Oni: Difference between revisions

{{Hatnote|See [[Oni (myth)]] for the mythical oni, and see [[Oni (folder)]] for info on the installation of Oni on Windows/Mac. For other works named Oni, see [[Oni (no relation)]].}}

{{Hatnote|See [[Credits]] for a complete list of the names behind Oni as well as links to interviews with key members of the Oni team.}}

'''Oni''' is an action video game developed by [[Bungie West]], a satellite studio of [[wp:Bungie|Bungie]], and released in the U.S. on January 29, 2001<ref name=GOD-release>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010617133132/http://www.godgames.com/main.php?section=news&page=press&pr=ONI_Ships Godgames.com, "Gathering of Developers Ships Oni Nationwide for the PC and Macintosh", Jan. 29, 2001]. This is referring to the U.S. release; see "Release" section for info on other releases.</ref><ref>[https://www.gamespot.com/articles/oni-receives-final-approval/1100-2676645/ GameSpot, "Oni Receives Final Approval".]</ref> for Windows, Macintosh, and PlayStation 2.

==Inspiration==

Work on Oni began in 1997 when Bungie decided to found a second studio, Bungie West, with the initial employees being Brent Pease and Michael Evans. The concept for Bungie West's first project was devised by Pease, whose primary influence was the animé film ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]''.<ref>[http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html Bungie.org, "Interview with Brent Pease", 1999].</ref> Pease and Evans had been programmers at Apple working on game-related technology, and their first step was to begin programming Oni's engine while gradually hiring employees to produce concept art and game content. "Oni" was meant to be a development code name that referenced the game's inspiration – Pease considered "oni"'s meaning to be "ghost".<ref>The meaning of "oni" is usually given by those familiar with Japanese mythology as either "demon" or "ogre". Pease explained the origin of the code name [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html here], and seemed to still think the word meant "ghost"; however, Hardy, his eventual replacement, indicated [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 written the final story with that in mind (the script itself uses the word "monster", as explored [[Oni (myth)#Monsters|here]]).</ref><ref>At one time during development, the name "Mnemonic Shadow" was considered according to the [https://marathon.bungie.org/story/newjan-feb01.html Marathon Story Page].</ref> The characters [[Konoko]] and [[Griffin|Commander Griffin]] of the Technology Crimes Task Force are analogous to [[wp:Motoko Kusanagi|Motoko Kusanagi]] and [[wp:List of Ghost in the Shell characters#Chief Daisuke Aramaki|Chief Aramaki]] of Section 9 in ''Ghost in the Shell''. Early development presented Konoko as a [[wp:Cyborg|cyborg]], furthering her resemblance to Motoko.

==Hype==

[[Image:1999 trailer opening.jpg|250px|link=https://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.<ref>[https://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}}.

==Completion==

Oni went through a short period of beta testing, starting just before September 2000,<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4556 OCF thread, "New news groups?", Aug. 28, 2000].</ref> during which leaked beta builds of the game surfaced on the Internet.<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=6634 OCF thread, "Leakage?", Nov. 27, 2000].</ref><ref>[https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.tombraider/c/vB9G_SbOrmU/m/i6D6zJQvNngJ Usenet alt.games.tombraider thread, "ok wtf!", Nov. 5, 2000].</ref> As Bungie West reached the end of development, Oni's publisher, Take-Two Interactive, granted them an extra month to polish the game, even though it would mean missing the holiday season.<!--No official citation for this because it's in the private full interview video with Hardy, but see 33:48 in that video.--> This final period of asset development apparently spanned October 2000, during which time the training level was added.<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=5646 OCF thread, "Re: is the "new' movie really the old trailer", Oct. 30, 2000]. Also, a [[wikt:gold master|GM]] candidate produced on Oct. 30, 2000 already contained the training level. The timestamp on the Windows retail game data is Nov. 3, 2000, so all assets were done by that point.</ref>

==Reception==

[[Image:ManPlant12.jpg|thumb|250px|This environment once had much better lighting [[:Image:Ch._2_dynamo_room.jpg|than it does now]].]]

The overall consensus of the critical reviews was that the game was good, but not great; Oni has a [https://www.metacritic.com/game/oni-2001/ metascore] of 73/100 from critics, but an 8.4/10 from the website's voters.