Bungie's Forgotten Decade | Retrohistories

[@dougzartman2494]

I'm Doug Zartman, voice of BoB and the guy who used to tell Bungie's story, and I thought this was very well done. Blast those frogs and their damn vent cores!

[@retrohistories]

Thanks for a story worth telling!

[@Pfhorrest]

Hi Doug!

[@Hodebrot]

Doug Zartman but I thought we‘ve killed all the BoBs while vidding? This can‘t be.

[@stevegiles4549]

They're everywhere!

[@alarak2159]

Hi Doug - thank you for your time on Marathon! They're everywhere!

[@CaptainPrice01]

One other thing that Marathon 2 and Infinity did well was the ambient sound. In fact it did it better then any other FPS game of the 90s in my opinion. the Thundering wind, eerie hums, distance explosions, machines wrring, lava raging, water lapping, ect. It made is so atmospheric and immersive that added to the depth of the game that no other FPS brought at that time.

[@alarak2159]

Absolutely. Swapping this from the MIDI soundtrack was a brilliant step for setting the tone of the series. Even though I loved the soundtrack to Marathon, I do wish it had the ambient sounds as an option, especially with how tense/ atmospheric Marathon already was.

[@cookedbread]

Already knew the story but kept watching because it was well made, nice work :)

[@retrohistories]

Thanks!

[@THB192]

I disagree with the idea that Bungie abandoned its fanbase. After being acquired by Microsoft, they did more to support their old fans then almost any company of the era: They not only open-sourced Marathon to allow the fans to keep the games updated and playable on modern systems, but also made the games entirely free to download once it was no longer possible to buy them. And while Myth was too mired in copyright for them to do the same, they nonetheless granted a source release to a group of fans, and Soulblighter remains playable on every supported platform to this day as a result. It is rare to see that kind of generosity from any games company. In fact, the only company I can think of that has done anything similar is id software, who regularly made source releases before johnc's departure.

[@Pfhorrest]

Really glad to hear Nick Singer's music as your soundtrack. The Marathon/Halo hybrid theme of it is perfect.

[@retrohistories]

Yeah, Nick's music elevated the hell out of this video. I was so happy when I found it, and realised it was going to make for a 10x better result. Here's his OCRemix page: ocremix.org/artist/4764/nick-singer/remixes

[@nicholassinger3153]

Fantastic video. Thanks for crediting the music. A very nice surprise to hear it again :)

[@SmokeDogNY420]

Shame this video doesn't have more views, very well made. Halo CE was Bungie's golden era, and you never get a second like it.

[@jeanlucdiscard]

Steve Jobs "What would Apple do with a games company?" Can we really stop pretending Jobs was this magical, revolutionary messiah. If you disagreed with him, he would yell, scream, and throw things across the room. He didn't exactly promote an atmosphere of free thought.

[@JohnDoe-ml8ru]

Jobs was not the magic at Apple, Woz was. Jobs was just an a$$hole. There was a good reason he was fired from Apple.

[@jeanlucdiscard]

@@JohnDoe-ml8ru Imagine if Apple embraced Bungie, which was already dedicated to creating games on the Mac. Marathon and Myth were massively alacemied; people still play and revisit those games. The Mac could have become a gaming platform competing equally with the PC. Instead, the so called genius Jobs fucked it all up and handed Bungie to Microsoft. Apple lost BILLIONS out of that blunder, but Jerbs is still this lauded as this infallible "genius." Apple might have been the one developing their own console system, a far greater achievement in my book than a fucking smart phone.

[@fred561g]

I watched one of these videos over a year ago and just spent an hour trying to find them again. If you can make something i remember over a year later you've made something special good work.

[@UkiMalefu]

FROG BLAST THE VENT CORE!

[@FullInstall]

Myth doesn't get enough press these days

[@Bamsebud]

It would be perfect as a 30-year anniversary remaster for Bungie

[@hellhammerCCCP]

How does this not have a million views?!

[@directive0]

Wow, I really like the format you used for this video. Nice bumpers and lead in animations. Well done. Very inspiring.

[@retrohistories]

Thank you, that's very kind.

[@joelrosenfeld6105]

Great video. It's a bit of a nostalgia trip. Initially, it did seem like Bungie was abandoning its base, but really, they just kept making great games on a different platform. I have been playing their games since Marathon 2 premiered on the Mac. Always have been more of a Bungie fan than a fan of any particular platform.

[@0oidiedinatimemachineo024]

really cool video man. i was a huge bungie fan back in the 90s.. part of the reason is because I was a kid and I lived with my dad who at that time only had apple computers and bungie was one of the few companies that did make games for the mac back in the 90s.. So needless to say I played lots of Marathon and then when myth 1 and 2 came out i was so addicted for a few years I remember playing all the time with my friends over bungie.net .. even though I was (and still am) horrible at strategy games lol I still had a blast.

[@myerssed]

Awesome work man. As someone who still plays through marathon about once a year, I really appreciate hearing some of the behind the scenes of the game that got me into gaming. Fascinating. I was really hoping destiny would have scrapped Dinklage added terminals and tied the game in with the marathon series. Was really hoping to visit an old Traxus IV in Destiny. Great game, but could have still made a great game AND reconnected with that old fan base.

