incidents

August 16.

Blizzard has been a subsidiary of ID Software for just under two months. The acquisition details are still a bit unclear, but the plan is for them to continue working on the games they've been developing. They reached an agreement on RPG tactics, and the creation of World of Warcraft is just an ambitious project that the founders have been working on autonomously for some time. Michael Morhaime, Frank Pearce, and Allan Adham have been working like a well-oiled machine. The organization provided by the multinational company Lux Animation, along with all the graphic engines, was a godsend for these video game geeks who are planning one of the most comprehensive stories in video games—a universe extending over nearly ten installments, along with other releases to create the MROOP matrix, a series of online strategy games.

-You are the smartest people in the world,- Raimon commented, admiring the work on Warcraft, one of the best pieces of art he had seen in recent years.

Frank Pearce blushed at Raimon's words, who admired the masterpiece of Warcraft.

-It's still a new idea,- commented Allan, the most grounded of the three, the logical thinker among the three founders of the former Silicon & Synapse, now part of Lux Games, the main hub of six video game companies.

-Not at all, Billy has a similar concept, which is why his interview caught my attention so much. We're creating a game called Baldur's Gate, an RPG, open world intertwined with classic dungeon & dragon gameplay. Now I see you've already thought of it and want to communicate with players through a unique online multiplayer process. You're geniuses,- Raimon said, regretting not considering them earlier.

-Billy? The boss, right... the Billy who is the youngest billionaire by his means?- Frank Pearce asked.

-Ah, yes, now he's a billionaire... What I want you to understand is that with Billy, we've worked on two essential things: optimizing games to a symbiotic beauty between gameplay, graphics, and story. You have it. We need to hire a writer or talk to Billy to give us wings on the story. Maybe use our animators to make a brief introduction. Adding scenes will give us a better market for the teaser,- Raimon said, bouncing ideas around.

-Sounds great,- commented Frank Pearce. -I've spent some time on the story, and to top it off, I think the first thing is to present complex details and make a simple story so that Billy or whoever revises it has plenty of room to work.-

-Sounds brilliant. Now, I think we need to play a round of Baldur's Gate so you know what I'm talking about,- said Raimon, rubbing his hands, escaping from Anne, playing a game of Baldur without anyone bothering him with the perfect excuse of it being work-related.

He was stopped by Allan, who smiled heavily.

-Anne already mentioned that you might suggest playing Baldur's Gate and prohibited us from playing it with you. You can leave the game, and we'll have a chat later,- Allan said.

Raimon was left breathless knowing that Anne had outsmarted him again. It was likely that Rachel had done everything to sabotage his gaming afternoon.

-Sure, now you've fallen to the dark side,- Raimon said, walking away to check the accounts. One major issue with having many branches is the need for a careful management pattern. Everyone has projects, but each company needs adjustments to avoid excessive expenses and ensure longevity.

-Are you going to make changes?- Allan asked, noticing the evident shift.

-We'll hire financial advisors, and assistants, and expand our advertising and design market. For now, ID Software handles it along with Pixar and Lux Animation, but we're expanding all the teams,- Raimon commented.

The hiring of twenty extra animators to handle video games, working hand-in-hand with ID Software and RPG platforms, was just a sign—a continuous group that would handle all video game designs, mini-stories, cover art, albums, posters, and covers, along with small assignments for the entire advertising branch.

-That sounds fantastic, but we want to do our designs,- Allan said.

-You need to discuss that with the newly created group. For now, the important thing is to consider that you need that team to meet the minimum requirements of video games, which are introductions, explanations, and attractive designs for consumers,- Raimon said, pointing out just a basic part of video game marketing, the appeal.

-It's not negotiable.-

-I didn't say that! But you must follow certain standards. It's almost a strategy,- Raimon said.

Now they longed for the chubby guy who came in with nothing but smiles.

***

-This is pure gold,- said Ricardo Sanchez, one of the most popular video game critics from all the magazines, as he played the demo of Baldur's Gate, one of the most ambitious games on the market from the new company RPG Platforms.

-It's incredible,- Ricardo commented, feeling like a kid again playing Pac-Man twenty years ago. After many ups and downs, he decided to study journalism and landed at a small video game magazine.

-Tony, come play this game, it's for two players,- Ricardo shouted, completely absorbed by the simplicity of the gameplay, the amazing graphics, the medieval setting, and the Roman war-like music. The sound, everything, was perfect.

Tony arrived with a pen tucked behind his ear, looking at the laughter with some curiosity. The new game, sold for consoles and now available for computers, was distributed by ID Software on three consoles: PlayStation, Nintendo, and PC.

-Give me a second, I'm detailing the boom of the Nintendo 64 in an article about why Nintendo will be the next big competitor of the decade. I think it will put some companies out of business. The game modes are simply amazing,- Tony commented.

-Wow, ID Software has been doing this since 1991, and no one was kissing their feet. The issue is the market monopoly; it's nothing great. Plus, if you look at it, ID Software's graphics level is better than Mario's,- Ricardo said.

-Maybe, maybe,- Tony replied, turning back to his essay.

The gaming community loved the games produced by ID Software.

***

For many, the changes at Lux Nation may seem great, but for others, it's just the beginning of their problems. The animation battle is one lived by three companies, each absorbed in distracting and creating their aspirations, but it cannot be answered satisfactorily.

-The movie wasn't as effective as we hoped. Even when we published the story, the expenses of $65 million compared to the $35 million for Bugs is a big difference. Even though they exceeded the $150 million mark, which was the limit for a healthy profit, and reached $306 million, the blow was already dealt, and the response wasn't less friendly. Lux Animation made $260 million, which means without competition, our profit would have been at least $500 million. Their fight against us is just the beginning,- Joe Roth commented to Phil Lader, both now the directors of entertainment.

-You're being sarcastic. Even without competition, our revenue pace could have been lower or higher. There are no what-ifs in cinema,- Phil Lader commented, approaching to see that only three movies were released this time, and unlike the two released, they may release others at the end of the year, creating a complete surprise. How do they manage it? Three movies in three years, and two of those have been hits.

-We have to keep doing what we always do. Michael Eisner always believes we'll pull through. Even though the acquisition of ABC has already been announced at $19 billion, the press still considers it one of the biggest corporate acquisitions in history,- Joe Roth mentioned with some doubt in his voice. -I think it was a dumb move. ABC is just an elegant problem for us, and for the company's constitution, it brings many channels, but as a mega production medium, it contains a wide variety of assets and liabilities to consider. Disney makes movies; without movies, we're just a medium without wings.-

-We're just employees. Eisner talks about the annual showdown, and we're already preparing to face the battle next year, though we have no idea what the company's project is. We'll be releasing "The Gremlins," from a book by Roald Dahl that Walt Disney wanted to produce but never did,- Phil Lader commented, who was in charge of the Tarzan series for 1998 along with Mort, based on Terry Pratchett's stories.

Like the continuous search for princesses or quality of princesses, which Disney doesn't underestimate from any angle, examples have been taken, like The Princess and the Pea, Donkeyskin, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Wild Swans, and The Snow Queen. All have undergone numerous studies and efforts to continue competing. With the latest confrontation, Billy proposed the story of Mulan, a Chinese woman in the time of the Mongols.

-I wouldn't trust that much. It seems he prefers to be elsewhere. Since Jeffrey Katzenberg left, everything has been different for all of us, - Joe Roth commented.

...