Wow you guys are really overdoing this. I mean, this is a big/smart move for msoft BUT dont think they arent going to still release these games for pc. I mean COME ON windows xp is on 90% of the computers on the market. I think this will hurt sony and nintendo more than anything. Oh and dont forget mac. Blizzard is one of macs only decent game makers. and if vivendigames goes to msoft mac is F***ed in terms with blizzard. Xbox may not have the games (yet ;P)but for now ps2 is in he lead, and its not like sony is going to give up making consoles either. But all in all bill gates is the anti-christ and im with him all they way. Xbox is the best! Ps2 doesnt suck but i still like xbox more.GO MSOFT!!!:D


Excuse my spelling

EQ etc. are PC games and I am saying that MS/Vivendi is a threat to Sony's console dominance. If Sony converts all those games to PS3 games then MAYBE they have a shot. If MS/Vivendi turned all those games into Xbox 2 games (and PC games?) then they would have 2-3x number of titles and I don't think even EQ can save Sony at that point (meaning they are number 1). And yes number 1 is important because Sony has always encouraged innovative games, MS hasn't, and I'd rather not have MS control everything :).

First off when I said coffin I meant as far as being the dominant player next time around. Sony isn't going to disappear, but it should also be noted that they are not the huge mega-corp some people seem to think they are. They have HUGE brand awareness but that doesn't mean their electronics business doesn't suffer from downturns (as it has) and it doesn't mean that they don't rely heavily on the success of the Playstation (as they do). I want Sony out front, but I am afraid that their current complacency in terms of online and basic game development will be their downfall in the face of a MS/Vivendi. Of course Vivendi said that they weren't going to sell the games division a few weeks ago (barely noticed by the press BTW) because it was on of the few good performers in their conglomerate. How ever if MS did buy it...

There are two factors to note regarding this potential merger. Sony does not own many studios and their portfolio of frachises, online or off, is slim. Furthermore their strongest ones are PC games and not playable on the PS2. The second factor is that Microsoft has lots of experience in the PC realm and a machine that is highly cross compatible with the PC, the Xbox.

If MS acquires the huge portfolio of PC and console games of Vivendi they will have a tremendous set of materials to draw on to fashion an online game service that Sony would have an extremely difficult time competing with, not to mention controlling some big current money makers for the PS2. In three years Xbox Live and the Zone/Steam could be far ahead of Sony and ripe for merger into a single consumer game service. If the next generation consoles launched with similar hardware and in the same time frame, an MS/Vivendi would be able to offer a proven gaming service with lots of popular games that could be played on either PC, Xbox, or Xbox 2 whereas Sony would have a handful of games which are playable on either the Station PS2 or PS3 but not all. MS could easily scale its games across its multiple platforms whereas Sony has already shone it cannot. Wouldn't most people prefer the flexibility of playing any game they bought on either PC or the couch?

The next generation winner (sales leader) is going to be the company with the strongest online offerings and that will defintely be MS if they buyout Vivendi's games. (I am discounting movie and music downloads as a draw because I don't think either will drive console sales.)

True Sony doesn't have a coffin yet but they are building themselves one if they don't get more online games out there than "the Station" games (EQ, Planetfall, etc.). Most of those games haven't even launched yet and most are not console enabled. Everything that Sony currently relies on for dominance could easily evaporate next time round.

Schanpple,

I think its death for the Tribes series. It's also the loss of jobs at HL, for they will definitely go into maintenance mode, and the developers for TF2 who have been drinking beer for four years instead of writing software will be on the streets.

Those employees left at Valve will be unable to release servers and upgrades for HL/CS as they do now.


Vaporware projects like TF2 will wither on the vine, though the name may be used in other ways.

CS gets a face lift and moves to the XBOX, which is good news for the creators of CS if they have managed to hold some sort of license agreement with Valve.

More microsoft games have more outtake cut scenses because they use the 'expertise' at Blizzard. It could also be the death of Battlenet as it is migrated into "The Zone". The fate of Blizzard's games is unclear, though WOW will be even more popular than expected with MS's distribution and marketing arm behind it.

Geez I feel like Nostradamus...


EDIT: lots o' spelling

This comment was edited on Jan 23, 08:50.

Maybe I missed something, where do people keep coming up with the "Microsoft controls Blizzard" idea?

As for Sony being worried, doubtful. Sony has a GIGANTIC name in the console industry, coupled with probably the only marketing power in the world that can actually sell ANYTHING (remember the Minidisc? Everybody said it would stink etc, but Sony MADE it sell).

But, let's say for argument's sake that in 2005 Microsoft will sell more Xbox 2's than Sony will Playstation 3's. So what?
Nintendo hasn't been on top of the market since 1996, but they're still around, they still make good games. I don't see Sony just abandoning everything if Microsoft happens to get the upper hand in hardware sales (and that's a VERY VERY big 'if').

Creston

If this is true it could spell serious long term disater for Sony. MS controlling Blizzard, Sierra, and Universal Interactive gives them control over numerous huge franchises.

