I disagree. We've read so much stuff relating to this exact problem over the years, and I think most people here respect Oddworld for sticking at it. Not many companies would.

I'm glad you said that.

Dear Alf's Assistant
 

There is some truth in what you say..but,
Without fans there would be no Oddworld...

atusiya's father ( in a state of chaos) ...

I was thinking, why did Lorne have to start Oddworld off as a game series? If he'd have done it the sane way, book or movie first, I'd probably be watching a quintology movie, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and then polishing it off with a Star Wars geekout at the local cineplex a few days from now. He went the game way, let his vision be compromised with Munch's Oddysee, and just took everyone's bullshit. After Munch's Oddysee and Stranger's Wrath I just don't think he has the sauce, the street cred, to pull off a movie. Period. Not even a movie that sucks.

You know someone else who is famous for supposed double-talk? Peter Molynuex (Or however you spell his last name). Know last time I checked, Peter was a pillar of gaming, what with Black & White, Fable, and the upcoming The Movies.

In short, I have faith in Oddworld.

Personally, I think it's great that OWI want to do work in the animated film media. I would definitely go and see the movie. :) However, what really worries me about this is that people that aren't die hard or even moderate fans of Oddworld will 1. Not know about the movie and therefore not go and see it, or 2. Not even care about seeing it just because it doesn't have a "Pixar" or "Disney" label on it. (Yes, I know that it's sad, but this is what American film goers base a good movie on most of the time, unfortunately. How did Pixar get its start? By getting a Disney label slapped on its movie. :( ) If the sales in the films/tv show (whichever comes first or both) are really weak, then how will OWI have enough money to go back and produce the great games that we all know and love? I'm not saying I don't have faith in OWI, but, truthfully, I don't have faith in America's movie-goers. :/ (I don't know about the movie-goers in other countries, though.) In my opinion, these movies are really a one-shot thing...I would hate to see what would happen if they didn't sell well-if that happens, then Oddworld could, in fact, be dead. :(

Lorne went the "game" route because of the potential he saw in the medium. Games are unlike any of these other media, such as film and novels, because there is a level of interactivity that draws the player in and really engages them. You can get many more hours of gameplay out of one story than you can get in a 2-hour long feature film, as well, so that is that much more time a person is spending on your story. The player struggles along with Abe (or any other character) and the games themselves are works of art. Just look at those backgrounds for AO and AE; they look like beautiful scenic paintings. You don't see that anymore.

Lorne and Sherry back in the day were quoted as saying how they wanted to make games that weren't "twinkies", or just pure, mindless entertainment. They wanted to make a different sort of game, one with a powerful message and a great storyline to tell, and they pulled it off beautifully. Munch's Oddysee would have been just as great, in my opinion, if they hadn't switched to Xbox and thus had to start over again and cut out a lot of features and such. This was also around the time when several members of OWI either left on their own or were laid off, we don't know which, so there was a shift in styles even from the PS2 version of MO and the one we got on the Xbox. Anywho, what I'm trying to get at is is that games WERE their primary focus. The games are the canon, in the way that the Star Wars movies are the canon.



They provided a place in games that will be sorely missed. They managed to subvert just about every gaming stereotype, create a lush world, and very unique and memorable characters that I could actually feel for, unlike most. They showed me that games could be something more than they currently are, and even though OWI has left, I still have to hope that creativity can thrive in the market of games. I think people will soon realize that depth of plot and character development as well as innovation is the wave of the future, rather than technological advancement. As an artist, I have to hope this. ;) It's a shame that there is now one less creative company showing people how it's done. I hope to hear more details of Lorne's projects in the near future.
(By the way, if anyone knows what the percentage of people who bought Oddworld games, particularly the first two, were female, I would love to know. I'm doing a final paper about this for class.)

Because they started work on the games before Toy Story, before there was a recognised market for CG movies and when costs would be way higher. It would have been unfeasable to create movies at the time so the made the games in order to develop a fanbase and IP to then transfer to the movies.

Yeah, it does make sense. I've often heard the phrase "sleeper hit" when Abe's Oddysee is brought up, but a platinum game is pretty awake. I really hope more Oddworld stuff is made but I just really don't see it happening. And the wait is going to kill me. I could be out of college before a movie drops or a game is released.

Maybe Lorne won't even continue oddworld in his first movie, maybe he'll try and build a fan base on the big screen than make an oddworld movie

I much doubt it, that jerk.

I understand some people arn't pacient and are growing up fast, and by the time oddworld do something, they'll to old or busy when thier adults, and thinking that they've wasted thier teenage life when they time spare and to have fun. No offence to the 70% of the world population.

But just... I don't know. Well give up now untill oddworld come back (which will be about six months time, untill we get the new news that is, I mean proper news)

I want to make sure that everyone that I hope against hope that everything I said at the beginning turns out to be wrong. I love Oddworld. For Christ sake I won a Strangers Wrath poster on ebay for 85 dollars. I paid more for the damn poster than I did for the game. I just don't see the glory days of Oddworld returning and it saddens me. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.

Then let us all hope together.

I must say that I really think that Oddworld is going down hill. I think they should have finished the oddworld video games before starting the movies because now it seems that can't get back together again. I belive Oddworld may just be doomed.

