Midway Games just shut down Ratbag, their recent aquisition in August, a game company that had been around since 1993 employing 70+ hard-working game developers and had been a shining star for aspiring game developers in Australia.

Sickening, especially at Christmastime. So many bad decisions have been made at Midway that I either see the end of the road for the entire company or mainly for the executive staff. Something's got to go, and soon.

My executive producer and I were talking about the ludicrous policy of providing a vertical slice of a game at an early stage - it's pure stupidity. Building a game is like building a house; you lay the foundation, work on the framework, then start plumbing, wiring, etc. before hanging drywall and getting the roof on. Requiring a game to have a little of everything (and polished) at an early stage is a recipe for disaster and a sure way to throw development money out the window because you're not developing a game properly anymore - you're jumping through hoops like a circus dog. But this is Midway's method of operation. LOLZ.

Unfortunately, the "redundant" staff at Ratbag is going to be much better off now than working for Midway. Sadly, they'll be doing it without their company they worked hard for and the people they loved working with.