FASA is dead
- Thread starter Cheezdoodles
- Start date
FASA is probably a good example of a group that should have been left to on the PC making games they were good at making. Moving over to the console side and then trying to adapt games that really don't appear to appeal to the console market (or just are neutered so bad that no one wants them because they are a shell of their former self) seems to have been a major issue for them.
Lets hope MS learned a lesson... finally. How many internal studios does MS need to kill??
Lets hope MS learned a lesson... finally. How many internal studios does MS need to kill??
These guys have repeatedly burned themselves into my best gaming memories since I was 12 years old.
Thanks for making mockeries of the Mechwarrior and Shadowrun series. Thanks for deciding that anyone who holds a gamepad is too stupid to play a complex mech sim or adult-themed rpg. Thanks for choking Fasa to death, Microsoft.
Don't stop now. You still have work to do, MS. Rare isn't going to mismanage and disband all by itself, y'know. They've been kicking butt for 20 years much like Fasa. Time to put that dog down!
Thanks for making mockeries of the Mechwarrior and Shadowrun series. Thanks for deciding that anyone who holds a gamepad is too stupid to play a complex mech sim or adult-themed rpg. Thanks for choking Fasa to death, Microsoft.
Don't stop now. You still have work to do, MS. Rare isn't going to mismanage and disband all by itself, y'know. They've been kicking butt for 20 years much like Fasa. Time to put that dog down!
Not surprised in the least... after reading what their lead developer was writing on the IGN blog, it was pretty clear he was the wrong guy for the fans' interests.
A remake of Mech2/GBL/Mercs would have been Awesome. (Pun intended
) Unfortunately I think they'd have to cut some of the mech designs they used (mostly in Mercs) due to legal issues that cropped up or something. I remember there were some issues with Robotech back in the 80s, but... I can't remember now.
The soundtracks were kick-ass back in the day, and it was the whole simulator experience that drew me into the game. I guess it helped that the computer was talking like on Star Trek.
Ah well... those days are gone now... lost in OS compatibility issues.
A remake of Mech2/GBL/Mercs would have been Awesome. (Pun intended
) Unfortunately I think they'd have to cut some of the mech designs they used (mostly in Mercs) due to legal issues that cropped up or something. I remember there were some issues with Robotech back in the 80s, but... I can't remember now. The soundtracks were kick-ass back in the day, and it was the whole simulator experience that drew me into the game. I guess it helped that the computer was talking like on Star Trek.
Ah well... those days are gone now... lost in OS compatibility issues.
I was a big fan of the earlier Mechwarrior efforts, and there was some game with the word 'Phoenix' in it that I was a huge fan of... I think that was on C64 or something. Predates all the in-the-cockpit stuff.
I am also a former player of the actual Battletech/Mechwarrior RPG's, so with FASA's electronic versions through the years I have always appreciated the accuracy retained/reflected.
Well, I've never heard of that, but I've always wondered... the reason being that a lot of the primary mech designs in the early RPG - and some of the more iconic at that - are straight design rip-offs of the Robotech/Macross anime.
I am also a former player of the actual Battletech/Mechwarrior RPG's, so with FASA's electronic versions through the years I have always appreciated the accuracy retained/reflected.
I remember there were some issues with Robotech back in the 80s, but... I can't remember now.
Well, I've never heard of that, but I've always wondered... the reason being that a lot of the primary mech designs in the early RPG - and some of the more iconic at that - are straight design rip-offs of the Robotech/Macross anime.
It was probably those very same rip-offs that were contested and I believe Fasa either changed the design or never showed that mech again. There is some more info here with pictures too:
http://www.schwag.org/~rocky/btech/Retro/Lost/index.html
The stinger, griffin, and wasp are pretty blatant copies with the gun in the right hand. And then there are the LAMs.
http://www.schwag.org/~rocky/btech/Retro/Lost/index.html
The stinger, griffin, and wasp are pretty blatant copies with the gun in the right hand. And then there are the LAMs.
The stinger, griffin, and wasp are pretty blatant copies with the gunin the right hand.
Definitely, yes... but the Warhammer and Archer are two very iconic non-Veritech mechs from Macross as well, and the Marauder is a rip-off of the Zentradi officer pod, to give some additional examples.
