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Oni: Difference between revisions
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==Development== | ==Development== | ||
Work on Oni began in 1997 when Bungie decided to found a second studio, Bungie West. The concept for their first project was devised by Brent Pease and Michael Evans, whose primary influence was the animé film [[wikipedia:Ghost in the Shell (film)|''Ghost in the Shell'']]<ref>Pease discusses his role as Oni's creator and GitS' influence on the game [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html here].</ref> (adapted from [[wikipedia:Masamune Shirow|Masamune Shirow]]'s [[wikipedia:Ghost_in_the_Shell_(manga)|manga series]]). Pease and Evans had been working at Apple on 3D game technology, and so their first step was to begin work on the engine, gradually hiring employes to produce concept art and author content for the game. The name "Oni" was originally intended only as a codename during development; Pease used it in homage to their source of inspiration, believing its meaning to be "Ghost"<ref>The meaning of "oni" is usually given by those familiar with Japanese myths as either "demon" or "ogre" | Work on Oni began in 1997 when Bungie decided to found a second studio, Bungie West. The concept for their first project was devised by Brent Pease and Michael Evans, whose primary influence was the animé film [[wikipedia:Ghost in the Shell (film)|''Ghost in the Shell'']]<ref>Pease discusses his role as Oni's creator and GitS' influence on the game [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html here].</ref> (adapted from [[wikipedia:Masamune Shirow|Masamune Shirow]]'s [[wikipedia:Ghost_in_the_Shell_(manga)|manga series]]). Pease and Evans had been working at Apple on 3D game technology, and so their first step was to begin work on the engine, gradually hiring employes to produce concept art and author content for the game. The name "Oni" was originally intended only as a codename during development; Pease used it in homage to their source of inspiration, believing its meaning to be "Ghost"<ref>The meaning of "oni" is usually given by those familiar with Japanese myths as either "demon" or "ogre". Pease explains the origin of the code name [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html here], and seems to still think the word means "ghost"; however, Hardy, his eventual replacement, indicates [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=19851 here] and [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=18292 here] that he understood "oni" to mean "demon" and had re-written the story with that in mind.</ref><ref>At one time during development, the name "Mnemonic Shadow" was considered. (http://marathon.bungie.org/story/newjan-feb01.html)</ref>. | ||
The designs for [[Konoko]] and Commander [[Griffin]] can be seen to resemble the characters of [[wikipedia:Motoko Kusanagi|Motoko Kusanagi]] and [[wikipedia:Daisuke Aramaki|Daisuke Aramaki]]. Early development even presented Konoko as a [[wikipedia:cyborg|cyborg]], which, together with the tech-crime-fighting setting, resembled the world of ''Ghost in the Shell''. In August of 1999, Hardy LeBel was brought in as Design Lead, and revamped the story<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20010727151534/www.insidemacgames.com/features/00/lebel/ IMG interview with Hardy LeBel].</ref>. The final version of Oni abandons the cyborg heroine and instead introduces original concepts such as [[Daodan]] and [[SLD]]s. | The designs for [[Konoko]] and Commander [[Griffin]] can be seen to resemble the characters of [[wikipedia:Motoko Kusanagi|Motoko Kusanagi]] and [[wikipedia:Daisuke Aramaki|Daisuke Aramaki]]. Early development even presented Konoko as a [[wikipedia:cyborg|cyborg]], which, together with the tech-crime-fighting setting, resembled the world of ''Ghost in the Shell''. In August of 1999, Hardy LeBel was brought in as Design Lead, and revamped the story<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20010727151534/www.insidemacgames.com/features/00/lebel/ IMG interview with Hardy LeBel].</ref>. The final version of Oni abandons the cyborg heroine and instead introduces original concepts such as [[Daodan]] and [[SLD]]s. | ||
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Oni was originally expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 1999, but as that date approached, the release date was pushed back. This occurred repeatedly, until finally the rumored release date was as late as March 2001<ref>Discussions on [[OCF]] of: a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=2533 fall 1999] release date, a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=1129 summer 2000] release date, a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4084 fall 2000] release date, and finally a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4699 spring 2001] release date. These "release dates" were generally rumors, ephemeral dates used by online stores for pre-orders, or vague estimates by Bungie PR, not official statements. Nevertheless, it was clear that Oni was taking longer than planned to finish, which was a cause of some concern among Bungie fans.