RIP ELIXIR
Elixir went bust today. Thats significant to me because I used to work there, and learned a lot there (in some ways).
One thing that i did learn, and its worth remembering, is this:

innovate on tech, or innovate on gameplay. Don't do both at once.

Republic didnt need an infinite polygon engine. It was a mad idea to have that as your first game. Although Evil Genius fared better, I think the writing was on the wall because of the extended dev time of Republic. People sometimes forget that everything you say and do is completely irrelevant until you ship a product. And all that matters then is the quality of that product.
I wish the guys at Elixir well, they had some really hard working guys there and sue, the admin person was especially good. I hope they all get good jobs.