260°

Amy Henning joins Visceral Games

EA :

"Amy has long been recognized as one of our industry’s top visionaries, and is coming off an amazing run as the Writer and Creative Director of the Uncharted franchise. But her contributions go beyond the games she helped create at Naughty Dog and at Crystal Dynamics, where we worked together many years ago. As both a colleague and friend, I’ve always admired her approach to creative development – focusing on nailing down the soul of a game first, and then making sure the writing, the gameplay, the design and the art comes together to form a unified, interactive experience for the player. This fits in perfectly with what we’re trying to do here at Visceral and Amy’s going to help us continue in our pursuit to make the most thrilling, immersive games in the world.

Over the last few weeks, Amy and I have spent a lot of time talking about what her first project would be. There are a lot of different directions we could have gone, but I could sense that what really excited h...

-Foxtrot3701d ago (Edited 3701d ago )

Amy Hennig....EA

WTF

:(

Of all the studios out there

Rocksteady, Rockstar, Valve, Sucker Punch, Ubisoft, Bethesda, Square Enix

She is not going to get creative freedom under EA like she did at Sony.

ThatArtGuy3701d ago

If they want her, they will. She has negotiation power on her side.

-Foxtrot3701d ago

It's EA....Amy would actually need to be able to use the force to convince EA.

<Waves hand>

"Bring me a taco"

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/bfia...

morganfell3701d ago (Edited 3701d ago )

Yeah she will have freedom. Just ask Zampella...

No contract is long enough to cover everything that EA might do behind your back.

a08andan3701d ago

"She's the Creative Director on the Star Wars project."

you said: "She is not going to get creative freedom under EA like she did at Sony."

How does that work :P?

-Foxtrot3701d ago (Edited 3701d ago )

How does it work.......really?

It doesn't matter what you are in a studio under EA, if they want something changed they'll make you change it.

So even though she's the creative director still if she does something EA doesn't like the look of they'll ask her to change it. Other studios, not just Sony, offer more freedom then that. So for EXAMPLE Amy could pitch something about stealth and RPG elements, EA could say "...but what about guns......no guns?.....add guns now" and she would have no choice, her vision has been changed that easy.

Look what happened to Overstrike with Insomniac Games, EA had their say and it turned into FUSE.

Bioware with Dragon Age 2 and possibly Mass Effect 3

Visceral Games with Dead Space 3

SimCity

Dungeon Keeper

Disagree all you want but you knew what I meant above in my original comment.

Eonjay3701d ago (Edited 3701d ago )

Sony, as the Publisher of Naughty Dog games was well known for being hands off. Honestly, being a creative director of a Star Wars project has to be extremely daunting. Creative liberties are frowned upon by cult followings. So, EA would be the least of her problems. Does she have to create a cannon based narrative?

For example, I really enjoyed what JJ did with Star Trek. Others did not. So the reception of her work will be very subjective at best.

There are inherent creative restrictions in place when doing work on an established franchise.

Death3701d ago

You do know EA isn't a person, right? EA doesn't say anything to anyone, it the name of the company. As Creative Director it will be Amy's job to take the game ideas/concept and turn them into a game. She will still be part of a development team and have people working above that she answers to as well as people working under her. Creative Director isn't as autonomous as you think.

Dudebro903701d ago

Says who?

People always claim that ea does all of these awful things to their developers, yet we never see any proof.

Like when people said EA forced Viceral to add co op in dead space 3, but then viceral said it was their choice, yet some people still claim it was ea.

Amy could of gone anywhere she wanted, I highly doubt she would go to ea unless she had creative freedoms

-Foxtrot3701d ago

"People always claim that ea does all of these awful things to their developers, yet we never see any proof."

Look at Bioware before EA...then after

HUGE difference

majiebeast3701d ago (Edited 3701d ago )

There is a reason so many people leave when their studio gets bought by EA.

-Bioware doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk
-Glen Schofield(visceral games)now(Sledgehammer games)
-Peter Molyneux
-Will Wright
-Popcap founders

List goes on and on lets not even talk about the studios they killed

-Westwood
-Pandemic
-Bullfrog

Baka-akaB3701d ago (Edited 3701d ago )

Dude there is a whole history of great studios going under , even while their games actually sell , when owned by EA .

She might be fine , at least for a while , but let's not pretend EA didnt abuse , mistreat , and screwed over many great studios .

Hell if you dont feel like seeking stuff like Westwood studios , CoD basically exists because the medal of honor creators ran away .

