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Thread: Studio Liverpool gone

  1. #121
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    Hmm. Wonder what company will take WipEout?

  2. #122
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    My guess would be Evolution Studios, then again no-one really has a good reason to pickup the series. I really do hope that they don't drop it though and make that PS4 title.

    It may have made the game more appealing if they somehow implemented the back story and had some faces in Wipeout, though who am I to say?

  3. #123
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    Quote Originally Posted by Amaroq Dricaldari View Post
    This is potentially one of the reasons Studio Liverpool was closed: http://www.wipeoutzone.com/forum/sho...688#post219688
    NO!
    Please do not start such stupid rumours, you have mentioned this twice now on separate threads and it is completely pointless to do so, and serves no purpose whatsoever

    Colin's death had nothing to do with the studio closing at all, end. period.

    Colin had left studio Liverpool over 12months ago, he was working on other projects completely unrelated to Sony Liverpool. His death 2 weeks ago was a massive shock and HUGE loss, he was one of the best friends anyone could have.
    Please do not continue to speculate in such a manner, linking two completely separate things.

  4. #124
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    Quote Originally Posted by GalacticSpartan View Post
    Hmm. Wonder what company will take WipEout?
    If they bring it back, Evolution will do it - they have racing game heritage there and I sometimes wonder if that's all Mick Hocking wanted - the good ideas from Studio Liverpool, but not the people.

    The game that became Motorstorm Apocalypse was originally a Studio Liverpool concept - I think Nick Burcombe came up with the idea of "racing in a disaster zone", where the route might change due to falling buildings or the road being ripped up by fault lines developing, that kind of thing. It was around about the time Sony acquired Evolution and Mick Hocking took over as group director of both studios.

    Well whaddya know, Studio Liverpool never even got put the concept into pre-production and the idea is hijacked for a Motorstorm sequel. It was supposed to be a symbiotic relationship, where both studios would help each other out, but I reckon Hocking loathed Studio Liverpool being successful and didn't want Evolution playing second fiddle. From the moment he took over he dismantled Studio Liverpool piece by piece. There's no way Clemens Wangerin would have walked away from his job as Studio Manager before Hocking got involved and marginalised him completely.

    It might well have been Michael Denny that flew in to deliver the killer blow, but for my money it was Hocking that did the dirty work.

    So, to go back to the answer to your question, if it ever returns Evolution will do it.

  5. #125
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    Regarding the actual closing of the studio, there is much I could say but it would serve no real purpose.

    I do think it is fair for me to say that Sony management never quite made the most of the talent in the studio or the experience or indeed the breadth of IPs it had at its disposal, that could have been brought onto PS3 or even PS2 or PSP or VITA.
    I can also say that at times, perhaps we never truly took the risks we could have (I pushed heavily to make Pulse, and I am proud of the game we made, but in retrospect we perhaps should have made something else and risked more because Pulse was a 'safe' option in many ways, but anyway...).

    Ultimately, I feel for those who have lost their jobs, but I am confident they will all find work, they are an extremely talented bunch.

    I have no idea what will happen with Wipeout, I suspect it will resurface at some point, I just hope it is treated with the care and passion and dedication that it was always treated with, by the various teams at Sony Liverpool over the years.

  6. #126
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    Sad, sad news. Others have said not surprising and maybe that should be the case - wasn't it a couple of years ago we thought it had pretty much gone anyway? But in reality, I am suprised. While the sales of 2048 likely haven't been good and I wasn't a fan personally, given the fairly abysmal level of Vita support, I would have thought it a jewel among the Vita releases and certainly one that is the visual showcase for the system. And HD/Fury seemed to get a lot of play on other gaming boards I happen upon - again mentioned as a visual system highlight too. The games have succeeded in many ways so maybe it's marketing departments they should be closing? Or general system strategists?

    And it's not just Wipeout of course. I visited Psygnosis back when that's what it was, pre-WO3, and it was a hive of creativity with a rich history by that stage. A legendary studio. One that is important and will be remembered fondly among the greats. Ultimately I guess people come and go. Few would have been there through all that time and so, in real terms, it's just a place, a name. But sad nonetheless. I hope all the talented individuals go on to better things. Even the Psybadek team.

