A little article on how to save Star Wars...

LordHart · Sun 23/05/2004 22:40:18

Quote from: Happyhelmet on Sun 23/05/2004 21:20:53
The only other notable move he directed was the original Star Wars.

Actually, he has also directed American Grafitti and THX-1138... to cult movies which are good.

Quote from: Happyhelmet on Sun 23/05/2004 21:20:53Empire Strikes Back was good (the best actually of all three) because he had the writing talent of Lawrence Kasdan (also did Raiders of the Lost Ark which is the darkest of all 3 "Yay for melting Nazis!!")

You seriously don understand the concept of dark, do you. Temple of Doom is the darkest of the three Indy movies, no way around it.

Quote from: Happyhelmet on Sun 23/05/2004 21:20:53The second way is that, in my mind, LucasArts has gone down the tubes. The main reason: Where the fuck are all the adventure games??? LucasArts along with Sierra paved the way for adventure games so long ago. We all aspire to make a game even close to the quality of games like Sam and Max, Full Throttle, The Dig, and Day Of The Tentacle, not to mention almost every one of the Monkey Island Games plus the classics: Maniac Mansion and Zak Mckracken. (Grim Fandango, Hazaa, Hazaa!!) We hold a throne to the classic company with the GUI that is one of the most useful aside from the Verb Coin.

You do realise he doesn't oversee what Lucasarts makes in terms of games. And he didn't make those characters either, other people did... and Lucasarts fired them... so they probably wont ever make games based on them again.

Quote from: Happyhelmet on Sun 23/05/2004 21:20:53We have even created fan games from their characters and I believe they take no legal action of trying to remove them from the internet (like what happened to Kairus and Garfield: Attack of the Mutant Lasagna)

Well, Lucasfilm is notorius for allowing their fans making movies based upon Star Wars, evident by the dozens of different films. Have a look at TheForce.net and you'll see what I mean. Also, they normally provide the original sets for bigger projects, like they did with The Dark Redemption a few years back.

Quote from: Happyhelmet on Sun 23/05/2004 21:20:53They moved all of this "adventure" stuff aside and began producing Star Wars games up the ass. I had hope they would return to their roots with Full Throttle 2 and Sam and Max 2...

Actually, they were originally set up to create Star Wars games... but hey... they decided to branch out and make extra cash.

Quote from: Happyhelmet on Sun 23/05/2004 21:20:53He has to redeem himself in three ways:

1. Bring back the adventure games (who here really cares about the games?)
2. Release the OT on DVD. No Special Edition bullshit. No editing to the films like we know you are going to do. (He's an asshole, you know he's gonna)
3. Make Episode III the darkest of them all. I wanna see blood in the streets! Show me the crimes that made Darth Vader, Darth Vader! Kill all the Jedi whoopie!!!

Once again, he isn't in control of Lucasarts, he will never release the original trilogy on DVD and also, I wouldn't want to see that happen to Star Wars, no matter how crap the other prequels were. Sure, it should be the darkest one, but kids should still be able to it, just like the other Star Wars movies. He should shift the focus back to adults as the main audience though.

Quote from: Happyhelmet on Sun 23/05/2004 21:20:53Right now we won't know how good Episode III will be till we see it. Even Lucas has said:
"I'm going to go from complete success to complete failure". Lucas says that he expects utter rejection from his fans once Star Wars concludes. "I'm going to make a bunch of movies like 'THX'. And if people don't like it, too bad. There will be no Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan for me. There won't be any big dramas or Oscars."

And on that note we que the music...

You quote that like its a big surprise... talk to any Star Wars fans and we could have told you that after TPM... $:-\$

Happyhelmet · Mon 24/05/2004 00:55:08

Os Ã Å¡ltimo QuÃ£o Queijo ^_^ all true. Except for

QuoteActually, they were originally set up to create Star Wars games... but hey... they decided to branch out and make extra cash.

Four Part History of LucasArts

"The immediate goal is to find the best way to bring the 'Lucasfilm touch' to video games and help advance the state of the video game art."

First titles
-------------
Ballblazer (March 1984, Atari 5200, Atari 800, later: Commodore 64, Apple II, PC, Amstrad, Sinclair Spectrum, Atari 7800)
Rescue on Fractalus! (March 1984, Atari 5200, Atari 800, later: Commodore 64, Apple II, PC, Amstrad, Sinclair Spectrum, Atari 7800)
Koronis Riftâ,,¢ (December 1985, Commodore 64, Atari 800)
The Eidolonâ,,¢ (December 1985, Commodore 64, Atari 800)
Labyrinthâ,,¢: The Computer Game (1986, Commodore 64, Apple II)

Original Adventures
--------------------------------
Maniac MansionÂ® (October 1987, IBM, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Apple II, NES)
Zak McKracken and the Alien MindbendersÂ® (October 1988, Commodore 64, PC, Amiga, Atari ST, Fujitsu FM Towns, Apple II)

Star Wars - Console
--------------------------
Star Wars (November 1991, NES)
The Empire Strikes Backâ,,¢ (December 1991, NES)
Super Star Wars (November 1992, SNES)
Super Empire Strikes Backâ,,¢ (November 1993, SNES)
Super Return of the Jediâ,,¢ (November 1994, SNES, DOS, Gameboy)

"While PC gamers enjoyed many classic adventure games during the early 90s, console gamers also had a chance to experience LucasArts' products. In 1991, LucasArts partnered with JVC Musical Industries, Inc. to launch the first Star Wars titles for game consoles. Based on the classic movie trilogy, these side-scrolling games let players assume the roles of characters such as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and even Wicket the Ewok. In addition to the side-scrolling action, some of the games included flight sequences. For example, Volksjaeger let players fly the X-wing during the Death Star trench run. The games were well received by critics and fans: Super Star Wars was awarded a perfect score from GamePro Magazine, and Nintendo Power magazine called it one of the five best Super Nintendo titles of 1992."