[@retrohistories]

Thanks man. I have to confess I didn't play Marathon at the time, I wasn't one of those Mac gamers the video talks about. It's really cool to see people commenting who were there -- you were part of quite an exclusive club...

[@MrBassface85]

OH HELL YES! Another Retrohistories! Thank you for putting this up, it was greatly enjoyed by myself! There is a nice step up in quality from the last. I am loving seeing your channel improve video by video. As for the future of Retrohistories, I would love to see a Wizardry or SSI D&D Gold Box retrospective. However, I will love whatever you decide to set your sights on.

[@retrohistories]

Thanks, Pseudo C! After reading Jimmy Maher's blog posts on Sir-Tech, Wizardry is definitely on the shortlist.

[@virvum_cypher]

I read through the large booklet detailing Bungie's history that came with Marathon Trilogy over and over as a kid and it's why I got my degree in Computer Science. Now I'm developing mobile games and revisit the Marathon trilogy every few years. The gameplay never got old. Even Pathways is still a masterpiece that I wish would be made playable on modern machines with something like the Aleph engine. Thanks for making this video! It was a blast to watch!

[@collinjensen6671]

Jeffrey Dean pathways can be played on modern macs, it’s in the mac app store

[@virvum_cypher]

I actually didn't know that! Thanks for the tip!

[@SeekerLancer]

I was never a fan of Marathon but its engine was really impressive at the time. Despite my issues with the gameplay, level design and general aesthetics, the story is absolutely fantastic though, they should really consider doing a modern remake with the same plot.

[@alarak2159]

Marathon will always be Bungie's swansong to me. Free to craft a series in their own time & of their own vision. Whilst Halo is their biggest IP, it will never be as special and unique as Marathon.

[@fmos86]

I found your channel this weekend and I have to say I'm impressed. I absolutely love your videos. Keep up the good job. Thanks

[@andersdenkend]

Very well done, great work! Love the pixel art interlude.

[@onaretrotip]

Great video! Really well produced and voiced, and some good info. Enjoyed that.

[@retrohistories]

Thanks!

[@Attakijing]

Wow, this video is really well researched and really well made. Great job.

[@shawnstone7243]

This is fantastic I can't believe it has such little views. Will share indeed! great editing.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

This was fantastic!

[@m.infernal]

Bungie used to be the coolest group of people in the gaming industry. Now they are a husk if what they used to be. Very sad. The original people aren't even there anymore.

[@Syndo]

Thank you for this, I needed to know what happened as to why halo ended up on windows. I played the marathon games as a kid and will always love them. Halo 1 and 2 are also amazing games

[@Tomatokillz]

Hey mate, this video was fantastic to watch i know im 5 years late but hey im glad i stumbled across it!

[@AstralPhnx]

Excellent video man! You deserve more subs!

[@retrohistories]

Thank you! I gained a few from this one :)

[@AstralPhnx]

Well deserved! I love things that go in depth with video game history myself (I'm a real game history buff myself) so this was right up my alley

[@schizophist2963]

Unfortunately myth and oni are owned by take two interactive who are just sitting on the games, which is a shame, it'd be great if they were available on GOG so people can experience a piece of bungie's history.

[@Gworms]

They’re everywhere!!

[@WatermelonEnthusiast9]

destiny is not bungie magnum opus, but everything else was interesting, good video overall

[@Pfhorrest]

Oni was before Halo, and along with it was also the first (partial) sale of the company, when Take Two (who published Oni on PS2, also Bungie's first venture into console gaming besides the little-known SuperMarathon for Apple's PiPPiN) bought almost 20% of the company. They still own the Myth and Oni franchises as compensation when Microsoft bought out the rest.

[@retrohistories]

Thanks for the info. I decided not to go too far into the Take Two split in the video because it was already running long. Super Marathon I didn't know about at all... interesting piece of trivia, thanks!

[@Xpert74]

This video made me a subscriber; great work! I've always been kind of curious about Bungie's history, and found it interesting how they actually had a pretty sizeable catalogue of games before making Halo.

[@retrohistories]

Thanks for the subscribe! Yeah, even to this day, more than 50% of their games were released before Halo, even though Halo came out about 40% of the way through the company's history. Those first ten years were incredibly prolific.

[@Vidyadude]

Really good video Chris.

[@retrohistories]

Cheers!

[@onesimpleclik]

learned so many things i had no idea about. great stuff!

[@retrohistories]

Thanks!

[@CaptainPrice01]

I really, really really wish Bungie would make a new Marathon for macOS. That would be so awesome!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Great video, lots of material and very well produced! It probably won't happen, but wouldn't it be crazy if Halo Wars 2 got a Mac port? That would almost be a fulfillment of the original Halo RTS game announced at the Apple presentation.

[@retrohistories]

That would be amazing! Delivering on a 17-year-old promise.

[@theplagueddoctor1443]

It’s probably for the best that they left apple after that backstab “hey guys I’m really happy to show that there’s this new game for Mac called halo! What you need money? Fuck off.”