  7. #127
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    the biggest blow to the continuation of the wipeout series now seems to me at least to be the fact that they closed SL down so shortly after 2048's release, that seems to indicate that sony weren't happy with the product or that somehow it was a disappointment sales wise, in any case it sends the message to customers that the wipeout brand isn't something sony is willing to spend money on since they shut SL down while there was still DLC and patches planned and announced... that I think could be devestating to the brand name.

    Actually if I'm honest that is one of the things I find most disturbing about this that sony would just shut SL down before they even truly finished 2048... I wasn't a huge fan of it but damnit it deserved a real chance!

  8. #128
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    I think you're overreacting a bit, blackwiggle. Yes, the closure of SL is sad and in turn the future of the Wipeout series is in jeopardy. But the reasons for their closure are valid and, if you have a look at some of the previous posts, a lot of people thought SL was dead for a couple of years now.

  9. #129
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    Quote Originally Posted by Whizawk View Post
    RIP Studio Liverpool!

    It was a very sad day for me when they announced this as I was a big fan of Psygnosis titles back in the day on PS1, most notably Wipeout.
    It was the reason I bought a PS1 and stuck with Sony PlayStation back then; the game that got me hooked on gaming (2097 specifically).

    Thanks for the games!

    Loyal Auricom fan

    *waves fist at Qirex & AG_SYS*
    As a fan of the former accused, I pray there's another game. There's got to be another place to take the Auricom-Qirex fight.

    If there is, I'll be there. And I'll be waiting.

  10. #130
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    Could we please stop spitting at Sony's face ? It's like the whole Japan should burn because a bunch of Japanese guys did something terrible.

    I'm sure there's much more people working at Sony that are proud of the WipEout series and are sad than SL closed than people who think closing SL was well-deserved.

    Please remember we wouldn't play any of these games if Sony weren't there in the first place. Kudos to their continuous effort on the series. Period.

  11. #131
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    perhaps we're being a bit rough vin but keep in mind we're all sad and angry about this piece of news, I mean surely you know how we feel and perhaps, if you ask me it is ok to be angry at this point in time, and well when I speak of sony I mean the corporation not the employees, you could look at it like a country, the classic example being the USA these days, I mean if you ask anyone who has ever met or talked to an american they will tell you that they love americans, but that doesn't mean we have to agree with the american government or like everything that it does.

  12. #132
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    Quote Originally Posted by Colin Berry View Post
    NO!
    Please do not start such stupid rumours, you have mentioned this twice now on separate threads and it is completely pointless to do so, and serves no purpose whatsoever

    Colin's death had nothing to do with the studio closing at all, end. period.

    Colin had left studio Liverpool over 12months ago, he was working on other projects completely unrelated to Sony Liverpool. His death 2 weeks ago was a massive shock and HUGE loss, he was one of the best friends anyone could have.
    Please do not continue to speculate in such a manner, linking two completely separate things.
    Thank you Mr. Berry for clearing that up. I know the death of one person does not end a corporation. If that was the case, a whole lot of companies would be gone.

  13. #133
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    Quote Originally Posted by Airrider View Post
    As a fan of the former accused, I pray there's another game. There's got to be another place to take the Auricom-Qirex fight.

    If there is, I'll be there. And I'll be waiting.
    Easy there tiger.

    Would much love them to elaborate the feud in a future title though!
    Last edited by Whizawk; 24th August 2012 at 01:14 AM. Reason: Forgot the quote.

  14. #134
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    Quote Originally Posted by vincoof View Post
    It's like the whole Japan should burn because a bunch of Japanese guys did something terrible.
    I seriously wanted to make a comment about this happening once already, but I suspect that it would A: miss the point, and B: be somewhat silly and redundant.

