Category: Games

It looks like Sony Online Entertainment has hit some hard times. They recently announced the closure of its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios and the elimination of 205 jobs. Additionally, they have announced that they have canceled their cross-platform MMO The Agency. For those unfamiliar with the game, it was a spy-themed massively multiplayer online shooter featuring cross-platform play between Playstation 3 and PC.

When I first read this news I got worried that Planetside 2 would be on the chopping block next. Aside from an initial announcement and a few renders, news has been pretty quiet. However it turns out this is not the case. In a press release explaining the studio closures, SOE said:

“As part of a strategic decision to reduce costs and streamline its global workforce, SOE announced today that it will eliminate 205 positions and close its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios. As part of this restructuring, SOE is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties, while also maintaining its current portfolio of online games. All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern.

“This strategic decision will have no impact on SOE’s current portfolio of live games; additionally SOE will transition development efforts for the Denver and Tucson studios’ suite of products to its San Diego headquarters. This strategic alignment of development resources better positions SOE to remain a global leader in online gaming and deliver on its promise of creating entertaining games for players of all ages, and servicing the 20 million players that visited SOE servers in just the past year.”

It is always sad when studios close and people lose their jobs. I hope everyone lands on their feed. However I am glad to see that not only is Planetside 2 not canceled, but that it also appears to be one of their priorities. It sucks that The Agency was canceled, but I would take a new Planetside game over that any day of the week.

I know I am in the minority in feeling that the old resident evil games were more enjoyable than Capcom’s current offerings. The old games were slow paced survival-horror games where you had to solve unique and interesting puzzles and conserve limited resources while trying to barely survive a zombie outbreak. Often the best course of action was to avoid or run away from fights, since health and ammo pickups were few and far between. The new games are more of a 3rd person action-fest where you blast lots of zombies with big weapons, never having to worry about ammo and only occasionally solving a puzzle. The series has lost its charm and intellect, but it also appeals to a much larger audience. Given the success of Resident Evil 4 and 5, I doubt we will ever get a new RE game that is more in line with the older games.

However it appears that Capcom has acknowledged that there is still an audience for those older games, and is currently in the process of porting Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Code Veronica to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN. Both games will be available as separate downloads in North America this fall, while in Japan they will be available as a bundled release.

Code Veronica is probably my favorite of all the old Resident Evil games. It first appeared on the Dreamcast, and took advantage of its (at the time) advanced hardware to do a number of new cool things. The camera was no longer static, often following the player as they moved around but still giving a good overhead view of the action. The environments were finally completely 3D rendered instead of having partially 3D geometry over a 2D background. The game also had a number of pretty cool in-game cutscenes making the game feel more like a movie then any of the previous games in the series. The game also had a pretty memorable story, with three main characters that you got to play as during various parts of the game. If you have never played Code Veronica, I would highly recommend giving it a shot when it comes out.

You can find the official Capcom site for these games at http://www.capcom.co.jp/bhrs/