What the f**k.
Wow. Can't believe it. Thanks for that sony, you ****s.
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What the f**k.
Wow. Can't believe it. Thanks for that sony, you ****s.
i agree with everyone here...
everyone who worked at SL and is reading this thank you guys :clap,
you made us happy with your games (wipeout series, the amazing f1 '97...)
good luck in your life and dont give up!
Wow! Just fu***ng wow! Psygnosis has been a part of my life since my first C64. I can still remember being excited about Shadow of the Beast and Destruction Derby. I still remember the first time I played WO2097 and deciding on the spot to buy a playstation. That was the game that made me the hardcore Sony fanboy I was until today.
To everyone at Studio Liverpool (and Psygnosis) : Thank you for the greatness you have brought to my TV over the years, and I wish you all the best possible future.
To Sony : F*** **U!
@PS: I dunno... remember, although they were an arm of Sony technically back in 95, Psygnosis was the one who owned the IP, otherwise the first two games would never have found their way to the Saturn, nor would the N64 have gotten its own game. I suppose it's possible when Sony sorta took full control of Psygnosis (circa WO3?), they may have claimed the series.
When I think back over the past couple years, I think it's funny how so many people lauded their beloved Sony and PS3 when I was one of the sole 360 supporters here on the forum... I got a lot of BS from people, and both Microsoft and the 360 were on the receiving end of a lot of undue negativity- but if nothing else, whether you still think the 360 is garbage or whatever, you can't say microsoft has made any mistakes this generation other than just trying to rush their console out to meet launch demand (resulting in RROD/E74); they've delivered on promises, supported and encouraged their creative teams, continually improved their services and product, and they haven't once removed capabilities of their hardware or scaled things back. Even if you don't like MS and the 360, you have to respect them as a solid and identifiable presence in the gaming scene... and it's a welcome scenario considering how much Sony has fouled things up after the PS2.
Yeah, AG-WOLF, I can respect that mate! Especially the way MS supports 3rd party games developers... something Sony coulda learnt from
I will hope in this :frown:....Quote:
Originally Posted by Connavar
For Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool:
INFINITE THANKS!
THANKS TO YOU GUYS!
For all these years I have been a fan of WipEout since the first time I've played WipEout 2097...I really love this game and it will be a part of my soul for eternity.
You've created more than a simple game, a real experience and all of you, guys, have introduced a new game conception: a real virtual reality!
And you, Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool, are the one and only that have created this experience!
Don't bring down your heads, but stand up your pride!
Still Spread Your Wings, Psygnosis!
This is worst action ever maked by....the hateful one....Sony! WE HATE YOU ALL!
From today I will never be a Sony supporter anymore: F**K OFF!
EDIT: Oops! A tear from my eye, this is very sad!
Xpandrome2097 - They not listening :lol they never did listen, did they? Sony are deaf to us, they probably are deaf to all mouths, except for the ones which show them £$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$ na am saying? shame huh!
Oh ACE, at least a time in my life: f**k money :paperbag!Quote:
Originally Posted by ACE-FLO
For the staff: sorry for the bad language, but am very sad/frustrated for this notice, is the worst notice ever listened!
Is a realized nightmare, can't you understand :frown:?
By the way, am very sad: it's not very different from a goodbye to one of your best friends...
We all feel the same bro, all feel the same as you do.
Rain over paradise.
Who ever thought this would happen, esp. after getting such an awesome
DLC just half a year ago? wtf?!
i am sad for SL..fat cats at sony protect their profits by axing the talent that put them their..:nod
Could somebody give me a tl;dr version of what is going on here?
Lemme see if I've got this right since I'm just now reading up on this thread... Studio Liverpool is laying off a bunch of people so WipEout HD development has gone to basically nil, and somehow Sony is involved? I'm not quite sure what "sweeping redundancies" means. This all sounds awful though. :(
Redundancy = Layoff in Euro-Speak.
Sony more or less owned Studio Liverpool (formally Psygnosis) - and from what I now understand, gutted / shut it down nearly entirely. So the team who developed Wipeout HD/Fury no longer works for Sony Studio Liverpool.... and most of them, no longer have work, period.
Ah, thanks for clarifying, IH8YOU. That does suck, big time. I'm so sad this game doesn't have more support, because it certainly deserves it. :( Hats off to the SL team who have given me high speed, high energy entertainment since my early childhood. Best of luck to you all!
i feel really bad, i didnt saw this new until kyonshi told me about it.... as much as i would like another wo i cant think they will release another one :( an awesome game much better than most of the games in this generation is dying :( i think if they would gave it a good publicity it would have sold more and maybe the studio never had closed.
thanks SL thank you so much for all those games u have made, hope all your mates at work find another job, sony is really a !$%$%" for this -_-
i think ill buy the bluray version of wipeout hd fury now more than ever
Thanks to Psygnosis and Now Studio Liverpool for the awesome games they gave us. Best wishes for the victims of the redundancies, i hope they'll find quickly great opportunities.
