Five Studios Microsoft Should Buy

They NEED talent and devs...however they should have jumped on numerous opportunities before this point! At this point few devs are worth their cost and M$ would be better off "stealing" talent to create new studios with promises of substancial bonuses via performance/quality/sales. Creating new studios should be their focus! They've certainly taken this approach with 343 and I think it's the way to go and grow.

P.s Turn 10 studios is highly over rated IMO I've always viewed Forza as a poor man's Gran Turismo. Forza don't give you a robust option of cars and tracks like Gran Turismo does. IDoItLikeAboss

Forza doesn't take a decade to make and looks better and has detail on all the cars.

You know, say if MS does in fact purchase those mentioned studios it wouldn't effect me the slightest, I have never bought a game from them, lol. But I guess I would be happy for the 360 fanbase.

Honestly, Turn 10 Studios is the only developer Microsoft has that is truely great. I would even put up with GFWL just to play some Forza on PC (I have it for Xbox 360).

[QUOTE="VensInferno"]

Rare has changed so much when purchased by Microsoft.

percech

They NEED talent and devs...however they should have jumped on numerous opportunities before this point! At this point few devs are worth their cost and M$ would be better off "stealing" talent to create new studios with promises of substancial bonuses via performance/quality/sales. Creating new studios should be their focus! They've certainly taken this approach with 343 and I think it's the way to go and grow.

flexin007

ya agree. Rare, was probably taking because the name alone, would push consoles and it did. MS will wake up at some point

"Microsoft's first-party developers portfolio is rather lackluster when compared to its rivals. But that's not to say that Microsoft doesn't have decent first-party developers at all. Lionhead Studios, Rare Ltd. and Turn 10 Studios are some of the examples of high quality devs that make exclusive titles for the Xbox brand."

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asadNAWABI

[QUOTE="percech"][QUOTE="VensInferno"]

Rare has changed so much when purchased by Microsoft.

savagetwinkie

you do know Rare was with nintendo, duriing the start of Gamecube, even released a game...but that game must be the greatest game EVER, a really AAAAAAAA game, that pwns anything else, that NO ONE can even remember it

say what i dont think so

hmm rareware good developers ? ya if you count n64 portso n the 360 and ds,

but if your counting 360 retail games i dont think so buddy not one game this gen was that good for them to be a good developer kameo i tihnk was the only 1 i enjoyed pd0 was a disappointment as was banjo 3 and i will not buy thier kenict/wii sports propaganda

as i do own a wii already if i wanted that id play my wiis i got already-5 of them in the house with wii sports resort and know ican play 4 player bowling , lol

somthing kenict cant do because obvious it only detects 2 at a time not to mention its expensive --- 20 more dollars i can get a 2nd 3ds-as of auguest 13 lol

so with that said, ,good luck ,

and i dont think ms deserves any more publishers especially not epic well maybe cause hey they aint doing nintendo anything so what do we lose nothing ,

epic will be another average developer even if ms dont buy them lol , like half of these are , see capcom whos only pleasure is resident evil and dead rising ,

point is , third party developers are far less talented this gen then any other gen thats funny because its supposed to be the other way around

nintendo ftw! or sony , cause lets face it nothing beats thier games --- only few third party games are good this gen , those are wwe saints row nascar 2011 condemed goldeneye quantum of solace dnf gta iv red dead, re wii ports , bully se , games like that but half of the ones like this are

-hour of victory pd0 lost planet fear cod blackops, are just generic fpses and hmmm as mentioned rare has not put out anything good since the ds port of dkr and n64 port of perfect dark ,

in fact

if we were to sort rare titles from when they were with nintendo youd probably find more good ones then we did now

dont believe me well here it goes

it starts with the wizards and warriors nes games

rad ra cer 1 and 2

then snes-

donkey kong country

battle toads

donkey kong country 2

donkey kong country 3

killer instinct

then the one they really accelled in

n64

goldeneye

kiler instint gold

jet force gemini

perfect dark

donkey kong 64

conker

mickey speed way usa

diddy kong racing 64

star fox 64-which is being re released on 3ds-they helped nintendo with that one, -the n64 one any way

which led rare to do

star fox adventures for gamecube - their last hurray for nintendo before turning into this half baked company whos only games that we like are ports on the xbla or ds or gba and maybe theyll show 3ds somthing good , who knows that would be their only chance cause as a xbox developer they really stepped down alot!

