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What the hell happened to LucasArts and Star Wars games?

Darklord

Banned
So I started thinking today with The Old Republic coming soon what the hell is Lucas Arts doing this generation? Every gen since...ever, we've had a plentiful number of great Star Wars and other Lucas Arts games. Now, there is next to nothing. Where did they all go? Is the CEO a complete idiot and not realize Star Wars equals money? The 2 Star Wars games we have gotten this gen and sold millions upon millions. Force Unleashed and Star Wars Lego(20 million for that!).



X-wing vs Tie-fighter

It's old as anything now but in 2009 Patrick Klepek(then at G4) asked LucasArts if this series would ever make come sort of a come back. Fans hoped, and prayed, and wished for so many, many years. The answer was "We don't have any announcements now, but stay tuned," said Rodriguez. "We will soon…..". WOW! So there IS something? A remake? HD version? Maybe a new sequel? Whoa! But no, coming up to 3 years later and nothing has ever been heard about that X-wing vs Tie-fighter news that was coming "soon". Just a cock tease. Where is it? What was it? Why the fuck say that if there was nothing? Was it ANOTHER canned Star Wars game? Then who developed it?

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Rogue Squadron

Graphically stunning. Really fun series. Rogue Leader sold more 1 million units even though it was exclusively on a failed platform. Factor 5 goes on to make Lair, screws everything up, goes under. Series never moves to another developer.

Why not make another? Maybe set in the prequel time? Old Republic time? An HD remake? Something?!

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Star Wars: Battlefront

Star Wars: Battlefront was the fastest seller Star Wars series EVER. Battlefront first broke the record then BF2 went on to break it again. Over 1 million sales in the first month and one of the most played xbox live games. The series has sold over 10 million copies. 3 was never announced but was apparently being made Free Radical Design(Now Crytek UK). They lost the contract and it was rumoured to have gone to Rebellion Developments or Pandemic. Then Pandemic closes and we hear nothing of it again. Get a couple of artwork and early footage and that's it. Then all of a sudden artwork for Battlefront 4 comes out, apparently dead too. What the hell? If it sold so well why just trash it? You seriously can't do ANYTHING with the most popular Star Wars series? The fuck is wrong with you?

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Star Wars: Jedi Knight

Highly acclaimed series. People loved Jedi Outcast and people played the multiplayer for Jedi Academy for an ungodly amount of time. However, they never bring it back this generation. For one possible reason though...

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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

The spiritual successor to Jedi Knight. Has an interesting premise but was kinda flawed. I liked the story though and was actually pretty fun in general. However, being one of the few big Star Wars games this generation it sold massively and became the new biggest selling Star Wars game selling over 7 million units. The DLC was also amazingly stupid in the best possible way. Dude, you fight and KILL the ghost of Obi-wan, kill Boba Fett and turn Luke to the dark side! While looking seriously bad arse. Now THAT'S an alternate universe.

So Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is announced. Cool right? So they take all the good out of the first game, polish it up, enhance the graphics and wow, you have a new classic on your hands. With 7 million sold they'll surely put a lot of love and care into this new IP they struck gold with. NOPE! Instead they shit out an incredibly weak, 4 hour long game with no multiplayer or any reason to go back. However, despite the terrible sequel the best sales I can find is 2 million in the first 3 months. Still good enough to be salvageable that's for sure. But no, again we get nothing. No rumours, no announcements, nothing. The Force Unleashed 3 is no where to be seen or heard.

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Star Wars: Empire At War

The 4th best selling game in 2006 on PC. Only being beaten by The Sims 2, an expansion and WoW(Yes, it beat Oblivion). It was a flawed game, the ground stuff was kinda weak but the space combat was AWESOME. I also really liked the campaign where you took over worlds and the expansion added some cool stuff. It was ripe for a sequel and yet, again, we get NOTHING. Even when the RTS genre started booming again with C&C, Starcraft 2 announced and Dawn of War they still never bothered.

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Sneds

Member
Yeah, when you put it like that it doesn't seem to make any sense.

I always thought that a GTA style sandbox game set in Tatooine would be cool.
 

Levyne

Banned
Would kill for either a new flight based Rogue Squadron or something along the vein of Tie Fighter/X-Wing/X-Wing alliance.
 
i'll tell you what happened.

The Phantom Menace happened.

when lucasarts saw that they thought 'Why the hell did we spend all these years breaking our backs to reach the high standard of the original trilogy if George can't be arsed to do that himself?'

end of story.
 
I wish we could get a new Star Wars Pod Racer game. I seriously loved that game. I imagine as Lucas Arts re-releases all the films in 3D we'll see plenty of new games.
 
Wait I'm so confused, did I not read the OP right? Force Unleashed got a sequel? Didnt it?

EDIT: NVM I'm stupid, I read the Star Wars: Empire At War description haha.
 

