or so we'll know exactly what the team is that we have working on it. Then they'll have a chance to look at the title and assess where it's at and how long it's going to take to ship. So it's just kind of a bad time to ask that question.

Chris Roberts: The plan is that hopefully both titles aren't affected by this.

Ed Fries: They could actually end up with more people working on them.

IGNPC: Why did you guys decide to acquire Digital Anvil in whole instead of going for more of a Big Huge Games model? Why is important for you to own the whole company?

Ed Fries: Well we kind of see this as a natural evolution of the relationship that we have. It was always more than just a one-off publishing relationship. We always had a minority equity investment and over the last six months we've had a chance to take a step back and look at what's work and what hasn't worked over the last three and a half years of our relationship. Basically what we've decided is Digital Anvil is doing what we want which is to really try to push the boundary of what's possible in games, to really try and do some super ambitious things. It's hard to completely change where the bar is for games and do it five times at once. You know what I mean?

So that's when we decided really we needed to step back, be more focused. We had some problems with the split of resources between the people we had here in Redmond working on the project and the people we have in Austin and by doing an acquisition we'll be able to bring everybody who's involved in the project together in one place. So it's all really about bringing the kind of focus that we need to make the project successful.

IGNPC: But you're still going to keep the studio open in Austin?

Ed Fries: Oh, absolutely. You know, my group more and more is becoming a collection of studios. Whether it's the internal Bungie Studio or the Access studio in Salt Lake, this'll be our Austin Studio. It'll retain the Digital Anvil name. I even have a studio in Japan now.

IGNPC: Are you looking towards maybe switching brands among studios to find better fits for things? You have FASA which is more sim oriented. Is there some idea that you're going to reinforce that emphasis by taking titles from other studios and moving them among different development houses?

Ed Fries: Yeah, my job becomes more about trying to keep the different development studios out of each other's way. Try to make it so that we're not doing the same thing three times in three different places. If you really look at how my group was three or four years ago versus where it is now, three or four years ago the group was broken into divisions by genre -- a simulations group, a racing group, etc. Now it's more individual creative studios that have their own ambitions and their own direction that they want to take their title. Like I said, I'm just kind of the traffic cop to keep them out of each other's way.

IGNPC: Okay. Thanks very much for your time and good luck to both of you.

Gamespot posted:

In a surprising press release issued yesterday, Microsoft announced that it has acquired Digital Anvil and the rights to Freelancer and an unnamed Xbox game. Even more surprising was the news that Digital Anvil's famed designer and CEO Chris Roberts will leave the company once the acquisition is completed in order to pursue other interests. We spoke with Roberts about this announcement briefly yesterday, but this morning we took the time to sit down with him and talk about these recent developments in length.

GameSpot: Chris, how long ago did you start talking with Microsoft about the acquisition? Who initiated these talks?

Chris Roberts: Microsoft started the talks about six months ago.

GS: In a time when a developer's freedom is fast becoming scarce, why would you choose to make Digital Anvil a division of the world's largest software company?

CR: It's very difficult to build wildly ambitious games without the financial security of a larger company, especially when their development cycles are so unpredictable. Freelancer was meant to take three years - it will probably be four and a half years by the time it is done. It's very tough for an independent developer to weather that kind of slip, and it's not just Digital Anvil. I believe all A+ games require severe patience and funds - witness Team Fortress 2 and Black & White.

GS: Does that mean that Digital Anvil was ever at the risk of running out of money? Was this acquisition necessitated by a need for funding?

CR: Partly. Whenever something runs later, it needs more funding. Becoming part of Microsoft made this issue less of a problem.

GS: And how will this acquisition benefit the development of the Digital Anvil games?

CR: Security in being part of an ambitious publisher. In-house games always are the favored children [of publishers]. Believe me, I know - this was totally the case with Electronic Arts when I was there on the other side of the fence.

GS: Conversely, how could this acquisition possibly hurt their development?

CR: It gives Digital Anvil less independence. [The games become] more susceptible to the political whims or needs of a big organization (the same issue was at EA) or sacrificing for the greater good of the organization, like making Christmas no matter what cost because the games group really needs a hit.