Star Wars - PC
-------------------
Star Wars X-WingÂ® (February 1993, IBM, PC CD-ROM, Mac CD-ROM)
Star Wars: Rebel Assault (November 1993, PC CD-ROM, Sega CD, Mac CD, 3DO)
Star Wars: TIE FighterÂ® (July 1994, IBM, Mac CD-ROM)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And it's just my opinion that: medling with the powers of God and melting nazis is darker than ancient tribal ritual, and you--Lucas, if you're out there--should care what your name is taglined to: LucasArts. Also, Empire was better

.

LordHart · Mon 24/05/2004 07:08:40

Quote from: Happyhelmet on Mon 24/05/2004 00:55:08and you should care what your name is taglined to: LucasArts.

How is Os Ã Å¡ltimo QuÃ£o Queijo ^_^ related to Lucasarts... in any way?

Happyhelmet · Mon 24/05/2004 07:11:08

lol, i mean't lucas should care

DGMacphee · Mon 24/05/2004 07:24:44

Quote from: Happyhelmet on Sun 23/05/2004 21:20:53

He has to redeem himself in three ways:

1. Bring back the adventure games (who here really cares about the games?)
2. Release the OT on DVD. No Special Edition bullshit. No editing to the films like we know you are going to do. (He's an asshole, you know he's gonna)
3. Make Episode III the darkest of them all. I wanna see blood in the streets! Show me the crimes that made Darth Vader, Darth Vader! Kill all the Jedi whoopie!!!

Adding to the stuff that Ultimo said, it's also worthy to note that LucasArts were making adventure games during production of the TPM.

Grim Fandango was made during TPM's production, and the game was critically well-recieved but sold miserably. Then there was EMI, which was also critically well-reieved, but fans hated it.

And on that note, you can't really fault George Lucas for the lack of adventure games being produced. Even if he did release new adventures, I doubt they'd sell well, based on my two examples above.

It's just that the market has changed -- more gamers prefer FPS. That's why the market is saturated with FPS.

jetxl · Mon 24/05/2004 10:19:05

No, the market is saturated with games by EA.

DGMacphee · Mon 24/05/2004 10:44:08

First of all, EA isn't a genre. Adventure games and FPS are. And the market isn't driven by EA games because other developers can't go "Hey, I'm going to corner the market by releasing an EA game". It's driven by genres. And currently, it's being driven by FPS.

It's like me saying, "The road is saturated with cars" and then you saying, "No, the road is saturated with Fords". You're basically comparing apples to apple farms.

Secondly, try and stay on focus here, jet -- My point is it's unfair to blame the decline of adventure games on George Lucas.

Happyhelmet · Mon 24/05/2004 10:52:32

It soon will be a genre

And I know I shouldn't fault Lucas, but it's easier that way

. so therefore:

He has to redeem himself in two ways:
1. Release the OT on DVD. No Special Edition bullshit. No editing to the films like we know you are going to do. (He's an asshole, you know he's gonna edit them and not release OT)
2. Make Episode III the darkest of them all.

LucasArts has to redeem itself in one way:
1. Bring back the adventure games, the lovable characters, the thrilling story, etc, etc.

DGMacphee · Mon 24/05/2004 11:00:36

But if LucasArts bring back adventure games, they'll go bankrupt.

Adventure games don't have a large share of the market anymore.

Maybe they will in the future. I doubt it, but who knows?

MrColossal · Mon 24/05/2004 20:26:49

There's only one man who can help us now....

LordHart · Mon 24/05/2004 21:53:15

Why is Doc making us Grim Fadango 2 and a new Monkey Island game? Won't he get sued by Lucasarts...

MrColossal · Mon 24/05/2004 22:56:06

he brought them back... back FROM the future

YOke · Mon 24/05/2004 23:27:33

An _alternate_ future then, i would guess?
As with lots of things in the computer world (and outside it) LucasArts has become a thing to hate. (See also: Microsoft) We all hate it, long before we even know why. Just because everybody says we have to...
If George Lucas had still been in some control over LucasArts they would propably still be making adventure games. Not because George is cool, but because, judgeing by his last "movies", he is totally removed from reality.
The corporate rats running LucasArts however, are not. They have seen the decline in interest for adventure games, and have reacted the way good corporate rats are supposed to; they are backing out, sticking to what they know will sell. After all, from a business point of view, it's the right thing.
What the debate is really about is why you put corporate rats in charge of an artistic endeavour?
Why do we always have to maximize profits and cut the overhead? Whatever that means? That's the reason why we feel disappointed. Because we love the games and they only work with them. We feel they don't treat it with the amount of respect something that we love should be treated with. This is what it's like to be a minority.