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Hugely Successful Serieses that Died a Magnanimous Death (EA IP Vault Edition)
- Thread starter AstroLad
- Start date
BMX Bandit
Member
Mutant League Football is the best football game ever made. Bribing/taking out the ref, throwing dynamite, the crazy teams. Would love an XBLA/PSN version to show up sometime.
demosthenes
Member
minx88 said:
This can't be said enough.
Genesis Knight
Member
Strike Series
Famous For: Offering ridiculously difficult chopper arcade-style with loads of secrets, variety, and options over big maps, as well as hollywood-quality (hey, it was the 90s) mission design and an ton of cutscene kickassery and sweet military hardware.
Highlight: The original, Desert Strike, for offering the tightest and most concise gameplay of the series.
Lowlight: Urban Strike, for featuring on-foot run 'n gun segments that just didn't work.
Chances of Revival: Low. Although military games are all the rage flight simulation ones are not. Unless this sees an XBLA/PSN release as a $15 game there's no chance in hell of seeing Strike again.
Do You Remember the Time?: You'd almost finished the entire level but ran out of fuel and crashed three miles from the drop point? Damn.
Talk about a forgotten series. I can't remember the last time I heard ANYONE talk about these games, but they were so much fun!
Famous For: Offering ridiculously difficult chopper arcade-style with loads of secrets, variety, and options over big maps, as well as hollywood-quality (hey, it was the 90s) mission design and an ton of cutscene kickassery and sweet military hardware.
Highlight: The original, Desert Strike, for offering the tightest and most concise gameplay of the series.
Lowlight: Urban Strike, for featuring on-foot run 'n gun segments that just didn't work.
Chances of Revival: Low. Although military games are all the rage flight simulation ones are not. Unless this sees an XBLA/PSN release as a $15 game there's no chance in hell of seeing Strike again.
Do You Remember the Time?: You'd almost finished the entire level but ran out of fuel and crashed three miles from the drop point? Damn.
Talk about a forgotten series. I can't remember the last time I heard ANYONE talk about these games, but they were so much fun!
PetriP-TNT
Member
I do... times 100 :'(Genesis Knight said:
deejay8595
my posts are "MEH"
:lol YUP!!!Genesis Knight said:
Palette Swap
Member
In addition to everything that's been mentionned, don't forget The fucking Immortal.
As clunky and frustrating as it could get, I really loved this game.
A "real" Might and Magic reboot is overdue too.
As clunky and frustrating as it could get, I really loved this game.
A "real" Might and Magic reboot is overdue too.
Warm Machine said:
I think this is a good point - EA is going to do everything it can to maximize revenue. But with the collapse of the yearly franchise model(Tiger, UFC(I know it's THQ but still), Madden declining every year), EA could shake it up. Instead of having a yearly sports game, have a sports game that comes out every 2, maybe even every 3 years. Make that a definitive version, with roster updates online. Then put those studios to work bringing back classic franchises.
I had tons of fun with Road Rash in the beginning. There was just something about being a kid and racing motorcycles while using weapons to hit the other player and characters.
A Ultima reboot would be great. I managed to get my hands on the collection a number of years ago. I can't play many of the earlier games (computer simply won't play them as many are DOS based I believe) but ended up enjoying the later ones I could get running for a while and Ultima 9 (easiest to run) with patches. If that franchise was redone (completely remakes with no changes to story just graphics) with engines avaliable today I think EA would have a hit on it's hands. That is if they don't cancel it mid development or sabotage it. They seem to do that with Ultima games.
A Ultima reboot would be great. I managed to get my hands on the collection a number of years ago. I can't play many of the earlier games (computer simply won't play them as many are DOS based I believe) but ended up enjoying the later ones I could get running for a while and Ultima 9 (easiest to run) with patches. If that franchise was redone (completely remakes with no changes to story just graphics) with engines avaliable today I think EA would have a hit on it's hands. That is if they don't cancel it mid development or sabotage it. They seem to do that with Ultima games.
Neuromancer
Member
Great OP. Man EA was really great back in the Genesis heyday. Road Rash, Skitchin', and Mutant League Football were fantastic. Can't really think of anything else that hasn't been said.
