| From: | Bull <chaos@*****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: FASA Being Sold? Semi-OOC? |
| Date: | Thu, 17 Jul 1997 03:44:05 -0400 |
> What other company? I haven't been paying atttention lately.
>TSR was an easy buy because the company was bankrupt.
> The chances of ANYONE taking over GDW are very, very low. GDW
>are the closest thing in the gaming industry to nazis, aggressively
>crushing competing companies. I don't see them selling out to a softy
>company like WotC.
>
Actually, as a small note here... It isn;t GDW, it's GW... Games Workshop. And while I
seriously expect GW to run into marketing problems within the year (They're REALLY making
some bad marketing moves, such as hideous price hikes, self distributorship, and now they
require game store to buy specific blister packs in lots of 6 (as in, 6 High Elf Mages).
This is REALLY making things difficult for smaller game stores), I doubt they'll ever sell
out. The company is STILL making money hand over fist, and their mainstream games
(Warhammer and 40K) have hit an all time high in popularity in the US.
GDW, on the other hand was Games Designers Workshop. They put out smaller games like Dark
Conspiracy, and even published some novels, such as Stackpole's Dark Conspiracy novels.
They went out of business a few years ago when the gaming market started to falter, though
most of their products have since found their way into other companies hands...
And While I can buy the fact that WOTC has their eyes on others in the business,
especially GW, I doubt that they will manage to get the companies. If these companies
were "public", with stocks and such, I could see a hostile takeover/buyout
taking place, but as things stand now...
I also know WHY WOTC wants a company like GW. Miniatures. They have the largest card
game, and have recently acquired the dying giant of the RPG world. Now they want a
different branch. miniatures, and more specifically, a Miniatures Game.
This may also be the reason they are interested in FASA, if they truly are. Battletech.
It's a game that they don;t have yet. But i don;t think they'll get it. their best bet,
if they want a Mini's company, is Ral Partha. RP has lost a LOT over the years to GW and
the other newer companies. The standard in Fanatasy Mini's has grown from the old 25mm
scale, which RP still makes minis for, to the larger 28-30mm used by GW's Citadel
Miniatures, Marauder Miniatures (I believe an old subdivision of Citadel), Heartbreaker,
and most of the newer companies. Also, compared to most of GW's mini's, RP's are lacking
a LOT of detail...
Of course, they're still a good deal cheaper...:]
Anyways, That's my 2 bits on the whole situation, yet again...;]
Bull-the-revealing-just-how-many-damned-hobbies-he-has-Ork-Decker
--
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