Category Archives: Gaming

Kotaku profiles LucasArts’ collapse

Posted on by

LucasartsThe shuttering of LucasArts still stings for a lot of fans. Many hold Disney accountable for closing the venerable game studio, but did problems for the developer begin before the sale? According to a Kotaku profile by Jason Schreier, LucasArts was in trouble years before Disney came into the picture.

Over the last five months, I’ve talked to a dozen people connected to LucasArts, including ex-employees at the company’s highest levels, in an attempt to figure out just how the studio collapsed. Some spoke off the record; others spoke under condition of anonymity. They told me about the failed deals, the drastic shifts in direction, the cancelled projects with codenames likeSmuggler and Outpost. They told me the stories behind the fantastic-looking Star Wars 1313and the multi-tiered plans for a new Battlefront starting with the multiplayer game known asStar Wars: First Assault.

All of these people helped paint a single picture: Even before Disney purchased LucasFilm, the parent company of LucasArts, in November of 2012, the studio faced serious issues. LucasArts was a company paralyzed by dysfunction, apathy, and indecision from executives at the highest levels.

It may not have been just 1313 and First Assault that wound up meeting untimely demises either:

In news that will certainly crush anyone who enjoyed LucasArts-branded adventure games, the team at LucasArts Singapore was working on a remastered version of the classic point-and-click game Day of the Tentacle, according to three people familiar with that project. Like the special editions of the first two Monkey Island games, released in 2009 and 2010, the remastered Day of the Tentacle would be pseudo-3D, with remade background art and cut-scenes redone to run at 30 frames per second…

…The list of cancelled projects goes on and on. There was Smuggler, a game designed for cross-platform multiplayer that would let you play as a customizable character within the Star Warsuniverse, smuggling and trading between Facebook, tablets, and consoles.P

There was Outpost, the Star Wars take on Zynga’s FarmVille that would let players build empires, one click at a time.P

There was Death Star, the iOS game in which you’d get to control your very own version of the Empire’s iconic space station.P

There was the online service that would be LucasArts’ very own version of Origin, EA’s network for distributing games and servicing online multiplayer. Like Origin for EA, this LucasArts-branded network would help the company distribute Star Wars games and in-app purchases. According to one person familiar with plans for this network, it would have launched alongside Star Wars: First Assault, which would have had some sort of microtransaction store.

Shortly after LucasArts closed, I cautioned fans not to blame Disney. The anger was understandable, the studio closure came right on the heels of The Clone Wars getting cancelled. From my outside perspective, it looked as if LucasArts had been in trouble for years and issues had cropped up almost a decade earlier. This piece by Kotaku lends more to the idea that the company had merely been on life support from Lucasfilm for some time.

Be sure to read the entire Kotaku profile, there’s a whole lot more there that paints a much clearer picture that the problems that befell LucasArts come from within, not from Disney.

KOTOR: It doesn’t get any more Star Wars than this

Posted on by

KOTOR logoIt’s been ten years since the first Knights of the Old Republic game was released and after playing it through again recently for the first time in years?  I can happily report that it still holds up awesomely.  The game is just as enthralling to me now in my early 20s as it was when I was in my teens.  A lot of that has to do with how distinctly Star Wars the game is despite being set thousands of years before anyone named Skywalker was of any relevance to the galaxy.  Obviously it has all the superficial markings of Star Wars like the name, lightsabers and Jedi, spaceships, and such but it’s the overall feel of the epic tale that makes it so very obviously a part of the galaxy far far away.

Let’s take a look at some of what not only make this game pure Star Wars but makes it an excellent example for other stories told within the galaxy.

Note: Obviously one of the neatest things about the game is that you make your own choices through your own character and therefore the game could go any number of ways.  I’m writing this piece assuming a light side Revan which is technically canon.  This piece will also have a heavy bias towards playing with a female Revan which sadly isn’t canon but that’s my preferred storyline so canon can deal for the duration of this piece.

It’s a mission to save the galaxy

While it’s hardly a trope unique to the galaxy far far away, it is one of its pillars.  Your character is just an ordinary person (or so you think) who, through a series of circumstances, has to go on a quest through the galaxy to find pieces of the Star Map to help win the war against the Sith.  Along the way, you pick up a number of companions with whom you build friendships and you also often help others out even if they have nothing to do with your main quest.  At the end of the day, you save the day by defeating the evil Sith leader and destroying the space station that was giving them the edge in battle.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Although a story doesn’t always have to have galactic ramifications to be one where good triumphs, that’s a part of what makes this game so good.  The fate of the galaxy is literally in your hands.  You choose whether to be a good guy or a bad guy and whether or not you’re going to save the Republic or take back the Sith Empire for yourself and rule and galaxy.  Granted, the galaxy sort of falls to pieces five years later anyways but the Ebon Hawk and her crew still saved the day!