[@avatarion]

I don't think it's forgotten at all. These are their beginnings. No-one forgets their beginnings. Forgotten implies some period after when they took a downturn.

[@lucklessgeek9886]

I knew almost all of this before watching. I followed Bungie from about halfway between the first two Halo games up to the split from Microsoft and Frank O'Connor's departure. They really stopped interacting with the community when he left, and they didn't talk about anything interesting until Destiny leaked, so I just lost interest in the company. Honestly, the only things I remember that aren't in this video are the story Bungie loved to tell about the purchase and the arrival and eventual departure of O'Connor. I do understand why you left them out though, since those things aren't too relevant to a general viewing audience. I don't know where I heard the story, but Bungie loved to talk about how Microsoft tried to put their staff into cubicles with the other studios they purchased to make launch titles for the XBox. You mentioned the company culture they had, and the cubicle environment was an obvious threat to that. They talk about how they tore down the cubicle walls to create a more open atmosphere so they could preserve that culture and how this led to them getting their own office space. O'Connor stands out because he always wrote the weekly updates Bungie would put out and functioned as a bit of a community manager (not sure what his official title was) for quite a few years. He helped to shape the fan culture for the games, and since I was a part of that (though I was a non-contributing forum lurker) I remember how he engaged the fans with those updates. I really like this video though and will be subbed hoping for more. I know it's kind of a niche topic, but I'll be spreading this to anyone I think will watch it!

[@retrohistories]

Thanks for that illuminating information. I thought about putting the office story in, but decided it would be too similar to the section in Bungie's self-produced history video, O Brave New World. O'Connor I didn't know about; looks like he's now running 343 Industries, which is another story I decided early wouldn't be the focus. But maybe eventually!

[@SpiffingNZ]

1:40 - is this the game that inspired that horrible tank game on the Action 52 cartridge for the NES?

[@DichotomousRex]

Great video! I'm a little confused, it seems like you're saying they turned their back on the fans by signing with Microsoft, but didn't really establish any way that signing with Microsoft changed the way they treated fans or what kind of games they made, so the ending comes off unsupported. In other words, I felt you didn't clearly argue that anyone or anything was sacrificed by the Microsoft buy or the decision to make Halo. But I enjoyed your work and learned quite a bit about Bungie!

[@retrohistories]

I meant the abandonment of the platforms they'd always supported, most of all the Mac. Fans were very upset by the news; a lot of them weren't going to go out and buy Xboxes. I probably didn't land the point as well as I hoped, though!

[@heftymagic4814]

"destiny, bungies magnum opus" nolol

[@gnardawgyt]

I miss these

[@GUN2kify]

#15:05 -- actually i don't think so. Bungie released marathon and there follow ups as source and free, so the community can remember and grow once again. You should actually know this one since you used in the video aleph one (the source port of Marathon I - III). Non the less an nice overview.

[@grubbergamer]

Nicely done!

[@OFMVH]

Great work

[@concernedtulip7938]

Love the animation!

[@JonGod]

Some cool stuff in here. There are a few things that aren't 100% accurate, such as what happened with Take 2 and Oni, and some of the progression of Halo was glossed over. Still overall a great video. If you want any more information on this topic, send me a message, I tell you some interesting behind the scenes stuff.

[@djhenyo]

You're the artist who did the detail texture megapack for Myth?

[@grafnosferacula7473]

Destiny? The magnum opus of Bungie? Come on you are forgetting Marath- ... Halo 3!

[@relevant3773]

Wish destiny had more of a bungie feel

[@EatThePath-7]

If you think Destiny doesn't have a 'Bungie feel', idk what to tell you, play it more. It does in every aspect.

[@garypatterson2857]

Two things come to mind. Firstly, Bungie made the right call selling to Microsoft. While at the time I was upset by this, Apple have proven time and time again that they don't handle games well. I love my Macs, and use them every day, but Apple just don't get games. The farces of OpenGL and Vulkan vs Metal only underscore a long history of screwing up. Pippin comes to mind (and Marathon was on that platform, making it Bungie's first console release). No-one knew at the time, but looking back it's pretty obvious that there would never have been a Halo 2 or more without X-Box. Apple would not have taken Bungie to the height of success. (edit - the end of the video states this as well. I shouldn't write a comment before watching the whole video!) Secondly, this video is criminally underviewed. I've recently watched histories of Bungie (that's why KZbin recommended this one, I imagine) that forgot more facts, didn't do their research and provided less information and yet somehow received more viewers. I was watching everything unfold as it happened, and I know this video is both correct for the public perception (what I saw) and seems correct in the private information (what I didn't know but makes sense of what I saw). Thanks Retrohistories, you deserve more views than you received.

[@i-evi-l]

Yup, the Xbox acquisition deal was one of the funniest things ever.

[@masterzedd4]

and then they made Destiny 2...and their fans finally lost faith in the company...

[@JohnDoe-ml8ru]

They sold out, like every other game company. Greed is a powerful force.

[@MetalGear0987]

Great Video, sad end for some people, especially those working for destiny because its a shite game.

[@noiJadisCailleach]

Who tf cares about mac gamers anyway? Wait, they exist?!??? LMAO