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British Developer Argonaut Undergoing Restructuring

Posted by Zonk on from the stiff-upper-lip-gents dept.

British developer Argonaut appears to be undergoing serious restructuring, according to GamesIndustry.biz. The company, known recently for its work on the PS2 ports of the Harry Potter games, is now attempting to sell off studio and property assets. The BBCs take on the matter has more details about the studio's cash problems and management reactions.

13 comments

  1. What will I do? by avalys · · Score: 2, Funny

    known recently for its work on the PS2 ports of the Harry Potter games

    What a loss for humanity...

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    1. Re:What will I do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

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    2. Re:What will I do? by Spudley · · Score: 1

      What a loss for humanity...

      You say that, but Argonaut are one of the great old names from the Amiga days. They have a seriously good pedigree (Starglider, etc), so it's a real shame to see them in trouble.

      Oh, and any company that can release an assembler, and call it "Arg-asm" deserves all the kudos going. That has to be the best named programming tool ever. :-D

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  2. In the video game industry... by JavaLord · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If there is one thing that holds true over time in the video game industry, it's that companies that make a living off of making crappy games with licenced material that is popular in film usually bite the big one (thank god/the free market).

    1. Re:In the video game industry... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for telling us that. I'll sit here and wait for EA to go under.

  3. They might be better known for.. by ProtoCat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    .. their work on the SuperFX chip and Starfox for the Super Nintendo. Or maybe the meidocre platformer Croc. I'm sure they'd like to be better known for those. I would, anyway...

    1. Re:They might be better known for.. by Zangief · · Score: 1

      Croc wasn't mediocre...is just that in that era, people were still trying their hand at 3D platformers. I think that Super Mario 64 established the right way to do it.

      Yes, I also remember Argonaut mainly for the Super FX.

    2. Re:They might be better known for.. by EvilIdler · · Score: 1

      I kinda liked Croc..but we should remember them for Starglider 1+2.

  4. XBOX: Kung Fu Chaos, I-Ninja, and Malice by filenabber · · Score: 1

    Some may be more familiar with these three titles. Kung Fu Chaos was pretty good. I haven't tried the other two.

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    1. Re:XBOX: Kung Fu Chaos, I-Ninja, and Malice by chrish · · Score: 1

      i-Ninja is apparently quite good, and it's available on all three console platforms, I think (at least, I know it's available for GameCube).

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  5. Correction by .Maj · · Score: 1
    The company, known recently for its work on the PS2 ports of the Harry Potter games

    Argonaut developed (not ported) the PS1 version of "Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone". They have never developed or ported a PS2 Potter game.

    See here for the official history.

  6. Argonaut is one of those companies... by SynapseLapse · · Score: 1

    that always develops really fun games hampered by a few technolgy flaws. Red Dog was some good old fashioned fun the reminded me Blaster Master, but strafing was akward and the game was dated before it game out. Fx Fighter was a really fun 3D fighter that looked a played akwardly. Nonetheless, a company that struggled and has fallen on hard times.

  7. Jez San by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    said that he wanted to get back to coding and eventually get away from Argonauts other media ventures. Thats sounds just fine to me. Argonaut is a game company first and foremost, that lost focus and passion for truely good games. Rather I think Jez did. He was a favorite programmer of mine before John Caramack came along. I think he can be great again. Jez are you out there..??? Lets start working on Star Glider 3!