AlphaFactor posted:Keep in mind that virtually all of the intellectual property rights associated with Mortal Kombat are owned by Midway, not Ed Boon. If Midway to capsize, yes, the rights to Mortal Kombat might transfer out... But the fates of the MK Design Team and even Ed Boon are anything but certain. And don't forget that developers have a hard time repeating their success when they switch brands. As much as I hate to say it, we saw that happen with Tobias.
clancop posted:AlphaFactor posted:Keep in mind that virtually all of the intellectual property rights associated with Mortal Kombat are owned by Midway, not Ed Boon. If Midway to capsize, yes, the rights to Mortal Kombat might transfer out... But the fates of the MK Design Team and even Ed Boon are anything but certain. And don't forget that developers have a hard time repeating their success when they switch brands. As much as I hate to say it, we saw that happen with Tobias. Now that is an interesting point. You sure about that? This would mean one or two things... 1. Ed Boon and John Tobias had sold the rights to Midway during early production the first game. OR 2. That the game was designed under Midway, and that their creation, whatever it would be, would become the legal property of the company. This probably is how it happened. I was under the impression that Ed Boon had ownership of this series due to his strong connection to it, especially after the last games became sinking ships and Midway didn't do anything about his mistakes. Either way, I bet this game is more about Ed Boon keeping his job, then providing the funding for the next MK title. If the intellectual properties do belong solely to Midway, then sooner or later they would have to let him go for the continued failure of these games.
c0nd0rd4myt posted:clancop posted:AlphaFactor posted:Keep in mind that virtually all of the intellectual property rights associated with Mortal Kombat are owned by Midway, not Ed Boon. If Midway to capsize, yes, the rights to Mortal Kombat might transfer out... But the fates of the MK Design Team and even Ed Boon are anything but certain. And don't forget that developers have a hard time repeating their success when they switch brands. As much as I hate to say it, we saw that happen with Tobias. Now that is an interesting point. You sure about that? This would mean one or two things... 1. Ed Boon and John Tobias had sold the rights to Midway during early production the first game. OR 2. That the game was designed under Midway, and that their creation, whatever it would be, would become the legal property of the company. This probably is how it happened. I was under the impression that Ed Boon had ownership of this series due to his strong connection to it, especially after the last games became sinking ships and Midway didn't do anything about his mistakes. Either way, I bet this game is more about Ed Boon keeping his job, then providing the funding for the next MK title. If the intellectual properties do belong solely to Midway, then sooner or later they would have to let him go for the continued failure of these games. this is assuming of course, that they have somebody in mind who they think can do a better job.
clancop posted:Both very valid points. We do see that Ed Boon has survived even the hard time MK has fallen on as of late, so either he is legally tied to the franchise, or as one of you put it, Midway simply hasn't found a replacement yet. I would assume the first explanation, but maybe he is the best man for the job, even with game sales dropping. Next, with the economy, don't forget that even with our economic problems, several video game companies have recorded record sales, especially Nintendo, so the question is why hasn't Midway shared in this? To clarify, the economy is the way it is due to two major factors, confidence in the "Greenback" and the rising oil prices. The latter is easy to explain, seeing how oil is the life blood of the economy, and a rise in prices would slow the "machine" down, but the first one is a little more complicated. Much like the Japanese in the 90's, we see America devaluing the dollar to increase exports. America runs the largest trade deficit in the world, and that is a problem which is hurting them financially, especially since they are also funding a war at the same time. To decreasing this deficit, they lower their dollar, lowering their purchase power, decreasing imports (with a weaker dollar, they can't buy as many foreign goods). This is in response to the Chinese, who were doing this a few years ago. Being such a big economy, America suffered as they couldn't export their goods to China in the volume they wished, so to match, they devalued their currency, which started a race between the two to see who could get below the other faster. This lead to a sharp drop in domestic investment, which further slowed down the economy (not just oil, but money is needed to keep the "machine" running). This is beginning to change as new economic policy in China has stabilized the RMB (renminbi) due to economic problem the country is having, which in turn will stabilize the dollar. Expect to see investment return to regular levels after a small recession, as confidence in the "Greenback" begins to grow again. Anyways, back to the point. I would assume that Midway is willing to run at a loss for a few years until they can stabilize themselves, as we see now with a declining negative profit. What gets me though, is that they are still in the "red" after a growth in the video game industry following the writers strike which crippled television, which in turn lead to a small growth in game sales as people were trying to find additional forms of entertainment (if I am not mistaken, the strike also helped out at the box office for several films too, which was much needed due to a slump facing the movie industry). One would hope that MK vs DCU will be the first game in an ongoing franchise, especially seeing Warner Bros Entertainment perceived success and the hope that this will trickle down to the struggling game company. As always though, we will see.
haloman posted:Midway should go back to their old game Gauntlets Dark Legacy if they update the game could be the next big hit.