MutFox

Banned
The Star Wars Flight Sims were awesome.
But probably wouldn't come out now,
since it all has to be arcadey due to consoles.
 
Medalion said:
Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series needs a comeback pronto

.

I don't want another Force Unleashed. I was new Jedi Knight powered by the engine they used in Force Unleashed 2.

Stunning visuals, easily some of the best I've seen this gen. (in cut-scenes and locales)
 

Shiggy

Member
Battlefront 3 looked really great, sadly most of you have only seen that shaky footage.

It looks like Spark Unlimited is doing it now...though the Battlefront Online game from the SOCOM devs was canned too.



About Rogue Squadron...LucasArts canned both the Xbox port of the trilogy and later also the Wii port, even though the latter was said to be complete (but they would've had to pay the dead Factor 5).
 

AwRy108

Member
Still can't figure out why they mishandled the Battlefront series so much, wasn't it like a multi-million seller for them until they went to the PSP?
 

Darklord

Banned
plagiarize said:
i'll tell you what happened.

The Phantom Menace happened.

when lucasarts saw that they thought 'Why the hell did we spend all these years breaking our backs to reach the high standard of the original trilogy if George can't be arsed to do that himself?'

end of story.

Almost every big star wars game came out post-Ep1.
 
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My favorite Star Wars game and possibly favorite PC game ever.

So many memories playing multiplayer online on the "MSN Gaming Zone" over dial-up.
 
Darklord said:
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

The spiritual successor to Jedi Knight.

Man, I wish I knew how to force choke someone through the internet!

TFU doesn't hold a candle to the brilliant JK series. The original JK and Mysteries of the Sith deserved as much of a mention as Outcast and Academy btw.

We've really needed a game that is a true journey to becoming Jedi like Jedi Knight was, and we really need a good flight/dogfight/bombing-mission game too. That rumoured Rogue Squadron trilogy would have been awesome.
 

Kyoufu

Member
Jedi Knight 2 was awesome (never got the chance to play the first one). They really need to make a new one.. :(
 

GeoramA

Member
I want a new Battlefront, Jedi Knight, Rogue Squadron, and a proper KOTOR.

But we're getting a Kinect game and a MMO instead :(
 

Nif

Member
I wouldn't really trust present-day Lucasarts to handle them properly. And I wouldn't call Force Unleashed a spiritual successor to Jedi Knight...
 

ultron87

Member
Genesis Knight said:
Republic Commando was also a great game that needs a remake or sequel.

Yes! It was so good.

Why can't they just make a new X-wing game that lets you do big squadron on squadron battles online? Would that be so hard?
 

Darklord

Banned
radioheadrule83 said:
Man, I wish I knew how to force choke someone through the internet!

TFU doesn't hold a candle to the brilliant JK series. The original JK and Mysteries of the Sith deserved as much of a mention as Outcast and Academy btw.

It was still the spiritual successor even if it wasn't amazing.
 

Osiris

I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
I agree with plagiarize, TPM / Prequel trilogy happened and devalued the brand so much that it's just not as much of a draw as it used to be. LucasArts will be lucky to survive IMO.

Ask kids aged 12 to 17 years old what they think of the SW franchise in general, and the result is mostly... "Meh".
 

Levyne

Banned
tirant said:
And you just missed KOTOR I and KOTOR II another franchise that should have received a third part....


Totally agree. I would much prefer a tightly-wound single player rpg rather than The Old Republic.
 

Moaradin

Member
GeoramA said:
I want a new Battlefront, Jedi Knight, Rogue Squadron, and a proper KOTOR.

But we're getting a Kinect game and a MMO instead :(

There is so much more being Put into TOR than a regular KOTOR can achieve. I agree with the others though
 
plagiarize said:
i'll tell you what happened.

The Phantom Menace happened.

when lucasarts saw that they thought 'Why the hell did we spend all these years breaking our backs to reach the high standard of the original trilogy if George can't be arsed to do that himself?'

end of story.
I concur. That's when the brand lost a lot of value for me. I hear the Battlefront games were good but man, thinking about the prequels is a giant hump I'd have to get over to get excited about any SW game going forward.
 

bengraven

Member
Series that need to return:

Jedi Academy (yes, it needs to "become" a series)
Jedi Knight
Rogue Squadron
KOTOR



I would also love an open world bounty hunting game, like Star Wars: Bounties or something.

(yes, obviously I know about the other Bounty Hunter game, but this one would be the beginning of a new franchise and open world)
 

mclem

Member
Darklord said:
Star Wars: Battlefront

Star Wars: Battlefront was the fastest seller Star Wars series EVER. Battlefront first broke the record then BF2 went on to break it again. Over 1 million sales in the first month and one of the most played xbox live games. The series has sold over 10 million copies. 3 was never announced but was apparently being made Free Radical Design(Now Crytek UK). They lost the contract and it was rumoured to have gone to Rebellion Developments or Pandemic. Then Pandemic closes and we hear nothing of it again. Get a couple of artwork and early footage and that's it.

