BioWare: The Pixar of Game Developers

This article details BioWare's meteoric rise to the top of the console RPG heap as they supplanted former genre mainstay Square-Enix. By drawing a parallel between the game and animation industries, the author describes how Western RPGs like Mass Effect eventually gained more mind-share than the Japanese juggernauts in this open love-letter to BioWare.

Quote: "Bioware is in a good place. Recently being eaten up by Electronic Arts, they now have the unlimited resources that only EA can provide."

[spoon]

Err ther games are so nerdy

its looks lyk sumthing a star ward nerd plays

[TheColbertinator]

Learn to spell!

[00]

Are you forks brother by any chance.?

[spoon]

Mass effect and stars wars and FF12 are similair. ff12 is gayest ff

this is what u call a super star wars mass fect nerd

http://video.google.com/vid...

[00]

looks kike you improved your spelling fork but not by much.

[donalbane]

Something tells me the best place to cast dispersions about the nerdery of others isn't a video game news forum.

Is your name in reference to 'The Matrix'? Because that's not nerdy at all.

[spoon]

U think i was acting when i sed mass effect is so nerdy

u must be drinkin sum crazy ass sh1t from your toilet bowl cuz am serious

[Panthers]

Well you dont seem nerdy at all do you? Coming onto N4G and calling games nerdy. That is so freaking cool!

I hope you dont hurt yourself trying to type, because it looks like you are struggling.

[boing11]

I would say Blizzard is more on par for a comparison to a company who can seemingly do no wrong.

[Cajun Chicken]

Insomniac; The Pixar of videogames, ever played Ratchet and Clank PS3? Their own engine, too.
Find another stylish animation company with a reputation to compare to.

[Zerodin]

Sorry, but Bioware makes Insomniac look like the company that makes 12 Oz. mouse.

[Cajun Chicken]

What audience they aim at, their design methods, cinematic storytelling, humour, for adults and children alike...

Sorry, but its Insomniac.
You can't ignore that.

Bioware don't make games for a family audience.

[morganfell]

http://ps3.ign.com/dor/obje...

End of argument, Insomniac stomps all other Pixar wannabees.

http://ps3.ign.com/dor/obje... Now that is Pixar.

[Harry190]

That makes Team Ico the Ghibli Studios of game developers then.

[badz149]

but Bioware is Pixar of gaming? maybe just in terms of resources/fund! quality? not so much!

[Overr8ed]

Insomniac games with R&C should be the pixar of gaming.

[JohnnyMann420]

Yeah, I don't see the resemblance at all, sorry.

I understand what the Author is trying to say...but you could say that about any decent dev on the market then.

They all draw influences on their previous titles and strive for good
art in their mind.

Anyways .... Comparing Pixar and Bioware sells both companies short, because they are nothing alike and the comparisons are not cohesive to eachother.

I am not ripping on either company, I promise I love them both... they are not only in two different fields, the artwork and the way their stories are told are completely different.

[morganfell]

Agreed. Insomniac is the Pixar of game development. Ratchet and Clank, end of story. Bioware? Please. Their last game was a glitchy, laggy, jagfest, elevator simulator. That isn't Pixar.

[deeznuts]

Is square known for glitchy games too? Because mass effect had mass slowdowns with no enemies on teh screen for me. Framerate dips galore. I had fun with the game, don't get me wrong. But I don't see how that can be ignored.

Bethedsa may have issue with this premise as well.

[spoon]

http://video.google.com/vid...

what do u think of this crazy ass video

[morganfell]

Seen that and it's funny. This is newer. The wolverine bit is hilarious.

http://www.aintitcool.com/n...

[Xavier_X]

BioWare has been on a straight downhill slide since the Baldur's Gate days.

With Mass Effect they seemed to have completely lost their focus and instead became fixeated on silly fake Unreal Engine marketing shots of close ups of faces.

The chances that they will ever return to their glory days from their low point with the buggy and incredibly dull Mass Effect now that they are part of EA is zero.

[Adamalicious]

Everyone knows that Insomniac is the Pixar of Gaming.

