I got this game free with my video card. I played for about half an hour. Seemed pretty boring with a stupid weapons that are unimaginative and dull.

Im really digging Sam and Max though

People leave companies all the time. Even *gasp* lead programmers. It's not quite as destructive as these people are painting it out to be (unless like, an entire half of the team left or something).

Maybe they shouldn't have made a game that only came with 3 boring derivative weapons and a story based on some woman's big bouncing tits.

Sin wasn't any good, maybe that's why the team members left and more games aren't being produced. Ritual is not a very good developer. Their Quake 4 stuff was bad too.

That game is cursed. I know guys at Activision who worked production of the original SiN (pun intended), and they STILL don't want to talk about it.

*pokes head out from shadows*

I, uh, I rather liked sin episode 1. The original was terrible, but I was looking forward to the next installment. The best part was the dynamic AI, which I hope gets implimented in other games. That thing always hit the sweet spot for me.

*hides*

I'd like to know at what point speculation based on old public domain information is worthy of a news post. I mean, I even voiced this opinion to a friend & on my blog when Michael Russell left. It's about as concrete as any speculation that adverse weather conditions destroyed the entire Valve offices?

It could happen, but there's no conclusive evidence.

Also, I'd like to point out that having five people leave a developer isn't fatal. And one of them - Steve Nix - was the CEO and thus not part of the development staff.

My sincerest apologies, as I hate multi-posting as much as the next Kotakuite, but needed to mention that it's little wonder Shawn had trouble getting a reply out of Tom Mustaine, as he doesn't work there anymore. (One of the five)

http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=1...

I'll second the "I liked this game" argument. It was fun while it lasted, and kept me happy until Episode 1 came out. I would probably buy the second game if it was released.

The first episode was bad anyway.

I stayed away because it was episodic. Having been burned with Shenmue I don't want to get into a story with the risk that it doesn't get finished, it's incredibly frustrating. One of the reasons I don't watch much TV these days is idiot TV execs cancelling shows before ending the story.

The other problem with episodic gaming is that you have huge waits between episodes. HL2 Episode 2 seems to be constantly delayed, I just don't want to have to wait that long. I think episodic gaming will only work where you can keep episodes being released at a frequent rate and you have a recognisable brand that people will buy. People won't take a chance on something unproven like SiN, but they will buy Half Life. I don't think even Sam & Max have the brand recognition needed to draw in more than the hard core audience.

I had fun with EP1 but as far as gaining new fans for the IP they just didn't go far enough. They used as much of HL2's assets as possible to save money while inserting one of the most generic storylines and one dimensional characters possible. While I'm sure the small number of fans of the original appreciated the effort what was released was just too limited and unappealing for younger gamers who grew up these past few years with far more complex and involving titles.

In the end I grudgingly agree that the company probably has to reinvent itself to stay relevant.

Exactly! People don't wait around 17 months for the next delayed episode of Desperate Houswives. They gots to get a sched and stick to it and hire more guns if that's what it takes!

The television world has this amazing concept called a "Contract" and require episodes of a series to be produced in time to meet a specific schedule and often requires key members of a team (particularly actors) to sign an obligation to see their work finished for at least a season.

Until more publishers in the games world enforce we'll continue to see goofy things like Sin: Episode 1 of... 1. If Valve continues to see Steam as a platform for episodic gaming they need to start writing scheduled contracts and enforcing them.

Meanwhile, GameTap is looking to be the publisher in that space and largely because they have the experience in dealing with television production schedules to have some clues as to how to bring that to the gaming space.

Well that's sad. I enjoyed Sin Episode 1. It wasn't brilliant by any means but it was enjoyable. The combat was far more satisfying than Prey was.

I liked this game, its not a Half Life or even a Timesplitters but it wasn't terrible. Plus I got it for only 8 bucks so I don't regret it.

I liked the original SiN game - played it through, actually (with all the patches aplied). Episode 1 was boring - even Half Life 2 was more fun.

Episodic Gaming:
We have to work less and still get more of your money. Then, when you're invested in the game, we cut and run!

I enjoyed SiN episode 1, especially after they added Arena mode. Suddenly the game had a value that other games didn't have - i could play for five minutes and get some great satisfying fun out of it.

I'm disappointed that they won't be releasing another one, or at least a multiplayer Arena.