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LucasArts Aims for #1
Posted by
Zonk
on Mon Apr 17, '06 11:42 AM
from the keep-climbing dept.
from the keep-climbing dept.
The New York Times has an interesting profile of LucasArts, the game development house attached to George Lucas' company. They discuss some challenges with being so closely associated with Star Wars, and detail their role in the Lucasfilm company as a whole. From the article: "[Ward's] most challenging days may be ahead. The videogame industry has been in the doldrums for months; video game sales are lagging as consumers wait to buy the next generation of consoles, including the PlayStation 3. And perhaps most important, Mr. Lucas has no plans to make any more 'Star Wars' movies. That means LucasArts will have to work that much harder to come up with ideas of its own. 'We are not the Star Wars game company,' said Micheline Chau, president of Lucasfilm. 'And Jim knows what he has to do.'"
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What About Star Wars Galaxies?
(Score:3, Interesting)(http://slashdot.org/~eldavojohn/journal/ | Last Journal: Tuesday April 04, @01:06PM)
I know that Sony Online Entertainment are the developers for SWG but I'm also interested in what the president of the licensing company has to say about that game. Actually, I'd like to see him interviewed in an "Ask Slashdot" much like John Smedley was [slashdot.org] a while back.
Among the questions I'd like to ask him would be:
How would you describe the decision making process that has gone into designing SWG?
Do you think that SWG is drawing nearer and nearer to a "true Star Wars Experience" or moving away from it? How? Give examples.
Do you expect to be a top five video game competitor [wikipedia.org] with no MMORPG out and available? They seem to generate a lot of revenue compared to classic console games. EA has the Sims franchise while Microsoft generates Xbox Live monthly revenue.
What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of working with George Lucas?
--
I'm not sure why this article accents the fact that no more Star Wars movies are coming out. They've made quite a few off IV, V & VI--one would think they could make just as many off of I, II & III along with the coming TV series [bbc.co.uk]. And don't forget the expanded universe that the literature written would provide
Re:What About Star Wars Galaxies?
(Score:5, Funny)I'll take "What is a train wreck?" for $200, Alex
'We are not the Star Wars company'
(Score:5, Interesting)(http://www.giantrobeast.com/)
aiming for #1
(Score:5, Funny)(http://evil.google.com/)
Thank the gods of Kobol!
(Score:2)Thank the gods of Kobol!
So give us adventures!
(Score:3, Interesting)(http://slashdot.org/)
I never liked any of the star-wars themed games, but the adventures were fantastic.
Re:So give us adventures!
(Score:5, Interesting)(http://www.okopipi.org/ | Last Journal: Sunday July 09, @09:31PM)
A little off-topic, but I've realized one thing while playing Silent Hill 3: The textures are realistic, and the control is user-friendly. Why not make a detective game (Sherlock Holmes, Hercules Poirot?) with that engine? It would rock if you could interrogate suspects and examine items, etc.
Anyway my point is, we need more story / plot / brain in today's games. The Indy graphic adventures contained all of these elements, and this is why they succeeded.
"And Jim knows what he has to do."
(Score:3, Insightful)Finish Sam and Max. Full Throttle 2. The next game in the X-Wing series. Tell SOE to go fuck themselves.
If you can't do it in-house, keep getting an outside development house to kick them out for you. No shame in that, as long as it's not SOE.
Bring Back X-Wing/Tie Fighter
(Score:5, Insightful)(http://www.foobarsoft.com/)
Update X-Wing and Tie Fighter.
Better graphics, online play, new missions.
Please, please, please!
Re:Bring Back X-Wing/Tie Fighter
(Score:5, Insightful)Original games?
(Score:5, Interesting)(http://powerlord.livejournal.com/)
Everything else has been Star Wars or Indiana Jones.
LucasArts used to be known for its Adventure games, but under Mr. Ward's leadership, they flushed that down the toilet in favor of more Star Wars. They got such bad press from the Sam and Max 2 cancellation that they removed the Press Release [lucasarts.com] from their site. LucasArts can claim that the genre is dead, but when companies like The Adventure Company [theadventu...ygames.com] continue to make money off of them, it would appear that LucasArts is wrong.
