SL redundancies and the future [if any] of HD

[RJ O'Connell]

What does the future hold now? I certainly hope Wipeout isn't canned whilst a piece of crap like Motorstorm lives on, no doubt the chances of that are high. Lets not forget to slap Phill Harrison whilst we're at it if I recall correctly he couldn't push Evo enough, he also couldn't NOT mention SL enough.

I'll be watching the scene closely. If it becomes apparent Wipeout is going to become WipeoutStorm Pacific Rift or indeed, gone forever then so will my support of anything with a PlayStation logo on it, never thought I'd say that. Might get some use out of my 360 besides Mass Effect 2 after all....

Right, because we all know at this very moment that Evolution Studios is going to turn Wipeout into an off-road racer just to spite everyone that worked at SL.

[mdhay]

I am actually scared about what's gonna happen to wipEout.

[MrSmadSmartAlex]

Heh, why? Just play the other Wipeout games that you like - it's not like they're negated the moment a new Wipeout game comes out (even if it's a good game). Many people only like the first 3 Wipeouts for example (which is cool), and I'll enjoy playing Pulse for years to come (no matter if people say it's "dead" or inferior to WOHD (which it isn't!)). Let's just be grateful to SL/Psygnosis for the Wipeouts we already enjoy.

[mdhay]

Because some peice o' studio might pick it up and turn it into a casual gaming peice of crap (hopefully this isn't EA for god's sake), Bill Gates might flash his wallet of Doom and buy it out, making the fanboy bastards at school beat the hell out of me (and I'm outnumbered at least 34 to 1 ). Again, and it may cease to exist entirely. I can't really play wipEout anymore, now that SL is no more. Sure, it's melodramatic, but they are a huge part of my childhood, distracting me from my mother complaining about not being a single - parent dole dosser/ Queen of the Universe. So, I'm really defensive about this. And, considering that I wanted to work for them, it's even worse. Of course, it isn't anywhere as near as bad as what the former employees went through, but everyone handles these things differently, don't they?

[MrSmadSmartAlex]

Yeah, I agree that it'd be a shame if the Wipeout series went downhill, and it was pretty of Sony to do what they've done. What I meant was that it shouldn't detract from enjoying the existing games that SL/Psygnosis worked so hard on.

[mdhay]

Like I said, knowing that SL isn't around anymore makes it too hard to play, for me at least.

[Z°ⁿε]

Figures.

The one game i can really connect too, and it's cut short.

[chboing]

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck
:'(

that's really sad indeed ...
i'm going to buy bluray after all.
need to play more wipeout, i miss you guys, and i'm not even level 50 ! damn

see you online, and good luck to all SL staff !

[Rapier Racer]

Right, because we all know at this very moment that Evolution Studios is going to turn Wipeout into an off-road racer just to spite everyone that worked at SL.

The implication was clear, attempt to give Wipeout mass market appeal and downgrade the game in the process

It's already easy enough.

[TearsToShreds]

Man, I haven't been active on the boards for a while, but recently got back into the habit of playing some Wipeout here and there, and decided to check what's going on in Wipeout land... and I read this. And to be honest, it hit me pretty hard. It's very rare for me to get emotional over anything happening in the business of videogames, but this news made me pretty uneasy. I pretty much grew up playing Psygnosis games and have always had a deep appreciation for their work.

Heartfelt wishes to all the people who've lost their job, I'm sure you still all have a bright future ahead of you.

[infoxicated]

Bear in mind there's still hope - a handful of guys were retained and a few others are on garden leave while Sony makes their mind up what to do with them. Torturous for those involved, but it does mean that proper development (as opposed to being outsourced to Killzone & Motorstorm) might one day be resurrected at Studio Liverpool.

[blackwiggle]

There's a proposed piss up on the 28th Feb for the SL guys.

[abukii]

...and I wish I could go

and what is "garden leave" ?

[Rapier Racer]

We can only hope such a resurrection takes place.

[infoxicated]

It's supposed to be in late February, but no date has been set yet.

I'll probably head down for it, tho'.

[TearsToShreds]

Pardon the ignorance, but what is this 'piss up'?

[Rapier Racer]

lol crowd of people hitting the town, said crowd consumes quantities of alcohol, usually vast quantities.

[YouAreFubar]

I havent been around for a while and what news to come back to. What an absolute shame that this has happened. I feel the merger would have been more beneficial if they had shed most of Evo's staff rather than those at SL.

Wipeout has been a mainstay of mine since the original 15 years ago, and is one of the games that has kept me buying the Playstation brand (the others, Air Combat and Metal Gear are gone and also going be the looks of things). Its a shame its ended like this, if Sony do pass the IP to another team to work on, no doubt it will go in a new direction and it just wont be the same. Ive heard time and time again the passion the staff at SL have for their games and gamers this has definitely shown through in what is their longest running series. I really do wish everyone affected all the best, I hope something good will come to all of them from what is certainly another in a long line of big mistakes made by Sony.

Infox, if you do go to the piss up please give them all our best and wish them luck for the future from us.

[q_dmc12]

Well that sucks! :-

At least we still have the zone.

The programmers' at SL excellence I strive to achieve some day, and I don't even have to hope that they'll carry on at other companies and on bigger, better projects - with a track record like the WipEout series there's no doubt!

To the future..

[ProblemSolver]

I've read the following just yesterday;

Two SCEE Vets Join Outsourcing Firm
by Leigh Alexander
May 12, 2010

Two former senior-level employees from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have joined Liverpool's Catalyst Outsourcing Limited as senior producers.

Gareth Betts, previously senior producer on F1 Championship Edition and Wipeout HD spent 4 years with Sony, while Tony Buckley, who was Wipeout franchise game director, was with Sony's Studio Liverpool for 7 years.

Production service and outsourcing firm Catalyst says it's working on expanding its production team in Liverpool and is "delighted" to be joined by Buckley and Betts.

"Collectively Garth and Tony bring 37 years gaming industry experience to Catalyst and its range of production and development services," said production director Ian Davies.

Catalyst offers a broad range of development services, from concept design and illustration to writing, rigging and animation, business development and more.

Related news:
SCEE Vet Davies Forms Development Outsourcing Company

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