Ryan Payton Officially Joins MGS (Not the Kojima one)

[Siraris]

http://www.mobygames.com/images/i/11/21/599771.jpeg

There are a bunch of Heavy Hitters landing at Microsoft Game Studios lately, according to Edge's online arm. (http://www.edge-online.com/news/mgs4s-payton-joins-microsoft-halo-crew) Included in the list are:


Ryan Payton - Former western liason to Kojima Productions.
Connie Yu - Former programmer at Gearbox Software.
Kenneth Scott - Former artist from ID software (and Connie's husband).
David Wu - Former technical director at Full Auto developer Pseudo Interactive.


This is quite a coup for Microsoft. Let's hope some great titles come from this!

[Doctor Setebos]

Whoa. Nicely played, Microsoft. Nice. Lee. Played.

[AgtFox]

And am I right in saying they all landed onto the Halo Group joining Frank O'Conner on his jump from Bungie to there? I know Connie is like the head of the Halo Group or something (it's what started the Gearbox rumor working on a new Halo), I'm guessing the rest are going there too.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

MGS4 to 360 confirmed.

[Gorvi]

Maybe MS will actually publish a game I care about for once. It's only been since Crackdown.

[SPBTooL]

So MS has been closing whole development studios so that they can afford to higher these few people? Any way, yeah talent!

[digitalErich]

I mean, I know this guy was involved in MGS4, but I still don't understand the love for this guy or how this is sooo great for MS. Maybe I'm missing something... what else does he have under his belt?

[Siraris]

I mean, I know this guy was involved in MGS4, but I still don't understand the love for this guy or how this is sooo great for MS. Maybe I'm missing something... what else does he have under his belt?

I have to agree. I think the only thing he did on MGS4 was the translation.

[digitalErich]

I don't want to knock the guy, I really have no clue what he's done outside of MGS4 but to read some other sites, they act like MS hired Miyamoto or something.

[Gorvi]

He did a lot of design work for MGS4, he was credited with "westernizing" it to a certain extent.

[Xerxes]

Ryan who? And why does the title say it's not the one but the story says it is.

[Gorvi]

Ryan who? And why does the title say it's not the one but the story says it is.
It means he's joining MGS (Microsoft Games Studios) not MGS (as in Metal Gear Solid, Kojima's).

[AgtFox]

Ryan who? And why does the title say it's not the one but the story says it is.
I think the title is more like he was hired by MGS (Microsoft Game Studios) and not MGS (Metal Gear Solid, the Kojima one).

[TrackZero]

David Wu, nice catch MGS. ;)

[Spigot]

He did a lot of design work for MGS4, he was credited with "westernizing" it to a certain extent.
There's an excellent profile of the guy on the MGS4 bonus stuff. I'm impressed.

[TrackZero]

And am I right in saying they all landed onto the Halo Group joining Frank O'Conner on his jump from Bungie to there? I know Connie is like the head of the Halo Group or something (it's what started the Gearbox rumor working on a new Halo), I'm guessing the rest are going there too.

Are the trying to make a dream team?

[AgtFox]

Are the trying to make a dream team?
You got me. It's like this group will oversee all Halo productions by whatever developer does all of them. Maybe someday Microsoft will announce exactly what this group is going to do.

[archon]

Nathan Walpole, one of the lead animators for Halo 2 and 3, is also on this team now. They've amassed an impressive collection of talent here, so it looks like they're trying hard to keep the Halo series a quality one as they move forward without the rest of Bungie.

[J3DI]

I think I read somewhere that Connie would only came on board if her husband was able to as well.... anyone else hear that?

[The Iron Weasel]

This doesn't really seem like a huge deal to me, but its certainly not bad.

[Deadend]

Unless they are making the next Braid... they need a couple more people (about 100) to make a AAA game.

[Variable Gear]

Are the trying to make a dream team?
I'm not sure. If I had to guess, I would say that they are prepping quite a few Halo titles, just to try and cash in on the franchise before its absolutely meaningless. The more titles they're planning, the more talented people they'll need.

[Kelegacy]

What was the last game MGS developed? Are they only acting as publisher? Or, are they just a conglomerate of developers, like Rare and Lionhead? Who put the bop in shebobshebopshebop?

[Telefrog]

I would trade the whole lot of them to have Ensemble back.

[Variable Gear]

What was the last game MGS developed? Are they only acting as publisher? Or, are they just a conglomerate of developers, like Rare and Lionhead? Who put the bop in shebobshebopshebop?
MGS (Microsoft Game Studios) is the collective publisher for all Microsoft-owned studios.

[Xerxes]

Again... It's not easy to make some money out of the Halo-verse.

Turn this...
http://www.shopatashton.com/kote/odst1.jpg
http://www.shopatashton.com/kote/odst2.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Xerionus/ODSTposter.jpg

In to this...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4d/Star_Wars_-_Republic_Commando_Coverart.png

Throw some good squad single player as well as functional 4 player co-op, and print money.

That teaser Bungie released looked like it might happen regardless.

[Philonious]

Microsoft seems to be committed to putting all of their eggs in a single basket... I'm just not sure that Halo is a big enough basket. Wouldn't maybe be a little prudent to see how Halo Wars does before they let themselves get carried away? While Halo is a great, I'm more of the opinion that it is due to the involvement of Bungie, as opposed to the strength of the brand (e.g. Star Wars).