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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Daniel Waisley <Dan.Waisley@***.EDU>
Subject: Microsoft to buy FASA interactive
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 10:11:58 -0700
Let the Microsoft games begin
By Sandeep Junnarkar
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
January 7, 1999, 7:50 a.m. PT
URL: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,30635,00.html

Let the Microsoft games begin.

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant today announced plans to
acquire gaming firms Fasa Interactive
Technologies, and its parent company Virtual Worlds Entertainment Group.

The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.



SO what does this mean for FASA corp?

Nightfox
Message no. 2
From: the Dark Stranger <darkstranger@*******.NET>
Subject: Re: Microsoft to buy FASA interactive
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 13:29:59 -0500
Damn!! Beat me to it. Saw this hours ago but couldn't reply at the time.

On Thu, 7 Jan 1999 10:11:58 -0700 Daniel Waisley
>Let the Microsoft games begin
>By Sandeep Junnarkar
>Staff Writer, CNET News.com

I already sent this guy a note about confusing FASA Interactive with FASA. He said the
changes had been sent to his editor. We'll see.

>URL: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,30635,00.html

>The Redmond, Washington-based software giant today announced plans to
>acquire gaming firms Fasa Interactive
>Technologies, and its parent company Virtual Worlds Entertainment Group.

Is Virtual World really FASA Interactive's parent company? As I understood it,
Interactive was spun off with Tom Dowd as it's head from FASA Corp a few years ago.

>SO what does this mean for FASA corp?

Probably not much, at least as far as our Shadowrun RPG is concerned.

FASA Interactive is a seperate entity from FASA Corp. Same owners (Jordan Weisman, who
will be joining MS now, among them as I understand it), but they aren't linked at the hip
or anything.

This does mean that Shadowrun: Assassin, the videogame due out sometime soon, may be
scrapped. Word is that MS has something similar in the works. We'll have to wait and see
what happens.

It also means that any further editions of Mechwarrior and the associated computer games
will be coming out of Microsoft, which is both good and bad. Perhaps more bugs, but a
whole lot more marketing muscle too. Note this is ONLY the computer games. MS owns the
"electronic rights" to Battletech and the associated properties. This doesn't
include the RPG or table-top game.

The only potential side affect that I can think of for FASA Corp is that there is less
pressure on them financially. MS just threw a pile of money at the owners of FASA. That
means FASA Corp shouldn't be under as much pressure to be profitable. They might not have
to cut corners they may have had to otherwise. Which could mean better binding or more
pictures or a revival of the SRTCG or something good for us.

I'm just suprised that Jordan Weisman is actually joining MS. Maybe MS offered too much
money to turn down.

But all in all, it should have little affect on our little corner of the gaming world.

Erik J.
Message no. 3
From: Justin Fang <justinf@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Microsoft to buy FASA interactive
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 10:34:55 -0800
Daniel Waisley wrote:
>Let the Microsoft games begin
>By Sandeep Junnarkar
>Staff Writer, CNET News.com
>January 7, 1999, 7:50 a.m. PT
>URL: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,30635,00.html
>
>Let the Microsoft games begin.
>
>The Redmond, Washington-based software giant today announced plans to
>acquire gaming firms Fasa Interactive
>Technologies, and its parent company Virtual Worlds Entertainment Group.
>
>The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

<blink> <blink> Huh.

More detail from the webpage:

>As a result of the acquisition, Microsoft gains "exclusive and perpetual
>electronic rights" to the BattleTech property, including "MechWarrior,"
and
>its recent real-time strategy extension, "MechCommander."

>SO what does this mean for FASA corp?

They get a bunch of money; this doesn't otherwise seem to affect FASA's
paper RPGs. I don't think we have to worry about a "Shadowrun 3.1",
followed by "Shadowrun 95", etc.

--
Justin Fang (justinf@****.caltech.edu)
This space intentionally left blank.
Message no. 4
From: the Dark Stranger <darkstranger@*******.NET>
Subject: Re: Microsoft to buy FASA interactive
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 14:16:40 -0500
On Thu, 7 Jan 1999 10:34:55 -0800 Justin Fang
>>The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
>
><blink> <blink> Huh.

I believe that since FASA Interactive's privately held, they don't have to publicly
announce what they were bought for. MS will eventually though, since they are public.
Don't know exactly when though.

>They get a bunch of money; this doesn't otherwise seem to affect FASA's
>paper RPGs. I don't think we have to worry about a "Shadowrun 3.1",
>followed by "Shadowrun 95", etc.

I still think you are right, but I went to MS's own site and found the actual release.
First of all, the reporter not only did a sloppy job of getting the facts correct, but
great portions of it were lifted directly, word for word, from the release itself. I've
been sending e-mails to the guy trying to straighten him out.

