The End of Psygnosis/Sony Liverpool

[dsheinem]

http://www.psu.com/a016651/Report--Sony ... ut-up-shop

It has been decided that Liverpool Studio should be closed. Liverpool Studio has been an important part of SCE Worldwide Studios since the outset of PlayStation, and have contributed greatly to PlayStation over the years. Everyone connected with Liverpool Studio, past and present, can be very proud of their achievements.

Their impressive list of titles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCE_Studio_Liverpool#Games

Wipeout and Lemmings are obvioulsy the best known, but their pre-Sony work as Psygnosis was some of the best in the 16 and 32 bit eras, IMO. Shadow of the Beast and Colony Wars were amazing, and I'm sure many of you have something from their catalog that knocked your socks off too. Some of their niche titles, like Microcosom or Wiz n' Liz, continue to be a lot of fun to go back to.

And let's not forget that they had the all time best box art: viewtopic.php?f=44&t=33873

What's your favorite Psygnosis/Sony Liverpool game?

[Luke]

Lemmings.

I might be the only one here who loves Bram Stoker's Dracula on the Sega CD, but I've always enjoyed playing it.

[Xeogred]

This sucks, always hate seeing old developers go.

Lemmings is definitely a timeless classic. Never really got into the sequels though, they perfected the formula from the start.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Psygnosis owned the PS1. I picked up a copy of Wipeout XL along with my system, and it remains one of my all-time favorite racing games. It had it all...challenging and addictive gameplay, great graphics and art direction, and an incredible and - at the time - cutting edge soundtrack. I have many fond memories of Wipeout XL, and it remains my favorite Psygnosis game.

My other Psygnosis favorite - which I have yet to add back to my collection after disposing of my disc-only copy some time ago - is Destruction Derby 2. That game was completely out of control and it featured a completely unrealistic physics engine that made for incredible crashes. There was not much too it with regard to gameplay - and the draw-in was horrendous - but it was just so much fun to spend a lazy Sunday morning crashing virtual cars.

[Ivo]

As I was finishing up on the Amiga 101 article I read about this sad news. It should be noted that Psygnosis was only the publisher for Lemmings (DMA Design, the devs, are now Rockstar North).

My favorite is probably Lemmings 2, I think I preferred that over the original although it is hard to know - the original is really a timeless classic. But the sequel, back in the day added a huge amount of new (wacky) possibilities and I think most levels were decently balanced.

Another one that I have a really soft spot is Blood Money. Awesome intro music, and a high-quality shooter that I doubt many people know / remember nowadays.

Prince of Persia 2 was another extremely good sequel that arguably outshines the original, even though the first one is really the timeless classic.

Psygnosis was involved with a LOT of quality Amiga titles, often as publishers. And they kept going after that for a good while.

Ivo.

[jfrost]

Good thing the employees won't be laid off.

[pumpkinpie65]

Does this mean no Team Buddies 2?

[Dakinggamer87]

This sucks, always hate seeing old developers go.

Lemmings is definitely a timeless classic. Never really got into the sequels though, they perfected the formula from the start.

Lemmings and WipeOut were among my favorites from the studio.

[Gunstar Green]

This must really be a blow to the childhood for Amiga fans especially.

I know I took it pretty hard when EA shuttered Origin Studios. I hope Sony doesn't throw their IP under the bus like EA did to Origin's.

[hashiriya1]

They had the best box art back in the day.