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Garriott Brothers Return to Gaming

Posted by michael on from the sulfurous-ash-and-black-pearls dept.

rhaig writes: "According to the Austin American Statesman, The Garriott brothers, Richard and Robert, the creators of Austin's Origin Systems Inc., are back in the gaming business. The pair scooped up about 30 recently laid-off Origin employees to staff their new Austin-based online game company, Destination Games."

9 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Next project? by Frizzled · · Score: 3

    lumthemad.net has been covering this for a while ... this article dicusses a rumor that Garriot has obtained a controlling interest in NCSoft which is currently developing a game called Lineage

    The article is here ...

    Secondly, it looks like he'll be charging a bit for his next online game (maybe as much as $30 a month) ... that's here.

    _f

  2. Richard Gariot still alive? by Gorobei · · Score: 3

    I thought Rainz assassinated him a while ago.

  3. Eagerly antipating... by doorbot.com · · Score: 3

    ...Autoduel's sequel.

    Let's get Steve Jackson back in the mix too!

    GURPS AutoDuel has progressed well since then as well. Plus, the game could have some nice 3D eye candy too.

  4. Re:Good luck this time by ShaunC · · Score: 3

    Flamebait or not, this is worth a reply:

    >If he could find some good project management he might stand a chance.

    I think that's the whole idea, at least to some extent. UO2 got behind schedule under the "management" of EA's Origin Assimilation Team, not RG. Origin was doing pretty well (deadline wise and product wise, not necessarily money wise) until EA scooped them up. Perhaps when you speak of missed deadlines and buggy releases on Richard's watch, you're thinking Ultima 9, but IIRC, EA was primarily responsible for that bungle too.

    In any case, it's gonna be a fun ride. I can't wait to see what Destination comes up with.

    Shaun

    --
    Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
  5. For those that don't know. by MulluskO · · Score: 3

    ORIGIN Studio Brand
    From its modest beginnings -- brothers Richard and Robert Garriott working out of their parents' garage -- to its current 81,000 square feet of high-tech office space and more than 200 full-time employees, ORIGIN Systems' (http://www.origin.ea.com) has always been known for setting new standards in interactive entertainment. The company, based in Austin, Texas, has emerged as one of the innovation leaders in the ever-changing world of entertainment software.

    ORIGIN was established in 1983 and since then has produced more than 60 highly acclaimed titles, including the award-winning Ultima, Wing Commander, Privateer, and Crusader series of games. Development continues at ORIGIN for Internet-only products. The first of those was Ultima Online and its follow-up, Ultima Online: The Second Age. Ultima Online , the industryÂ's most successful and profitable online-only game, today allows thousands of people to play simultaneously in a persistent fantasy world and currently has 150,000 active player accounts.

    taken from
    http://www.origin.ea.com/info/home.html

    --

    Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
  6. A long trek back to the top by bartle · · Score: 4

    Garriot certainly did some ground breaking stuff. His Ultima series brought a whole sense of realism and proportionality to RPGs, practically every item in the game could be interacted with in some way. At the time, it allowed for some very interesting and sophisticated gameplay.

    Of course, for games today such concepts are a given. The ideas that put Garriot on the top are now regularly implemented. He's all but starting over from scratch, whatever he accomplishes won't be able to coast on previous successes.

    But on the other hand Mr. Garriot certainly strives to tell a good story, something many of the semi literate game designers don't prioritize anymore. I'll be curious to see what he comes up with, he has a freedom to design games that many of his peers must envy. Hopefully he'll come up with something truly unique and different.

    1. Re:A long trek back to the top by vhold · · Score: 5

      I'm not so sure that those concepts are a given. The trend I've witnessed, adventure games in particular, is that the players have fewer options then ever. When text based input interfaces were all but totally eliminated in favor of icon systems, games that were once expected to take weeks to finish could now be clicked through in a couple of nights.

      Even the Baldur's Gate games, with a huge detailed world full of objects doesn't have the kind of object interoperability that the Ultima games had. Even if a lot of the possibilties that were opened up seemed mostly useless (making bread), it was the fact that it was possible that led to a more involving experience. I think that the game everybody is looking at right now to bring a lot of that back is Neverwinter Nights.

  7. Destination games... by Luyseyal · · Score: 5

    From Origin to Destination. I like it.

    Easily amused,
    -l

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  8. My Origin Experience... by BadmanX · · Score: 5

    If anyone would like to read about my personal experience working at Origin, it's on my web site at http://darkbox.pentagod.com/soulcage.htm.

    Badman