Second, we *may* have to worry about SR95 or SR99...here's the release and I'll call
attention to the relevant paragraph. (I cut the boiler plates out)

Microsoft Acquires FASA Interactive
Strategic Acquisition Adds Top Talent and Popular MechWarrior Franchise To Growing Games
Portfolio

REDMOND, Wash. - Jan. 7, 1999 - Microsoft Corp. today announced the acquisition of
Chicago-based FASA Interactive Technologies Inc., including its parent company Virtual
Worlds Entertainment Group Inc., from a group of shareholders including FASA Corp.,
creators of the enormously popular BattleTech® universe of stories, games and
characters. As a result of the acquisition, Microsoft gains exclusive and perpetual
electronic rights to the BattleTech property, which includes one of the most successful
franchises in the computer game industry, "MechWarrior ," and its recent
real-time strategy extension, "MechCommander™." "MechWarrior 2" and
its related add-ons have accounted for more than $70 million in sales. Financial terms of
the acquisition were not disclosed.

"The acquisition of FASA Interactive reflects our commitment to growing our business
with a smaller portfolio of top-quality games," said Ed Fries, general manager of
Microsoft's games group. "The MechWarrior franchise is one of the best-selling series
of PC games in history and is synonymous with groundbreaking technology and compelling
gameplay. We're excited to continue the growth of the BattleTech property as part of our
portfolio."

FASA Interactive's development staff will be integrated into Microsoft's product
development teams in Redmond, where they will continue working on upcoming titles
including "MechWarrior 4" and "MechCommander 2." Jordan Weisman, chief
creative officer of FASA Interactive and co-creator of the BattleTech universe for FASA
Corp., has also joined Microsoft, where he will guide the growth of the BattleTech-based
franchises.

"I am thrilled to see the BattleTech universe move to Microsoft, a company that
really understands the value of focusing on great games," said Mort Weisman, chief
executive officer of FASA Corp. "We're confident that Microsoft's technology
expertise, financial resources, global distribution channels and marketing muscle will
expand the BattleTech universe of PC games into new areas, including the online
arena."

***********here's the key paragraph
In addition to future MechWarrior and MechCommander games, Microsoft is also exploring
opportunities for FASA Corp.'s other properties, includings the Shadowrun®,
EarthDawn® and Renegade Legion® universes. The acquisition is not expected to
affect the anticipated retail release of "MechWarrior 3," which will be
published in 1999 by Hasbro Interactive and MicroProse Inc. under an agreement entered
into prior to the acquisition.
************

What I hope this means is that we'll get to see a Shadowrun videogame. I just don't see
MS getting into the pencil and paper RPG business. They may be thinking of purchasing the
video gaming rights to Shadowrun, Renegade Legion, Crimson Skies and others. Hell, make
modifications to nearly any flight sim and you have something that could be called Crimson
Skies.

If I get anything direct from Mike Mulvihill, I'll pass it on.

Erik J.
Message no. 5
From: Bredget <bredget@*****.NET>
Subject: Re: Microsoft to buy FASA interactive
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 18:44:15 -0600
I guess it would be prudent for the local Microsoft employee to keep her
mouth shut huh?
*wondering why she didn't already know about this*

Bredget
A.K.A Jazz

-----Original Message-----
From: ShadowTk Plot and Administrative Discussion
[mailto:PLOTD@********.ITRIBE.NET]On Behalf Of the Dark Stranger
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 1999 1:17 PM
To: PLOTD@********.ITRIBE.NET
Subject: Re: Microsoft to buy FASA interactive


On Thu, 7 Jan 1999 10:34:55 -0800 Justin Fang
>>The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
>
><blink> <blink> Huh.

I believe that since FASA Interactive's privately held, they don't have to
publicly announce what they were bought for. MS will eventually though,
since they are public. Don't know exactly when though.

>They get a bunch of money; this doesn't otherwise seem to affect FASA's
>paper RPGs. I don't think we have to worry about a "Shadowrun 3.1",
>followed by "Shadowrun 95", etc.

I still think you are right, but I went to MS's own site and found the
actual release. First of all, the reporter not only did a sloppy job of
getting the facts correct, but great portions of it were lifted directly,
word for word, from the release itself. I've been sending e-mails to the
guy trying to straighten him out.

Second, we *may* have to worry about SR95 or SR99...here's the release and
I'll call attention to the relevant paragraph. (I cut the boiler plates
out)

Microsoft Acquires FASA Interactive
Strategic Acquisition Adds Top Talent and Popular MechWarrior Franchise To
Growing Games Portfolio

REDMOND, Wash. - Jan. 7, 1999 - Microsoft Corp. today announced the
acquisition of Chicago-based FASA Interactive Technologies Inc., including
its parent company Virtual Worlds Entertainment Group Inc., from a group of
shareholders including FASA Corp., creators of the enormously popular
BattleTech® universe of stories, games and characters. As a result of the
acquisition, Microsoft gains exclusive and perpetual electronic rights to
the BattleTech property, which includes one of the most successful
franchises in the computer game industry, "MechWarrior ," and its recent
real-time strategy extension, "MechCommander™." "MechWarrior 2" and
its
related add-ons have accounted for more than $70 million in sales. Financial
terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"The acquisition of FASA Interactive reflects our commitment to growing our
business with a smaller portfolio of top-quality games," said Ed Fries,
general manager of Microsoft's games group. "The MechWarrior franchise is
one of the best-selling series of PC games in history and is synonymous with
groundbreaking technology and compelling gameplay. We're excited to continue
the growth of the BattleTech property as part of our portfolio."

