GoW senior level designer leaves Sony Santa Monica for The Initiative

[DynamiteCop 2,090]

This is like the third or fourth senior designer they've scalped.

 

https://twistedvoxel.com/senior-designer-god-of-war-joins-microsoft-initiative/

[Sabo 448]

The level design in the new GoW was pretty damn basic, so I don't really consider this a loss and MS didn't actually gain anything.

[Playstation Tablet 1,747]

2 minutes ago, Sabo said:

The level design in the new GoW was pretty damn basic, so I don't really consider this a loss and MS didn't actually gain anything.

Culture of a studio and management matters more. Look at Cory Balrog when he left for Tomb Raider, we got an average AA game. All the Metroid Prime devs have made numerous games, giving us Dante's Inferno and Recore.

 

The level designer of Metroid Prime gave us Dante's Inferno's design. Think about that.

Edited January 24, 2019 by Team 2019

[McWicked 825]

1 minute ago, Team 2019 said:

Culture of a studio and management matters more. Look at Cory Balrog when he left for Tomb Raider, we got an average AA game. All the Metroid Prime devs have made numerous games, giving us Dante's Inferno and Recore.

This.  There are no lone wolves in game development, despite how some studios want to push the idea of a rockstar developer.    I will say that I wish Armature's MegaMan concept was neato, even though it was 100% the wrong direction for MegaMan to go:

 

 

[Sabo 448]

1 minute ago, Team 2019 said:

Culture of a studio and management matters more. Look at Cory Balrog when he left for Tomb Raider, we got an average AA game. All the Metroid Prime devs have made numerous games, giving us Dante's Inferno and Recore.

 

The level designer of Metroid Prime gave us Dante's Inferno's design. Think about that.

That's a terrible comparison...

 

Retro had Nintendo looking over their shoulder the entire time and apparently had Retro routinely send them "blue rooms"so they could  play test their ideas. Think about that.

[McWicked 825]

3 minutes ago, Sabo said:

That's a terrible comparison...

 

Retro had Nintendo looking over their shoulder the entire time and apparently had Retro routinely send them "blue rooms"so they could  play test their ideas. Think about that.

Makes sense.  There's a reason why Rare and Silicon Knights were considered great developers until they left Nintendo.  Now I'm more concerned about Retro, though.  5+ years and nothing to speak of is not a good sign.

[Playstation Tablet 1,747]

5 minutes ago, Sabo said:

That's a terrible comparison...

 

Retro had Nintendo looking over their shoulder the entire time and apparently had Retro routinely send them "blue rooms"so they could  play test their ideas. Think about that.

We got a GOTG candidate. Everything else they made is not even in the top 50 of the gen after

[Playstation Tablet 1,747]

1 minute ago, McWicked said:

Makes sense.  There's a reason why Rare and Silicon Knights were considered great developers until they left Nintendo.  Now I'm more concerned about Retro, though.  5+ years and nothing to speak of is not a good sign.

I think nothing speaks better than Rare. It's been 15 years since 2003, and all they made was pure crap.

[Remij 4,720]

6 hours ago, Team 2019 said:

Culture of a studio and management matters more. Look at Cory Balrog when he left for Tomb Raider, we got an average AA game. All the Metroid Prime devs have made numerous games, giving us Dante's Inferno and Recore.

 

The level designer of Metroid Prime gave us Dante's Inferno's design. Think about that.

He was in a COMPLETELY different position between those two games.... lmao trying to make this comparison  

 

I absolutely love Cory.. and believe that he wouldn't ever direct a BAD game.  He's great at his job... but so far... all we really know... is that he knows how to direct God of War games...

 

Hopefully they let him expand his horizons in the future.

[102020393023445948594 2,223]

The worst part is, even if MS manages to get one banger out of their new Plan B studios, that just means another good game for the hermits.

 

This poor fellow, from making prestigious exclusives to a multiplatform junk.

[Remij 4,720]

9 minutes ago, Bodycount N said:

just means another good game for the hermits.