  15. #135
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    Quote Originally Posted by vincoof View Post

    Please remember we wouldn't play any of these games if Sony weren't there in the first place. Kudos to their continuous effort on the series. Period.
    For a long time many here have voiced the opinion that we might of been better off if Sony had never bought the rights to Wipeout.
    It's treated the franchise badly over the years with woeful to basically no publicity, and relegating the game to selling handheld consoles.
    When everybody knows Wipeout is best played on a BIG screen.

    Plus it has used Wipeout as the "Guinea Pig" for any new technology that Sony is trying to flog off.
    Thankfully the talented SL team has/had for the most part been able to save Wipeout from being a glitch ridden disaster

    I don't think we have seen the last of Wipeout.
    But I dread to think of the possible dog's breakfast any new development team could make of the series without at least some people who have worked on at least one previous Wipeout.

    My feelings about this whole thing [and who's ultimately responsible for it], and what might happen next exactly mirror Infoxicated's

  16. #136
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    Quote Originally Posted by blackwiggle View Post
    I don't think we have seen the last of Wipeout.
    But I dread to think of the possible dog's breakfast any new development team could make of the series without at least some people who have worked on at least one previous Wipeout.
    My previous experience on this kind of rebirth is somewhat pessimistic. For instance SNK did incredible fighting games in the 90's, e.g. the KoF series, but the company had some serious financial issues and ultimately did shut down in 2001. Eventually some of the former employees kept on developing titles with SNK Playmore (which is practically SNK reborn from its ashes) and continued the KoF series which was exactly what the fans were looking for, but... the truth is, none of the sequels got the hype that many of the former KoF titles had in their golden age.

    If I had to interview gamers and ask them what fighting games made their day in the past years, many of them would answer Street Fighter, Tekken or BlazBlue but very few of them if any would answer King of Fighters. So, the series was reborn by the developers for the fans, but at which cost ? A dying franchise which barely survives because some fans want to believe in a potential successful title ?

    I guess many gamers here don't give a damn to SNK or fighting games or whatever but I'm pretty sure you see the point.

    Back on topic, the question is: are you ready to live the same history for the WipEout franchise ? Is it really worth that SL raises from its ashes and create titles that only fans might enjoy ? Would you like to see your favorite series lose its breath time after time until the day it can't breathe anymore ?

    Of course there's no guarantee that WO will endure the same fate. Then ask to yourself, didn't it alreasy happened when Psygnosis became Studio Liverpool ? Many people here (including myself) state that the last stunning WipEout title was WipEout 3 SE which, incidentally, was the last one developed by Psygnosis.

  17. #137
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    Quote Originally Posted by blackwiggle View Post
    It's treated the franchise badly over the years with woeful to basically no publicity, and relegating the game to selling handheld consoles.
    When everybody knows Wipeout is best played on a BIG screen.
    Don't underestimate the power of wiping on the train or the toilet!! In all fairness, I do think the Vita is an awesome piece of kit and would personally prefer to see it become more of a priority for developers, not less. My 2p...

  18. #138
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    It's just the consistent lost opportunities that have befallen Wipeout that are a constant frustration.
    SONY stuffed up.
    They have stuffed up with digital rights management as well
    Bad calls regarding publicity
    Bad calls regarding which platform Wipeout came out on......SL wouldn't be shutting down if PURE & PULSE & 2048 were both released on Duel Platforms [PSP & PS 2/Vita/PS3]
    Why only half showcase "Crossplay"?
    Dumb decisions.
    Who made them?

  19. #139
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    Agreed! Especially regarding the publicity!!

  20. #140
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    Many speculations and yet no proof that better publicity or dual platform release or whatever would have result in a different ending.

    It's too easy once something is done to say "I would have made different decisions and things would have been better". They made decisions based on the facts and forethoughts they had in the time the game was designed, developed and released.

    I'm not saying they made the best decisions ever, but I'm fairly unsure I would have made better decisions if I had to chose them, and - no offense intended - I'm pretty sure everybody here could hardly *guarantee* they would have done better either if they had to make decisions in the same time and place as Sony had to.

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