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> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...1400853.htmlOut
> of the Dark and Into the SpotlightFrom Basement Operation in Rockville,
> Video Game Maker Finds Its Way to FameBy Mike MusgroveWashington Post
> Staff WriterMonday, August 15, 2005; Page D01It's crunch time at the local
> offices of video game maker BethesdaSoftworks. A team of 70 programmers,
> designers, artists and bug testers isspending long hours to get its
> upcoming game ready for the launch this fallof Microsoft's Xbox 360 game
> console.Up against huge competitors in the cutthroat gaming industry,
> BethesdaSoftworks, founded in 1986, is a long-shot survivor. The little
> outfit hasquietly built a solid following in the video game industry, and
> its upcoming"The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" is a sword-and-sorcery epic
> that couldlaunch it into the big-time.Bethesda Softworks LLC (
> http://www.bethsoft.com/ ) and its parent company,ZeniMax Media Inc., have
> gone through their share of turmoil. Bethesdanearly went bankrupt in the
> late 1990s and later faced a lawsuit from itsfounder, Christopher Weaver,
> who was squeezed out of the company three yearsago.But even though the
> company's board features a high-powered team of mediaindustry players --
> such as CBS chief Leslie Moonves and Robert S. Trump,brother of the Donald
> and president of Trump Management Inc. -- thecompany's success or failure
> hangs chiefly on the ability of a group of gameaddicts in their twenties
> and thirties to crank out a cool product."The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion"
> is the company's most ambitious title,three years in the making.
> Appropriately enough, perhaps, the gamemakers'offices are in a basement in
> Rockville that is as dark as a dungeon: Drop apen on the floor, and it
> might as well be gone forever."Every time we try to turn the lights up,
> they say, 'Turn 'em down!' " saidRobert A. Altman, chief executive and
> chairman of ZeniMax."That's the way those guys prefer to work down there,"
> said Altman, aprominent Washington lawyer well known both because of his
> stature inDemocratic circles and his role in the BCCI bank scandal of the
> early 1990s,in which he was acquitted of all charges.The offices "down
> there" are a cross between a typical corporate cubiclefarm and a game-geek
> playground. Action figures, comic books and video gamesare on the shelves.
> In some cubicles, artists fill pages with sketches ofmonsters that might
> populate upcoming games; in others, animators arepolishing some of
> Oblivion's cinematic fight scenes.When Executive Producer Todd Howard
> started working for Bethesda 11 yearsago, it was strictly a mom and pop
> outfit. His desk was in an unheated partof the building used as a
> warehouse; during the winter, programmers had toput space heaters under
> their desks to keep warm. When a game was finished,"I used to be down here
> packing boxes," he said.With the new Xbox scheduled for a November
> release, Howard has more to worryabout than postage. Neither ZeniMax nor
> Bethesda would put a figure on howmuch the game is costing to make, but
> Howard is at the helm of a projectwith a budget clearly worth several
> millions of dollars. With the currentgeneration of game consoles, budgets
> for cutting-edge titles surged past the$10 million mark and are now
> frequently in the neighborhood of $20 million.For the investment, Oblivion
> will feature 50 hours of game dialogue and1,000 characters -- one
> featuring the voice of actor Patrick Stewart, theman celebrated in geekdom
> as Captain Picard of "Star Trek: The NextGeneration." The game's action
> takes place in 16 square miles of playingfield in a virtual forest
> (complete with 200 dungeons strewn about).To make sure soil erosion and
> geology in the game world looked realistic,the company sent an employee to
> the university of Maryland to study up onthe topics. With new game systems
> continually offering deeper degrees ofrealism, it's the sort of attention
> to detail that players are coming toexpect.Howard said the game is
> designed for players who want to explore every nookand cranny as well as
> for those who just want to experience the story line."You're going to save
> the world in 20 hours," he said, "but this game has200 hours in
> it."Bethesda has dabbled in many genres, but the company's standing among
> gamersis built largely upon the 10-year-old Elder Scrolls series. The
> previousinstallment sold about 4 million copies, counting Xbox and PC
> versions andtwo subsequent add-on packs that expanded the adventures.David
> Cole, game industry analyst and president of DFC Intelligence, saidthat
> Bethesda has a "good reputation" among gamers, though the company hasnot
> released any titles that have become household names. Role-playinggames,
> the type that Bethesda is best known for, are the fastest-growinggenre in
> the industry, he said.Altman said that Bethesda employs just over 100
> people and that the staffwill probably double in the next six months as
> the company gears up to makemore cutting-edge titles. The company's
> kitchen is out of commission to makeway for the growth; in the works are a
> sound studio and a "motion-capture"studio, where an actor's movements are
> recorded before they are translateddigitally into the game world.In
> development is a sequel to a popular role-playing game called "Fallout,"to
> which Bethesda recently acquired the rights. The company also has
> actiongames in the works for Disney's next "Pirates of the Caribbean"
> movie.The video game industry is dominated by huge, publicly owned
> publishers suchas Electronic Arts Inc. that release dozens of titles a
> year. By comparison,Bethesda is tiny and privately held -- and didn't have
> any major releaseslast year.Bethesda parent ZeniMax was founded in 1999 to
> make content and technologyfor a new type of interactive television, but
> the subsequent tech bust madepotential companies wary of new investments
> in the field, Altman said.ZeniMax's Business Advisory Board is loaded with
> Democratic Party players ofAltman's acquaintance, including Tony Coelho,
> Terence R. McAuliffe andformer U.S. senator George J. Mitchell of
> Maine.Altman came to Bethesda Softworks after meeting founder Weaver in
> the early'90s. Weaver's wife was an obstetrician-gynecologist whose
> patients includedAltman's wife, actress Lynda Carter -- former star of the
> TV show "WonderWoman" and currently featured in "The Dukes of Hazzard"
> movie.Weaver has not been a part of the company for three years, however;
> he saidthis week that Altman had essentially kicked him out.Now a visiting
> scholar at MIT, Weaver says ZeniMax still owes him money fromwhen the
> company failed to renew his contract. One lawsuit against thecompany has
> gone nowhere; Weaver said he may pursue an appeal.Altman responded that
> Weaver's account is "fantasy.""Bethesda Softworks was a financially
> bankrupt business which ZeniMax Mediaacquired, recapitalized and turned
> around," he said. "I regret that he isunhappy."But all that corporate back
> story isn't going to matter much in themarketplace, where gamers will
> judge the company based on its goods.The early returns are encouraging.
> GamePro magazine, for example, picked"Oblivion" as one of three top games
> for Microsoft's Xbox 360, out of dozensof offering including many from
> larger publishers.
>

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>From Basement Operation in Rockville, Video Game Maker Finds Its Way to

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>Is it just me, or did that article not actually say dick about
>Oblivion?

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> Knight37 <knight37m@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> It said Captain Picard is in it!

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> But I think the main point of the article was that Bethesda is a company
> you wouldn't want to do business with.

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> Yeah, it's all the crap I don't care to know about. The game though,
> oh god yes. NPC's walk around and work and go to sleep, not just
> waiting in one spot for you to kill them for making your run from the
> Dwarf dungeon to balmora so you can sell your heavy XXX gears .002
> seconds slower. ^_^
>
> Plus who better to do Fallout 3?
>