Atari to revisit Baldur's Gate & NWN

[Gfted1]

Off topic, but I saw that Newc could edit his posts. For some reason I can't. Why's that? There's no edit icon.

 

 

There is a certain time window where you are allowed to edit your posts after you make them. After this limit (I dont know the length) the edit button will disappear. This was apparently done so people couldnt go back and edit out stuff other people have replied to or some craziness like that.

[Amentep]

Ultimately it doesn't matter to me if they necrotise an old beloved title if the resultant game is fun; they can call it "Baldur's Gate 3: Even More Bald Gates" and if its a good game that's what will get me to buy it.

[Rostere]

Any new Baldur's Gate would have to have romances to rival those of BG2.

 

True. Nothing says "Baldur's Gate" better than attention seeking, sex starvedpsychologically disturbed female elves.

 

Viconia

[Morgoth]

Bah and I let her getting killed by the mob... Why didn't anyone tell me I could have sex with her?

[Pidesco]

Bah and I let her getting killed by the mob... Why didn't anyone tell me I could have sex with her?

 

She was a Drow Elf party NPC in a game with NPC interaction, which was made for DnD fanboys.

 

Like, duh

[Pop]

Atari plans to revisit the likes of Baldur's Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, Neverwinter Nights and Test Drive Unlimited, but not in the next 12 months.

 

"You will hear more from these but not today, because we're focused on 2009," Infogrames president Phil Harrison told hacks assembled at a press event this afternoon.

 

for frak's sake, am i the only person on this thread who can actually read?

 

he didn't say they would revisit BG or NWN, but "the likes of" BG and NWN. it's a hopelessly vague statement that most reasonable folk would read as an indication that they want to make games like BG and NWN in the future, but not necessarily direct successors to those games and not in the next year.

 

personally, i think it's deeply unlikely that we'll see a BG3 (pointless as it would be) and i have strong doubts about even an NWN3: no developer in their right mind would want to add to the code as bequeathed by NWNs 1&2 and few would want to spend the time to start a new engine afresh.

 

i'm sure we'll see more D&D games from atari and they might even slap an old name on one of them to garner a few more bucks. but before y'all start drinking the kool aid, you might want to re-read what he said, because if you think that's a firm promise to make BG3 or NWN3, i have a bridge on the thames to sell you.

Frankly, given what we know about Atari's situation (due to the modest success of Alone in the Dark it's hanging by a thread instead of being completely doomed) I'd sooner believe that use of the term "the likes of" is a grammatical error on the part of the writer than a true conveyance of Atari's intent. If I were running Atari I'd have no problems using whatever Big Names I had at my disposal.

 

Which isn't to say that BG3 would be a continuation of the whole Bhaalspawn thing. It's hard to imagine it would be. They're just going to use the name.

[Zoma]

Just like NWN's story to NWN2's story. The only link between them would be subtle references to the previous protagonists and atagonists.

[Volourn]

"2nd Edition, the worst iteration of the game until 4E came along"

 

No. That's the original rules. Then the Basic rules.

 

 

"The only link between them would be subtle references to the previous protagonists and atagonists."

 

Subtle link? L0L

[Dark_Raven]

2nd Edition was the best thing ever to happen to D&D game play.

 

No BG3. Its over and done with. No more. No suck ass 4E rules, no 3D, nothing.

[Llyranor]

Hey, suddenly I really hope BG3 materializes itself soon.

[mkreku]

No BG3. Its over and done with. No more. No suck ass 4E rules, no 3D, nothing.

Yeah, just like Fallout 3 should never have been made either.

 

You just never learn anything, huh?

[Killian Kalthorne]

Don't encourage her, Mkreku. She probably still say that Fallout 3 is crap even though she spent money on it and keeps playing it.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

No BG3. Its over and done with. No more. No suck ass 4E rules, no 3D, nothing.

Yeah, just like Fallout 3 should never have been made either.

 

You just never learn anything, huh?

 

Should have Quantum of Solace been made?

[Llyranor]

Don't lie, Hades. Her BOYFRIEND - with whom she is having a meaningful relationship - bought it, and she's just tagging along for the ride. A horrible, bug-ridden 3D non-isometric ride. But do NOT imply she paid for it. She wouldn't pay for that crap.

[Dark_Raven]

I don't care, it really doesn't matter any more.

[Llyranor]

Yeah, who needs caring when all you really need is Fallout 3

[Junai]

I think a simple party-based strategic combat crpg set in Forgotten Realms would sell no matter what you called it. From what I remember, even ToEE sold a few copies. That proves how starved people are.