The question is, will LucasArts put its money where its mouth is, or simply continue to be the Star Wars company?
Is it just me or . . . .
(Score:1)(http://www.denverradiosucks.com/)
Only have three words to say...
(Score:5, Insightful)LucasArts wants original games now?
(Score:5, Insightful)Most of the original ideas in LucasArts (and before that Lucasfilm Games) came from a group of very talented adventure and action game designers. Lucasfilm Games was one of the first game companies to acknowledge that a game that doesn't try to kill your character at any turn -- or at all! -- can be much more enjoyable than when your character is in mortal danger at every step. The difference in enjoyment between Kings Quest and Monkey Island is immeasurable.. and not just because of this! The dialog was fresh. The puzzles were fun. The characters were fleshed out!
But those original ideas have long since gone as those designers have chosen to work on projects that have a hope of shipping.
You want original games again, LucasArts? Beg.. no.. plead for Tim Schafer (Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle), Ron Gilbert (Monkey Island), and Steve Purcell (Sam & Max) to work for you again. Reconstitute the teams you used to have but neglected. Put these people in charge of the company. In no time you'd be pumping out original, funny, and interesting games that spoke to the heart of your frustrated fan base.
What if you can't come up with any more original ideas? Well, if you've got game material rights already, and they aren't Star Wars, or they haven't been milked to death as that already, do they count?:
* Bring back the X-Wing and TIE Fighter series, which was the best flight sim series I ever played. It was also the only Star Wars game I ever enjoyed. Update it for new graphics hardware and don't tie it to a Microsoft gaming service (anyone remember MS Zone? exactly.).
* Resuscitate all of your old titles so they can be played on new handheld hardware like the Nintendo DS. Use the DS's multiplayer to stage X-Wing battles on WFC or just over the local multiplayer features.
* Dust off Sam & Max 2, finish it, and ship it.
* Do a Monkey Island movie -- wait! Disney's already doing it. It's called Pirates of the Caribbean 2. MI fans: take one look at the voodoo scene from the PotC 2 and tell me it doesn't look like the outside of the International House of Mojo in MI2. (Oh, and Johnny Depp would've made a great Guybrush Threepwood.)
* Above all, don't let faithful sequels to these games die by stringently holding onto the rights and keeping other interested companies in moving the stories forward.
Still more Star Wars to flog..
(Score:2)(http://robvincent.net/ | Last Journal: Monday November 06, @10:39AM)
So nobody's told LucasArts about the upcoming TV series? [slashdot.org] I'm sure something based on that will be thrown at us when the time comes.
Good to here it
(Score:3, Interesting)Lucas Arts has made some pretty interesting and innovative games in the past, like Grim Fandango and Full Throttle. I wish they would bring back some of the talent behind those games, and ACTUALLY produce a non Star Wars game, then at least that statement wouldn't be moronic.
Anything to do with Lucas-X these days is so wrapped up in Star Wars, George needs some therapy because he can't let it go. A Star Wars television series? Endless tie in games and merchandising products?
When does someones obsession and love of something turn into a reason to go to the loony bin, I think George has long since passed that point.
Lucasarts will have to pull some gems out of their asses if they hope to ride out the current downturn in video games. We are nearing another video game drought, like back in the 80's with the Atari. Game are just not inventive and innovative anymore. Video gaming bottomed out in the 80's because Atari kept pumping out the same old tired titles. Stick figures bouncing around on a static screen with two bit sound effects. People got tired of essentially playing the same game back in the 80's.
People are getting tired of essentially playing the same game, now, in 2006. Quake 4, Doom 3, HL2, Star Wars: Whatever. MMORPGs that go no where. I actually think ALL next gen game consoles will bomb and the Xbox360 is off to a good start (for bombing that is).
Game companies have grown too complacent and used to the idea that by spinning off another game based on a successful franchise, your going to make millions in profit. Every MAJOR game developer currently is working on a SEQUEL. Smaller game developers are simply cloning big game franchise and offering some moderate twists and variations of a theme.
People are getting tired of the same old.
So, hopefully Lucasarts will find some new novel and innovative theme to focus on (not obsess over) and come out with some NEW gaming franchises. Until that happens, it is laughable to think that LucasArts ISN'T a Star Wars crap factory.