Regarding the Wipeout series destiny, i remember how i was disapointed when the fighter serie "tobal" ends, despite it was the best game from far in his category ! Some historical sony/psx games still remains, like tekken, but now those games are overtaken by the competition. This is not the case for wipeout, the HD version is awesome, it's a snap in the face of gt, forza, nfs...
I stay convinced that wohd sold very well regarding the total lack of promo.
I hope that a guy, less dumb than the others at Sony, will take the good decision about the serie ! :mr-t
This sucks :frown:. WipEout HD is everything a downloadable game should be, unlike lots of the crap on the PSN (tower defence style games etc), and its DLC isn't blatantly stealing people's money for what should be free.
Sad days. My best wishes to my boys and girls of SL.
It may perhaps be a good time for some of the former members of SL to write down
how it was to be there as long as their memory is fresh, how the studio and
WipEout HD has evolved over time, problems and solutions you guys were going
to face and have solved better then initially thought, or just tell some
interesting stories nobody knows. It would be quite pleasing to know how
everything came together, and it would kinda serve the documentation about the
Wipeout universe and the people evolved. In 10 years from now, these information
will be hard to find, if ever.
A new thread within the Off-Topic section about the history of Studio Liverpool
would keep the memories, about the people who took part in the creation of
WipEout HD, a life. I would highly appreciate that. Take your time....
I wanted to work at SL. Looks like that ain't happening..... :bombQuote:
Originally Posted by ACE-FLO
Don't lose hope young friend. You got crazy skills and you will work for a top development studio, just don't lose hope. And don't forget, you got the brains, vision and grit to get you there!
I hope that everyone who have worked at Psygnosis/SL during all these years will try to found a new exciting game company...
Oh, what a dream!
I think that everyone on this forum will be excited for this, indeed!
I received Stin's SMS this morning and had a shock.
Cannie beleived it at 1st then i pictured on my mind the great weekend we spent at the Studio with my dear mates ( Charlie & Stevie already mentionned it) meeting all the great guys who were working hard to develop at that time the new Wipeout HD. We knew they hadn't time for us but they took a whole afternoon, tchatting & joking with us but also discussing seriously about Wipeout in general over the years. They all shown us their true passion & involvment into Wipeout and eventhough i didn't catched all ( my english listening : my bad :( ) their eyes were saying more than their words.
This is extremely difficult for me to continue writing.
Sorry
When I play Wipeout, it feels like the people who made it knew me.
I did not know them, but wherever they go, I hope for them with all my heart.
I remembered something earlier I dont think I ever mentioned on here
Not long after we finished work on WOHD, Paul Tweedle and Tony Buckley, (the producer and game director) received a letter from a soldier out in afghanistan praising wipeout pure and thanking us for keeping him entertained whilst he was out on a tour of duty, saying how he'd actually broken his copy of the game using it so much (or something) but just thanking us and saying how some of the guys out there used psps to keep themselves entertained. Paul and Tony got a goody bag together of wipeout stuff a copy of pulse another of pure and I think they even threw in another psp and then mailed it out to him via the armed forces post service.
I know at times in the past years fans can be frustrated with dev guys, but every single person on those titles worked hard and always tried the best for the game, we may have had the odd delay and may have got a few things wrong now and again, and god knows we had disagreements with each other, but the dedication to quality and the passion and commitment could never be faulted.
I'm just a bit shellshocked about how they've all been treated
I was just reading up on SCE Studio Liverpool before Sony yanked it off their website.
http://www.worldwidestudios.net/liverpool
:(
Thanks Colin for your memories. If you're still in touch with the guys from SL who don't normally come to this forum, it would be great if you could encourage them to read these topics. They're probably not in the mood to post how they really feel right now but at least they can see how much they are appreciated.
What a great story, Colin.
I don't know to what extent you're allowed to talk about it, but since this has been such a shock, I'm guessing that things were going pretty well for Wipeout HD Fury and it had been profitable? That the low price had not impacted the bottom line too greatly? Because I immediately worried for the future of the studio when I first saw Wipeout HD's price. It seemed like there was a very risky strategy behind it. I hope the studio did not come to this fate because of the reckless decisions of some upper level marketer or economist.
Phantastic story, Colin. And it isn't too difficult to imagine the big smile on his
face. Hopefully this special memory serves him even today!
What I love about you guys and gals is your dedication to quality, it's an
irreplaceable value and has made WOHD and icon for me.
That story truly touched me Colin.
Although the future of Wipeout is uncertain, there is one thing that isn't - the loyalty of the fans. Thank you so much SL for everything :)
PurE was my first WipEout game, which I bought at the North American launch of the PSP in 2005.
One of the reasons that I spent so much time playing WipEout games since that time was Sony's commitment to the franchise-- three excellent games in a five year period! I also appreciated the relatively open communication that Studio Liverpool gave to its fans. This was very different from what happens with a first-party Nintendo studio, for example.
