Today in Depressing Auctions: Want to Own the Last Remaining Assets of 38 Studios? [UPDATED]

Can I buy Curt Schilling's ego?

is it wrong i saw the storage wars picture and got excited?

Well, the MD auction is only an hour and a half away from me so, um, maybe?

Curt Schilling has been on ESPN several times, as recently as like a week or two ago.

Might be a fantastic way to pick up some decent 2nd hand gaming PC's. I'm kind of bummed I can't check this auction out in person. Keep in mind that this is a goddamn firesale. If you're a musician trying to score recording gear or a student filmmaker looking for editing equipment, you need to check this out. Vinny's probably booking a flight now to score HDMI cables at rock bottom prices. I could use a new desk myself.

"Lookie here! Rich Gallup's Hat! that's a fifty-dollar bill all day long" - Fat Guy in tank top on Storage Wars

(THIS JOKE IS IN BAD TASTE)

I figured Microsoft would jump on those xdks pretty quick, wonder if there was enough time for anyone to get one yet.

That's the wow factor!

Looks like I see some tools and a tile saw!

Would Duders buy or spend more money from the auction if items used by Rich Gallup came with a certificate of authenticity?

GiantBomb should fly out to the auction and see if they can get their hands on some gaming history.

good ridance

It's not that hard to get your hands on an XDK. Still, wonder if we'll see any interesting stuff come out of this.

How much for one Rich Gallup?

THAT EQUIPMENT IS CURSED I TELL YA

@DiGiTaL_SiN said:

How much for one Rich Gallup?

Rhode Island is holding onto that investment. That's pure blue chip, baby.

So, are the rights for KoA: Reckoning up for sale now? Because, c'mon - it's not like Rhode Island will ever make a sequel. I'd like to see someone snap that up. Perhaps Ubi Soft; they don't have a big RPG franchise, although they do possess Might & Magic.

That's all I care about. I wonder if anyone will purchase the rights to Kingdoms of Amalur and, maybe, the work done on Copernicus. If someone is looking to get into the MMO Space, a 60% complete one has got to seem attractive...

Don't forget to pay the lady!

Man a whole lot of people on this website seem to not understand what the words "woefully miss managed" means. To sum up, this is what I meant. If the people in charge had done their job and maintained a proper business and expense model the 1.4 million sales would have turned a profit. 38 studios didn't fail because Amalaur was a bad game or sold poorly (1.4 million isn't poor sales), it failed because the executives had no idea what the hell they were doing and ran the company like crap.

If I had the money I'd buy up all the stuff in this auction then find the people from 38 Studios in whatever new game studios they are working at & give that gear to them there to try to get better use of it.

@RoyCampbell said:

THAT EQUIPMENT IS CURSED I TELL YA

but it comes with your choice of topping!

Thanks Alex. I'll sleep better at night now that I know Microsoft are getting their xdk kits back.

@Karkarov said:

I have to wonder why it went this badly? Amalaur didn't sell that poorly did it? I can't help but think the business was just massively miss managed.

Someone up there had the idea to hire R.A. Salvatore to do the story and Todd MacFarlane to do the art design. Both delivered something that an intern could handle for a cup of coffee. Imagine how much cash was trashed to these two surnames alone. And I don't think the people that actually designed the project and game had any say in that.

@Chtasm said:

If anything, they had a sick-ass logo.

Not really. It's more likely to look like "30 Studios" to anyone who doesn't know the company name.

I wonder how much it cost 38 Studios to purchase those XDK units. And Microsoft is still claiming it belongs to them. *Sigh*, licensing agreements at their finest.

I wonder how much it cost 38 Studios to purchase those XDK units. And Microsoft is still claiming it belongs to them. *Sigh*, licensing agreements at their finest.

@ckeats said:

I'd buy that sign.

I was thinking about that too.

Holy fuck that thumbnail got me laughing so hard.

http://assets.diylol.com/hfs/788/aae/6d9/resized/resident-evil-4-merchant-meme-generator-ahhhh-i-ll-buy-it-at-a-high-price-999d9c.jpg?1335919939.jpg

@Ghostiet said:

@Karkarov said:

I have to wonder why it went this badly? Amalaur didn't sell that poorly did it? I can't help but think the business was just massively miss managed.

Someone up there had the idea to hire R.A. Salvatore to do the story and Todd MacFarlane to do the art design. Both delivered something that an intern could handle for a cup of coffee. Imagine how much cash was trashed to these two surnames alone. And I don't think the people that actually designed the project and game had any say in that.

Personally, I think they just wasted far too much time and money developing that MMO, and Amalur didn't do well enough for them to be able to keep paying their employees and pay on the loan, or whatever, they had gotten from the state.

I know Rich Gallup worked there and that kind of makes this hit close to home for Giant Bomb fans but...isn't this story basically "poorly managed company fails, loses assets"? A fantasy-themed MMO in a post-WoW world? "What were they thinking?" springs to mind as a pertinent question.