The sequel we're really looking forward to...
(Score:2)(http://www.mypalmike.com/)
No, seriously.
Stop with the FUD
(Score:3, Insightful)(http://mirror.cs.vt.edu/ | Last Journal: Tuesday April 13, @11:24AM)
"[Ward's] most challenging days may be ahead. The videogame industry has been in the doldrums for months; video game sales are lagging as consumers wait to buy the next generation of consoles, including the PlayStation 3.
This statement has made the rounds from CNN to MaximumPC to Slashdot to probably Fox News.
Video game sales have decreased in retail markets. This is not an industry crisis; it is a paradigm shift. What hasn't been decreasing are revenues in areas which here-to-fore did not exist. Steam is not making less money than it did in 2000. People are willing to buy games online and download them. Even if CS:S turns your brain to mush and is addictive as sweet, sweet heroin. But, guess who didn't get a sale. Best Buy.
Another factor in Video Game sales is persistant subscription sales models. It is completely inexplicable that these people don't mention MMO profits. At 5 million subscriptions times $15/month each, and this warrants italics, Blizzard will make $900,000,000 [NINE HUNDRED MILLION] gross this year on WoW. That a nine, with 8 zeros behind it. That's a license to print money. And that's not counting EQ2, AO, DAoC, Eve, and others.
Yes, there is a slump in video game purchases right now. There aren't any must have games; everyone is waiting for X, Y, or Z. But THAT'S HOW IT'S ALWAYS BEEN. It's not the automobile industry; there's not a new model released every year. NES = 1985, SNES = 1992. Ish. What happened in the interum? A falloff of game sales. It goes in cycles. IT'S NORMAL. You know what happens when a Must Have Game comes out? [rpgamer.com]People buy it [rpgamer.com].*
When you couple that with the fact that ONE IN 45 AMERICANS PLAYS WOW, you start to see what people are doing with their time. And most of the infants and nursing home patrons aren't playing. It's the coveted 18-34 demographic.
So, STFU & GBTW.
~W
*"Dragon Quest VIII was released in Japan in November 27, 2004 and sold more then three million units in its opening weekend. Shipments in North America have topped 430,000 since its release on November 17, 2005. European gamers can look forward to the game arriving in April." (Jan 30 2006). I have this game. It's great.
They were number 1
(Score:2)(Last Journal: Friday May 26, @09:12PM)
Nonetheless at one time they were a top game company producing quality titles that people fondly remember. Indiana and the Fate of Atlantis. X-wing. Monkey Island. Battle of Britain and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (not the crappy sequel).
Adventurs with a hint of flightsim seemed to be Lucasarts strong point.
Then things went a bit amiss. We got some weird strategy titles, "afterlife". A crappy FMV star wars game.
They also handycapped existing games. Was it Monkey Island 3 or 4 that had that weird 3d control system that made it pain just to walk around all because Lucasarts thought point&click was death? Point&Click didn't die. Mr Lucas killed it.
The x-wing series in my eyes went down hill as well after tie-fighter by turning it more and more into a missle sim instead of a dogfighting sim. They even add chaff for crying out loud.
Games like Jedi Knight were okay but again they seemed determined to destroy their own success. The first time it was a star wars skin for doom BUT it was Doom + Star Wars so that was okay. The second time they gave us an engine capable of creating the giantness that is Star Wars. Then the third time (not counting the expansion) they put is in a Quake engine. Yuck. Gone were the GIGANTIC enviroments.
To me lucasarts went from a A list company to another has been. Following Sierra but not entirely disappearing like MicroProse.
If this guy wants to be number 1 he needs to realise that once the company had that position, then find what made them loose it and reverse it.
Pity it would probably involve sacking himself.
For myself I pinpoint Lucasarts true declice the moment you started one of their games and got some third party game company logo during the intro. I believe it was in X-wing vs Tie-Fighter that this happened for the first time.
The current Empires at wars made me nostalgic for a x-wing upgrade. Gigantic space battles please. No missles. I want to duck and weave and blast ties and weave between star destroyers with artoo-detoo bleeping in my ear.
Will this happen? Offcourse not.
