Atari/Infogrames article

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 27 Nov 2005, 02:27

http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/16/comment ... /index.htm

I can't get enough of bad news regarding Infogrames. They've sat on the licenses for my two favourite games and done nothing with them, while making fabulous flops of the potentially-groundbreaking Matrix series.

The article has a bit of history messed up - they leave out the spot where Atari dies in the 1980s, then in 2002 Infogrames searches for a name which will make people think of good times rather than Enter The Matrix. They stumble upon Atari, a name which no doubt basically belonged to some guy in a nursing home somewhere, buy it off him for the price of some viagra, and proceed to rape and pillage the name "Atari" the same as they have "Infogrames".

The part I like best is where it points out that "The Matrix Online" has only made 47,000 sales.

That game (an MMORPG) was originally a massive city, as large as anything you might find in any other MMO. Problem is, everyone was wary of Matrix titles because Infogrames ****ed up Enter The Matrix so badly. Anyhow, they were forced to cut the size of the city down to a quarter of its original size because PEOPLE NEVER ENCOUNTERED OTHER PEOPLE!!! How funny is that??! In an MMO! 47,000 sales.... hahahaha

The bit about 17 million dollars in losses in a single quarter was pretty good, too.

I will dance on their grave. And if they don't have a grave, I'll assassinate an employee, then dance on his. That asshat "Raiden" comes to mind. A paid atari beta tester... moron. And we wonder why their games are so buggy. "Get off the sinking ship," I tell him. "Get a real job! One that will look good on a resume! How do you think employers will react when your work history was 'testing' games for a publisher which went out of business because their games were never properly tested!?" He'll be a gas station attendant for the rest of his pathetic life. Pisses away the table scraps Atari throws at him in things like $6,000 AA matches. (I kid you not)

Das Bruce · Post by **Das Bruce** » 27 Nov 2005, 03:22

Here's hoping.

And actually its only 43,100 copies.

Zoombie · Post by **Zoombie** » 27 Nov 2005, 05:41

Enter the Matrix pissed me off... so much.

Not only was it ripping of Max Payn, but it was ripping off Max Payn BADLY! The slow mo was uncool (Just make the slowmo ability infinite, and dont brighten the damn screen! Slow mo is supposed to slide into the game unobtrusivly, not jarr you out of your immersion) and the plot/charicters left much to be desired.

And you couldent play as Neo. Talk about a slap in the face.

But you can (kindof) forgive Enter the Matrix when you think of how fundamently flawed the Matrix's sequals are. And ETM is based off the sequals, more then the original totaly kick ass movie.

Now see what someone needs to make a matrix game and not tell anyone its a Matrix game, so when the charicter you play gets "unpluged" the players are actually suprised.

Das Bruce · Post by **Das Bruce** » 27 Nov 2005, 05:51

Or they could release Max Payne 3, and if they do it better have a story more like the first.

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 27 Nov 2005, 11:03

Max Payne 2 had a great story. Well, I guess I'm kind a softie, but I thought the romance bit was great. You were brought together by your hate, both deadly assassins with their past stolen from them. Mona wasn't just thrown in for a love interest, she was deadly as hell

I remember one of the NPC baddie lines: "Shit!!! She's worse than HIM!!!" And this was after you (Max) had just torn up a couple dozen baddies in a matter of seconds! And SHE'S deadlier! haha

The last level in the mansion was great. Half the time you're working together, half the time you're running through rooms she's already blown to pieces. Just felt right. Didn't feel fake. The pic them looking at each other, each with a gun in their hand was great ^_^

Incidentally, in case anyone didn't know, there's an alternate ending where Mona lives - but you have to play on the highest difficulty setting to see it. Honest.

Max Payne is such a well-known, quality name that I don't think they'll let it die. There'll be a Max Payne 3, but I think it'll be difficult to explain what happened at the end of MP2 - did Mona live or die? I was thinking maybe the next one will have a brief cutscene at the very beginning with Mona being wheeled through a hospital, similar to at the beginning of Max Payne 2... you know... "this guy's a trainwreck!" etc. Then at the end, she will either live or die... otherwise it's hard to explain away an alternate ending that only a fraction of the players have ever seen. Personally I don't want to see her die, I'd like to imagine that after all Max has been through he gets a little happiness in his life. (I'm a softie, I warned you)

Perhaps Mona in the next game will have the much-demanded Kung-fu style moves that mods added? She seems like the deadly, hand-to-hand type.

GrOuNd_ZeRo · Post by **GrOuNd_ZeRo** » 27 Nov 2005, 13:11

I highly doubt Mona survived in MP2, great game, bought it for Christmas for my PS2 back then.

I never even bothered with ETM, it looked like such a cheap game, and christ, the players looked so gay, both of them, I would have much preferred a way to select characters, atleast have a Neo-like character in there.

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 27 Nov 2005, 16:29

And basically all but one graphics card gave everything black a green tint. Imagine green-suited agents with green sunglasses, green pants, green shoes chasing you. Do you laugh or do you run?

Zoombie · Post by **Zoombie** » 27 Nov 2005, 20:19

Oh i found out about the alternate ending and made a pledge that i would win the beat the game on the hardest difficulty, just to by poor Max some happyness.

It was as hard as carrying a car over a feild of glass, but i managed to do it. And then there was a happy ending, and we could all cheer.

Cheers!

Masse · Post by **Masse** » 27 Nov 2005, 21:03

MAX PAYNE = FINNISH game
has MADE IN FINLAND sticker on it

Das Bruce · Post by **Das Bruce** » 27 Nov 2005, 21:32

Max Payne 2 didn't have a bad storyline, but it could have been longer. It was rather short compared to the orriginal.

GrOuNd_ZeRo · Post by **GrOuNd_ZeRo** » 27 Nov 2005, 22:34

DAMN, you just gave me a good reason to play it again! damn you!

Zoombie · Post by **Zoombie** » 27 Nov 2005, 22:42

Who me?

Weaver · Post by **Weaver** » 27 Nov 2005, 23:27

Gotta love Max and Mona. Maybe I'll vist them again too.

Does anyone else remember the benchmark test Remedy made back in '97 called "Final Reality"?

SinbadEV · Post by **SinbadEV** » 28 Nov 2005, 16:06

My favorite one is when they changed their name to Tengen and started making unlicences NES games...

Pxtl · Post by **Pxtl** » 28 Nov 2005, 19:01

IIRC, Epic is part of Infogrames/Atari. This had better not affect the flow of UT titles.

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 28 Nov 2005, 22:25

Epic bought the Unreal license off them, IIRC. Future UT titles will be published by Take-two (i think, or possibly THQ? One of those other ones we're constantly hearing about lately)

Archangel of Death · Post by **Archangel of Death** » 28 Nov 2005, 23:00

w00t THQ! Just because they currently own my favorite developer, Relic. (Even though crappy Sierra owns the Homeworld rights, I'd rather buy a different Relic space rts than a Homeworld 3 made by Sierra without them)

Spring RTS Engine

Atari/Infogrames article

Atari/Infogrames article

Well,