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Oni: Difference between revisions
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:''See [[Credits]] for a complete list of the names behind Oni as well as links to interviews with key members of the Oni team | :''See [[Credits]] for a complete list of the names behind Oni as well as links to interviews with key members of the Oni team.'' | ||
:''See [[Rights]] for the list of companies involved with Oni's development and distribution.'' | |||
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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'']]< | 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, considered its meaning to be "Ghost"<ref>The meaning of "oni" is usually given by those familiar with Japanese myths as either "demon" or "ogre". See the [[Oni (demon)]] page for an exploration of the word and possible connections to the game's content. Pease explains the origin of the 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>. | ||
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''. (See the "[[Oni/Early Story|Early Story]]" page for more details.) In August of 1999, Hardy LeBel was brought in as Design Lead, and revamped the story< | 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''. (See the "[[Oni/Early Story|Early Story]]" page for more details.) In August of 1999, Hardy LeBel was brought in as Design Lead, and revamped the story<ref>The time of Hardy's entry into the Oni project is mentioned in [http://web.archive.org/web/20010727151534/www.insidemacgames.com/features/00/lebel/ this interview], which contains other interesting tidbits such as some words from him about the cancellation of multiplayer.</ref>. The final version of Oni abandons the cyborg heroine and instead introduces original concepts such as [[Daodan]] and [[SLD]]s. | ||
Oni was [[Oni/Positioning|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. 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 [[Oni/Positioning|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. 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. | ||
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==Hype== | ==Hype== | ||
The earliest online hype was deeply rooted in the existing Bungie community, particularly Marathon fans< | The earliest online hype was deeply rooted in 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 its [http://oni.bungie.org/community/forum/index.php forum] (see [[History of the Oni community]] for details). | ||
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. | 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. | ||
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==Release== | ==Release== | ||
After a few months of beta testing, Oni was released much later than originally expected -- on January 26, 2001 in Europe, and January 28th in the U.S. The PS2 version, ported by Rockstar, came out on January 29th in the U.S., and March 9th in Europe. Oni was translated into other languages, including Russian (by [http://www.buka.com/ Buka]), German | After a few months of beta testing, Oni was released much later than originally expected -- on January 26, 2001 in Europe, and January 28th in the U.S. The PS2 version, ported by Rockstar, came out on January 29th in the U.S., and March 9th in Europe. Oni was translated into other languages, including Russian (by [http://www.buka.com/ Buka]), German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese. These localizations were critical to building Oni's fan base, which today is largely based outside of nominally English-speaking countries. | ||
Oni's storyline is fairly straightforward, although it has been called "understated". Because the story takes place over about a week and a half in the game's timeline, there is little room to develop the characters or setting, although large amounts of additional information are to be found in consoles scattered throughout the levels. (The [[Chapters]] page links to plot summaries by level, and the [[Quotes/Consoles|Console Quotes]] page lists all the text from the game's consoles.) | Oni's storyline is fairly straightforward, although it has been called "understated". Because the story takes place over about a week and a half in the game's timeline, there is little room to develop the characters or setting, although large amounts of additional information are to be found in consoles scattered throughout the levels. (The [[Chapters]] page links to plot summaries by level, and the [[Quotes/Consoles|Console Quotes]] page lists all the text from the game's consoles.) | ||
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''Oni and the makers of Oni went their separate ways. First we look at the direction Bungie took, then we come back to the game.''<br> | ''Oni and the makers of Oni went their separate ways. First we look at the direction Bungie took, then we come back to the game.''<br> | ||
===Bungie=== | ===Bungie=== | ||