If they mess with her , they'll go like the wind and find jobs immediately , but they deserves their rep

majiebeast3701d ago

They closed down studios left and right in 2013 but they had no problem giving Richitello a multimillion golden parachute while he was the cause of all the closure with reckless spending.

Pudge883701d ago

@Dudebro... of course they are gonna say it was their choice(Viceral), EA probably made them say that... im pretty sure you wouldnt say it was your managers job that the game sucks, you would get fired.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3701d ago
iamnsuperman3701d ago

"Of all the studios out there

Rocksteady, Rockstar, Valve, Sucker Punch, Ubisoft, Bethesda, Square Enix"

You know you cant just turn up at a studio as say "Hey, I am a good creative director hire me". Those studios probably don't have projects for her to be apart of. EA clearly does so why not EA

jdaboss3701d ago Show
-Foxtrot3701d ago Show
Ducky3701d ago

... considering the reasons to why she left are still muddled, and that she's willingly taking a job at EA, I'm going to assume she knows more about what's best for her than you.

aragon3701d ago

why u get disagrees ducky? lol this woman doesnt know about whats best for herself in fanboys eyes? so lemme guess fanboys should decide who shes with the sex of her kids, where she works what she eats? grow up fanboys

LordMaim3701d ago

You're assuming the two things are unconnected. She talked about how much she loved Star Wars, so it's not a reach to say that she left Naughty Dog *because* of the EA position.

Dark113701d ago (Edited 3701d ago )

Now her work will will be experienced by the xbox fans as well.

3701d ago Replies(2)
joab7773701d ago

But how great is it that she is the creative director on the new star wars game...c'mon.

And EA isnt the worst company out there...not even the worst gaming company. Yeah, they have their problems but she will be fine.

a08andan3701d ago

I am not one of your disagrees :P And as a creative director you would have the ability to make big decisions about where the game is heading and everything in it. Therefor I'd say she has a lot of creative freedom:P

-Foxtrot3701d ago

"she has a lot of creative freedom"

And what I'm trying to say that dosen't really matter at EA...they'll only allow her "creative freedom" when it's something THEY want.

If it's something risky or something EA knows won't sell tons and tons of copies then they'll ask her to change it plain and simple.

It's not like other studios where they would take a risk and trust their creative director. If EA thinks it won't bring in a lot of money they won't allow it.

FullmetalRoyale3701d ago

Jesus Christ. You are here, first of course, being negative about something. Color me surprised.

It's obvious when people have nothing good in their lives, because they come here and gripe about everything.

I see up in the article: Update She's the Creative Director on the Star Wars project.

And yet I look down at you(in more ways than one) making this somehow BAD news?

We have masterminds behind The Last of Us working on the new Uncharted, and Amy working on the next STAR WARS.... And you complain? What world are you living in?

http://i.imgur.com/fyFMwXS....

-Foxtrot3701d ago (Edited 3701d ago )

How is that negative when it's EA we are talking about...bloody EA

If I didn't say anything about it being EA you most likely would of turned around and called me a Sony fanboy or whatever. I can't win can I

"Oh bu bu but Foxtrot if this was anyone else you would be calling them...I mean it's EA, it's because she's from ND isn't it you Sony fanboy"

Flipgeneral3701d ago

I dont know man..

Dead space 1, mirrors edge, Dragon age origins... once upon a time they did actually take risks with their titles.

Heres hoping

truefan13701d ago

She left ND for EA that let's you know all these top devs leaving sony is not routine, minus the dev from driveclub. This illustrates she had a sour departure.

ZombieKiller3701d ago

I can't wait to see what she does with Star Wars! Regardless of whether or not I like this change, it happened so all I can do from here on is hope for the future.

It's A New Hope :)

Pogmathoin3701d ago Show
+ Show (11) more repliesLast reply 3700d ago
Emilio_Estevez3701d ago

While EA sounds bad at first glance, she's gonna be writing for Star Wars and that is awesome news!

Majin-vegeta3701d ago

If she's doing it for SWBF. There may be hope for it :D.

Emilio_Estevez3701d ago

'Amy Hennig - A New Hope'

BF2 is one of my favorites and also a game that I probably have the most hours into all time. I will never give up on it and never have. It's too awesome to let dwindle away.

Rickgrimes953701d ago

That is amazing can't wait to see what she does with star wars

Conzul3701d ago

Maybe it'll end up like the 1313 demo, which itself looked like 50/50 Star Wars and Uncharted.

Color me happy.

