According to this GamesIndustry.biz report, Sony has acquired Evolution Studios (of MotorStorm fame) and subsidiary Bigbig Studios (of Pursuit Force fame). Both companies had been so intrinsically linked (in theory, at least briefly) to the successes of their Sony platforms — the PS3 and PSP, respectively — that this move should come as no surprise, but the future benefit for Sony remains a mystery.
While MotorStorm was widely regarded as a gorgeous, slightly above-average arcade racing title, and Pursuit Force was a mildly underrated PSP game aimed at the Japanese market in the same way that SEGA’s mid-90s Virtua titles were, neither company has truly demonstrated the kind of intense creativity usually associated with companies previously acquired by console manufacturers (Rare, Camelot, etc.). One assumes Sony has an ingenious master plan behind picking up the development houses, or that they were extremely cheap. Based on recent history, it could really go either way.
That said, does any of this news mean anything to any of you? It’s my job to read through this sort of thing and analyze the future effects it may have, but I swear I almost blew my head off halfway through the article. Dale “Baby Rain” North gets to go to f*%&ing Tokyo and I’m stuck here in the States writing boring sh*$ about a story that I couldn’t get excited about with all the drugs in Thailand coursing through the veins of the nubile coeds straddling various parts of my anatomy. If I was a dog, I’d be a very sad looking dog right now.
