An end of an era for Oddworld Inhabitants

[PhilOsirus]

I never saw the Oddworld games as having potential success in the gaming world. But in the animation industry it could do great, altho the style is not really fit for movies, it's too dark, deformed and mutated to be commercially viable. Then again, if you can't make an animated movie, chances are you can't make an animated serie.

[FloydBishop]

It's too bad that the whole studio couldn't have switched over to the tv show/film studio Lanning envisions.

When a studio that has been so creative in the past does something like thios to it's crew, it really makes me mad.

I also read somewhere else that Lanning is thinking of outsourcing his stuff now to other countries, rather than use the proven crew he had at Oddworld. If that happens, I've bought my last Oddworld anything.

[Ryan-B]

THR: Given the way that the marketing of that game turned out -- which must have been a frustrating experience ...
Lanning: Surely.

THR: ... is that why you shuttered your studio?
Lanning: No...

He doesn't say it directly, but the interview implies that he closed his studio because he couldn't get the deals he wanted from the publishers. Without knowing his demands, it's kind of difficult to blame the publishers.

If he thinks it will be easier to make movies or television shows, I think he is kidding himself. Good luck to him, though.

[vaportrail]

Floyd Bishop:
"I also read somewhere else that Lanning is thinking of outsourcing his stuff now to other countries, rather than use the proven crew he had at Oddworld. If that happens, I've bought my last Oddworld anything."

You can read the interview here: http://www.gamespy.com/articles/599/599811p1.html

Gamespy:
"It turns out that he was chatting with me as he was driving to the airport to catch a flight to India to kick off a prospecting tour. He'll be hopping around different parts of Asia to scout animation houses, technology companies, etc., so that he and his team can focus on creative concerns while letting others leap the technological hurdles."

Technological hurdles indeed. It's a very sad day for the games industry.

[BillB]

What a shame, I loved those games. Was very disappointed when Stranger went x-box only, almost bought an xbox just to play it!

Let's hope he does keep his key creatives onboard and turns out some kick-butt material. Wonder if he's coming by New Zealand on his scouting trip ;)

And for the record, TV is way easier than film.

[Knotter8]

Lanning is a bit of an arrogant bastard, especially back in the days when he bashed the PS2, just becuz his coders couldn't get their act straight. Lanning was all praise Xbox all of a sudden.

But, i agree with him this time. Publishers' ways get too much grip on game content these days. Unfortunately alot is heading to the EA-way of doing this. :sad: I know, that recent thread with those GE:Rogue Agent models did well, but c'mon, the game was less than a shadow of Rare's GoldenEye N64.

[Wes_Brown]

This is truly a sad day for the videogame industry. Well, that is what you get when most American Gamers want simple games where your only objective is to mindlessly shoot things: innovation falls by the wayside in favor of a guaranteed success. Shame on us.....!

Oddworld's production design was second to none and their hearts were in the right place. Their 2d games were BRILLIANT. Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exodus are simply wonderful. If you have never played them, do youself a MASSIVE favor and pick up Exodus on ebay. It has the best control of any 2d game I have ever played and the pre-rendered backgrounds are shining examples of well designed CG at it's best. Lorne Lanning is no stranger to this kind of thing. He's a smart chap and I wish them well on any future endeavors....

Bye bye guys...... :(

[Wes_Brown]

It's too bad that the whole studio couldn't have switched over to the tv show/film studio Lanning envisions.

When a studio that has been so creative in the past does something like thios to it's crew, it really makes me mad.

I also read somewhere else that Lanning is thinking of outsourcing his stuff now to other countries, rather than use the proven crew he had at Oddworld. If that happens, I've bought my last Oddworld anything.

Floyd, I know what you mean about the outsourcing. I have to say though, I would be very surprized if he didn't keep much of the same crew. Those guys are pretty tight but who knows what will happen. When the bottom line gets tight, people do some ODD things....

[treAnIMAtoRn]

I was suprised to find out that they supposedly only have one cinematic animator there and only a handful of in-game animators. A lady at their booth at the GDC told me that. They were giving away awesome posters too. Very sad to know that we won't see another OWI game. It's weird, they were on the cover of Computer Graphics World this month too.

[MosaFacku]

Floyd, I know what you mean about the outsourcing. I have to say though, I would be very surprized if he didn't keep much of the same crew. Those guys are pretty tight but who knows what will happen. When the bottom line gets tight, people do some ODD things....

while you're a very optimistic person, no, they didn't keep the team. they fired pretty much everyone.

and tre - yeah, only 3 animators for the whole project. talk about fun times ;)

[Wes_Brown]

Ouch. Their production designers had been with them for quite awhile. The animators were new though. Two were former students from the school I used to teach at.

[pearson]

That's too bad. Lanning was lots of fun at GDC in the past. I heard he wasn't easy to work for, though...

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