I don't think that Oddworld is doomed.......yet. If they do plan on making films, then they must, and I mean, MUST be successful in order for them to continue doing what they do best (Well, in my opinion, anyway.). I fear that if these films (if they ever come about) are not successful in theaters, then Oddworld may be in a lot of trouble. :( But I sincerely hope that this will NEVER happen. I wish great success to them. :)

Your exemplification is flawed. I won't go into the whole movies/games conundrum, as it's pretty much been sorted out - an Oddworld film would work in 1997 less than a creative game nowadays - but these games that haven't yet come about. Hmmm. Development never even started on Sligstorm, and it was only ‘announced’ long after it was decided not to go through with the idea. When Paul O'Connor - not even Lorne Lanning - first mentioned it, he was saying it was an idea they had that was ultimately rejected. Don't try to sound as if you were disappointed because they announced after long hype that it wouldn't come about : such a situation has never occured.

Squeek's Oddysee and Munch's Exoddus have likewise never been announced as titles under development, merely projects Lorne has for the future. The only misunderstanding that could occur here is that period after the release of Munch's Oddysee when we didn't know what OWI were working on, but everyone assumed it would be ME. That's our fault, not Lorne's.

Hand of Odd is a slightly different story. It was announced, true, but at the time the title was actually “brewing in the belly of Odd” - the website wasn't lying. Development fizzled out as production concentrated on Munch's Oddysee, but that's not worthy of another announcement.

We don't even know the source of the Fangus “announcement”, even if you didn't mention it. Whatever magazines and websites it was touted on never gave their source. Who says it was Lorne? This ‘doublespeak’ everyone is going on about seems to be a popular buzzword these days. Perhaps you should think about what you're applying it to before you slap it on another disappointed artist.

Dark Oddworld and I, repping Cheese Land. W00t W00t!!!
But back on topic. Sligstorm I'll give you. But what about those Tales games? And don't blow Hand of Odd off that quickly. There was hype and it was doing a lot more than just brewing. Not only that, not making "M.E" is punking out on a promise that has exsisted as long as the company. Bonus games really ought to be a forgone conclusion.

there was no hype at all, only a little text on the official site and a very few pictures.

you can't call that hype.

I don't care one bit about hype. We were told that these things would exist and they have not. I am not a petty little child crying over not getting what I wanted, either. I have merely lost faith in OI because of their lack of giving what they said that they would.

Well there are plans which you hope that will happen, but sometimes it just dosn't happen the way things should been planned.

It's funny, back when started developing they were gunna do games, and games were cheaper to make back then, while 3D CG films were expensive to make. Now it's changed, it's all the other way around. Making games are becoming more expensive than making CG films.

It's sad because oddworld games were the most interesting games that I ever played, and still are. It's just way they make the gaming expereince odd. I always thought Oddworld would suit to become a virtual world, an alien world where you do stuff, filled with things and inhabitants. And giving the great story telling makes things interesting.

Yeah it is sad and I do agree with old and not so tasty. I mean look Alf has left his post. Abe is only taking a vacation according OI and would be back, every time we get into one of these we will be back to finish it up things, it never gets to the doing! Finish something, anything, just follow up on it. I could see it coming before Stranger came out, it became clear when they announced Citzen Seige, and know with all this other stuff know. I think he is just digging himself into a deeper and deeper whole telling gamespy and what not "to expect more," when it just cannot humanly happen, it sad to see Oddworld drifting away slowly like this. It hurts less to tear the bandage off then to peel it off, if Oddworld is going down then they should just tell us. Heres a question how long will the forums last without oddworld, without new games that kinda kills the flow of newbies and even old members will loose intrest eventually no matter how dedicated you would be. If anyone would have mentioned Oddworld falling on its feet 2 months ago though members would attack them like it was the Inquistion.
It hurts but seems true enough to me. If Oddworld did get the game done great I would love to see that nothing would make me happier, but I just don't seeing it happening

Games are still cheaper than CG films, they're just harder to get funding for.

NDW, I'm not sure about that you know...
with the next generation of consoles it will be even more expencive to create games.

I heard Lorne say in the order of $30million for a top of the line game.

I beleive that a top of the line CG movie can cost around $100million but I could be wrong.

Lorne certainly did complain about the funding arrangements for games as compared to movies.

That's bull, I read full aticles about Hand of Odd.

Why do have that gut feeling that Lorne might want to produce Hand of Odd on the next-gen consoles. Because it might do realy good on the next-gen consoles, with a world of inhabitants, costumizing, online play or mulitplayer. It might fit well, I do not see why Lorne has to be forced to do action shooting games, when a game like Hand of Odd might be successful. But that's just me.:fuzblink:

I'm not against the ow-prodution of the movie, I really like the idea but only if the movie it's bout oddworld then i'm pleased, if not...well i'm still pleased but not that pleased...if ya know what i mean :catslug::p

Maybe OWI is running low on cash. MO and SW didn't really achieve the effect that AO and AE did, I mean maybe they have enough money to produce another game but if it follows the trend the last 2 did, Lorne might be fearing that there might not be a game after that. That would explain the letting go of the employees and Lorne going for what he thinks the public wants, but at the same time does not want to disappoint the fans. Maybe Lorne is secretly a forum member. Yet Oddworld's future is going to look pretty dry unless they do some serious work'in

The real problem here is getting people to the theatres to see a CG animated movie that isn't made for children. Does anyone remember how well FF:SW did? Can you think of any other films of this type that have done well in theatres? I think OI is just setting themselves up for a huge disappointment.

FF:SW wasn't a good film... the story was realy cheap.
so it didn't got good critics and nobody went to see it.

I think OWI migh succeed. At least I hope so

I hope so too, but I seriously doubt very many people are going to go see a "kids movie" that isn't made for kids.