compared to a short list like this not counting ports on gba ds xbla or xbox

xbox -

only origianl product was grabbed by the ghoolies

360

perfect dark zero

kameo

banjo kazooie

2 kenit sports titles

ya thats how much they have made for 360 and xbox in 9 years pretty sad that n64 alone had more games produced by rareware then xbox and xbox 360 combined!

Gas Powered Games? Based on their history Microsoft buying any decent PC-centric developer is a bad news

Or have better devs of their own!

Yeah maybe the last three as it won't completely damage competition game releases, Epic is just no, if MS buy them then they'll start charging for the use of the engine and they'll likely tear it apart and drop all OpenGL support, monopoly is something MS want to avoid this time around.JohnF111

Epic- I don't see it happening. Epic is just really big and successful right now. It'd be really pricey and they currently are in a position where they as a studio can do a lot on their own.

Crytek- MS already refused to buy them at the start of the gen. I just don't see it happening.

Remedy- This I wouldn't mind seeing happen. Remedy are small, MS is big. Remedy are creative. MS's fans want more creative games outside of this Kinect garbage. It's possible.

Ruffian Games- This is a possibility in my mind only because Ruffian aren't a big name at all. Bit of a risk, but they could do something worthwhile.

Gas Powered Games- I just don't see it happening. MS are barely focused on the PC side of things and GPG is more PC-centered than console.

When Next Gen starts this should be MS First Party

343i

Rare

Liongate

Turn10

Crytek

A newly revived Blizzard

and that MGS Toronto or whatever.

ABCarmine

3.Remedy=no, just buy the rights to Alan Wake and have 343i work on it.

ABCarmine

Why the hell would a studio created to do nothing more than continue releasing Halo content make an Alan Wake title?

3.Remedy=no, just buy the rights to Alan Wake and have 343i work on it.ABCarmine

[QUOTE="ABCarmine"]3.Remedy=no, just buy the rights to Alan Wake and have 343i work on it.millerlight89

Ms should make 343i do more then just Halo, since after Halo 5 and 6 what will they work on, give 'em Alan Wake, 343i could make a great 3rd person game if they tried, let MS see what they could do with Alan Wake.

343i could make a great 3rd person game if they tried,ABCarmine

[QUOTE="ABCarmine"]343i could make a great 3rd person game if they tried,millerlight89

Actually I take back my previous statement, **** Crytek, Get Remedy for your IP Microsoft! :P

[QUOTE="ABCarmine"]

When Next Gen starts this should be MS First Party

343i

Rare

Liongate

Turn10

Crytek

A newly revived Blizzard

and that MGS Toronto or whatever.

millerlight89

Whoops not Blizzard, Bizzare. :P

[QUOTE="percech"][QUOTE="Cheese-Muffins"]

I've heard quite differently actually, that Microsoft actually forced Rare into making what it did and refused many ideas and concepts that likened back to their N64 days.

Cheese-Muffins

No, it was coming from ex-Rare employees. IIRC, Microsoft wanted B&K to be even more radically different than what Nuts & Bolts was, but they refused and settled upon the vehicular-type gameplay.

Truth is since certain members left the company after the N64 days, Rare have barely made a good game up to their old standards. And that was before MS bought them. Thats why Nintendo let them go, MS paid A LOT for a useless company.