I think it should be mentioned how cool it was that EA carts had that little yellow plastic chip in them. Also, apparently Sega never sent EA a proper dev kit and they had to reverse engineer a Genesis in order to make games for it:
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/08/the-story-of-ea-and-the-pirate-genesis-development-kit.ars
^EA's rogue Genesis
I think it should be mentioned how cool it was that EA carts had that little yellow plastic chip in them. Also, apparently Sega never sent EA a proper dev kit and they had to reverse engineer a Genesis in order to make games for it:
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/08/the-story-of-ea-and-the-pirate-genesis-development-kit.ars
^EA's rogue Genesis
BritBloke916
Member
Genesis Knight said:
Fixed in the interests of nostalgia. Seriously, though, an HD SSX3 would be awesome. The original gripped me like nothing else. It was something about the apparent physicality of the mountain, being able to literally snowboard all the way from the top to the bottom (taking about half an hour!) and pass the locations of all the events. I even loved the "minicom" units and the loading screen animations of characters on the gondola or sitting in the back of the transfer helicopter. Such immersion!
EDIT: I'd completely forgotten (how could I forget?!!), but Elise stole my heart. I never, ever played as any other character
Agreed on this. Although I'm not sure how well those compilations sell (though there are certainly some that I know have sold insanely well), especially if there are complaints about emulation and the like. I just want Rearmed-style updates for the old console franchises. (Or one of them! General Chaos for example would be another perfect XBLA title that would need very little tweaking to gameplay to succeed.) Someone should send this thread to Peter Moore in case he missed it....cuyahoga said:
Cool games yes, but I don't think EA ever had anything to do with the dev or publishing side though I could be wrong.
Actually my first thread on New GAF was me asking for a Mutant League revival.BMX Bandit said:
July 28, 2004 :lol http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7919
Cat in the Hat
Member
Exactly! Truth be told I hate Dragon Age.cartman414 said:
What i was trying to say is that these franchises have been given new, better, shiner, console friendly editions(wank wank). So the odds of seeing either revived are zero. Which sucks but that's the sad truth.
BMX Bandit
Member
Oh wow. The screenshots in that thread bring back serious memories. Thanks for the link...now let's just hope someone with some swing from EA is reading this thread.AstroLad said:
Cat in the Hat
Member
Oh the memories, Jungle Strike was one of those games I played over and over to find out where all the fuel and rockets were hidden.Genesis Knight said:Strike Series
Famous For: Offering ridiculously difficult chopper arcade-style with loads of secrets, variety, and options over big maps, as well as hollywood-quality (hey, it was the 90s) mission design and an ton of cutscene kickassery and sweet military hardware.
Highlight: The original, Desert Strike, for offering the tightest and most concise gameplay of the series.
Lowlight: Urban Strike, for featuring on-foot run 'n gun segments that just didn't work.
Chances of Revival: Low. Although military games are all the rage flight simulation ones are not. Unless this sees an XBLA/PSN release as a $15 game there's no chance in hell of seeing Strike again.
Do You Remember the Time?: You'd almost finished the entire level but ran out of fuel and crashed three miles from the drop point? Damn.
Talk about a forgotten series. I can't remember the last time I heard ANYONE talk about these games, but they were so much fun!
I'm always holding out even a slight amount of hope for
1) an updated Ultima collection, or a Steam package or something... that allows all the Ultimas to run on modern-day computers without a problem, complete with quality documentation. (kinda like that Ultima Collection released a while back)
2) same as 1 except for DS or 3DS.
3) Richard Garriott to go work with another team (probably Bethesda) on a spiritual OFFLINE sequel to the Ultima games. A game with U7 scope but set on a modern-day 3D engine.
1) an updated Ultima collection, or a Steam package or something... that allows all the Ultimas to run on modern-day computers without a problem, complete with quality documentation. (kinda like that Ultima Collection released a while back)
2) same as 1 except for DS or 3DS.