FASA Interactive's development staff will be integrated into Microsoft's
product development teams in Redmond, where they will continue working on
upcoming titles including "MechWarrior 4" and "MechCommander 2."
Jordan
Weisman, chief creative officer of FASA Interactive and co-creator of the
BattleTech universe for FASA Corp., has also joined Microsoft, where he will
guide the growth of the BattleTech-based franchises.

"I am thrilled to see the BattleTech universe move to Microsoft, a company
that really understands the value of focusing on great games," said Mort
Weisman, chief executive officer of FASA Corp. "We're confident that
Microsoft's technology expertise, financial resources, global distribution
channels and marketing muscle will expand the BattleTech universe of PC
games into new areas, including the online arena."

***********here's the key paragraph
In addition to future MechWarrior and MechCommander games, Microsoft is also
exploring opportunities for FASA Corp.'s other properties, includings the
Shadowrun®, EarthDawn® and Renegade Legion® universes. The acquisition is
not expected to affect the anticipated retail release of "MechWarrior 3,"
which will be published in 1999 by Hasbro Interactive and MicroProse Inc.
under an agreement entered into prior to the acquisition.
************

What I hope this means is that we'll get to see a Shadowrun videogame. I
just don't see MS getting into the pencil and paper RPG business. They may
be thinking of purchasing the video gaming rights to Shadowrun, Renegade
Legion, Crimson Skies and others. Hell, make modifications to nearly any
flight sim and you have something that could be called Crimson Skies.

If I get anything direct from Mike Mulvihill, I'll pass it on.

Erik J.
Message no. 6
From: the Dark Stranger <darkstranger@*******.NET>
Subject: Re: Microsoft to buy FASA interactive
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 21:02:30 -0500
On Thu, 7 Jan 1999 18:44:15 -0600 Bredget <bredget@*****.NET> wrote:
>I guess it would be prudent for the local Microsoft employee to keep her
>mouth shut huh?
>*wondering why she didn't already know about this*

Why would they tell you? No reason really, unless it impacts you directly. Seriously.
Part of the office here handles MSN and other MS Internet properties and while the dept.
head is only a few doors down from me, he doesn't tell any of us diddly. No reason to.

And while most of us hold certain beliefs about Microsoft, I think we are grown up enough
on this list to keep it to ourselves, unlike RN.

Here's some more info to be reviewed and/or passed along to the rabid crowd on RN (I'm
sure they're frothing at the mouth over this).

Virtual World Entertainment is not involved. MS made a mistake in their press release.
They weren't bought out, someone in MS PR (that would be Edelman I believe) made a mistake
and it got past their execs and legal folks.

And some of you may have noticed that the original copy of the story on CNET is different
than what is up there now. I successfully brought the reporter around to several key
facts and errors in the original story. The URL now points to FASA Interactive; it had
been pointing to FASA Corp, for example. And mentions that Interactive had created
Battletech are now wiped. All in all, the reporter was very nice to work with.

Again, the bottomline is that Mechwarrior and the associated titles and properties are now
owned forever by Microsoft (unless they sell it of course). MS did not buy FASA
Corporation, only FASA Interactive. So our games, played with pencil and paper, should be
utterly unaffected.

The potential good news, again, is that we may now see Shadowrun, Earthdawn, Crimson Skies
and Renegade Legion computer games in the next several years, released by Microsoft, since
MS is looking at FASA's other properties.

Hey, just imagine Diablo reworked as Earthdawn. That'd be totally cool. Or if Shadowrun:
Assassin still sees the light of day.

As much as I personally dislike MS, let's try and look at the bright side here, eh?

Erik J.
Message no. 7
From: Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Microsoft to buy FASA interactive
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 19:24:19 -0800
I have but one thing to add to this:

http://www.theonion.com/onion3121/billgates.html

--Catch you later

Jeff
Message no. 8
From: Bredget <bredget@*****.NET>
Subject: Re: Microsoft to buy FASA interactive
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 21:11:32 -0600
I have to admit that is one of the better anti-Bill G. funnies I've seen!
Thanks for the laughs! =)

>I have but one thing to add to this:
>
>http://www.theonion.com/onion3121/billgates.html
>
> --Catch you later
>
> Jeff
>

Bredget
 
"It's hard to measure yourself if nobody is challenging you."
               
--John Tomac

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Thwap!