Quote:
|
Originally Posted by The Z Well, Atari is publishing Dragonshard, developed by Liquid Games, and that looks pretty creative (check the interviews here at GameBanshee and at Gamespot). Ed Del Castillo's company has a fairly good record at RTS games (the original Red Alert and Battle Realms) so Atari has managed to get a quality developer recently. |
Bear in mind, I've been involved as reviewer in the PC gaming community for almost two decades; so I'm not as sanguinary as you. Whether that means I'm cynical or realistic, is up to each person to decide.
But my take is that publishers don't look for great developers; they look for developers with great money-making track records. That's why a company like Liquid Entertainment which turns out credible but hum-drum RTS products is getting contracts, while companies like Shiny and Frog City that have always emphasized innovative approaches have closed their doors. Atari is actually running true to form, in other words. Not that I expect them to go for loss makers.
But I would only be heartened if they had several known, dedicated gamemakers of quality at their corporate helm; and they don't. They have slick businesspeople, and this can be confirmed by checking over the curricula vitae of their upper management. Unlike, say, Microprose, Origin Systems, SirTech, Interplay, or Lucasarts during its prime.
Again, just my views.