Buying a studio proves to be no worth financially. Very rarely you'll hit gold like MS did with Bungie, but in general it's not worth it. Timed exclusives are better investments.percech

hit gold with Bungie? why does everyone think Bungie was only Halo

Bungie was allready a big dev before Microsoft got them, MS knew they were going to make great games for Xbox and of course they did

[QUOTE="millerlight89"][QUOTE="ABCarmine"]

When Next Gen starts this should be MS First Party

343i

Rare

Liongate

Turn10

Crytek

A newly revived Blizzard

and that MGS Toronto or whatever.

ABCarmine

Whoops not Blizzard, Bizzare. :P

Microsoft could not afford Activision-Blizzard

MS needs to hurry up and buy Bungie!! Oh wait....

Oh yeah that's right, MS messes up with their internal portofolio every time! They're much better off publishing titles and securing exclusives with 3rd parties than they are buying any studios outright. Unless they need Kinect development done, of course. :P

[QUOTE="ABCarmine"]

[QUOTE="millerlight89"] I hope they stay away from Blizzard and Crytek. I want those games on my PC, and if M$ acquired them then I would never see them.HaloinventedFPS

Whoops not Blizzard, Bizzare. :P

Microsoft could not afford Activision-Blizzard

I know, I meant Bizzare, makers of PGR and Blur.

[QUOTE="HaloinventedFPS"]

[QUOTE="ABCarmine"]

Whoops not Blizzard, Bizzare. :P

ABCarmine

Microsoft could not afford Activision-Blizzard

I know, I meant Bizzare, makers of PGR and Blur.

Bizarre is dead. :?

[QUOTE="ABCarmine"]

[QUOTE="HaloinventedFPS"]

Microsoft could not afford Activision-Blizzard

xXCombatWombat

I know, I meant Bizzare, makers of PGR and Blur.

Bizarre is dead. :?

And in my Original Post I said for MS to revive them.

Lionhead is barely high-quality and Rare isn't the same as it used to be... The only high-quality out of the 3 they mentioned was Turn 10 and they better get on that PGR5!:x

As for the list, those might not happen but they are excellent choices imo! Remedy especially.:) Epic probably won't happen, while Crytek might happen on the other hand. I'd replace Ruffian since Crackdown 2 sucks pretty bad with someone like Mistwalker for some more JRPG or straight up RPG love on the 360 side.:)

[QUOTE="xXCombatWombat"]

[QUOTE="ABCarmine"]

I know, I meant Bizzare, makers of PGR and Blur.

ABCarmine

Bizarre is dead. :?

And in my Original Post I said for MS to revive them.

They could've bought out Bizzare Creations while Activision put them on sale for a month or two... Microsoft didn't go for it.:( It's too late now, the team has dissolved and moved on for that same team to be revived again. It's similar to RARE, except RARE has some employees left and still has the name despite having a new logo.:(

I'd prefer MS to not buy any high profile studios. They make an effort out of convoluting the customer experience as much as possible.

Even something as simple as downloading a digital storage backup of Office 2010, is so unituitive that your average PC user simply won't be able to do so.

I'm not kidding either. I did it today and here's my experience:

1: So I go to office.com. Do I get it from the download section? Maybe, any potential link is drowned in adds. Nevermind, the product key packaing luckily provides direct links.

2: Ok. office.com/backup.... Apparently the backup link sends me to the exact same page as their standard DL page. I suppose it makes sense to streamline all digital DL functionality onto the same page. So I enter the prdoct key, language and those barely readable anti bot measures.

3: Ok, my Office pack shows up and I'm offered a 20$ DVD backup. Obviously, I decline that. I went here for a digital backup in the first place. Proceed to download page!

Ok.. Click the download button huh? So far so good. Except there ISN'T A DAMN DOWNLOAD BUTTON.

The clearly visible "install now" button downloads a 2 Mb file that will install Office by way of MS's "Click to Run" utility. That's a nice and easy way to install it if you don't want any control over the install process and are not looking for the back copy that the link was supposed to provide me with.

This **** is designed to confuse you!

______

So Ignoring the "on demand" nature of the "Click to Run"'s installation process, ignoring the french site that the Office Help Index helpfully linked me to, I finally have an epiphany....