It came as a shock months ago largely due to how quickly it happened, but now that the dust has settled it seems clear Schilling wasn't cut out to manage this kind of project and really dropped the ball, pun most definitely intended. Calling it the most tragic thing to hit the industry seems a bit hyperbolic, does it not?

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch

I wonder how much it cost 38 Studios to purchase those XDK units. And Microsoft is still claiming it belongs to them. *Sigh*, licensing agreements at their finest.

38 Studios didn't buy them. They paid a licensing fee to use them. Microsoft is in the right to ask that those kits are returned.

Well, that's pretty much what I meant with that last sentence.

@pw2566ch said:

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch

I wonder how much it cost 38 Studios to purchase those XDK units. And Microsoft is still claiming it belongs to them. *Sigh*, licensing agreements at their finest.

38 Studios didn't buy them. They paid a licensing fee to use them. Microsoft is in the right to ask that those kits are returned.

Well, that's pretty much what I meant with that last sentence.

It sounds more or less like you're unhappy that Microsoft should get them back.

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch said:

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch

I wonder how much it cost 38 Studios to purchase those XDK units. And Microsoft is still claiming it belongs to them. *Sigh*, licensing agreements at their finest.

38 Studios didn't buy them. They paid a licensing fee to use them. Microsoft is in the right to ask that those kits are returned.

Well, that's pretty much what I meant with that last sentence.

It sounds more or less like you're unhappy that Microsoft should get them back.

At least pay some money for them or something. I'm not saying Microsoft shouldn't get the equipment back, but c'mon now. There's some money owed to Rhode Island. Throw them a bone.

Seeing all of these studios closing down makes me wonder how many of these XDK units are out in the wild unclaimed.

@pw2566ch said:

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch said:

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch

I wonder how much it cost 38 Studios to purchase those XDK units. And Microsoft is still claiming it belongs to them. *Sigh*, licensing agreements at their finest.

38 Studios didn't buy them. They paid a licensing fee to use them. Microsoft is in the right to ask that those kits are returned.

Well, that's pretty much what I meant with that last sentence.

It sounds more or less like you're unhappy that Microsoft should get them back.

At least pay some money for them or something. I'm not saying Microsoft shouldn't get the equipment back, but c'mon now. There's some money owed to Rhode Island. Throw them a bone.

Rhode Island has no legal claim to those kits, though. Microsoft should not be forced to pay money to reclaim property that is rightfully theirs.

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch said:

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch said:

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch

I wonder how much it cost 38 Studios to purchase those XDK units. And Microsoft is still claiming it belongs to them. *Sigh*, licensing agreements at their finest.

38 Studios didn't buy them. They paid a licensing fee to use them. Microsoft is in the right to ask that those kits are returned.

Well, that's pretty much what I meant with that last sentence.

It sounds more or less like you're unhappy that Microsoft should get them back.

At least pay some money for them or something. I'm not saying Microsoft shouldn't get the equipment back, but c'mon now. There's some money owed to Rhode Island. Throw them a bone.

Rhode Island has no legal claim to those kits, though. Microsoft should not be forced to pay money to reclaim property that is rightfully theirs.

So legally, they can claim all of the games that I have purchased from them?

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch You don't seem to understand that to sell and to license aren't nearly the same thing.

Apparently publishers don't sell games, from what everyone else says. They license them to us.

@pw2566ch said:

@Hailinel said:

@pw2566ch You don't seem to understand that to sell and to license aren't nearly the same thing.

Apparently publishers don't sell games, from what everyone else says. They license them to us.

The intellectual property of the game is the property of either the developer or publisher, in most cases. We buy copies of the game for our own personal use. They sell them to us. They do not license them to us. When I buy a game, I am not entering a contractual agreement with the publisher. I can do whatever I like with that game, so long as I'm not breaking any laws (i.e.: Putting it up for people to pirate, using the the disc to murder someone, etc.). If I want, I can sell my copy of a game to a friend, or to a second-hand store, or what-have-you. Point being, when I go on Amazon and buy a copy of Final Fantasy XIII, I am purchasing that copy to own it. In some cases, buying a game may require the use or purchase of an online pass to gain access to all of the features, but I am not obligated to pay a licensing fee to the publisher for continued ownership of the game. Even if it's a subscription-based game like an MMO, if I stop paying that subscription fee, I am not not contractually bound to delete the game from my computer or send anything back to the publisher. The copy of the game on my computer is mine to keep; I'm just not allowed to play it until I start paying for a subscription again.

That is not the same as licensing a piece of development hardware. 38 Studios paid a licensing fee to Microsoft for the privilege of using their dev kits. They did not pay for ownership of them. If 38 Studios no longer wished to pay the licensing fee and had no further need of the kits, then they were contractually obligated to return them to Microsoft. Obviously, because of the shitstorm that went down at the company, sending that hardware back was not at the top of their priority list. Probably because whoever had that responsibility was laid off.

Sure i'll buy something. How much for the box of hopes & dreams? Maybe I could use it as a door stop.

Now watch the XDK units go missing....

bidding!