LucasArts gone - Disney to farm out the SW franchise

[Ed Oscuro]

http://mashable.com/2013/04/03/disney-closes-lucasarts/

"We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles."

Well, they had a good run.

[CloudyMusic]

R.I.P. They hadn't done much lately, but they made some amazing games in their prime.

[Ruldra]

LucasArts made my childhood. Many fond memories playing Rebel Assault, Dark Forces, Full Throttle and countless other games.

RIP.

[Friendly]

Does that mean 1313 won't be released? EDIT: Yes. Damn.
Lucasfilm Games/LucasArts were awesome in the 80s and 90s (Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, etc).
Fuck Disney.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Heh: https://twitter.com/SonySantaMonica/sta ... 8321067008

[louisg]

Yeah :/ I really liked some of their 8-bit computer games like Rescue on Fractalus. Oh well.

[Jeneki]

Since I've got the Turbografx-CD Tower hooked up right now, I'll have to toss in Loom for another run tonight.

[Turrican]

I couldn't care less about anything that's SW related (that franchise was already beyond any possible repair anyway), but I'd be glad if from all this mess Schafer or Gilbert managed to buy back some relevant IP, like Monkey, Maniac and so on.

[Moniker]

This dog had its day. Time to chase rabbits on the big farm known as heaven. Nothing left for it on earth but a strong case of the idontgiveafucks.

[Ganelon]

Not a bad idea given the unstable climate and recent track record. My sympathies to all the folks who got laid off though.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Among first US console games developers of note, weren't they? Metal Warriors was too good to be a fluke. Gotta play Big Sky Trooper at last.
Most Star Wars games I know about weren't developed by them. As a matter of fact not even one that was comes to mind at the moment.
P.S. Oh yes, Republic Commando. Didn't like it (PC version).

[Friendly]

Heathen! Never even played Tie Fighter?

[Raytrace]

Rescue On Fractalus blew my fuckin head off when I first played it on my cousin's Atari 48k - just amazing, and the first time one of those alien bastards smashed the canopy I screamed haha



Dark Forces was great as was Jedi Knight. Jedi Outcast was OK, not amazing.

I'm not so into point and clicks, but I liked Full Throttle quite a lot.

I was always a Wing Commander player but even back then I would NEVER have said the X-Wing etc. games were anything other than great, even though I chose to play WC more.

[Obiwanshinobi]

According to Wikipedia, Totally Games developed TIE Fighter (and X-Wing while we're at it).

[Friendly]

According to Wikipedia, Totally Games developed TIE Fighter (and X-Wing while we're at it).

According to the Wikipedia entry of Totally Games "the bulk of the company's game releases have been developed in cooperation with LucasArts."

[TransatlanticFoe]

Was anyone left from the 90s golden period? Going through the Force Unleashed games at the moment and they're fun but too short, slightly broken and not terribly varied. A far cry from Jedi Knight and X-Wing/TIE Fighter.

Hopefully it means better Star Wars games and no MMO bullshit. Probably get a bunch of Clone Wars tie-in games though

[Skykid]

Last best SW games I played were the battlefronts on PS2/Xbox, and they weren't even by Lucasarts.

[BrianC]

Rescue On Fractalus blew my fuckin head off when I first played it on my cousin's Atari 48k - just amazing, and the first time one of those alien bastards smashed the canopy I screamed haha

I have the XL/XE cart version and I like it quite a bit. I also like Ballblazer, though I only have the 7800 port (very nice port, but not done by Lucasarts). I have played a few of their point and click games and I like them quite a bit. Day of the Tentacle is one of the most laugh out loud hilarious games I have played.

[Ed Oscuro]

I couldn't care less about anything that's SW related (that franchise was already beyond any possible repair anyway), but I'd be glad if from all this mess Schafer or Gilbert managed to buy back some relevant IP, like Monkey, Maniac and so on.

Depends on whether Dis-all-knees decides they can make more money farming it out to somebody else than selling it back to the creators. I doubt there's any kind of rights reversion clause in employee contracts, else we probably would've had it by now...anyway, most of these guys can do pretty good making new franchises, if it comes to that.