Continue reading →

Confirmed: Knights of the Old Republic gets an iPad port

Posted on by

There were some rumblings last week that popular Star Wars RPG Knights of the Old Republic would be making its way to the iPad. This week, it became official and IGN sat down to review the port. Long story short? It’s a must-buy. Here’s their bottom-line verdict:

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic still holds up, and remains a must-play for younger players who didn’t catch it the first time around. Though the iPad version’s touch controls make movement clumsy, most of its changes are for the better. If you haven’t played it before, or want to experience it again, this is a great way to do it.

For those who haven’t had a chance to play this game, I can’t recommend it highly enough. For those who have, maybe it’s time to revisit it on a new platform. No release date has been announced yet, but once it’s available, I know I’ll be picking it up.

Edit: Hey look it went live a little after we posted this!

EA teases new Battlefront game

Posted on by

Fans have been clamoring for a new Battlefront game for ages. For a long while, it seemed like it was never going to happen thanks to troubles within LucasArts. Now that EA has the Star Wars IP? Well, things are looking up according to Gamespot.

Electronic Arts has teased that one of its multiple in-development Star Wars titles is an all-new Battlefront game. Speaking today during the Stifel 2013 Technology Conference, CFO Blake Jorgensen offered the hint.

“The opportunity to do a new Battlefront, for example, which is one of the very popular Star Wars games, or some of the other traditional games that were made, is very exciting.”

Star Wars: Battlefront III, despite never actually being announced, was reportedly 99 percent complete, though this claim was contested.

Me? I’m hoping it gets made just so people stop asking for it at completely unrelated Star Wars event panels at conventions.

Knights of the Old Republic being ported to the iPad?

Posted on by

Well this could be interesting. According to IGN, an accidental promotional mailing from Aspyr suggests that fan favorite title Knights of the Old Republic may be heading for the iPad.

A KOTOR port for iPad isn’t too much of a stretch considering Aspyr’s history. The company is responsible for the original Mac port and has been increasingly active on the App Store. Although there have been some other fringe Star Wars RPGs over the years, KOTOR seems like the obvious bet.

Additionally, this newsletter slip-up confirms previous KOTOR rumors we’ve been hearing. For now official confirmation from Aspyr, or any details regarding a launch date or price, have not been announced. We’ve reached out to Aspyr for comment.

While I’m not sure how they will work out the control scheme yet, the iPad seems like a fantastic destination for Knights of the Old Republic. It’s an older game that doesn’t need a boatload of system resources and being able to take this on the road would make for hours of mobile gaming fun. Count me in as someone hoping it happens.

Assorted thoughts on the Lucasfilm/EA exclusive game deal

Posted on by

EA LogoReaction to yesterday’s news that Lucasfilm will be licensing the Star Wars IP exclusively to publisher Electronic Arts was, to put it mildly, a mixed bag. First off were people happy that there were going to be new Star Wars games at all. Then there was the anti-EA crowd upset that Disney was licensing to the least popular company in the gaming industry. So what is it? Good news for fans, or Disney making a mistake and hurting fans?