I'm supposed to click the ADVANCED OPTIONS link, which can be found AFTER the non existant download link/clearly visible Install link (which is "Click to Run" I might add), AFTER the "Click to Run" promotion in small writing and AFTER the "learn more about Click to Run" Link.

Nowhere was I informed that I was supposed to look for the advanced option. I certainly did'nt expect to either, considering the included guiding folder told me to visit office.com/backup.

Oh... So I go to "advanced options" and click the completely non explained link saying "32 bit". I'll tell you one thing. I now have a digital installer, containing the full version of Office 2010, where I can actually choose which components to include. And I can even install it while camping in the middle of the Nevada Desert should I choose so, this one does'nt install features as you go or any **** like that.

Remember the thread about having to phone MS to cancel automatically updating CC deductions? I say there is a conspiracy! Just look at the first screenshot for crying out loud!

How about implementing a clearly visible download function that does'nt require you to type in your 25 digit product key, do a Live login and detective work, that most casual users won't ever figure out? It would have been easier just torrenting the damn file and I still have to use my product key regardless....

They even had the nerve to offer me a goddamn 20$ backup DVD of the program I just purchased in the process.

There's really no doubt in my mind, MS has obviously strived to reduce transparency as much as possible. You might just buy that silly DVD or eventually have your back up DL rights expire afterall.

Terrible terrible business ethics MS.

Edit And that's for something as simple as downloading a backup copy of Office 2010.... MS will suck every last drop pf blood from us if allowed to do so.

Seriously, they transformed a simple DL link into something an average PC user practically needs a guide for and it's not a result of incompetence.

So please don't buy any high profile studioes MS, they'll just be subject to your vampirism.

Wouldnt be wise for them to buy epic and at the same time would be seen as a reckless decision considering how much of the industry uses UE toolsets for their games it could hit the industry really hard.

Would be more backlash than rare from the industry itself due to some dev's relying on middleware and UE is the most common :P

Ms shouldn't buy any developer, they'll just run them into the ground anyways. AAllxxjjnn

MS does not

[QUOTE="ABCarmine"]

[QUOTE="xXCombatWombat"]

Bizarre is dead. :?

sanim02

And in my Original Post I said for MS to revive them.

They could've bought out Bizzare Creations while Activision put them on sale for a month or two... Microsoft didn't go for it.:( It's too late now, the team has dissolved and moved on for that same team to be revived again. It's similar to RARE, except RARE has some employees left and still has the name despite having a new logo.:(

oh wow, I wonder why MS didn't buy them, maybe they didnt like what Activision was offering. MS should of had the as first party always, they made great arcade racers. Rare is pretty much mostly new people, for a while i think, it is sad they didn't change the name

2, 3, and 4 sound like good ideas. I think Ruffian got a bad shake on Crackdown 2 with very little time, under a year if the old rumors were right. As for Remedy, their work on Alan Wake was great. Crytek, is probably a bit too big to buyout and I'd wager Epic def is, otherwise that'd b a no brainer as long as it made sense $wise.

I was hoping MS would pick up the True Crime: Hong Kong dev team and ip. The crew working on that game sounded really talented and had a ton of experience in the open world genre.

I agree. Microsoft should buy all of them.

Cant wait for some kinect games made by Epic, remedy, Crytec etc.

If they buy Epic or Crytek, then I will lose hope of the Unreal series and Crysis series returning to what they used to be.

[QUOTE="James161324"]

[QUOTE="IDoItLikeAboss"]P.s Turn 10 studios is highly over rated IMO I've always viewed Forza as a poor man's Gran Turismo. Forza don't give you a robust option of cars and tracks like Gran Turismo does. IDoItLikeAboss

Forza doesn't take a decade to make and looks better and has detail on all the cars.

So much wrong in one post, i'm surprised the internet didnt explode.

They should buy Ensemble Studios !

I dunno as I think MS figures, why buy the Cow when you can get the milk for free. :o :P