I'd have to check the remainder of my NDA, but I *believe* I can shed a little light on half of this story around February.
 
For all it's flaws, I liked Star Wars Supremacy (Rebellion in the US?).

Add my vote to those that say we need a new X-Wing v Tie Fighter game. Actually - that style of game might be good with the Wii U pad?
 
bengraven said:
Series that need to return:

Jedi Academy (yes, it needs to "become" a series)
Jedi Knight
Rogue Squadron
KOTOR

No, no, no, no, no!

I loved JA, but it was piss poor in comparison to Jedi Knight. I want more adventures playing as Kyle Katarn, I don't want to play as some whiny student.

I agree on the rest. Would also like to see a sequel to Republic Commando. A great, if flawed title.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
Osiris said:
I agree with plagiarize, TPM / Prequel trilogy happened and devalued the brand so much that it's just not as much of a draw as it used to be. LucasArts will be lucky to survive IMO.

Lots of the big Star Wars games came out post Phantom Menace. Battlefront, Rogue Leader, Jedi Outcast, KOTOR, they all sold millions and were very successful. People will never get tired of lightsabers and X-Wings, even if the film/TV franchise has been shit for 12 years.

It's mind boggling that we've seen so few Star Wars games this gen (not counting the many Clone Wars tie-ins). It's free money, and if the game is any good it's even more free money. I guess George Lucas doesn't care about games anymore.
 
JosephManderley said:
For all it's flaws, I liked Star Wars Supremacy (Rebellion in the US?).

Add my vote to those that say we need a new X-Wing v Tie Fighter game. Actually - that style of game might be good with the Wii U pad?

There should be a way to switch from Wii-U controller to regular Wii remote mid-way through a level, and have the Wii remote speaker say "He's switched off his targetting computer! What's wrong?"
 

Darklord

Banned
Aegus said:
Nearly every good Star Wars game came out pre-EP1.

Rogue Leader, Jedi Knight 2, Kotor, Podracer, Republic Commando. There was some good shit after 1999.

mclem said:
I'd have to check the remainder of my NDA, but I *believe* I can shed a little light on half of this story around February.

Whatever it is, I look forward to it!
 
radioheadrule83 said:
There should be a way to switch from Wii-U controller to regular Wii remote mid-way through a level, and have the Wii remote speaker say "He's switched off his targetting computer! What's wrong?"

OK - this NEEDS to happen!
 

Aegus

Member
Darklord said:
Rogue Leader, Jedi Knight 2, Kotor, Podracer, Republic Commando. There was some good shit after 1999.



Whatever it is, I look forward to it!

First two are sequels to brilliant games that came out pre-EP1. Kotor is excellent. Last two are mediocre.
 
Leonsito said:
I want Yoda Stories for iOs/Android.

:brofist:

I had that at the same time I'd just bought Quake, running it on a Windows 95 PC with a 166mhz processor and bottom end 3DFX card... I think I actually played Yoda Stories more! ha
 

bill0527

Member
They seem to be a very wishy-washy company in the sense that they can't make up their minds what kind of studio they want to be. Every year for the last 6-8 years we hear something different about the studio. They also seem to have abnormally high turnover at the top position in the company.

One year they're saying they want to farm everything out to other studios, the next year they are talking about staffing up and doing everything in-house. And it seems to go back and forth depending on today's direction of the wind. One year they say they want to cut down on Star Wars games and focus on new IP, the next year they are talking about doing more star wars games. One day they're hiring, the next day they're firing a boatload of people.

I've always been curious as to how much hands on involvement George has with studio. Whether he's hands off with it or is he actively involved in the day to day operations of the studio. How heavy is his input? Does he just contribute bits and pieces? Does every project need his approval?

The answers to these will tell us a lot. If George is heavily involved then that cuts the rug out from under the feet of the top decision makers. If George isn't heavily involved then your top managers may just be content with taking George's money and don't really give a shit about producing great Star Wars games.
 

demolitio

Member
mclem said:
I'd have to check the remainder of my NDA, but I *believe* I can shed a little light on half of this story around February.
I'd really like some good news so you can lie when it comes time in February? Or make BF3 by yourself?

Thanks,
Sad BF Fan
 
Riding the newly redesigned Star Tours ride at Disneyland last month made me realize how much we need a new X-Wing vs Tie Fighter and Battlefront. The Hoth section of that ride was insanely awesome and shooting down AT-AT's with snowspeeders is still enjoyed by all. Seriously, that ride had a longer line than anything at either park for both days I was there. Star Wars as a brand is still huge and we need more games to take advantage of that! Not lego or kinect ones either!
 

EMBee99

all that he wants is another baby
I'll bet they're clearing the deck for The Old Republic, then ramping back up a little while after.
 
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