GS: When Microsoft acquired Bungie, the entire company was relocated to Redmond, Wash. Does this mean that Digital Anvil employees will have to move from Austin, Texas, to Washington?

CR: No. Digital Anvil will continue to operate in Austin, from the current offices.

GS: What's the mood like in the office? Does the team view this acquisition as a good move?

CR: Generally, most people are positive. The extra security of being part of a big organization is good.

GS: As part of the acquisition agreement, Microsoft only picked up Freelancer and an unannounced Xbox game. Where does that leave Loose Cannon?

CR: I (along with the other key shareholders) retained the publishing, intellectual property, and code rights to Loose Cannon and Conquest: Frontier Wars with the acquisition. I am working hard to set up Loose Cannon and Conquest with another publisher.

GS: Why didn't Microsoft choose to publish Conquest: Frontier Wars? After all, the game is finished, right?

CR: Microsoft's publishing model is very different to most other publishers' - if they don't believe they can sell more that 500,000 units, they are not interested in selling it (with their overhead it means they will probably lose money just releasing it). Conquest was on this cusp. This is not true for other, smaller publishers. I believe very strongly in Conquest, it's fun and it looks fantastic. We will shortly be posting a Web demo, and we're currently talking to publishers. I'm pretty positive it will find a home before the year is out and you will see it on shelves next spring. At that point, everyone can judge for themselves.

GS: Have other publishers expressed interest in picking up Conquest: Frontier Wars?

CR: Absolutely. Everyone who has seen it to date has expressed strong interest. In fact, most people can't believe Microsoft didn't want to publish it.

GS: Is Tony Zurovec going to found his own game company?

CR: Hopefully he will finish Loose Cannon. After that, who knows?

GS: Is Erin Roberts staying at Digital Anvil? What's he been working on since StarLancer?

CR: Erin is staying. He is producing our unannounced Xbox title.

GS: What's going to happen to the other team members who were previously working on Conquest and Loose Cannon?

CR: Some will move over to Freelancer and the Xbox title. Some will leave Digital Anvil to continue working on Loose Cannon and ensuring Conquest meets another publisher's requirements.

GS: Let's go back to Freelancer. What will your role in the project be following the completion of the acquisition?

CR: I'm now the creative consultant. I'll be polishing off the script, giving ongoing creative guidance to Phil Wattenburger (my co-director on the project), and helping with all the press stuff.

GS: Are you pretty confident that Microsoft won't change the game? To make it more marketable, for example?

CR: Hey, it's fully mouse-driven. It's already marketable! I wouldn't have done the acquisition if I thought that Microsoft would compromise Phil's and my vision for the titles.

GS: Do you think Microsoft will port Freelancer onto the Xbox? Do you think it could be a good Xbox game, despite its mouse-driven interface?

CR: This is really a Microsoft question, but my guess is no for Freelancer. Freelancer 2 is another question.

GS: We know that you can't divulge too much information on Digital Anvil's unannounced Xbox game, which was picked up by Microsoft, but can you give us any hints as to what kind of game it will be? What genre does it fall under?

CR: Ed Fries would hunt me down and kill me. But it has been in development for two years and it is sci-fi...

GS: You've previously told us that you'd like to do more work in film or explore ways to exploit broadband technology. Can you elaborate?

CR: I'll be ready to tell you more later.

GS: Looking back, do you wish you could revisit the Wing Commander universe, or do you feel you've taken that series as far as it can go?

CR: I still love Wing Commander. Given the right opportunity, I would definitely revisit it.

GS: Does your departure from Digital Anvil mean that you'll be leaving gaming altogether?

CR: No. I love interactive gaming. I just need some time to recharge my batteries, because working on four-year projects is very draining.

GS: Thanks for your time, Chris.

Quavers posted:

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2000/12/05/digital-anvil-interview



https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gamespot-interview-chris-roberts/1100-2662128/

Hobold posted:

I made a thing.

Beer4TheBeerGod posted:

The unsubstantiated rumor that I heard was that Microsoft took over DA because they caught Chris using their funds to do the digital effects for the Wing Commander movie. When the movie flopped Chris was hosed.

peter gabriel posted:

The saddest trombone on all the internet is surely the SQ42 sub reddit, it's brilliant

https://www.reddit.com/r/Squadron42/