18,700
edits
Oni: Difference between revisions
m
linking to our Marathon and Myth articles
m (link fix) |
m (linking to our Marathon and Myth articles) |
||
| Line 22: | Line 22: | ||
[[Image:1998 trailer opening.jpg|link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxJ8vp3vTW0|thumb|Click the image to watch the unofficial trailer that Bungie West released in 1998.]] | [[Image:1998 trailer opening.jpg|link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxJ8vp3vTW0|thumb|Click the image to watch the unofficial trailer that Bungie West released in 1998.]] | ||
[[Image:1999 trailer opening.jpg|link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLZ2hJZvrmo|thumb|Click the image to watch the official trailer from 1999.]] | [[Image:1999 trailer opening.jpg|link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLZ2hJZvrmo|thumb|Click the image to watch the official trailer from 1999.]] | ||
The earliest online hype came from the existing Bungie community, particularly Marathon fans<ref>[http://marathon.bungie.org/story/newmay-june98.html Oni discussion] on the Marathon Story Page. Bungie fans first started talking about the newly-announced Oni (and the E3 1998 trailer) back in May-June 1998, unaware that it would not release for another two and a half years.</ref>. As the Oni project gained popularity, a dedicated online community emerged in the form of Oni Central and the {{OCF}}. | The earliest online hype came from the existing Bungie community, particularly [[Marathon]] fans<ref>[http://marathon.bungie.org/story/newmay-june98.html Oni discussion] on the Marathon Story Page. Bungie fans first started talking about the newly-announced Oni (and the E3 1998 trailer) back in May-June 1998, unaware that it would not release for another two and a half years.</ref>. As the Oni project gained popularity, a dedicated online community emerged in the form of Oni Central and the {{OCF}}. | ||
Interviews conducted with the staff of Bungie West promised various ambitious features such as smart AI, sophisticated melee combat, realistic level architecture, complex particle dynamics, battles with a large mech (the "Iron Demon") and multiplayer abilities. Two trailers were made for Oni, one in 1998 and one in 1999, reflecting the visions for the game during its time in development. These trailers and various screenshots were analyzed eagerly for evidence of Oni's ground-breaking features. | Interviews conducted with the staff of Bungie West promised various ambitious features such as smart AI, sophisticated melee combat, realistic level architecture, complex particle dynamics, battles with a large mech (the "Iron Demon") and multiplayer abilities. Two trailers were made for Oni, one in 1998 and one in 1999, reflecting the visions for the game during its time in development. These trailers and various screenshots were analyzed eagerly for evidence of Oni's ground-breaking features. | ||
| Line 72: | Line 72: | ||
{{Quotebox|title=Take-Two 10-K (2000)|width=365px|quote="In June 2000, the Company sold its 19.9% equity interest in Bungie Software (“Bungie”) to Microsoft Corporation for approximately $5,000[,000] in cash. The Company did not realize any gain or loss on this transaction. Separately, the Company sold its exclusive Halo publishing and distribution rights to Bungie for $4,000[,000] in cash, a royalty free license to Bungie’s Halo technology in connection with the development of two original products and all right, title and interest to the Myth franchise and the PC and PlayStation(R) 2 game, | {{Quotebox|title=Take-Two 10-K (2000)|width=365px|quote="In June 2000, the Company sold its 19.9% equity interest in Bungie Software (“Bungie”) to Microsoft Corporation for approximately $5,000[,000] in cash. The Company did not realize any gain or loss on this transaction. Separately, the Company sold its exclusive Halo publishing and distribution rights to Bungie for $4,000[,000] in cash, a royalty free license to Bungie’s Halo technology in connection with the development of two original products and all right, title and interest to the Myth franchise and the PC and PlayStation(R) 2 game, | ||
