http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-24-why-activision-closed-bizarre

Notice how long these people were on the company dime while looking for a buyer. They were all able to seek new employment during this time.

You know, there was one unique thing about Blur of which I can think, Penny Arcade recommended it and later withdrew its recommendation, based on bugginess and performance issues. Tycho actually said "I'm ashamed to have recommended it." Bugginess doesn't kill games by itself, clearly, even RDR had some seriously lockups and crashes. I wonder if more brutal honesty from people who bridge the gap from industry to player would see us get more polished games.

Blur may actually have been killed by bugs and a serious player in the gaming media taking issue with them. From what I hear the gameplay was solid. It's a thought.

I'll have a tear in my eye for that pumpkin logo whenever I fire up Geometry Wars 2.

It's sad.
PGR3 was the reason, the main reason, I bought my first Xbox 360.
Too bad there won't be another one.

I think that when considering the fact that Activision's timelines forced the developers' hands, causing the bugs, we arrive back at square one. there's a reason blur and split/second launched the same day.

i was sad that neither of them really impressed me, though. i'm holding out for a goty or ultimate box of NFS: hot pursuit.

the only acivision game i bought in the last couple years was prototype, but that was used.

Prototype 2 is being teased now. It doesn't look good though.

It's supposed to be, it's Burnout but with the NFS name and TBH I love the game. The 'serious' NFS racing game is out on the 29th NFS Shift 2 and Slightly Mad Studios are making some very big claims about the accuracy of the driving model.

I hope they make it, I loved the first one. I'm assuming you mean the one from relatively recent times. That whole virus plot thing was surprisingly compelling.

****MINOR SPOILERS****

It was, but it looks like in 2, you're some tired soldier who wants to die, but is purposely infected with the virus in order to kill Alex Mercer. You get even more godlike powers, though it looks like with that shit you could essentially uproot a skyscraper and just throw it at whatever was irritating you, anything short of Alex Mercer would be instantly killed.

I want it to be good, the first one certainly had perfect pacing, the flashfoward at the beginning was a phenomenal touch. They use the old amnesia trick but then bother to tell you what the hell you've forgotten, which is refreshing and keeps it out of trope territory.

I hope it exceeds my expectations, but given the teaser, it looks like it will suck.

Obviously the final product is not by accident, but it still lacks a lot from being a good driving/racing game IMO. I don't know if you have played Mario Kart DS or any of the latest versions of it, but there you have "weapons" you can use a number of times, and after you finish with the easy single player races, if you want to go anywhere with the rest of the single player game or online, you need to do the "snake" which basically is an almost constant drift which gives you nitro. Sounds familiar? I played several races of NFSHP and it was a huge disappointment for me. Even Burnout Paradise felt a more realistic racing game.
I wasn't asking from NFS to become Shift, or GT5, or Forza, but their direction with it just kills it for me.

Aww man, Dirt 2 is incredible. You do have to accept that it's arcade-y, if that's not your thing that's a shame. Amazing game.

Of course Activision isn't heartless, even the Aztecs could get hearts for their sacrifices.

Just watched that Shift 2 video. That game is absolutely exactly what I think Gran Turismo should be. Final product be damned, if things like the movement of the "helmet cam" aren't captured, the game is failing on a very crucial intensity/immersion point, and that's unacceptable. NFS should be hailed for trying to make you feel like you're right there, and it's definitely why although I didn't play the first one much, I'll be sure to pick up 2. Looks like they've done a great job. Screw Gran Turismo, I like it but just screw it, Shift 2 is a much cooler try at what racing games could become.

I got it half accidentally when I was, briefly, subscribing to gamefly, and it was one of the few games that wasn't completely lent out. I was pleasantly surprised, the pace was as you put it perfect.

I would have loved it way more if they had actually made it open world. Instead of forcing you to select the next race from the map, allow you to drive to it or discover other races in the open world portion. Allow you to get into random pursuits as either police or racer, etc., would have been so much more fun. But I guess they thought the MP side was the solution to that. Ugh.

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for people who loved Bizarre and are sad to see them go: [url=]http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/25/former-bizarre-employees-create-lucid-games/[/url]