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Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

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Re: Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

#111

Post by legostormtroopr »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #105
giancarlostoro wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If instead of buying IP and stealing from public domain works they invested more into creating new IP they could actually make a lot of money. I'm sick of them being allowed to increase their entertainment monopoly on children instead of being told to just create new original works. It's not like they have a shortage of talented people...

What public domain works have their recent movies been based off of? Outside of their reimaginings/reboots, I can't think of a single recent movie that isn't an original work. And that doesn't include things like LucasFilm, Marvel and Pixar which are, obviously, original and still part of Disney.

Tangled (Repunzel), Moana (uses and remixes actual Polynesian myths), Frozen (based on the snow queen), Peter Pan, Little Mermaid - a stack of recent Disney movies have been based on existing IP. You just don't notice because they culturally steamroll the originals.

The most recent movie Wish - is just callbacks to other Disney movies, so does it count as original IP?

And this excludes their reboots - but also excludes Pixar which has done some original albeit lacklustre stuff recently.

Re: Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

#112

Post by jvanderbot »

ethbr1 wrote: post #108
totetsu wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When kingdom hearts was released I got my first glimpse of how some people seem to throw their logic and taste out the window for Disney. It just seemed the dumbest thing to me. And why was the sword a key.. [edit: this was my teenage selfs opinion]

Some people like goofy mashup fun. There's a ton of people who apparently really liked Kingdom Hearts. It's pretty elitist to consider some IP too sacred to remix.

Everyone in my friend group considered it a runaway hit. They all played a ton.

I was amazed.

Re: Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

#113

Post by n6242 »

totetsu wrote: post #103
sublinear wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the same reaction 20 years ago to Kingdom Hearts. Disney is definitely at risk of becoming irrelevant with their stale IP.

When kingdom hearts was released I got my first glimpse of how some people seem to throw their logic and taste out the window for Disney. It just seemed the dumbest thing to me. And why was the sword a key.. [edit: this was my teenage selfs opinion]

To me at least, I liked Kingdom Hearts as a kid despite the Disney stuff, not thanks to it. I played it after Final Fantasy IX and X so I really enjoyed the change from turn-based combat.

Re: Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

#114

Post by xyclos »

callalex wrote: post #106
BooneJS wrote: post #20

Disney is diversifying. This comes on the heels of their subsidiary ESPN creating a new sports streaming service with Fox and Warner/Discovery ( https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/espn-fox-warner-bros-discov... )

I wonder how long it will take them to morph into a financial services company.

There's already Partner's FCU

https://www.partnersfcu.org/

Re: Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

#115

Post by s1artibartfast »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #98
sublinear wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the same reaction 20 years ago to Kingdom Hearts. Disney is definitely at risk of becoming irrelevant with their stale IP.

If instead of buying IP and stealing from public domain works they invested more into creating new IP they could actually make a lot of money. I'm sick of them being allowed to increase their entertainment monopoly on children instead of being told to just create new original works. It's not like they have a shortage of talented people...

IMO, their biggest problem is moving away from public domain works.

Re: Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

#116

Post by tombert »

ethbr1 wrote: post #108
totetsu wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When kingdom hearts was released I got my first glimpse of how some people seem to throw their logic and taste out the window for Disney. It just seemed the dumbest thing to me. And why was the sword a key.. [edit: this was my teenage selfs opinion]

Some people like goofy mashup fun. There's a ton of people who apparently really liked Kingdom Hearts. It's pretty elitist to consider some IP too sacred to remix.

I only played Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 on the Playstation 2 as a teenager, and I did enjoy them while playing, but I have to admit that I have absolutely no idea what the hell happened story-wise by the end of the second game. The story just got increasingly convoluted and harder to follow, and the juxtaposition of serious Final Fantasy characters and Disney characters never really stopped being funny to me.

Re: Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

#117

Post by HideousKojima »

ethbr1 wrote: post #108
totetsu wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When kingdom hearts was released I got my first glimpse of how some people seem to throw their logic and taste out the window for Disney. It just seemed the dumbest thing to me. And why was the sword a key.. [edit: this was my teenage selfs opinion]

Some people like goofy mashup fun. There's a ton of people who apparently really liked Kingdom Hearts. It's pretty elitist to consider some IP too sacred to remix.

The first KH was fun I guess. And the combat mechanics Square made for KH are now the standard in Final Fantasy. But the story of KH went completely off the rails in all the sequels and spinoffs and I don't understand how anyone still cares about the story anymore.

Re: Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

#118

Post by fullshark »

brokencode wrote: post #63
fullshark wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think anyone answered sufficiently, the main thing was yeah Steve Jobs was on their board of directors and was the CEO of Pixar, but that runs deep even though Jobs died 12 years ago. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/09/bob-iger-remembers-s... There was some analysis/chatter also that basically Disney's entire strategy the last 5-8 years also was to pump up its valuation as large as possible and then get…

I didn’t read the full article, but isn’t this describing mostly a personal friendship between Bob Iger and Steve Jobs? I know that analysts have had recurring fantasies about Apple raining money on Disney, but has there been any real evidence of Apple considering that?

Also says Iger was on Apple's board until 2019 when they started competing in streaming space.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/13/bob-iger-resigns-from-apple-...

Idk man, none of us had a drink at a bar with "Apple" and "Disney" to confirm the cozy relationship, others have provided business partnerships, what would satisfy you?

Re: Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

#119

Post by spartanatreyu »

GuestHNUser wrote: post #6
brucethemoose2 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, game dev is hard. Engine dev is really hard. There is a growing graveyard of games/devs suffering from bespoke engine woes instead of just using Unreal...

> There is a growing graveyard of games/devs suffering from bespoke engine woes instead of just using Unreal... Is there? I can't think of any examples that come to mind. Most indie devs I know that roll their own engine have no regrets. I am curious who comes to mind that says otherwise publicly?

In recent memory, the biggest two that come to mind:

- Halo Infinite's slipstream engine turned into spaghetti code due to 343's terrible employee cycling, most of the directors left around the same week, and now they're rehiring a brand new team made up of devs with Unreal Engine experience because the old engine would take too long to fix.

- The terrible console performance and engine woes of CD Project Red's Cyberpunk 2077 that almost led to the company being sued into hell led to them abandoning their own engine and switching to Unreal Engine for their next game.

Re: Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

#120

Post by nathants »

Solvency wrote: post #12
Animats wrote: post #5

Wow! What will Disney do to Unreal Engine's pricing plan? Does Sweeney remain in charge?

This will be a boon for Fortnite's licensed character business, Disney's merchandising business, Disney+'s content, and absolute downgrade/extortion for all Unreal users. Guaranteed.

this is why foss game engines are exploding right now.
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