Oni. The Company recorded this transaction as net sales of $5,500[,000] after giving effect to the receipt of $9,000[,000] in cash and $5,800[,000] of assets (consisting of $2,800[,000] relating to Oni, $1,500[,000] relating to Myth and $1,500[,000] relating to the license to use Halo game engine technology for two original products), net of $9,300[,000] of assets sold."}} | Oni. The Company recorded this transaction as net sales of $5,500[,000] after giving effect to the receipt of $9,000[,000] in cash and $5,800[,000] of assets (consisting of $2,800[,000] relating to Oni, $1,500[,000] relating to Myth and $1,500[,000] relating to the license to use Halo game engine technology for two original products), net of $9,300[,000] of assets sold."}} | ||
Bungie had seemed to enjoy great success as an independent publisher ever since they released [[wikipedia:Pathways into Darkness|Pathways into Darkness]] in 1993. However, Bungie was initially a Macintosh developer, and even their domination of the Mac's small game industry meant limited success in real financial terms<ref>Dean Takahashi's book "Opening the Xbox" claims on [https://books.google.com/books?ei=A1mlT672KIG29QSbz-HyDQ&id=sJi2AAAAIAAJ&dq=Opening+the+xbox&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Bungie page 238] that a Bungie game never sold more than 200,000 units, but that number may be based on a misunderstanding, because the Chicago Reader article [http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/monsters-in-a-box/Content?oid=901762 "Monsters in a Box"] talks about an ''initial shipment'' of Myth II numbering 200,000 units.</ref> (but eventually, Bungie began releasing games for Windows too, starting with | Bungie had seemed to enjoy great success as an independent publisher ever since they released [[wikipedia:Pathways into Darkness|Pathways into Darkness]] in 1993. However, Bungie was initially a Macintosh developer, and even their domination of the Mac's small game industry meant limited success in real financial terms<ref>Dean Takahashi's book "Opening the Xbox" claims on [https://books.google.com/books?ei=A1mlT672KIG29QSbz-HyDQ&id=sJi2AAAAIAAJ&dq=Opening+the+xbox&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Bungie page 238] that a Bungie game never sold more than 200,000 units, but that number may be based on a misunderstanding, because the Chicago Reader article [http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/monsters-in-a-box/Content?oid=901762 "Monsters in a Box"] talks about an ''initial shipment'' of Myth II numbering 200,000 units.</ref> (but eventually, Bungie began releasing games for Windows too, starting with Marathon 2). Bungie also took advantage of their indie status to avoid the strict deadlines which are normally enforced by video game publishers, refusing to release their games until they were totally satisfied with them. | ||
It is believed that Bungie began suffering from a shortage of cash around 1998 when the Myth II uninstaller bug was discovered and cost them at least $1 million to correct<ref>See Bungie's 20th Anniversary documentary, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtG6--4r_qk O Brave New World]'', 6 minute mark.</ref>. This might have been difficult to absorb for a studio not accustomed to a disciplined release schedule. The next game to release after Myth II was to be Oni in 1999, but as Oni's release date began to slide more and more, it became clear that Bungie had underestimated the time required to finish the game by more than usual. In the meantime, Bungie was bankrolling two studios instead of one. Thus, the decision was made to partner with Take-Two Interactive; on August 13, 1999, it was announced that Take-Two would acquire 19.9% of Bungie in exchange for the publishing rights to Oni and the upcoming Halo<ref>[http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946581/0000891554-00-000145.txt SEC 10-K filing for Take-Two Interactive, 10/31/99].</ref>. Take-Two also began work on a port of Oni for the upcoming PlayStation 2 console. | It is believed that Bungie began suffering from a shortage of cash around 1998 when the [[Myth]] II uninstaller bug was discovered and cost them at least $1 million to correct<ref>See Bungie's 20th Anniversary documentary, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtG6--4r_qk O Brave New World]'', 6 minute mark.