</ref>. Much of the uncertainty over Oni's status came from Bungie's well-known reluctance to disclose or adhere to fixed release dates. Some of the delay may have come from staff turnover and development issues; a Design Lead position was created in the summer of 1999 for newcomer Hardy LeBel, who immediately began rewriting the story. Pease left at the end of 1999 (with his Project Lead title being passed to Michael Evans) and Bungie West also lost one of their two level designers and replaced the AI programmer in the same six-month period between the summer and the end of 1999. | Oni was originally expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 1999, but as that date approached, the release date was pushed back. This occurred repeatedly, until finally the rumored release date was as late as March 2001<ref>Discussions on [[OCF]] of: a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=2533 fall 1999] release date, a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=1129 summer 2000] release date, a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4084 fall 2000] release date, and finally a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4699 spring 2001] release date. These "release dates" were generally rumors, ephemeral dates used by online stores for pre-orders, or vague estimates by Bungie PR, not official statements. Nevertheless, it was clear that Oni was taking longer than planned to finish, which was a cause of some concern among Bungie fans.</ref>. Much of the uncertainty over Oni's status came from Bungie's well-known reluctance to disclose or adhere to fixed release dates. Some of the delay may have come from staff turnover and development issues; a Design Lead position was created in the summer of 1999 for newcomer Hardy LeBel, who immediately began rewriting the story. Pease left at the end of 1999 (with his Project Lead title being passed to Michael Evans) and Bungie West also lost one of their two level designers and replaced the AI programmer in the same six-month period between the summer and the end of 1999. | ||
Possible additional factors were the introduction of a PS2 port to be released in tandem with Oni for Windows/Mac, part of a deal struck with Take-Two Interactive (T2) in August of 1999, and the acquisition of Bungie by Microsoft, which was announced in June of 2000 | Possible additional factors in the delay were the introduction of a PS2 port to be released in tandem with Oni for Windows/Mac, part of a deal struck with Take-Two Interactive (T2) in August of 1999, and the acquisition of Bungie by Microsoft, which was announced in June of 2000 and which led to the acquisition of the Oni IP by Take-Two just as the game was finishing development. The details of the MS/T2 situation are explained in the "Post-release" section below. | ||
''Further reading:'' [[Oni/Early Story|Early Story]], [[Oni/Positioning|Positioning Statement]]. | ''Further reading:'' [[Oni (myth)]], [[Oni/Early Story|Early Story]], [[Oni/Positioning|Positioning Statement]]. | ||
==Hype== | ==Hype== | ||
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::(laughs) Oni isn't currently one of those projects we're looking at, but one should never say never.<br> We'd be happy to work with the individuals who made Oni.<ref>[http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/trans/4players_hr_sk_interview.html 4players.de interviews Shane Kim and Harold Ryan (translated)].</ref> | ::(laughs) Oni isn't currently one of those projects we're looking at, but one should never say never.<br> We'd be happy to work with the individuals who made Oni.<ref>[http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/trans/4players_hr_sk_interview.html 4players.de interviews Shane Kim and Harold Ryan (translated)].</ref> | ||
One thing is certain: the current Bungie staff has little in common with the Bungie West that produced Oni (there are seven Oni developers<ref>The employees in Oni's credits that [http://www.bungie.net/Inside/teamindex.aspx still work] at Bungie are Butcher, Dunn, the McLees, Marty O'Donnell, Staten and Wu. Only Butcher and Wu actually worked at Bungie West.</ref> still working at Bungie as of May 2012). There is probably little sentimental or monetary incentive for Bungie to produce a sequel. Furthermore, it was announced in May 2010 that Bungie was developing a new IP, to be published by Activision under a ten-year contract. | One thing is certain: the current Bungie staff has little in common with the Bungie West that produced Oni (there are seven Oni developers<ref>The employees in Oni's credits that [http://www.bungie.net/Inside/teamindex.aspx still work] at Bungie are Butcher, Dunn, the McLees, Marty O'Donnell, Staten and Wu. Only Butcher and Wu actually worked at Bungie West.</ref> still working at Bungie as of May 2012). There is probably little sentimental or monetary incentive for Bungie to produce a sequel. Furthermore, it was announced in May 2010 that Bungie was developing [[wikipedia:Destiny_(video_game)|a new IP]], to be published by Activision under a ten-year contract. | ||
However, there are fan projects which may or may not become unofficial "Oni 2"s. | However, there are fan projects which may or may not become unofficial "Oni 2"s. | ||