Fallout MMO Concept Art

October 29, 2009

A while ago we reported on the trouble faced by Interplay and their attempts to retain the rights for the Fallout MMO, speculated to be codenamed Project V13. Well a lot has happened since then, most behind closed doors. Short story is Bethesda sued Interplay to stop work on the Fallout MMO. Interplay then countersued Bethesda and a slap fight has commenced. Court ensues, more details later.

Why do you care? Because of the lawsuit all sorts of juicy details are being released, like concept art from Interplay themselves. Here is a little taste with more beyond the jump.

Fallout MMO 01_Factory_S

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By Keith Carter | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Six Awesome Games That Were Never Released

October 13, 2009

halommo1

Feeling a bit too happy today?  I’m not – looking over this list of some high profile games that were cut off mid development makes me sad.  Be it Ensemble Studios Halo MMO or Blizzards Starcraft Ghost, no one likes to see a potentially awesome game cut off during development, never to see the light of day again.

So grab some tissues, hit the jump, and shed manly (or womanly) tears with me as we look at some of these games that never quite made it.

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By Karl Vanderslice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (20)

Interplay to Lose Fallout MMOG Rights

April 16, 2009

project v13 cafe of broken dreams

If you’ve been following our stories on Interplay and their Project: V13 / Fallout MMOG license, you will know things it’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride for a while.  Now things have gotten a lot worse.  According to the most recent 10-K filing by Interplay Entertainment Corp (OTC:IPLY), Bethesda Softworks, the current owners of the Fallout IP, have issued a notice to Interplay that they intend to terminate the license back agreement on grounds of Interplay’s failure to begin full development and raise funding by the 2 year deadline.

Interplay states “Interplay adamantly disputes these claims.”

At present it is not clear what basis Interplay has for disputing these claims as their financials do not display any financing secured that nears the required amount of 30 million dollars.  Interplay has a cash balance of zero and a working capital deficit of something in the range of 2.4 million dollars at year end.  If you think about it, Interplay needs serious cash just to stay alive.  If they don’t know where they are getting that cash from, where are they going to find another 30 million on top of it?  For a company with little operational incoming cash flow and no credit facilities, Interplay are in a very tough position.

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By Keith Carter | Tagged , , , | Comments (6)

Concept Art Project V13

April 5, 2009

project v13 cafe of broken dreams

In the next week or so there should be some clarity on if Interplay is making Project V13 into a Fallout MMOG or into some other MMOG.  In the meantime some concept art has surfaced.  Found on an Azerbaijani site (thanks to reader MW) and dated March 2009 these shots are definitely for Project V13.

One of the concepts for Interplay Entertainment, USA. Possibly, I can show more concepts in the near future, but this is not certain. It was done for a project codenamed V13, which, as many surmise, is possibly the future Fallout Online MMORPG. Worked under the supervision of Jason D Anderson – one of the God Fathers of the original Fallout series.

If you still have doubts then you should take a look at all the Nuka Cola signs plastered all over the place and the dude kitted out like he is in the Brotherhood of Steel.  I’m sure these things haunt your Fallout wet dreams as well.  Hit the jump  for all love.

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By Keith Carter | Tagged , , | Comment (1)

Masthead + Interplay = ?

April 3, 2009

interplay logo

Earlier this week I wrote quite a lengthy article about Interplay and raised the question of what direction are they heading.  Interplay has been quick to respond, but unfortunately not directly.

This week Interplay (OTC.BB:IPLY) sent out a press release announcing to all they have formed a partnership with Masthead Studios to develop Project: V13, their not very secret MMOG.  This partnership has been agreed under a “binding letter of intent” which will see Interplay providing the funding for development of Project: V13.  While this is progress toward seeing a MMOG from Interplay become reality, they have yet to announce that they have secured the required $30 million to brand the MMOG as Fallout.  Yes they can change aspects of the game and call it Shmallout but the APA excludes them from having Vaults or similar set ups to the Fallout universe.  The list of items that Interplay cannot use is fairly extensive:

“…without limitation any Fallout artwork, locations, graphic representations, story lines, creatures, monsters, names, likenesses,  behaviors, environments (e.g., vaults), universes,   settings,   legends,   characters,   character  classes,  character professions,  packaging,  advertisements, text and translations, and any and all Fallout  proprietary  characters,  trademarks,  copyrights and artwork …”

So the whole Project Vault 13 thing may require a re-think that V really stands for Vault.  Luckily Interplay is teamed with Masthead Studios, who interestingly enough is currently developing their own post-apocalyptic MMOG called Earthrise, so it’s not clear at this point if Project: V13 is completely independent from Earthrise.  Why would a studio develop their own competition?  Speculation leads to Earthrise being either almost complete, or going to be incorporated with Project: V13.  Either way Project: V13 will be coming to life, hopefully Interplay uses the plethora of suggestions thrown at them on their forums.