I feel rather sour about this whole commoditization of artistic method as just another kind of asset to be handed over for abuse by the highest bidder. Kind of like those horror stories you hear about artists being strung along by an "investor" who wants "a few pieces of concept work" for free that get published without the artist seeing any of the profits...of course it's a bit more complicated than that, since somebody has to have capital to do things, but it looks like all Disney will care is basically to say "well here's the list of things you can and can't do (even if it would be a good idea, because we're fucking bean counters, not trendsetters)! ENJOY"

Suddenly this seems maddeningly relevant again.

[Drum]

Rescue On Fractalus blew my fuckin head off when I first played it on my cousin's Atari 48k - just amazing, and the first time one of those alien bastards smashed the canopy I screamed haha



Dark Forces was great as was Jedi Knight. Jedi Outcast was OK, not amazing.

I'm not so into point and clicks, but I liked Full Throttle quite a lot.

I was always a Wing Commander player but even back then I would NEVER have said the X-Wing etc. games were anything other than great, even though I chose to play WC more.

I'm so glad someone brought Fractalus up. What an incredible game.
Using the same technique, The Eidolon was great too:
http://youtu.be/E9cTvuwYi3w

[Ed Oscuro]

Haha, is that a pre-alpha version of the THX logo rumble? And that Time Machine..!

[Phellan Wolf]

Next step into Star Wars franchise: Darth Mickey with his apprentice Pluto Vader will have to face Donald Duckwalker and Goofy Solo......: it makes me sick damn it.

[Turrican]

Suddenly this seems maddeningly relevant again.

"What is NES SCUMM?"

That is the version of Scumm that we did for the Nintendo.

"Yeah, but it says NES SCUMM. What will people think?"

[O. Van Bruce]

Mark my words:

Next Kingdom Hearts will have Star Wars characters.

[Raytrace]

I'm so glad someone brought Fractalus up. What an incredible game.
Using the same technique, The Eidolon was great too:
http://youtu.be/E9cTvuwYi3w

yeah Fractalus was a truly great game and I think it, like the other classic from the era Mercenary, has it's own emulator/.exe . - Emm actually I think I'm wrong, and I can't seem to find the Mercenary one either - I'm sure I have it somewhere on a backup HD though .

Eidolon I never actually got to play, though I remember the Zzap!!! 64 with the review of it. I did get to play Koronis Rift on the Atari though which was brilliant (and used the same fractal landscape techniques as the other two).

[Obiwanshinobi]

LucasArts is better known for those p&c adventure games (and little, yet rightfully known for their 16-bit console games) than anything Star Wars.

[Ji-L87]

1313 looked nice. Bummer.

[Drum]

I'm so glad someone brought Fractalus up. What an incredible game.
Using the same technique, The Eidolon was great too:
http://youtu.be/E9cTvuwYi3w

yeah Fractalus was a truly great game and I think it, like the other classic from the era Mercenary, has it's own emulator/.exe . - Emm actually I think I'm wrong, and I can't seem to find the Mercenary one either - I'm sure I have it somewhere on a backup HD though .

Eidolon I never actually got to play, though I remember the Zzap!!! 64 with the review of it. I did get to play Koronis Rift on the Atari though which was brilliant (and used the same fractal landscape techniques as the other two).

I played Eidolon for the first time about a year ago on a C64 emulator. It's not just a pretty face - has got a ton of interesting game ideas (most of which work!). It's vastly more sophisticated than fps's that came much later like Wolf 3D and Doom. If it was just faster and had more dynamic combat there would be no reason to play those.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I'm jolly sure fast killing in 3D (rather than any sophistication or prettiness) was the selling point of Doom and Wolf 3D. What else did those games do better than graphic adventures and flight sims of their time?

[Raytrace]

I played Eidolon for the first time about a year ago on a C64 emulator. It's not just a pretty face - has got a ton of interesting game ideas (most of which work!). It's vastly more sophisticated than fps's that came much later like Wolf 3D and Doom. If it was just faster and had more dynamic combat there would be no reason to play those.

interesting I must check it out emulated - I actuallyr eread the ZZap 64 review of it about 2 weeks ago, its about flying around your own head or something isnt it?