Raise your hands Formula1 fans.

[Alucard]

Raise them and raise them in ANGER! Sony seems to have gone out of their way to piss off another group of fans with their money. Not happy at all.

The Formula One Association used to sell the F1 game license to everyone who wanted some of the action. Ya know - like a pimp does with a cheap whore? Well no more of that, for the F1A is moving up in the world and is only going to give Sony a license to make F1 games this year. Just like it was back in the day of the Playstation.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is pleased to announce the continuation of the multi-million selling Formula One series. The only game to be officially licensed by Formula One Administration Ltd, FORMULA ONE 2003 will be released in July this year.
Benefiting from a brand new deal signed with Formula One Administration Ltd, the FORMULA ONE franchise will now be exclusive to SCEE and to PlayStation 2 for the next four years, ensuring unparalleled accuracy and the closest experience to being an F1 driver you'll get on any platform.

President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Chris Deering said "This four year exclusive relationship is the basis for a very exciting partnership between the world's leading motorsport and the most successful video game platform on the planet. Together I believe we will create a totally new consumer game experience that combines the power of PlayStation 2 with the exhilaration and spectacle of FORMULA ONE and short of pulling on gloves and a helmet this is as close to being in the drivers seat as you're going to get."

The press release also spouts crap about how realistic everything is going to be. bla bla bla.

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/424/424327p1.html


Yes I'm pissed. Psygnosis, or the BUTCHERED shadow of a company they are now since Sony bought them out and castrated them, haven't made a good F1 game since 96. FormulaOne 2001 was a good try, but there was something not right about it. Plus it was ugly and there was no excuse for that. 2002 was a joke. Sadly these are the only games it seems we'll see the F1 license in anymore for the next 4 years.

No more Grandprix for the PC. No more excellent Grand Prix Challenge from Atari. The only semi good thing is now F1 cars will be in Gran Turismo. Though I still say they shouldn't be there. I'm just pissed off. Dont know how Sony manage to get under my skin everytime. The only decent F1 game is Grand Prix Challenge from Atari. And I dont see the FormulaOne game getting any better. Oh well... at least no more CRAP EA F1 games. If only the Football federation gave their rights to Konami and ignored the others. That would be justice.

[hgblob]

Originally posted by Alucard
Yes I'm pissed. Psygnosis, or the BUTCHERED shadow of a company they are now since Sony bought them out and castrated them, haven't made a good F1 game since 96.

This won't have anything to do with F1... but did you read the Christmas 2002 issue of Edge magazine? There was an article there about development houses that started out big but went belly up, and Psygnosis was one of them. They (Edge, that is) managed to speak to a couple of people who used to be from Psygnosis to get the full story. Interesting article overall.

[Alucard]

What do you mean have nothing to do with F1? I'm refering to the games. And no, never did see that article. Just wish someone else bought the company. Someone that would have used their talents properly instead of ripping them apart. Their best game, Colony Wars, and still no new one. Good one Sony, you really know how to lead a company.

[Kojiro Hyuga]

Alucard, I don't think the other F1 franchises will disappear- Formula one by sony was always the "Official" game, but Ubi softs F1 chalenge and EA F1 game both have the "Foca"- the constructors association- agreement- So, if thecnically Formula One is Exclusive to Sony, it is not;)

Anyway, all F1 games out there s*ck. You mentioned Geoff Crammonds brilliant F1- yes, that was an amazing game but... F1 Heavenly Simphony for the Sega/Mega Cd... Remember that game? For me it was the best f1 game period: not because of the realism of the phisics and so on, but the concept of the game and the interaction with the 1993 F1 season was so well done... The transfers between drivers happened mid season, and you would get a FMV that introduced the particularity of each race. You could be Karl Wendingler battling out with your sauber to see if you could finish the race, or Ayrton Senna, with a 2nd rate Mclaren- his last year there- doing the same remarkable race he did in Brazil that year... Oh... simply marvelous stuff...

f1 Live Hinformation, for the Saturn, with the japanese commentary, also had that "f1 Feel" in it... Its a shame SEGA discontinued making f1 games... (f1 heavenly Simphony has the most amazing f1 ENGINE SOUND sample I've ever heard- a Ferrari v10 sounds like a Ferrari v10 and a Mclarenv12 sound like a Mclaren v12!)

[Alucard]

So what you're both saying is just the name 'Formula One' is what they have the rights to? That doesn't make sense to why they'd bother making such a big deal out of it. Though I dont know of any other game being called 'Formula One', so why they say its not exclusive? They confuse me all of them.

No, I never got to play the megaCD F1 game since I never had one. Though I DID play the Sega arcade game. Whats it called.. Ferrari 355 or whatever. Only for arcade. Now that game is way cool.

[hgblob]

Originally posted by Alucard
What do you mean have nothing to do with F1? I'm refering to the games.

Uh, I was actually referring to my post, not yours.

And no, never did see that article. Just wish someone else bought the company. Someone that would have used their talents properly instead of ripping them apart. Their best game, Colony Wars, and still no new one. Good one Sony, you really know how to lead a company.

Well, according to the article, Psygnosis, by the time that they were bought by Sony, was already ripping apart at the seams and bleeding money like nobody's business. Their foray into the publishing world did not turn out very well, and most of the stuff that Psygnosis did do were "just ports which obviously didn't sell". One of the programmers who was interviewed remarked that the whole buying over process was "brutal because it had to be".