Looking Glass Closing Down

LGS are cursed Initials. First my favorite band "Little Guilt Shrine" (LGS) breaks up. Now Looking Glass Studios (LGS) is shut down. Damn.

What bothers me is how little pride is taken in the entertainment "industry" these days. For every Looking Glass Studios quality house out there, there are a dozen "Gonzo Games" companies who spend all their time and Money on marketing in order to shovel out "games" like "Skydive!" Everyone I know who has played Daikatana has disliked it, or at least commented on the lack of innovation. Is it still going to be a best seller? Hell yes.

LGS innovated, they made games that broke the mold. Think back a bit. Did you ever sit around saying "Y'know, it'd be so cool if someone would make a game where you could [insert damn cool idea here]?" LGS was the company that DID make those games.

Well, I'm off to play Daikatana... Well, it's just Quake 2 with the word "Diakatana" scotch-taped to the screen, but hey, that's how the "professionals" seem to do it these days.

G-Damn.

I have to agree, that game scared the shit outta me. Turn off all the lights, cut out any other sounds and it was pure magic. Correct me if I was wrong, but was the engine used for Thief and SS2 modified Q2 code? I could be wrong, but if it wasn't... Compare that game, which came out back when to Daikatana. Even a monkey on crack could see where the bucks were. Seriously, if you haven't experienced this game try it out. I still play it every now and then.. Oh well, obviously even GREED couldn't keep the suits at Eidos from swinging the axe. Hopefully, we can see these people migrate to other companies and spread talent throughout the somewhat impotent pool.

From Voodoo Extreme:

Yeah, it has shocked the hell out of most of us, especially after all of the classics Looking Glass has released (hell, even Thief 2 kicks some serious ass). Regardless, a buddy, who wishes to remain anonymous (apparently he would like to get a job with the industry in the future ) that (until yesterday) worked at Looking Glass sent me this:

LG was hurting for money bad after spending to much in development on Thief 1/2 and System Shock 2 and then having poor sales on those products (not enough to make a good enough profit to cover all the expenses and company overhead anyway). They started talking to other companies to see about a kind of merger that would bring in much needed money to LG. The first deal was with a Sony Motion Pictures- that fell through. Then Eidos was going to buy a piece of the company to get it back on it's feet. Eidos's bank refused to front them the money to buy a part of LG (and therefore save LG). The main reason for this was that Eidos's bank was very unhappy with the whole Ion Storm thing and wouldn't give Eidos any more money. The deal fell through at the last minute, and now a bunch of great developers are out on the street. In effect- that bad decisions, attitude, quality, etc. of Ion Storm is what eventually sealed the fate of Looking Glass. Sigh.

*&^%$!! keyboard!! Ignore #256

Rather than just blindly trying to hurt anything connected to edios (ban all their games or warez anything new from them) people should go to those lousy suits and tell them to quit their jobs and give them to those who have a bit of understanding and care to the industry. Games are not here to make money but here for fun and it seem edios lacks the brain power to understand that. They are part of the growing degeneration of humanity.

http://ownage.gibworld.com/ Where The toilets are.

And now a poem by W.H. Auden (with a few editorial changes)

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message LGS is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

Their games were my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought their business would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one:
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods:
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W.H.Auden

And now a poem by W.H. Auden (with a few editorial changes)
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one:
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods:
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W.H.Auden

You could download the SS2 soundtrack on the Looking Glass website (mp3s), I think. Currently listening to it. Boy was it great. And the sounds in the game were even better (those scary voices especially)... scariest single player game since doom (in fact, the ONLY one since doom). have to play it again and say a RIP for LG afterwards.

One thing about SS2 stood out 'head and shoulders' above anything that has ever been done in ANY computer game....

THE SOUND!

"not one of us...." "are you one of us?" "are we joined?" "for the little ones" and many others. The NPC sounds scared the shit outta me. "can I help you sir?" *** better jack in the armour piercing rounds***

Did anyone really listen to those PDA recordings? I did.

Every sound in SS2 had to be listened to. Some scared you. Some gave you warning about the next mob. Some integrated the storyline. But most of all... all the sounds kept you involved in the game.... even the silence.

"Thank you for using Value Wrap" Now go frag some shit.

I'm really disappionted.

No game developer has impressed me
nearly as much as Looking Glass.

Fuck.

They made fantastic fucking games.

J

# 185 and 186 make good points.....

Its too bad SS2 and Thief didnt do better in the sales dept. But it seems to me the Eidos screwed the pooch when they left SS2 to twist in the cyber wind. Damn.... does anyone remember even seeing an ad for SS2? I dont think I ever saw one. I remember a sh*tload of Thief ads... and Thief sold about the same as SS2. I played the SS2 demo I just happened to install from a game mag... I bought the game THAT day.

Now Eidos has been/is pushing DK ads like its the invention of the wheel all over again. Lots of fucking luck to Eidos.

OK. Im drunk and have entered that paranoid mode....

But just how do you think they traced that 'I luv you' bug to the Phillipines? How could they? To a specific computer insided of a University?

Think about it.

Looking Glass Studios games I play:
But damn Ion Storm for getting all that money for a game that I say will be average and sell average, instead of sending it to LGS for their critically-acclaimed games. I took one look at SS2 and could tell it was a good game, but I could never get into the way it's presented.

Boogieman

Consoles games are a bitch to pirate. Game companies need to drop prices to sell more. $50 is a bit high. look at millionare and deer hunter all those are about $20. sold much much more. I would hav bought a lot more games if costs had been lower, then again I am really cheap.

Oh... but then again... you think that Intel turned off {by default} the cpu id function. LMAO.

Then again, Intel denied there was any such function on the Pentium2 and Celeron1 cpu's. Then they admitted there was. Then they said....

blah blah blah.....

The cyber police already know who you are dude..... get a clue.

Does anyone remember where that log I was talking about is in the game? I found it the first time I played it, but I've gone through the game looking for that log again and I haven't seen it.

Just for giggles, Karma Chameleon is from Kissing To Be Clever?

Thanks!

-Lex

Oh, and I won't spoil it, but the ending.. AWW YEA!

Hey, whatever happened to that "get your face in SS2" contest? Anyone know who won? Where in the game did their face appear?

I remember talking on mirc to one of the developers named Ken, and asking him a ton of questions about the game. The radar dish flying towards us that cracked the observation window was a fresh idea. I relished the fear that came from hearing the gasping chants like, "Our flesh needs you", all the while listening to the voice of Kate Mulgrew guide me through the nightmare and remind me that something else had gone wrong. Knowing that an undead crewman walked the halls of the ship hunting for me, calling out to me, forever walking his nightwatch. I remember seeing the zombie crewman notice me, hear his goulish gasp of realization and then run after me with arms outstretched. It was frightening to know that the entire ship was damned, and the build-up of suspense clinged to the last tightly woven thred of fear.

The dissolusion of LGS has been a great injustice to the gaming community.

Thanks!

-Lex

Wow, all this praise for System Shock 2... I'll have to download it today and see if it really is that good.

Unfortunately, the majority of the 'real' gaming public, the non hardcore, are simple minded sheep who buy simple, crappy games like Deer Hunter, Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Quake 3 Arena.

System Shock 2 : Best game ever made in my books. Thanks for some kickass memories.

== Mastiff ==