News: Eternal Darkness Trademark Extension Requested Page 1

crackedthesky 26.05.2015#1

I'd like to see them hand the series to Retro. Silicon Knights isn't coming back and most developers won't touch anyone formerly involved with them; Nintendo has the Fatal Frame series which proves they can do M-rated horror titles, but Eternal Darkness is a more Western-oriented game, so Retro seems like a good fit to handle a successor. Now that Silent Hills is canceled, there's a big hole where surreal mess-with-the-player horror should be.

Or even better, give Kojima a studio and have him do it.

NNID: crackedthesky
My blog, mostly about writing: http://www.davidjlovato.com

Darkflame 27.05.2015#2

I dunno, Retro's handled nothing like it before.
A lot of the shit that got chucked towards Silicon Knights was just rumor remember - one anominious source reporting to Kotaku in article that had at least a few lies in it.
The depute they had over engine rights meanwhile was a bit more complex and not as clear cut as SK was in the wrong - was more arguing over ambiguity in the engines contract. (One side wanting more help to do what they want, the other not being happy the first side poked about in their engine too much)
I think Nintendo would do better to buy them up for a dollar (or however much they currently are) and get the old team back together.
The spiritual successor to ED they were working on did have a lot of solid ideas from what I saw of the design docs released.

Anyway, sadly for Nintendo I suspect this renewal is just standard business practice.

Or maybe a Mantorok Ambio is coming Smilie

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crackedthesky 27.05.2015#3

Darkflame said:
I dunno, Retro's handled nothing like it before.
A lot of the shit that got chucked towards Silicon Knights was just rumor remember - one anominious source reporting to Kotaku in article that had at least a few lies in it.
The depute they had over engine rights meanwhile was a bit more complex and not as clear cut as SK was in the wrong - was more arguing over ambiguity in the engines contract. (One side wanting more help to do what they want, the other not being happy the first side poked about in their engine too much)
I think Nintendo would do better to buy them up for a dollar (or however much they currently are) and get the old team back together.
The spiritual successor to ED they were working on did have a lot of solid ideas from what I saw of the design docs released.
Anyway, sadly for Nintendo I suspect this renewal is just standard business practice.
Or maybe a Mantorok Ambio is coming

Plenty of the shitstorm around that company was definitely not just rumour. First there were all of the promises regarding Too Human that they failed to deliver on even before the lawsuit, then there was the lawsuit itself which, as you said, isn't so cut-and-dry but it'll still make publishers wary. Then there was the number two guy at the studio going to jail for some very horrific shit, the multiple failed Kickstarter campaigns... it's not one thing, there is a lot of baggage there. I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to the old team working on the game (Shadow of the Eternals was looking good), it's just that they've pretty much split up anyway, it's not likely any of them are coming back.

As for Retro, they had never handled anything like Metroid either, but they knocked it out of the park. Same with Donkey Kong. I don't name them simply because they're a western studio, but because of their ability to invigorate existing franchises.

NNID: crackedthesky
My blog, mostly about writing: http://www.davidjlovato.com

mudskip 27.05.2015#4

1. Retro - 2. Kojima - 3. The old team
All great ideas and it warms my heart to think about them happening.

The realistic side of me thinks none of that will ever happen.
I never expected a Nintendo Humble Bundle though... which i think is a huge step in the right direction for Nintendo... Who knows what the future holds for them.

The mantorok amiibo though... LOL

darkflame (guest) 27.05.2015#5

"First there were all of the promises regarding Too Human that they failed to deliver on even before the lawsuit,"

Games companys over promise all the time.
In TooHumans case the game *changed genre* since its PS1 origins.

Dissatisfaction as gamers is different to legal issues. I think in SK's case the problem is Dennis Dyack was just too ambitious with Too Human. Rather then releasing something solid he kept wanting to use the "cutting edge" thing so kept switching platform to whatever was newest - and as newer platforms demanded better graphics (etc). The 4 CD PS1 game morphed into a fairly generic hack and slash.

". Then there was the number two guy at the studio going to jail for some very horrific shit,"

Sure, but firing the guy straight away is pretty much the best you can do in that situation no?

"the multiple failed Kickstarter campaigns.."

...which Id argue was at least partly because of the Kataku rumours.

Or maybe they would have failed anyway. (Eternal Darkness wasnt such a big hit despite its reputation).

I mean, I don't blame people for being wary, but I also dont think anything is solid enough for Nintendo not to form a new studio from their remains.
Specifically I think they could do well with different management - put Dyack in charge or design/story, but make someone else get him to release things.

Insanoflex 27.05.2015#6

This pleases me

Flynnie 27.05.2015#7

You would think that this is Nintendo just covering their IP and is standard business practise for keeping their properties in tact but the fact that it's only for 6 months makes me feel like something is potentially being pitched to them.

Nintendo have been trying to work better with 3rd parties so let's hope that they've found a developer to help them work on this.

i liked the concept of Eternal darkness but at the time I purchased it back during the GC era I just don't feel like that the genre was my cup of tea.

