RIP Psygnosis

[KimbleJustice]

It's quite unlikely, I'm afraid. The game's time in the spotlight was pretty fleeting, really - I was poring over reviews for SOTB 1 a little while ago (with the help of the almighty Hall of Light) and noticed that while it got good marks on original release in 1989, when it came out as a budget game on the Amiga in '91, most magazines gave it a bit of a kicking, even ones who'd reviewed it positively before. In their eyes, it hadn't held up to the test of time at all.

I wouldn't mind seeing a remake, but the gameplay would definitely need quite a lot of work and it'd probably end up looking like most other beat-'em-ups these days.

[TheSonicRetard]

It was always going to happen with the route they took, they put all their eggs in one basket, as soon as the popularity of Wipeout started waning they were screwed.

It'd be interesting to know more about management decisions during the last 10 years, I wonder if Sony just ordered them to keep making Wipeout and drop everything else? I guess its possible that with the skyrocketing development costs, and team sizes they simply couldn't afford to take a chance on other projects, or didn't have the money/programmers to be working on multiple games anymore.

When they were canned, they were making a stealth action game for the PS4.

[Thenewguy]

When they were canned, they were making a stealth action game for the PS4.

Hmmm, maybe Sony weren't happy with the progress? hopefully in the future someone working there will shed more light on what actually happened.

Does anyone think that the Wiki article on the company can be reverted back to "Psygnosis", and the owl picture can be added at the header now that the company is defunct and Sony's involvement has ended? being that its now a historical article it seems much better for the sake of clarity to use the name that most people know them as. I guess there's probably some kind of Wiki rule that you have to use the most recent names of a company or something though -_-'

[M4R14NO94]

Pretty sure that's how it is. On MobyGames at least it's like that.

[Barone]

Yeah, we should provide the respectful funeral that Psygnosis deserves... No Sony studio shit should be mixed up with the Psygnosis name.

I loved how Psygnosis pushed Roland Sound Space, QSound and Dolby Surround technologies in the '90s. They might have spent a lot of money trying to improve audio quality in their games (even for the ones that were only published under its name). RSS equipment was bloody​ expensive.

Here's a game that I love and one of those that made me buy a fully modded PS1 some time ago:



I used to play the PC version using my 233MHz MMX in the past century... The PS1 version is pretty solid.

[Saturn Fan]

This is unfortunate, Psygnosis was one of the better companies around. I have fond memories of playing the Sega Saturn port of Wipeout for hours on end.

[Kamahl]

Psygnosis really understood the importance of sound and presentation in games. Shame they usually forgot the gameplay to go with it xD. Still, Wipeout is one of the coolest racing games ever.

[Saturn Fan]

Psygnosis really understood the importance of sound and presentation in games. Shame they usually forgot the gameplay to go with it xD. Still, Wipeout is one of the coolest racing games ever.

Agreed and i've never been into racers that much, with the exception of a few Ridge Racer titles. The gimmick of racing with futuristic craft through those impressive stages w/spiffy techno in the background was just too good.

Could spend hours with Wipeout XL on the PSX.

[The Jackal]

Probably my favorite box art of all time:

Same here.

[Chilly Willy]

I never regretted buying anything from Psygnosis - you got a big colorful box, a poster, a tee-shirt, and a really awesome game. What more could you ask for?

[Sega Uranus]

I was never really a fan, but I think a lot of their earlier game box art designs were seriously mesmerizing, some of the coolest in the industry for sure. I want to say Sony will just continue making WipEout games on their own, but I really have no idea what their longterm plans for the PlayStation brand are anymore.

I have always been meaning to purchase Rollcage after playing the demo years ago, never even knew a sequel existed.

[StarMist]

Psygnosis really understood the importance of sound and presentation in games. Shame they usually forgot the gameplay to go with it xD. Still, Wipeout is one of the coolest racing games ever.

I don't know about that "usually".
Have you played Perihelion by chance?

Any dispute they're the greatest racing developer ever? Wipeout 3's prototype tracks alone are worth more than all the Sega Rallies, Daytonas, Gran Tourismos, and NFS games combined.

[Kamahl]

I don't know about that "usually".
Have you played Perihelion by chance?

Hehehe, sorry, I don't like that style of adventure game. I'd say a big problem is distinguishing between games they actually made and games they merely published.
If we go by the published ones, a very large percentage of their games had pretty poor gameplay.

Any dispute they're the greatest racing developer ever? Wipeout 3's prototype tracks alone are worth more than all the Sega Rallies, Daytonas, Gran Tourismos, and NFS games combined.

I'm trying to think of a better racing game than Wipeout but it's tough, I suppose some of the Burnouts and the 3DO Road Rash game come close.

[NeoZeedeater]

The Wipeout games are pretty awesome. I prefer some Sega stuff like OutRun 2 but they don't really feel like the same kind of racer anyway.

Perihelion's more RPG than adventure. It's definitely a good game but probably too difficult to have mass appeal.

[Kamahl]

Perihelion's more RPG than adventure. It's definitely a good game but probably too difficult to have mass appeal.

You're right, it's an RPG. Hadn't played it in awhile. I don't like those point and click dungeon crawlers, they just bore me a lot for some reason.