[morganfell]

Absolutely. As stated above, absolutely right.

[Harry190]

very well said.

Btw, did Chris Bucca Taylor just say that Square turned into the Disney of Game Developers because of Kingdom Hearts? Did he actually say that?
I don't know if he ever played the game because if he did, he would know that there is nothing kiddy about the game except for some of the characters.

Perhaps I misinterpreted his point or it is mental masturbation of his part(which I actually think it is) but I always thought Kingdom Hearts had some very dark themes coupled with not so accessible difficulty for children. The dark themes obviously contrast with the more 'jolly' Disney characters and confer a certain panache to the overall atmosphere.

I also really like Winnie the Pooh and Donald Duck as well as Goofy and Uncle Scrooge, so bite me if you think it's made only for children.

By Jove,this turned out to be quite a rant.

[Xi]

I would think rare.
banjo
conkers
kameo
viva

all seem very Pixaresque.

[morganfell]

Nothing comes as close as R&C though.

Now this is Pixar style:

http://ps3.ign.com/dor/obje...

[Gitaroo]

I live in the same city as the company and Im not even supporting them. Boring game is so not pixar, glitchy and unpolished as hell game is so not Square.

[BigMassacre]

Once Fabula Nova Crystallis arrives to the front lines, no one will remember this.

Mass Effect may be a good game, but once XIII hits, I'm pretty sure it would look and play better than the eventual Mass Effect 2.

[NanoGeekTech]

And I am the Bill Gates of Gamers.....Bioware is a good company but I would have to say they are no Pixar.....Pixar created the whole CGI thing...Bioware did not create RPG....

Every Pixar Movie or short is extremely well done...........ME was not extremely well done( my opinion)it was boring and Blah........not my type of game.....

The closet thing to Pixar in gaming literally is Insomniac.............

[morganfell]

That is not your opinion, well it is, but it also happens to be fact.

http://ps3.ign.com/dor/obje...

No contest.

[pshizle]

they make the best games

MASS EFFECT one of the best games of all time!

knights of the old republic was amazing too!

[RadientFlux]

Well I'm not sure it's a good comparison, as I am not fond of the last three pixar movies.

But it is in my opinion that Bioware is one of the worlds greatest RPG developers.

[Brian5247]

Bioware is a joke.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

You're all dissing a game with incredible reviews...

It was an awesome game...especially the PC version! I LOVE IT!

Insomniac is Pixar though...

[ChefDejon]

till Naughty Dog makes the new Jak game

Jak > ratchet anyday

[djroberts]

Hardly. Pixar's movies don't constantly crash, e.g. KOTOR

[NeoBasch]

Insomniac = Pixar
Naughty Dog = WETA
Sucker Punch = Marvel
Bioware = Firefly/Serenity
RARE = Dreamworks

'Nuff said? Maybe. Ask if you want me to explain. :D

[TheDesperado]

Bioware never supplanted Square Enix, Bioware doesn't constantly put out the best in the genre (animation vs RPGs) - Bioware has terrible writing, terrible characters, and because of that, their RPGs fail.
(So do SE's, but they're not being wrongly boosted up to Pixar status.)

Screw you Bioware.

[TheDesperado]

As for Rare, holy sh!t no. They succeed in making ugly cartoon trash.

Insomniac make beautiful CG-looking-but-actually-realti me games.

[Agent VX]

I really think the author was comparing BioWare as a company that does fresh and exciting material, like Pixar.

How anyone compare Insomniac to a Pixar is absolutely beyond me. Insomniac is the old "Sonic the Hedgehog" crew working with new machines. Their games are decent, but nothing new and exciting.

BioWare has always put out top notch games, and regardless what some of the obvious 'no one cares about their opinions' state here at N4G's, the gaming world agrees the BioWare is one of those rare gems in the gaming industry.

[Droid]

PS3 sucks.

[realistgamer]

nice i love bioware there my favorite dev.

[pain777pas]

Great games are not being bought anymore the masterpieces like okami and SoC should be selling millions. ME was good but in no way shape or form have they overtaken Square yet. They are about equal both have their drawbacks but this is going to far.