Rickgrimes953701d ago

Yeah I was really impressed by that demo but if they don't go that route I could see a Jedi game with arkham asylum/city fighting mechanics with a light saber that might be pretty cool

WeAreLegion3701d ago

It comes full circle. The creative director on 1313 works for Sony now. Lol.

TheTwelve3701d ago (Edited 3701d ago )

From Naughty Dog to EA.

All the best to her.

(Btw, EA is where she started her career)

AstroCyborg3701d ago

well there goes here carrer right down the craper

3701d ago Replies(1)
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80°

There are no "thoughtful" ads in video games, EA

There are no thoughtful ads in Video Games, EA. Leave them be.

Read Full Story >>
videogamer.com
northpaws4d ago

I think the only type of games that can gets away with it would be sport games, having those sponsors ads on the side like on real life.

But don't put freaking Doritos ads in Star Wars or something, it breaks the immersion. If it is a pop-up ads, then big no.

Hofstaderman4d ago

EA can thoughtfully eff themselves.

Makersbreath24d ago

EA coming back for the crown of being perceived as the worst company in gaming.

Chocoburger3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

One of my favorite series is the THPS franchise, and it was packed with ads, but it didn't bother me. Posters for skateboard companies, JEEP, and Nokia phones. It did sort of fit in with the game world, but that was the past, these days ad would be intentionally intrusive or unskippable loading screen type of imagery. Ugh, I know EA would do it in a horrible fashion. Screw them.

300°

Report: Sexual Misconduct Investigation Conducted at EA, Suspects Named and What They Did Revealed

EA senior staff has been investigated for sexual misconduct involving female coworkers, and these said people have been named publicly.

isarai9d ago

Aye just call Phil, i mean he somehow made Bobby Kotick's scandal disappear and gave him a few million dollar high five on the way out.

Cacabunga9d ago

I wonder if it will be censored with some in game ads.

MrBaskerville7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

Microsoft did, Phil Spencer played a minor part. He instigated the buyout that led to Kotick escaping all his controversies while getting a golden handshake.

Someone on Twitter calculated that the people hired in Tango and Arkane Austin could get a decent salary for roughly 17 years for the money Kotick was paid.

InUrFoxHole6d ago

Yeah some thing tells me Kotics $ was already guaranteed before MS made the deal. As for the studios... Let's be honest here... none of those studios made system sellers.

XiNatsuDragnel9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

EA about to go down like Activision and then Phil saves the day saying.this is good for the industry and consolidation will help create competition. /s.

MrBaskerville7d ago

Then they shutdown Codemasters and studio behind Jedi Survivor.

Atleast they could hardly do much damage that EA hadn't allready done. EA has shut down most of their studios by now.

ravens529d ago

What's up with all these horny creeps. You gon be horny, fine. Just not at work take care of that shit before you go in. Rub one out if you have to. Don't be a creep at all. ESPECIALLY at work. But don't be one AT ALL.

Extermin8or3_9d ago

I mean part of the issue is that things transpired outside of work....

MrBaskerville7d ago

That's the thing he mentioned about not being a creep at all.

KwietStorm_BLM9d ago

You think deviants care where they are? Work sometimes makes it an even better situation for them because they can abuse their power.

mudakoshaka8d ago

Nerds think they are Gods when they are making video games.

NotoriousWhiz9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

"it seems that according to EA, given the events transpired outside of work between two adults, and the fact that once investigation has started that the alleged perpetrators didn’t do it again, the investigation is considered closed. [...] The victim still has to work with the people that harassed her."

Yep, EA is disgusting.

Extermin8or3_9d ago

I mean the fact stuff happened outside of work puts EA in quite a difficult position legally. These women don't seem to have reported the matter to the police which kinda ties EA's hands on what they can do. If they don't file reports of the crimes then yeah from EA's perspective it is stuff that happened outside of work. The only exception is the guy that apparently referenced things in the slack channel for work, spending on what he said proving it may be very hard and he may well be able to get away with plausible deniability. I don't like EA and I think these people need to be dismissed but without any legal action being taken, EA can't really do much without risk of being sued themselves for unfair dismissal etc.

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90°

EA to Spend Billions Boosting Share Prices After Mass Layoffs

EA has announced it will engage in a shareholder-pleasing share buyback program just a couple of months after mass layoffs at the studio.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
Yi-Long13d ago

Well, anything to make those shareholders happy, I guess. They're all that matters in this industry nowadays.

badboyz0912d ago (Edited 12d ago )

EA stocks haven't been profitable in over 5yrs. They better hope Take-two don't get the FIFA license lol.