</ref>. This might have been difficult to absorb for a studio not accustomed to a disciplined release schedule. The next game to release after Myth II was to be Oni in 1999, but as Oni's release date began to slide more and more, it became clear that Bungie had underestimated the time required to finish the game by more than usual. In the meantime, Bungie was bankrolling two studios instead of one. Thus, the decision was made to partner with Take-Two Interactive; on August 13, 1999, it was announced that Take-Two would acquire 19.9% of Bungie in exchange for the publishing rights to Oni and the upcoming Halo<ref>[http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946581/0000891554-00-000145.txt SEC 10-K filing for Take-Two Interactive, 10/31/99].</ref>. Take-Two also began work on a port of Oni for the upcoming PlayStation 2 console. | ||
This deal didn't seem to change business much for Bungie, especially since Take-Two was having the PS2 port performed by another studio. But considerably more shocking news was revealed on June 19, 2000, when Bungie announced its acquisition by Microsoft. It turned out that Bungie's monetary woes had not been solved by Take-Two's influx of cash, and so MacSoft founder Peter Tamte had been hired by Bungie to find a buyer for the company. Take-Two acquired (among other things) all rights to the Oni and Myth IPs in exchange for its stake in Bungie and its publishing rights for Halo. Take-Two valued the Oni IP at $2.8 million, and the Myth IP at $1.5 million.<ref>[http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946581/000112528202003845/b320556.htm SEC 10-K filing for Take-Two Interactive, 10/31/02].</ref><ref>The sale of Bungie to Microsoft has an interesting historical footnote: according to Ed Fries, who was VP of game publishing at Microsoft, Steve Jobs angrily called MS CEO Steve Ballmer immediately after the Bungie acquisition was announced; sources within Bungie have stated that Apple themselves had been close to offering to buy Bungie at the time. In order to appease Apple (a business partner of Microsoft) over the loss of a major Mac game developer, a new company was formed to port Windows games to the Mac, named Destineer, and headed up by none other than Peter Tamte of Bungie. Destineer would go on to publish a port of Halo for the Mac in 2003. ([http://www.develop-online.net/news/36173/Steve-Jobs-raged-at-Microsoft-over-game-studio-sale], [http://www.develop-online.net/news/36183/Ex-Bungie-dev-Apple-got-close-to-buying-us], [http://www.insidemacgames.com/features/view.php?ID=173])</ref> | This deal didn't seem to change business much for Bungie, especially since Take-Two was having the PS2 port performed by another studio. But considerably more shocking news was revealed on June 19, 2000, when Bungie announced its acquisition by Microsoft. It turned out that Bungie's monetary woes had not been solved by Take-Two's influx of cash, and so MacSoft founder Peter Tamte had been hired by Bungie to find a buyer for the company. Take-Two acquired (among other things) all rights to the Oni and Myth IPs in exchange for its stake in Bungie and its publishing rights for Halo. Take-Two valued the Oni IP at $2.8 million, and the Myth IP at $1.5 million.<ref>[http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946581/000112528202003845/b320556.htm SEC 10-K filing for Take-Two Interactive, 10/31/02].</ref><ref>The sale of Bungie to Microsoft has an interesting historical footnote: according to Ed Fries, who was VP of game publishing at Microsoft, Steve Jobs angrily called MS CEO Steve Ballmer immediately after the Bungie acquisition was announced; sources within Bungie have stated that Apple themselves had been close to offering to buy Bungie at the time. In order to appease Apple (a business partner of Microsoft) over the loss of a major Mac game developer, a new company was formed to port Windows games to the Mac, named Destineer, and headed up by none other than Peter Tamte of Bungie. Destineer would go on to publish a port of Halo for the Mac in 2003. ([http://www.develop-online.net/news/36173/Steve-Jobs-raged-at-Microsoft-over-game-studio-sale], [http://www.develop-online.net/news/36183/Ex-Bungie-dev-Apple-got-close-to-buying-us], [http://www.insidemacgames.com/features/view.php?ID=173])</ref> | ||