Don't forget about LOOM
(Score:1)(http://www.jetro.org/)
If Lucasarts wants to be a top developer, they should probably be taking the hint from these guys, and building up it's portfolio of francises. It's kind of weird that they didn't, because as many here have pointed out, they had several excellent games, and most of the Star Wars games have been crap, especially the old ones.
Not due to waiting for next gen...
(Score:3, Insightful)Game sales have been down for the whole of 2005 and 2004 was a declining year too. The decline is not tied in any way shape or form to the next gen systems. Take a look at the actuale sales numbers for 04 and 05, and 06 even. The solid titles have sold as they should and at the same rate as most other games of their type from years before. The problem is how few 1 million+ selling games have been made in recent time.
This statement that sales are down due to gamer anticipation has been proven false a number of times by a number of analysts. Let's stop clinging to this falsehood. Call a spade a spade, game sales are down because most everything made is derivative and shallow as well as so similar to the next game that demand is not there. The innovative titles are doing fine.
Nintendogs, Brain Trainer, Oblivion, Guitar Hero, etc. Marc Ecko's "Getting Up" is not... because it sucks ass... not because people are waiting to play Marc Ecko's "Getting Up, Again" in HD on Blu-Ray in their PS3.
Afterlife
(Score:2)(Last Journal: Saturday January 03, @04:59AM)
Sales are down because innovation is down...
(Score:2)Anyone that says that "point-and-click is dead" obviously never played the Sims...Which just happens to be a great selling title for EA and uses ALL point-and-click.
The fact remains that point-and-click, for 3rd person adventure games still remains probably the best method of control for a PC. Adventure games aren't supposed to be about navigating the environment in the same way as other games. The death of the quest for glory, kings quest, and indiana jones series were definitely when they stepped out of the genre of point and click, fun, light, mind adventures, into the world of 3rd person, poorly designed navigation. I actually still kind of liked the charm of QFG5's story despite the absolutely horrible controls and very cumbersome fight interface. They could've easily slapped on 3d engines to this relatively simple point-and-click model, but instead these companies tried to fit a stereotype and lost. The death of point and click adventures is something that is seriously tragic for PC gaming. And I believe it killed the reputations of both Sierra and Lucasarts.
The game we're all waiting for
(Score:1)(http://darthservo.blogspot.com/)
you know what id like to see...
(Score:2)(http://www.digitalpropulsion.org/)
What no...
(Score:1)2. The Sims : Jedi Edition
3. Super Vader Kart
Yeah Right. Not with those Quality Standards
(Score:2)And then of course there's Star Wars Galaxies but everyone's mentioned that. Lucas Arts is hardly the brown coffee stain of quality. They make crappy games that they hope the mass market will buy because of the Star Wars name. And occasionally a game that doesn't completely suck like Empires at War makes it out anyhow. Presumably because at least some of the developers have some pride and that didn't clash with the budget numbers.
Decline maybe due to not so interesting games?
(Score:2)All of the above are old games...have I lost interest in Star Wars? yes, I have. As I grow up, the Star Wars universe seems more and more uninteresting, kiddy and plain ridiculus (mostly thanks to the recent movies). Have I got an interest in the gems of LucasArts? I absolutely have. I would buy Monkey Island 5, for example, the day it hit the shelves.
What does all the above mean? it means that LucasArts have forgotten how to make interesting games. And a lot of recent games are the same stuff we played last year, and the year before, only with better graphics and sound. It is not that there are not any good entertaining games any more; it is just the feeling of Deja Vu that maybe stops gamers like me (who are post college) who have the cash to buy new games and new consoles. And as I grow older, intellectual stimulation plays a far greater role than pretty graphics and immersive sound.
Another problem is journalism. Game reviewers are too forgiving these days. I will mention only one example of an overrated game: F.E.A.R. I have played the game carefully to the end. The game got an 8 (average) in most sites, magazines and game reviews. I would give it a 3. Absolutely boring game, totally repetitive; the horror thing seemed like something that did not belong there; there were no bosses, and the levels were 99% corridors. At times it felt like I was playing pacman in 3d. The weapons were totally uninteresting, and the plot was minimal.
Replace Lucas
(Score:1)