Awesome article: "WipEout: The rise and fall of Sony Studio Liverpool"

[Barone]

Really, this is pure awesomeness with lots of interesting info...
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...udio-liverpool

[The Jackal]

I hate the fact Psygnosis/Sony Liverpool are remembered more for the WipeOut games than anything else, when they made more better games than them (imo).

[sheath]

My first experience of a Psygnosis game was on a buddy's Amiga playing Shadow of the Beast. I considered them one of the best Western developers throughout the 90s, but failed to get on the Wipeout bandwagon even after buying a PS1. The OP's article has an interesting segment on Microcosm too, that game holds about as much interest to me as anything "Sony Liverpool" made in the last decade or so.

What I find the worst shame is that the current industry just flat closes studios after forcing them to make nothing but sequels. That is what kills me more than anything else about gaming today.

[The Jackal]

My first experience of a Psygnosis game was on a buddy's Amiga playing Shadow of the Beast. I considered them one of the best Western developers throughout the 90s, but failed to get on the Wipeout bandwagon even after buying a PS1. The OP's article has an interesting segment on Microcosm too, that game holds about as much interest to me as anything "Sony Liverpool" made in the last decade or so.

What I find the worst shame is that the current industry just flat closes studios after forcing them to make nothing but sequels. That is what kills me more than anything else about gaming today.

I've got nothing against sequels that are done in moderation, it's yearly-sequels that I don't get or "sequels" that are little more than stat changes (FIFA) or different level maps (COD). Well timed and well made sequels are what I dig.

[sheath]

I've got nothing against sequels that are done in moderation, it's yearly-sequels that I don't get or "sequels" that are little more than stat changes (FIFA) or different level maps (COD). Well timed and well made sequels are what I dig.

I agree completely. It has been so long since "sequel" meant anything other than cash in I almost forgot.

[kool kitty89]

Sonic getting annual sequels back in the early 90s wasn't such a bad thing . . . (just one example . . . there's obviously tons to argue either side with).

[stu]

Really, this is pure awesomeness with lots of interesting info...
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...udio-liverpool

That was a really good read, its a real shame that Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool has been closed down. I was a huge Wipeout and Wipeout 2097 fan when the games came out (I wasn't so keen on the games that followed though, although I can't comment on how good the PSP/PSVita and PS3 games are as I've never gotten round to playing them)
I remember picking up Wipeout as my first game for the Playstation the day I bought the console, I know some people find the game too unfair but I enjoyed it nevertheless (probably because at the time it was my ONLY game, other than playing the demos on the demo CD ) I still play the WO and WO2097 pretty regularly, mostly through emulation nowadays. As for other Psygnosis games I remember playing a lot of Shadow of the Beast and Blood Money (game developed by DMA Design - Published by Psygnosis) on my mate's Amiga 500, as a humble Sinclair Spectrum owner at the time I was blown away by Shadow of the Beast.


Not sure if anyone else has seen this article from Edge, going through some of Psygnosis' best games throughout the 28 years:

http://www.edge-online.com/features/...s-great-games/

Also the musician behind a lot of their games including a lot of the Wipeout and WO2097 soundtrack Tim Wright aka CoLD SToRAGE has his own site, with a lot of his music over the years featured.

http://www.coldstorage.org.uk/


There's also this feature on the Making of WipeOut

http://www.edge-online.com/features/making-wipeout/

[Pulstar]

Hey I posted that link in the Psygnosis topic :P In retrospect I wish the studio had diversified their output, not being into futuristic hovercraft racing myself. Their 16-bit days were just golden.

[stu]

Hey I posted that link in the Psygnosis topic :P In retrospect I wish the studio had diversified their output, not being into futuristic hovercraft racing myself. Their 16-bit days were just golden.

Heh I hdn't noticed that in the Psygnosis thread. I agree with you about them not diversifying their output. It seems that after PSone Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool was just known for WipeOut and nothing else, which is Sony's fault. I remember Colony Wars and G-Police for PS1 being other good Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool games. A real shame. Very much like what happened to Bizarre Creations, both a great loss to video games.