Presto Cierra, detalles [ Outline ] · Standard · Linear+

[CoolWind]

Desgraciadamente Presto Studios ha cerrado sus puertas, tal y como se explica en la sección de noticias de esD'ni.

He encontrado un documento donde se explica lo que ha ocurrido, lo podéis leer pinchando aquí.

A continuación viene el texto completo sacado de esa web :

Local video game-maker Presto closes despite being debt-free and rich in talent

By Kim Peterson
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

August 31, 2002

Presto Studios is dismantling, piece by piece.

The reception desk was taken away Thursday. Some of the studio's numerous industry awards are missing from the walls. Just about all the leftover computers and office equipment are for sale.

The Sorrento Valley studio, a well-known creative team in the video game industry, announced this week it is shutting its doors.

The news shocked Presto's fans, and many of its 21 employees. It seemed as though the company was riding a wave of success after producing the top-selling \"Myst III: Exile\" computer game and the upcoming \"Whacked!\" game for Microsoft's XBox system.

Presto made about $2.5 million a year, had no debt and was rich in creative talent.

What happened?

The video game industry is changing, said chief executive Michel Kripalani, who started the studio in 1991 with friends in a rented house in Mira Mesa.

Presto used to fund the production of its own games, but now game titles cost millions of dollars to make. Companies that can afford to produce them often hesitate to spend big money on new, untested ideas.

As in the movie industry, the sequels and established characters – the Warcraft IIIs and the Mario Bros. – get the investments. The innovative, never-been-done ideas that Presto specializes in are sometimes viewed as risky, Kripalani said.

Game companies also were not willing to pay Presto's fees for game development, he said. Competitors could do the job cheaper. Developing games was turning into a hard-edged business, he said.

\"We were at the point where we had so many expenses and such a high payroll that we started to lose passion in the games,\" he said.

Presto also lost out on the development rights to the next game in the \"Myst\" series, and a number of its other game ideas sputtered in talks with Microsoft and other companies.

So Kripalani and his partners decided to go out on a high note, while Presto was ahead.

They notified employees Monday, handed out severance packages and began trying to line up work for everyone. Employees will continue to get royalties from game sales as well, Kripalani said.

Despite Presto's demise, San Diego County is becoming a center for video game development, with such companies as Angel Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment and Midway. A subsidiary of Tokyo game maker Sammy Corp. recently moved to Carlsbad.

Console video games, the ones played on such systems as PlayStation 2 and XBox, have never been more popular. Games and console system sales now top movie box office receipts.

But the personal-computer gaming business – upon which Presto built its name – has always been smaller than the console business and has seen flat to single-digit growth, said David Cole, a San Diego-based game analyst.

PC games have become a hits-driven world, where top titles like \"The Sims,\" \"Diablo II\" and \"Railroad Tycoon\" far outsell others and have sales levels that until recently were only seen in console games, he said.

There are far fewer PC games produced now, which means the ones that do come out generally have greater sales than before, he said.

One of the hottest titles of this year is \"Warcraft III,\" a game where humans wage epic battles against other civilizations. It is the fastest-selling PC game ever, and its publisher, Blizzard Entertainment, has shipped more than 4.4 million units to retailers worldwide.

\"Myst III: Exile\" has sold 1 million units in 12 months and continues to sell, Kripalani said. Presto's upcoming game, \"Whacked!\", should also sell well because it will be prominently featured in the launch of online gaming for the XBox.

Presto created high-quality games, and even incorporated some ideas from fans into their titles, said Nick Rougeux, 19, of Arlington Heights, Ill. Rougeux is a huge fan of the \"Myst\" series, and published a Web site documenting his trip to Presto's offices last summer.

\"They're really good at what they do,\" he said.

Kripalani, who turns 35 next month, said that after he told employees about Presto's closure, he took a long walk and fought back tears. Feeling burned out, he is going to take a six-month break from working and travel the world.

\"I'm going to figure out at the end of that what inspires me,\" he said.



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Kim Peterson: (619) 293-2022; kim.peterson@uniontrib.com

[cosmodelia]

Por cierto, si Karoh va a traducir sus historias ella, ¿sabe español? ¿No podría ser invitada a esD'ni?

O si va a hacerlas traducir, ¿quién mejor que el maestro Leo'Ri?