3) Richard Garriott to go work with another team (probably Bethesda) on a spiritual OFFLINE sequel to the Ultima games. A game with U7 scope but set on a modern-day 3D engine.
Will kill for a Crusader game on PSN/XBLA.Radogol said:
Absolutely. Frankly, I still think Road Rash 3 is the pinnacle of the series. Best music, funniest things to run over, best range of weapons, characters that actually react to your behavior, and significantly improved graphics. There's nothing in videogaming like a clean, precise crowbar blow to some jerk's helmet.AstroLad said:
Did anybody else avoid attacking Natascha under all circumstances? Did anybody else fail despite their best efforts? :lol
You mean it's not coming out?!?AstroLad said:
Wait, how else would you win? Seriously, even trying to play MLHockey normally, I end up killing the opposing team most of the time.AstroLad said:
I can't believe that they wouldn't make enough money on a Mutant League downloadable revival to justify it. Hell, I can't believe EA hasn't joined the Virtual Console club. It's not AAA-title level profits, but it's significant money they're leaving on the table.
+1 on Strike, Magic Carpet, and Major Havoc DL revivals as well.
So many classics just in the old core EA, but when you include Origin, Bullfrog, Westwood... I guess you start to feel sick to your stomach, is what happens. Since the dark period in the mid-Oughts, my opinion of EA has improved considerably (mostly due to Activision's taking over the "all that is evil" role), but I've never felt as positive about them as I did in the mid-90s, when EA was essentially the 16-bit/PC gaming analog to Activision's role on the Atari 2600.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
High-five to everyone that remembers General Chaos cheat where if you throw a grenade and pause the game, the grenade still projectiles and kills the target.
Oh and Road Rash: Cheating and unlocking Wild Thing was so satisfying! Fucking beast of a bike, yet suicidal in the wrong hands!
Oh and Road Rash: Cheating and unlocking Wild Thing was so satisfying! Fucking beast of a bike, yet suicidal in the wrong hands!
BrainZEROX
Member
So True. Loved that one and its add-on Zero Hour. A very fun RTS.dr_rus said:
Much better than the original C&C line in my opinion. Why they went with that tiberium shit again after Generals is beyond me.
Gaz Pwnage
Member
i came, i saw, i cried
Diablohead
Member
Skitchin' is awesome, I looked at my megadrive cart of the game just yesterday while digging through a box of old game stuff. I loved that game as well as Road Rash II so much.
Still own Jungle Strike, parents bought it for me for £15 as an ex-rental copy back when it was still £30+ in the shops, same with Virtua Racing (I saved a fortune on that one, £75 RRP!)
I lost my copy of Nuclear Strike but the game was great, I still remember the time when I actually completed it without cheats, fuck!
Still own Jungle Strike, parents bought it for me for £15 as an ex-rental copy back when it was still £30+ in the shops, same with Virtua Racing (I saved a fortune on that one, £75 RRP!)
I lost my copy of Nuclear Strike but the game was great, I still remember the time when I actually completed it without cheats, fuck!
Genesis Knight said:
That shit was so frustrating. :lol I was introduced to the franchise with Desert Strike, but I have to say I much preferred
I don't think I've played the series since my early MegaDrive/SNES/PC days.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
I haven't played Soviet and Nuclear Strike. How are they?
Diablohead
Member
Urban strike had indoor isometric missions where you leave your vehicle and shoot people, I never liked it so went with Jungle Strike back when I had the choice.JaseC said:
Diablohead
Member
Youtube has a lot of nuclear strike footage, it looks real low poly and shit now but back at the time it was entertaining to play a strike game in real 3Dshagg_187 said:
it has a good mix of vehicles and one mission let's you mix two chemicals together to make nitroglycerine that you can use optionally as dropped bombs JoeBoy101 said:
I missed out on DK2 in its day because my shitty PC didn't have a 3D graphics accelerator/GPU.
Diablohead said:
Uh, fuck, I was supposed to say Jungle Strike. I was looking at the covers while typing the post and must've suffered a Freudian slip. :lol
JaseC said:I missed out on DK2 in its day because my shitty PC didn't have a 3D graphics accelerator/GPU.