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 the Mac's limited market share meant that their sales never went above 200,000 units< | 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 the Mac's limited market share meant that their sales never went above 200,000 units<ref>"200,000 units" figure taken from Dean Takahashi's book "Opening the Xbox", which also provided some of the details for the Apple story given below.</ref>, even after releasing [[wikipedia:Marathon Trilogy|Marathon 2]] for both Mac and Windows. Bungie also took advantage of their indie status to reject the strict deadlines which are normally enforced by video game publishers, refusing to release their games until they were completely finished. | ||
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 around $1 million to correct. 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 in 1999 to partner with Take Two Interactive; on August 13, 1999, it was announced that Bungie had traded 19.9% of their stock to T2 in exchange for (1) payments of $4 million now and $1 million the next year, (2) the North America publishing [[rights]] to Oni, Myth, and two additional future titles for the PC, and (3) publishing rights for a PlayStation 2 port of Oni (and console versions of future, unannounced Bungie games). | 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 around $1 million to correct. 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 in 1999 to partner with Take Two Interactive; on August 13, 1999, it was announced that Bungie had traded 19.9% of their stock to T2 in exchange for (1) payments of $4 million now and $1 million the next year, (2) the North America publishing [[rights]] to Oni, Myth, and two additional future titles for the PC, and (3) publishing rights for a PlayStation 2 port of Oni (and console versions of future, unannounced Bungie games). | ||
This deal didn't seem to change business much for Bungie, 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 T2's influx of cash, and so MacSoft founder Peter Tamte had been hired by Bungie to find a buyer for the company. Bungie worked out the following deal with Take Two in order to be free to join Microsoft: T2 sold its 19.9% stake of Bungie to MS for its original purchase price of $5 million; T2 then traded its publishing rights for Halo back to Bungie for (1) $4 million in cash, (2) a license to use the Halo engine to make two future titles, and (3) for full "right, title and interest" to the Myth franchise and Oni. T2 valued the IP acquisition of Oni at $2.8 million, and the Myth IP and Halo engine license at $1.5 million each.< | This deal didn't seem to change business much for Bungie, 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 T2's influx of cash, and so MacSoft founder Peter Tamte had been hired by Bungie to find a buyer for the company. Bungie worked out the following deal with Take Two in order to be free to join Microsoft: T2 sold its 19.9% stake of Bungie to MS for its original purchase price of $5 million; T2 then traded its publishing rights for Halo back to Bungie for (1) $4 million in cash, (2) a license to use the Halo engine to make two future titles, and (3) for full "right, title and interest" to the Myth franchise and Oni. T2 valued the IP acquisition of Oni at $2.8 million, and the Myth IP and Halo engine license at $1.5 million each.<ref>Dollar amounts and details taken directly from T2's public 10-K filings.</ref><ref>The sale of Bungie to Microsoft has an interesting historical footnote: according to Ed Fries, the VP of game publishing at Microsoft, Steve Jobs angrily called Steve Ballmer immediately after the Bungie acquisition was announced; sources within Bungie state 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. Destineer would go on to port Halo to the Mac in 2003.</ref> | ||
The acquisition of Bungie by Microsoft also meant the dissolution of Bungie West as Bungie moved their employees to Redmond, Washington. Some Oni developers stayed with Bungie and went on to work on the Halo series, while others ended up at independent game studios, such as Giant Bite (co-founded by Chu & Evans) and Tyrant Studios (founded by LeBel). | The acquisition of Bungie by Microsoft also meant the dissolution of Bungie West as Bungie moved their employees to Redmond, Washington. Some Oni developers stayed with Bungie and went on to work on the Halo series, while others ended up at independent game studios, such as Giant Bite (co-founded by Chu & Evans) and Tyrant Studios (founded by LeBel). | ||
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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. | ::(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. | ||
One thing is certain: the current Bungie staff has little in common with the Bungie West that produced Oni (there are seven members< | One thing is certain: the current Bungie staff has little in common with the Bungie West that produced Oni (there are seven members<ref>The employees in Oni's credits that still work at Bungie are Butcher, Dunn, the McLees, O'Donnell, Staten and Wu. Only Butcher and Wu actually worked at Bungie West.</ref> still working at Bungie as of March 2011). 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. | ||
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. | ||
==References== | |||
<references/> | |||
[[Category:Oni history]] | [[Category:Oni history]] | ||