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| 5 NOV 2006 at 2:37pm |
AndromusGuild Master
Posts : 5538
Joined: 6 NOV 2002
Status : Offline | I might have said this was a good thing, a chance for some fresh ideas, but the little that I know about JoWood is mostly negative. They canceled the Stargate game, for reasons which were never clarified, they said one thing, the developer said something else. And I see a report that they had to close a couple of studios last year, also. So it's a little worrisome, I'd say.
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| 5 NOV 2006 at 6:21pm |
kuddlesPrivate Detective
Posts : 702
Joined: 22 OCT 2004
Status : Online | I think the answer is hinted at in the press release. I actually like JoWood, they make some good games, but their games never seem to get the distribution or attention in North America, and having an already familiar publisher behind them will probably help.
[size=10][b]Games:[/b] Europa Universalis III&&[b]Music:[/b] [i]Awoo[/i] - Hidden Cameras&&[b]Series:[/b] Dexter (S1)&&[b]Movies:[/b] The Prestige (8/10) Little Miss Sunshine (5/10)&&[/size]
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| 5 NOV 2006 at 7:29pm |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline | I can honestly say I have never played any of JoWood's games.
Almost bought Neighbors From Hell and have heard of several, like Panzer Elite SE.
But those aren't my cuppa.
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
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| 5 NOV 2006 at 8:10pm |
SCiVPrivate Detective
Posts : 671
Joined: 22 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Well JoWood doesn't have a great history, releasing questionable quality of games in the past, and also games for a limited market (Germany, Austria mostly). But Ubisoft in its early days did exactly the same thing, so don't judge them by that. And I'm not very impressed by the TAC release list either
Currently JoWood has some 2 big titles in its portfolio: Gothic, which is a very popular RPG in Germany, and with Gothic 3, also spreading accross Europe and getting quite a bit of media attention. The other title is SpellForce, which is a RTS game with a very large emphasis on RPG elements (part 2 more than 1). Panzers would be a 3rd, but I think that is still only really popular in their local market. For a full PC list, check http://www.jowood.com/gamers/?site=12&lang=en&pfid=PC.
If I'm not mistaken (correct me please), Europe is the primary market for adventure games. So a publisher situated there might prove to be a positive thing.
Playing: World of Warcraft / Monkey Island SE&&Reading: Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance - Harry Turtledove&&Watching: Repo! The Genetic Opera
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| 5 NOV 2006 at 8:33pm |
Randy-JAJourneyman
Posts : 1351
Joined: 11 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | This looks to be more of a publishing partnership. JoWood has always had problems getting shelf space in NA, so now that problem is solved. reamcatcher has often signed games for NA distribution only, but will now have the JoWood market available which should strengthen their sales also. Plus, when they sign a developer, they can now promise a larger distribution base.
One of the negatives here is that I could now see a larger company such as UbiSoft interested in purchasing JoWood as they now more attractive on the balance sheet. And we all know the outcome when something like that happens - bye, bye to all of the adventure games. on't forget that Ubi bought Microids and basically killed their entire adventure inventory.
I am meeting with Dreamcatcher this Wednesday so maybe I'll have more info later this week.
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| 5 NOV 2006 at 9:11pm |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Randy-JA (5 NOV 2006 8:33pm)
JoWood has always had problems getting shelf space in NA, so now that problem is solved.
It was in a Best Buy here in the States where I first spotted Neighbors From Hell, but my computer at the time didn't have a video card with 16 MB of video RAM so I didn't purchase it.
After checking out both the Neighbors From Hell games, it looks like JoWood could do a really nice Adventure game.
Just Adventure has reviewed both of them on this page. Just look for the titles.
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
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| 5 NOV 2006 at 11:09pm |
nytimesguyPrivate Detective
Posts : 684
Joined: 14 OCT 2002
Status : Online | The only game from JoWood I can recall really liking was Arx Fatalis, but I haven't played everything they've put out. Considering how rarely I've liked TAC games though, I feel there's as good a chance this will help as hurt.
Charles - Game Theorist
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| 6 NOV 2006 at 3:16am |
kuddlesPrivate Detective
Posts : 702
Joined: 22 OCT 2004
Status : Online | JoWood also published the wonderful Silent Storm, which was a breath of fresh air to people like me dying to play a turn-based tactical squad game like Jagged Alliance or X-Com once again, and like the Gothic and Spellforce games, they sold like gangbusters in Europe while flopping over here.
[size=10][b]Games:[/b] Europa Universalis III&&[b]Music:[/b] [i]Awoo[/i] - Hidden Cameras&&[b]Series:[/b] Dexter (S1)&&[b]Movies:[/b] The Prestige (8/10) Little Miss Sunshine (5/10)&&[/size]
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| 6 NOV 2006 at 7:56am |
IviniaGuild Master
Posts : 4459
Joined: 7 JUN 2003
Location: US
Status : Offline | There was one game JoWood put out that I have been craving - Alpine Ski Racing. They put one of every year and each year I fall in love with the demo and can never find it in the stores. So on that side of things, hopefuly this is good news.
On the TAC side it may mean a wider distribution for games in Europe, but it seems like a mixed blessing for developers. I don't know what to read into this, but has anyone noticed that TAC seems to lose developers they have had? Her Interactive left them, as did Kheops (at least the Secrets of Da Vinci had a different publisher). Even their website seems to take forever to be updated with new game info. Maybe I'm reading too much into it all, but from the outside looking in, they just don't seem very stable.
So maybe this JoWood potential take over is a good thing and the company will be much more robust, but as Randy pointed out when you start to get really big, then the bigger fish try to swallow you up - and the bigger fish don't do AGs.
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| 6 NOV 2006 at 2:00pm |
KarstenSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 347
Joined: 23 SEP 2006
Location: DK
Status : Offline | HI
Maybe this is a strategic partnership ? that benefits both parties, both Jowood and TAC/Dreamcatcher.
None of us probably know if either Jowood or TAC/Dreamcatcher did get an offer from Ubisoft/Vivendi or another (kind of) big co-operation like this. And so they found each other, in order to prevent a takeover by say Ubisoft etc. Much like, imo, Bioware & Pandemic Studios found each other - as a
strategic partnership which has stregtens both firms' financial resources.
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