A Concise History Of Bethesda
Covering their early days (Madden) right through to Oblivion, the Escapist have a great feature up detailing the complete history of Bethesda, which deals not only with their games but also the various ups (loads of cash money) and downs (wrangles with ZeniMax) they've faced as a company.
I like Elder Scrolls, but found the early-days stuff developing games like Gridiron a lot more interesting, since I had no idea they were the pioneers of what became Madden.
Electronic Arts was so impressed with Gridiron that they hired us to develop the first John Madden Football. I like to think a piece of Gridiron still lives in JMF even today.
They then speak briefly about the upcoming Fallout 3, and what it means to be entrusted with such a difficult IP. Despite the series' passionate fanbase, Bethesda sound like they know what they're doing; Todd Howard fancies he knows what Fallout is all about:
I think the first Fallout's tone is brilliant, but then they start to drift in the sequel and subsequent games. When it comes to humor, I'm very anti 'jokes' in games. Most designers try too hard to tell a joke, and it just doesn't work. I think good humor for Fallout is dry, almost satirical. Like getting your leg blown off, blood starts spraying all over the place and you get the little [PIPBoy] interface image giving you the thumbs up - I find that funny. Horrible situations juxtaposed against cartoon mascots. But that's just me.
No, Todd, it's not just you. A little bit of history is always good for you, so Bethesda fans, this is well worth your time.
Bethesda: The Right Direction [The Escapist]
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