I fucking loved building dungeons. It was enthralling fun, plus I loved all the depth. Pitting captured heroes against one another in the arena, or using it to gain XP on your monsters. How you could possess and walk around (and attack) as a monster, via first person. Using traps, chokepoints, passive defenses, etc.
And all the little touches. Like in the casino, how occasionally you'd hear the Announcer say, "Jackpot Winner!" and have some goblin dancing like mad with fireworks going off, while 'Disco Inferno' played.
I'm always somewhat conflicted, because I do love the general concept of companies trying out new IPs, and long-dead games are often lumped in with that group in terms of how hard it is for them to succeed, how there's not an installed group of suckers that will automatically buy the game, etc.
But then you actually look at the new IPs -- especially in the action-game department, but everywhere really -- and you start to wonder why on they wouldn't at least take a chance on an old, proven IP that still has something of a fan base, and that has a proven record of success (even if that success was mitigated by a disappointing title or two at the tail end of the series . . . that came out ten years ago . . . and that no one remembers anymore anyway because the fans remember the good times and the non-fans forgot nine years and 364 days ago).
This is tougher when a game is just so original that properly reviving it would involve reviving a long-dead genre (or a game style that never existed beyond that one game) -- think General Chaos, Wing Commander, or Haunting. But even most of those games would seem to be potential XBLA successes [insert Arena joke -- although in fairness who looks at WING COMMANDER of all those serieses and says "that franchise would be great on XBLA!" i mean wtf.]. Others like SSX, Mutant League, and Road Rash fall pretty clearly within existing successful genres, but offer what would now be a fresh take that would distinguish them from all the also-rans.
But then you actually look at the new IPs -- especially in the action-game department, but everywhere really -- and you start to wonder why on they wouldn't at least take a chance on an old, proven IP that still has something of a fan base, and that has a proven record of success (even if that success was mitigated by a disappointing title or two at the tail end of the series . . . that came out ten years ago . . . and that no one remembers anymore anyway because the fans remember the good times and the non-fans forgot nine years and 364 days ago).
This is tougher when a game is just so original that properly reviving it would involve reviving a long-dead genre (or a game style that never existed beyond that one game) -- think General Chaos, Wing Commander, or Haunting. But even most of those games would seem to be potential XBLA successes [insert Arena joke -- although in fairness who looks at WING COMMANDER of all those serieses and says "that franchise would be great on XBLA!" i mean wtf.]. Others like SSX, Mutant League, and Road Rash fall pretty clearly within existing successful genres, but offer what would now be a fresh take that would distinguish them from all the also-rans.
twinturbo2
butthurt Heat fan
I think EA's doing just fine with Dead Space, it's got the same "sci-fi survival horror" thing going on.Mama Robotnik said:
Besides, when you consider how beloved System Shock 2 is, anything less than perfect for a threequel would be a massive letdown.
Magic Carpet... wasn't the PSOne port of that released onto PSN a while back? I'd love to see the two PSOne-era Strike games on there, too.
I also refuse to give up on hopes of a Mutant League revival, because Mark Turmell is now employed at EA Tiburon. If you remember Turmell's violent take on football with NFL Blitz, you'd understand why.
As far as I'm concerned a XBLA/PSN release would be the perfect venue for this series.Genesis Knight said:Strike Series
Famous For: Offering ridiculously difficult chopper arcade-style with loads of secrets, variety, and options over big maps, as well as hollywood-quality (hey, it was the 90s) mission design and an ton of cutscene kickassery and sweet military hardware.
Highlight: The original, Desert Strike, for offering the tightest and most concise gameplay of the series.
Lowlight: Urban Strike, for featuring on-foot run 'n gun segments that just didn't work.
Chances of Revival: Low. Although military games are all the rage flight simulation ones are not. Unless this sees an XBLA/PSN release as a $15 game there's no chance in hell of seeing Strike again.
Do You Remember the Time?: You'd almost finished the entire level but ran out of fuel and crashed three miles from the drop point? Damn.
Talk about a forgotten series. I can't remember the last time I heard ANYONE talk about these games, but they were so much fun!