It would be interesting if Kojima took the reigns on it but likelihood of that happening is probably quite low.

i think the most likely option is that Nintendo are thinking of a GC virtual console post E3...or at least one would hope anyway...

crackedthesky 27.05.2015#8

darkflame (guest) said:
"First there were all of the promises regarding Too Human that they failed to deliver on even before the lawsuit,"
Games companys over promise all the time.
In TooHumans case the game *changed genre* since its PS1 origins.
Dissatisfaction as gamers is different to legal issues. I think in SK's case the problem is Dennis Dyack was just too ambitious with Too Human. Rather then releasing something solid he kept wanting to use the "cutting edge" thing so kept switching platform to whatever was newest - and as newer platforms demanded better graphics (etc). The 4 CD PS1 game morphed into a fairly generic hack and slash.
". Then there was the number two guy at the studio going to jail for some very horrific shit,"
Sure, but firing the guy straight away is pretty much the best you can do in that situation no?
"the multiple failed Kickstarter campaigns.."
...which Id argue was at least partly because of the Kataku rumours.
Or maybe they would have failed anyway. (Eternal Darkness wasnt such a big hit despite its reputation).

I mean, I don't blame people for being wary, but I also dont think anything is solid enough for Nintendo not to form a new studio from their remains.
Specifically I think they could do well with different management - put Dyack in charge or design/story, but make someone else get him to release things.

I don't necessarily disagree with any of this, I'm just looking at it rom a strictly appearance standpoint. Dennis Dyack never had the charm of, say, Peter Molyneaux, and even then, people eventually got tired of him. People don't like broken promises; their fault or not, it happened, and it would make people wary of investing.

All that aside, Dennis Dyack isn't out of the industry. Last I heard, he formed another new studio (to distance himself from the prison thing probably) and plans to make Shadow of the Eternals a game and film franchise, though things have been quiet since that announcement last year. I wish the best of luck to him, but it just doesn't sound like he's too interested in making an Eternal Darkness sequel for Nintendo. I followed the Kickstarter closely, I remember a lot of people trying to push them to just give up on a multi-platform successor and to just take Nintendo's money and make a Wii U sequel (and they hinted Nintendo was into the idea) but for some reason they just won't go that route. It sure looked like all the pieces were in place but the studio just plain didn't want to do it; so if we got Shadow of the Eternals by whatever team Dyack puts together and an Eternal Darkness sequel by a different company, well, the more the merrier, right?

My Kojima hopes are just a dream, I doubt it would ever happen. In all likelihood, I think Flynnie is right and this is probably for a VC release or even an HD remaster for Wii U or a 3DS remake, probably not a sequel. It is interesting though; they file extensions all the time, but as far as I can recall, isn't this the first time it's been a 6 month extension on proof that they're using the copyright? That's a little different than a standard renewal. There could be something to it.

( Edited 27.05.2015 18:50 by crackedthesky )

Edit this post:

[quote][b]darkflame (guest) said:[/b]<br/>"First there were all of the promises regarding Too Human that they failed to deliver on even before the lawsuit,"

Games companys over promise all the time.
In TooHumans case the game *changed genre* since its PS1 origins.

Dissatisfaction as gamers is different to legal issues. I think in SK's case the problem is Dennis Dyack was just too ambitious with Too Human. Rather then releasing something solid he kept wanting to use the "cutting edge" thing so kept switching platform to whatever was newest - and as newer platforms demanded better graphics (etc). The 4 CD PS1 game morphed into a fairly generic hack and slash.

". Then there was the number two guy at the studio going to jail for some very horrific shit,"

Sure, but firing the guy straight away is pretty much the best you can do in that situation no?

"the multiple failed Kickstarter campaigns.."

...which Id argue was at least partly because of the Kataku rumours.

Or maybe they would have failed anyway. (Eternal Darkness wasnt such a big hit despite its reputation).

I mean, I don't blame people for being wary, but I also dont think anything is solid enough for Nintendo not to form  a new studio from their remains.
Specifically I think they could do well with different management - put Dyack in charge or design/story, but make someone else get him to release things.

[/quote]
I don't necessarily disagree with any of this, I'm just looking at it rom a strictly appearance standpoint. Dennis Dyack never had the charm of, say, Peter Molyneaux, and even then, people eventually got tired of him. People don't like broken promises; their fault or not, it happened, and it would make people wary of investing.

All that aside, Dennis Dyack isn't out of the industry. Last I heard, he formed another new studio (to distance himself from the prison thing probably) and plans to make Shadow of the Eternals a game and film franchise, though things have been quiet since that announcement last year. I wish the best of luck to him, but it just doesn't sound like he's too interested in making an Eternal Darkness sequel for Nintendo. I followed the Kickstarter closely, I remember a lot of people trying to push them to just give up on a multi-platform successor and to just take Nintendo's money and make a Wii U sequel (and they hinted Nintendo was into the idea) but for some reason they just won't go that route. It sure looked like all the pieces were in place but the studio just plain didn't want to do it; so if we got Shadow of the Eternals by whatever team Dyack puts together and an Eternal Darkness sequel by a different company, well, the more the merrier, right?

My Kojima hopes are just a dream, I doubt it would ever happen. In all likelihood, I think Flynnie is right and this is probably for a VC release or even an HD remaster for Wii U or a 3DS remake, probably not a sequel. It is interesting though; they file extensions all the time, but as far as I can recall, isn't this the first time it's been a 6 month extension on proof that they're using the copyright? That's a little different than a standard renewal. There could be something to it.