So Sony's decision to close Studio Liverpool is very disappointing to me. My best wishes go out to all SL employees, and also my thanks for developing such amazing software. I guess the future of the WipEout IP is still unknown... but there is no doubt that the events of the last week will profoundly affect the history of the franchise.
Great story, thank you for sharing this and your other thoughts and insights over the years. The communication of WipEout creators to the WOZ was a special thing and it is very sad to see it lost :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Colin Berry
I would enjoy hearing other stories (if permitted by NDAs etc. of course!)
All in all this is the best game that has been released in years imo. On top of that it was also cheap and i could easily have paid full price for such a excellent game. All games have their occasional bug or annoyance anyways and there is always someone who will be unhappy no matter what.Quote:
Originally Posted by Colin Berry
Edit: Also does the people who are responsible for the layoff have some email address? I really want to tell Sony how i feel about this whole situation.
I'm shocked after this news. To everyone involved in Psygnosis / SL over the years, thank you for building the string of titles that brought so many hours of fun to so much people all over the globe, who continue to play to this day. I don't think it's irrelevant to note that I came today to the site to learn about this, only a few minutes after receiving in the mail a copy of Wipeout 3 to replace a worn-out disk.
It's very sad to learn of the treatment some of the staff has received. Your accomplishments on HD won't be surpassed by any racing game on this console generation. I wish you the best recovery.
*posted this in the other related thread, before realizing that this is the main thread for this, so reposting here.
Wow, this is depressing news. Thanks to SL/Psygnosis and I wish you all the best of luck. I may not be playing WOHD as much as I used to, but my love for it is, and always will be, strong.
Selfishly, I find myself imagining a world with no future iterations of WO and the day that the WOHD servers finally go offline. It's...unthinkable...and will effectively disconnect an entire community of gamers/friends from all over the world. That would be a sad, sad day... :(
I'll never forget all the amazing folks I've gotten to know, thanks to WO.
Sony = :turd
Really agree w/ you L&P :|Quote:
Originally Posted by LOUDandPROUD
Feel really sad (also) for all the good guys at SL :(
But hopefully - like Rock´n Roll - WO will never die ..... We yet have to hear if WO in some way will continue ... Not too high hopes, I must admit - BUT BUT BUT .....
Let´s all keep racing and be friends in speed :rock :? :eek :guitar :?: :?: :?:
maybe by then, people will have figured out how to crack some code and do their own online servers like someone did with Phantasy Star Online back in the day for Dreamcast... PSN games don't have a constricted network like Xbox Live, so technically if you could just tell the game to connect to a different IP when it looks for the WOHD online servers- as long as it gets the right response, maybe it would work.
It almost feels like a good friend died...
I wish everyone who worked at SL and the WipEout series all the best for the future and hope HD wasnt the last game i could play from you.
Playing videogames is one of the very few things i can do due to my Spinal Muscular Atrophy and great games like WipEout helped me to get through a lot of bad times in the past. I have a lot of respect for you developers.
:|.....................:|
Just came back from my friends house after watching the Royal Rumble in a fairly good mood, until I logged in here and saw that on the front page.
My first thoughts were also images of the studio flashing through my mind like Stevie, Charlie and Arnaud when we got the once in a lifetime chance to see the place, I still remember all the Wipeout posters, computers and big screens everywhere. :nod (I won't thank you Mister Hellfire for digging up those out dated pictures of me lol ;)
Very sad to see such talented people put out of work after producing such quality and entertaining products, rest assured we all wish you the best.
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....
To borrow a line from a song, which I think sums up the way we feel towards Wipeout: Even through the darkest days, this fire burns, always.
Noooo :( There goes my childhood memories, playing Wipeout2097 after school on a grey winter day. The thunder and lightning of GareDe Europa... It felt good knowing that what it was then is still relevant today.
Thanks for the memories SL (psygnosis), feel proud in acknowledging that you guys shaped and imbuned countless individuals with great imagination. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
Its just too sad to take in...
Haven’t been able to play much Wipeout at all over the last 6 months or so, or even been on the PS3 during that time. But when I read the rumours about jobs cuts at Studio Liverpool, I felt compelled to come here and express my views.
Wipeout is the most enjoyable game I have played on a console – bar none. It is quite literally the only reason I purchased a PS3 over an Xbox: without Wipeout, I would definitely have chosen the latter. The game just exudes quality, and has done so since the very first Wipeout was released.
So a big thank you to all those talented individuals involved in making the game: you’ve given me and countless others so much enjoyment over the years. I really hope those guys who have been made redundant get back in employment as soon as possible: I’m sure having “worked on developing Wipeout” etc on your CVs will be a massive positive for you all.
As for Sony: well, I don’t know the exact whys and wherefores behind this decision: all I can say is that on the face of it this decision could well backfire. Butchering a studio with such talented people working in it, and one with such a fantastic reputation for quality, seems very short-sighted indeed. Even if times are tough, or when you can’t avoid the need to ‘re-structure’ or make cuts, you should always take steps to make sure you don’t lose your prize assets. I’m afraid to say that Sony appear to have done exactly that.