(Big Robotech fan over here as well!)
Can't say that I am surprised. After what they did to Shadowrun I can't say I am too sad about it either. That really shows the direction this studio was going in. While Mech Assault was a fun game, it wasn't nearly as good as the Mechwarrior series. I blame on their management and whoever else comes up with these game ideas. Shadowrun just didn't give gamers a reason to switch from their current FPS, that and it was released the same week as Forza 2. Deciding between Forza 2 and Shadowrun was a no brainer for me. Needless to say by younger brother ended up picking up Shadowrun anyways. He played it around 1-2 weeks and was done with it. He hasn't even so much as touched it for 3-4 months. For him it was just a game to get tide him over till Bioshock came out, and it couldn't even do that.
Learn something new everyday!Definitely, yes... but the Warhammer and Archer are two very iconic non-Veritech mechs from Macross as well, and the Marauder is a rip-off of the Zentradi officer pod, to give some additional examples.
(Big Robotech fan over here as well!)
As far as the BT universe goes, I think the best rendition of it was the EA MMO IMHO (
). MW4 just seemed too cartoony, although MW3 was ok. I just really liked that you really felt part of one of the Great Houses. Duking it out in lance vs lance to gain control % points of a planet was quite exciting when the rest of the "House members" were playing too, and especially when the House leaders arrived with their assault or heavy mechs to lay the smack down on the opposing House's capital world.Wait there was a Battletech MMO? Argh!!! How did this pass me by?
PS - What's important to me is that the IP is still held in capable hands. The studio itself might be disbanded, but hopefully the chances of future Battletech-based games haven't been reduced to zero.
PS - What's important to me is that the IP is still held in capable hands. The studio itself might be disbanded, but hopefully the chances of future Battletech-based games haven't been reduced to zero.
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Yeah! It was back in 2001 - Battletech 3025. EA had taken over Kesmai who was working on it. But then MS had just bought the rights to use the IP, and "mysteriously" the BT3025 project was shut down.
They had a free beta running for a couple months. It was nice. Since it was taking place in the Inner Sphere just pre-4th Succession War, the mechs weren't customizable and were just limited to the canon weapon/armour loadouts. As part of the military, players didn't have to handle all those extra fees (ammunition, repairing). It was hardly complicated business!
Players received a daily salary dependent upon the number of planets in control by your House. Extra cash was gained from winning matches; losers gained a miniscule amount. Credits go directly towards purchasing Mechs; variants of a Mech were considered separate mechs. Planets had restrictions on the type of mechs you could bring to battle. On the capital world, you could bring in anything you wanted. Basically, the further in you got, the higher the tonnage.
I think it was Solaris VII where all players could go from anywhere at anytime to battle it out for fun with no money involved - practise. It might have been Outreach (though the former makes more sense). Outreach might have been the location of the initial training mission of the game.
What was really cool to me was the sense of scale from the light mechs all the way to the assault mechs.
For a beta test, it was quite something. I think if they had more time, they'd have expanded to larger battles with companies of mechs and eventually play out the Fourth Succession War. Although, half the time the Davion players were dominating Capellan space anyway. At one point, players of the Combine were even dominating the soon-to-be Federated Commonwealth. And at another the Steiner-Davions pushed against Kurita in a mock war.
Ah... good times...
I wonder if the Flight Simulator folks wouldn't mind tackling Battletech.
The BT MMO was a Kesmai acquisition. It was canceled when MS (the license holder) refused to approve the game as a means of 'punishing' EA for its stance on Xbox Live. EA eventually canceled the game since there was no way to release it without approval.
Well, (IIRC) the Battletech IP was never owned or fully controlled my MS. Only licensed by them. The FASA Interactive that MS bought were a licensor of the IP. Of the two founders of the original FASA, the one that didn't go to MS bought the BattleTech and Shadowrun licenses from the 'parent FASA' and brought them to his new company WizKids. MS may still hold exclusive or nonexclusive rights to develop and market computer games based on both franchises, though.
One of the passwords I use is actually based on an old Battletech MUSE. ^_^ Ah, the good ol' days...
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