Some assorted thoughts…

  • Disney and Lucasfilm were never going to break things up and offer rights individually on a per-game basis. There’s more leverage in locking a company up in on an exclusive multi-year deal. Because of this, only two publishers were realistic options: Electronic Arts and Activision. Given that neither company is particularly well regarded in gaming circles, it’s pretty much a pick-your-poison. For me, Electronic Arts has the better game developers in its portfolio so going with them is far and away the preferable option.
  • While Electronic Arts is hated by gamers (some would say irrationally hated), they’ve got fantastic game developers working under them. From the onset, they’ve announced that Bioware, DICE, and Visceral Games are going to be working on future Star Wars titles. This is good news. These are studios that have produced some fantastic products and are capable of doing great things with the Star Wars IP.
  • Yes, even Bioware is a fantastic studio. Whether or not you liked the ending to Mass Effect 3, they are a developer that has consistently put out above-average games that have featured top-notch writing efforts to create deeply immersive games.  Knights of the Old Republic 3? Maybe that’s finally back on the table now that Lucasarts isn’t pulling the strings. Maybe it means a single-player RPG experience in a completely different era. Either way, it’s exciting and turning Bioware loose on a new Star Wars title is great news.
  • For fans that have long wished for Battlefront III, this news is nothing short of a miracle. DICE is the company that produces the Battlefield titles, multiplayer online shooter titles with a remarkably similar feel to the Battlefront games. Critically lauded multiplayer online shooter titles along with warzone cheats for all first-person shooter games, I might add. You might not get Battlefront III specifically, but I’d say odds are high you’re going to get a game remarkably similar to it.
  • Visceral Games is responsible for the acclaimed Dead Space games, a franchise that’s textbook core market.  They’ve shown they can do atmospheric titles that can push the action angle. Good fit for Star Wars? I think so.
  • Disney and Lucasfilm were never going to leave money from the core gaming market on the table. Claims that they would abandon more grown-up titles to only produce Facebook and iOS titles were simply overreaction to the news that LucasArts was closing down. Maybe it’s time we recognize that Disney isn’t out to make Star Wars fans miserable by cancelling everything we love and acknowledge they just might know what they’re doing?
  • LucasArts was having an increasingly difficult time producing games, so Disney handing the IP off to a company with a stable of high-quality developers was not only a smart business decision, it was a good gesture to fans. At the very least, it’s hard to get much worse than where the IP has been. It’s been a long time since the last critically acclaimed Star Wars title. Giving Electronic Arts a go might be just what the franchise needs to produce something special again.

Boil it down and I just can’t find much to be upset about. There is way more good news than there is bad news involved in this announcement. As of right now, three top-notch studios are going to get to work on the Star Wars IP and I, for one, can’t wait to see what they do with it.

Lucasfilm Licensing selects Electronic Arts for exclusive multi-year game deal

Posted on by

When LucasArts was closed down, Disney and Lucasfilm said that the Star Wars IP would move towards a licensing model with out-of-house talent handling development duties. Fans were skeptical that anything would come out of this, naturally. Today Lucasfilm put those concerns to bed with the announcement that publisher Electronic Arts has been selected for an exclusive multi-year game deal.

Today it was announced that Lucasfilm Ltd. and Disney Interactive are entering into a multi-year, multi-title exclusive licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) for the creation of new high quality Star Wars games spanning multiple genres for console, PC, mobile, and tablets.

Industry leaders and creators of best-in-class blockbuster games, the development and publishing teams at EA will collaborate with the creative teams at Lucasfilm to provide audiences with all-new gaming experiences set in the ever-expanding Star Wars galaxy. As part of the agreement, EA studio teams DICE (Battlefield series) and Visceral (Dead Space series) will join BioWare (Mass Effect series, Star Wars: The Old Republic) in the development of new Star Wars games.

“Our number one objective was to find a developer who could consistently deliver our fans great Star Wars games for years to come,” said Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm. “When we looked at the talent of the teams that EA was committing to our games and the quality of their vision for Star Wars, the choice was clear.”

While EA studios will develop for the core Star Wars gaming audience, Disney Interactive will focus on delivering new Star Wars games for casual audiences on mobile, social, tablet, and online gaming platforms.

“This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come,” said John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive. “Collaborating with one of the world’s premier game developers will allow us to bring an amazing portfolio of new Star Wars titles to fans around the world.”

“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. “Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay.”

More information, including titles in development, will be announced in the coming months. Continue to check StarWars.com for updates on the future of Star Wars gaming.

Take a moment to look at the studios that are going to be involved. DICE, Visceral Studios, and Bioware. These are three big-name players that command a lot of respect in the gaming community and have produced some incredible game portfolios. Lucasarts may be gone, but the Star Wars gaming IP is perhaps in better shape than it has been in years.

The Fate of LucasArts was a Decade in the Making

Posted on by

To say fan reaction to the closure of long-time game developer and publisher LucasArts was strong would be an understatement. Emotions ranged from sadness to outright anger at new parent company Disney for shuttering the studio responsible for critically acclaimed titles like TIE Fighter, The Dig, and Escape from Monkey Island. Through the years, this division of the Lucasfilm brand had been responsible for numerous well received games that became benchmarks for the industry as a whole. It’s understandable, then, that fans of the company are bewildered as to why Disney would close down such a prolific studio and monument to gaming history.

While a glance through their catalog reveals a studio that has had more success than the vast majority of their competitors, a deeper look reveals that LucasArts set themselves on a risky path nearly a decade ago.

Continue reading →