 

J.

[Pop]

A few copies, sure. But has been outlined by somebody else here (Grom, I think?) making niche games doesn't make sense when your budgets are the same as mainstream games. People won't pay extra for a good game of a specific type, they'll want to pay regular rates if they'll want to pay at all, so if you're going to go against the grain you have to be prepared for low sales, not hope that you'll tap an untapped market.

[Slowtrain]

The other approach is to not budget all your games as triple A titles that have to sell 5 million copies just to break even. Even Hollywood isn't that dumb.

[Amentep]

The other approach is to not budget all your games as triple A titles that have to sell 5 million copies just to break even. Even Hollywood isn't that dumb.

 

Movies have a lot of markets to get revenue from; while both media offer world-wide distribution, movies have multiple markets - theater, home, premium cable, basic cable and broadcast markets to play with.

 

I know games have a home market, and I guess online downloads could be seen as akin to basic cable, but I do wonder if low budget/low-to-mid return video games can find a niche in the market that would make them worth producing?

 

Most low budget movies are either niche movies (like low budget horror) or they're prestige pictures (lots of drama) or their locally produced. But its cheaper to shoot a low budget film, I'd think, than to develop a game beyond the very simple.

 

Although thinking about it, maybe those ad supported web games are the equivalent to low budget production.

 

Be an interesting question to have answered.

[Slowtrain]

The other approach is to not budget all your games as triple A titles that have to sell 5 million copies just to break even. Even Hollywood isn't that dumb.

 

Movies have a lot of markets to get revenue from; while both media offer world-wide distribution, movies have multiple markets - theater, home, premium cable, basic cable and broadcast markets to play with.

 

I know games have a home market, and I guess online downloads could be seen as akin to basic cable, but I do wonder if low budget/low-to-mid return video games can find a niche in the market that would make them worth producing?

 

Most low budget movies are either niche movies (like low budget horror) or they're prestige pictures (lots of drama) or their locally produced. But its cheaper to shoot a low budget film, I'd think, than to develop a game beyond the very simple.

 

Although thinking about it, maybe those ad supported web games are the equivalent to low budget production.

 

Be an interesting question to have answered.

 

Movies also cost more than games to make (usually) and games usually cost a lot more to purchase as retail units. SO comparing them to directlty probably isn't that useful.

 

However, on a larger scale, making niche products is a completely viable strategy for generating revenue. Although less glamorous than making a blockbuster product, I suppose. One simply needs the discipline to set a realistic budget in accordance with sales projections.

[Amentep]

Well certain niche games do seem to exist as is; heck at this point we could probably argue that anyone making games solely for the PC are making a niche market game.

 

But even beyond that consoles get those Japanese Turn Based strategy games like Nippon-Ichi and a few other companies make and put out despite the fact that turn-based gameplay is radioactive for most US based game makers. But the games that get over here already have met success in another market so that mitigates the localization costs which is probably makes them viable when a US produced (for example) turn-based game might never find success in its prime market to be worth finding a place in other markets.

 

or something.

[Pop]

The other approach is to not budget all your games as triple A titles that have to sell 5 million copies just to break even. Even Hollywood isn't that dumb.

Were it that simple, and that consumers would be satisfied with an old-school BG3 that had roughly the production values of Galactic Civilizations 2. By and large gamers want to have their cake and eat it too.

[Slowtrain]

The other approach is to not budget all your games as triple A titles that have to sell 5 million copies just to break even. Even Hollywood isn't that dumb.

Were it that simple, and that consumers would be satisfied with an old-school BG3 that had roughly the production values of Galactic Civilizations 2. By and large gamers want to have their cake and eat it too.

 

 

Yeah, that's a good point and one I happen to agree with as well. Making a game look and sound good is where the niche game developer would have to skimp. And in todays market that would really hurt sales. Until we reach a point where stablizing technology has lowered the cost of creating high production game environments, the niche game is going to be a hard sell to anyone who didn't grow up playing games 10-20 years ago.

[Llyranor]

Considering that the attached screen is from one of my more anticipated titles of 2009 (4th in a series, so it's selling enough), there's certainly a place for niche games. The entire wargame genre focuses on the low-cost, low-sell, no-compromise-to-gameplay approach. Though, more of those games are being made by pretty small teams, most of whom work part-time or full-time in another 'real job' to make ends meet. There's certainly *some* place for small teams who wanted to make turn-based tactical RPGs with a focus on gameplay and less on bells and whistles. I guess that's where things like Vogel and Age of Decadence shove their ugly heads in.