That's true, but how much have most of those franchises really done past their original incarnations? Blizzard are really the only ones that have done much in recent history. Sierra destroyed one of the two biggest moneymakers they had, and Half Life has yet to do anything new (so far it's all been the original game, a few free mods and an unsuccessful add-on).
Sony doesn't have a coffin at the moment. The Xbox has yet to touch the Playstation 2 in any market (both hardware and software sales). Sony is likely worth more than Microsft is. They aren't just a computer/game company like microsoft, they're the largest electronic appliance company in the world. They're the Japanese Microsoft.

EQ2 is a garaunteed hit, EQ is almost immortal, Star Wars Galaxies is projected to be the most successful MMO of all time.

It will take more than a rock for them to topple that giant.

If this is true it could spell serious long term disater for Sony. MS controlling Blizzard, Sierra, and Universal Interactive gives them control over numerous huge franchises. Diablo, Warcraft, Half-life et. al., Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, lots of good selling movie licenses (whether the games are crap or not). Even with PC gamers comprising many of the users for the first few it isn't a huge stretch to see MS positioning those games for the next version of the Xbox and Xbox Live. It might not seem like much now but 3 years down the road it could be the nail in Sony's coffin as the dominant player. I am a huge Sony fan but their games are growing more and more lackluster while Xbox admittedly is strengthening its position for the online realm which is where it matters. A few years from now when the next generation of consoles hits I am afriad Sony will have already lost the war even if they have better hardware. Xbox may suck now but it certainly won't next time round, especially if it becomes just another machine on a home network (i.e. games you can play on your PC or Xbox because it is all just one big service.) Really, only a handful of Japanese companies are likely to avoid Xbox and that isn't enough to maintain Sony's dominance if MS brings almost every other major franchise into its fold (which is what this buyout would effectively entail). Sony had better hope that EQ I,II,Adventures/Planetside/Star Wars Galaxies as a single service is enough to compete because they have nothing else. A damn shame because their console has traditionally had tons of fun interesting games to play.

This comment was edited on Jan 22, 17:46.

God, I didn't even think of it that way. Yes, I agree completely... better MS than EA, but still... BOO MS! BOO! If Starcraft II is an Xbox exclusive I'm gonna snipe people from atop a step-ladder (er, I'm afraid of heights you see).

Unmaker

C&VG likes to draw people to their website with unconfirmed rumours.

It works, I went there and read the story...

I guess this would also mean (if the purchase is true) that Microsoft would own the SWAT games. Is it a coincidence that Microsoft hired Rob Fung, producer for the old SWAT games, a few months back? Now he could be put back in charge of SWAT possibly. Now that would be ironic and best for the franchise.

Does this mean SC: Ghost will be XBOX exclusive too? Hell, why dosnt MS buy Sony while they're at it.

Sierra owned Dynamix who did Tribes and Tribes 2.

Vivendi owns Sierra.

Ergo if Microsoft bought Vivendi's "games unit" they would own Sierra and therefore Tribes.

I wonder if this makes Tribes 3 more or less likely to happen. I know it got greenlighted but it's a tradition to cut things when sales and mergers go down.

Schnapple

http://members.tripod.com/schnapple99/

So who owns the Tribes franchise?

better MS than EA.

It would be stupid for HL2 or TF2 to go Xbox only since the audience from the originals are 98% PC users! (2% for Half-Life PS2 sounds fair).

But then, maybe that's just the reason MS would need. Remember, Valve's MD Gabe Newell is an ex-MS employee, quite high up in the ranks too I believe. But I trust him to make the right decision - he's done a good job so far

Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2?

Has ANYBODY ever heard of TF2 in the past three years? Or seen something of it?

And as for Half Life 2, I still can't figure out where people and gaming mags get all their ideas from. I've seen or heard NOTHING about that one.

Let's face it, Valve is history, they are in the Eternal Contest with 3DRealms to see which of the two can KEEP people talking about them with regards to a game that doesn't exist.

Half Life 2 and Duke Nukem Forever? I'd expect The Rapture to happen before those two games do.

But then, even IF, IF, very very very unlikely IF a thing such as Half Life 2 ever was to occur, and they make it an Xbox exclusive, so what?
The alternative is that Vivendi releases it for the PC, which would make it a totally untested buggy turd.
Vivendi and EA are vying for THAT particular crown *cough Simcity 4 is buggy crap cough*

Get an Xbox then, they're like 200 bucks, and it really isn't all THAT bad of a machine. If you don't have A console (be it a PSX2 or an Xbox, or heaven forbid a Gamecube), you're missing out on some fantastic games.

Creston


Creston

I'd say just the game part - Vivendi's been trying to unload that for years if I recall.

But before anyone gets excited, remember - Bungie announces Halo for the PC/Mac, Bungie spends forever making it, Bungie gets bought by Microsoft, Halo finally goes gold and is an Xbox exclusive, Halo is still not on the PC/Mac a year and a half later.

I guess what I want to know is - how exclusive are the publishing arrangements between Valve and Sierra/Vivendi? I'd hate to see Team Fortress 2 or Half-Life 2 on Xbox only.

Schnapple

http://members.tripod.com/schnapple99/

I have to agree, this is one Microsoft takeover that I wouldn't mind.

I'm not sure what exactly Microsoft would be buying, if it's just Vivendi's game publishing unit, or the ENTIRE Vivendi company.

If it's the latter, we're talking about a seriously large takeover, Vivendi is pretty big.

I hope it's true, actually, Vivendi's releases are so pathetic that even Microsoft will do better.

Creston