This all still leaves open the question of will Interplay announce they have the financing for to keep the Fallout name attached?  I find it odd Interplay have announced this partnership, funding for it, and have yet to announce the financing for the MMOG so close to the deadline.  Is this just to start up the hype train?  I’m curious to see how the funding for this partnership is appearing, but to know for sure we will have to wait for Interplay to post their financials. My shot in the dark is Interplay announces Masthead funding, ditches the Fallout funding because 30 million is a lot of debt and ZeniMax makes the Fallout MMOG.  Personally I hope for a Fallout MMOG and another one or two new IP’s coming out of this.

Lot’s to speculate here, hit up the comments with what you think.

Thanks to mw for the tip!

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By Keith Carter | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Interplay’s Fallout

April 1, 2009

fallout-box-art

To many young gamers, the name Interplay is not one they are too familiar with.  You actually have to blow some dust off the history books to find their last major new release.  The only way some people may know of Interplay is their legacy titles which have recently been re-released or reborn, such as games like Clayfighter, Earthworm Jim, and Baldur’s Gate.  All classic titles which personally ate up many many hours of my life, and that doesn’t even begin to break the ice on Interplay. They have released many famous and great games like Descent, the flight simulator which I used to play until I got motion sickness or until my computer unceremoniously crapped out giving me the blue screen of death.  Descent went on to spawn its own sequel and spin-offs in Freespace, an award winning title which has been repeatedly modded into high quality award winning mods.  Alone in the Dark you should at least be familiar with, it’s fifth installment was recently released in late 2008, now from a different developer/publisher, but it was the original that set the tone for the horror genre and serving as inspiration for titles like Silent Hill and Resident Evil years later. Interplay also managed the Star Trek franchise for something like 7 titles.  Earthworm Jim was a hit platformer that became a TV show.  Baldur’s Gate is a classic, award winning RPG, which was the start of the series under its namesake and other spiritual successors.

But the crown jewel in the Interplay coronet all started with a little RPG called Wasteland.  A survivor of a nuclear holocaust wandering the Wasteland, the title turned out to be considered one of the best games of all time and was heavily influential on another hit for Interplay… Fallout, now I have your attention young ones.  Yes, you may recognize this title if you put a “3″ at the end of it.  Interplay is the birthplace of Fallout.

At a quick glance all indicators point to a kick ass, highly successful game company, right?  Dead fucking wrong. Yes Interplay has rocked some amazing titles which have taken more hours of my life than I care to count or admit, but they have been something of a shit show behind the scenes which disqualify them from being considered a highly successful game company.  Now as a heavy disclaimer, I am not criticizing Interplay or it’s management.  It is not easy to run a business, or turn one around, especially in this day and age and in the industry we hold so dear.  I actually hold Interplay and it’s team in high regard for keeping the ship sailing where many others would have sunk.  Now that is out of the way I’m sure some flames will pop up, but oh well, onwards.

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By Keith Carter | Tagged , , , , | Comments (10)

Holiday Cheer from GOG.com

December 23, 2008

GOG.com aka Good Old Games, recently came to my attention when they offered Beneath a Steel Sky for free via download, DRM-free.  Sounded like a great deal, so I grabbed it.  I’m a sucker for the old titles in the bargain bins, some real gems to be found there.  Gems galore it is from GOG.com as they offer a selection of holiday bundles for under USD $10.  Starting today until you can get your hands on the following bundles:

  • Fallout & Fallout 2
  • MDK & MDK2
  • Freespace & Freespace 2
  • Descent, I and II, & Descent 3
  • Stonekeep & Lionheart

Some great games and a great price of about USD $10 each.  Hurry as the sale ends 31-December-2008.  Happy Holidays from GOG.  Quality old titles to work on PC’s today and there is a bundle for pretty much everyone.  Gotta love it, but Fallout 3 will keep me well occupied for a long time before I bother to download the first two for another go.

By Keith Carter | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)