Julius

Well, I think the original Battlefront II’s online was reactivated as something of a marketing ploy for EA’s Battlefront II. Didn’t work so well, in hindsight. Like I mentioned above, digital re-releases are certainly on the table, and as I forgot to mention: especially so on PC. Regardless of whether or not Dark Forces/Jedi Knight were included in the GOG releases, those games were already in mass circulation on PC prior to the GOG re-release; if anything, this just meant that Disney didn’t want fans getting into trouble for playing illegally acquired versions of the game. Nor were those games ever touted or marketed nearly as much as a more well known/physical re-release would need to be. Bounty Hunter might have been re-released on PS4, but it slipped in almost completely under the radar and was given very little marketing, if any at all. Reactivating the Battlefront II servers is great for fans, but it’s not exactly going to raise questions to fans who have already played the game about whether or not the game is canon. Re-release Factor 5’s games, or any other major Star Wars EU game, with a big marketing push and then you’ll come across fans who might become confused as to what is and isn’t canon. The original Battlefront II, Bounty Hunter, and Dark Forces/Jedi Knight all have their own smaller communities these days who still play the games, which is great. What I’m saying is that we likely aren’t going to see them do something like re-release Factor 5’s games exclusively on Nintendo Switch in physical form with a big promotional campaign. But digitally, via Virtual Console, fairly under the radar and unlikely to be introduced to fans who think that the events that aren’t in the movies that transpire are canon? That’s a completely different story.

Perhaps. Hey, I’d love to see some of the older games re-released, so I hope that it’s not coming across that I don’t want them! I’m just not personally optimistic about the possibility. I mean, Super Star Wars and some of the other games (I think Pod Racer Revenge, Bounty Hunter and Jedi Starfighter too) did make it over to PS4 - can’t believe I forgot that, considering that they were bundled in with mine! - but they seem to all tell general stories which, if I recall correctly, don’t exactly go directly against any canonical information out there (yet). On the the hand, re-releasing, say, Battlefront II, could potentially be a problem as some of it’s story does go directly against some of the events fleshed out in the new canon (besides the fact that it’s clearly the superior Battlefront II game and would cannabilise EA’s Battlefront II sales). I think digital re-releases of some games are a distinct possibility, but I’m just not sure whether it’s something they’ll dive back into doing wholeheartedly. The more time that passes, the tighter the leash seems to become on the release of non-canonical Star Wars materials, but slap a ‘Legends’ banner across it like this... ...and they could easily be in business.

Agreed that Activision + Ubisoft > EA, but I’m not too sure about the re-releases. Disney/LFL would have final say on re-releasing titles, even if Ubisoft/Activision were much more willing to work with third parties to re-release games than EA (which I 100% would agree to be the case), but I don’t think they’d stand much of a chance, simply because they’re not part of the current canon. The canon is supposed to help in the coordination of the Star Wars timeline but, ironically, it’s the largest obstacle in the way of a narrative-focused Star Wars game, at least at this point. Small details such as “Is this ship around in this era?” and “Would his weapon be in mass circulation by this point?” are excellent for our immersion and for in-universe timelines, but they really do get in the way of a naturally flowing narrative in the event that the video game writers are writing things up, such as “This character is then given a DL-44 [Han Solo’s blaster]”, which then needs to be sent off to the Lucasfilm Story Group to confirm that that gun was in circulation at that point. They could take days, if not weeks, to respond, and if their response turns out to be “No, you can’t do that; that blaster wasn’t around at that point”, then a few weeks might have just been wasted on an entire narrative thread which won’t come to any sort of fruition. If I recall correctly, this was the biggest problem with Amy Hennig’s and Visceral’s narrative-focused Star Wars game. But yeah, I’m also on board with pretty much anything which shows EA that they’re doing things wrong via a middle finger standing tall. Honestly, more than anything, I think I just want a tactical Star Wars games (SRPG or RTS). Set it way out in the future, or even just after the sequel trilogy, and it can all be treated as canon as we could be a cadet of some militia or navy playing our way through, and learning, the tactics of some of the galaxy’s greatest battles throughout all of the major eras.

Whilst I agree, I think the biggest problem standing in the way of that happening is the new canon. Lucasarts was a lot more lenient prior to the completion of the prequel trilogy in 2005, looking back, and I think that leniency and creative licence allowed developers to come up with great games. I haven’t played Knights of the Old Republic, nor a slew of other Star Wars games, which I’ll get to eventually I hope, but I got thousands of hours out of the original Battlefront games, and have spent a lot of time in Republican Commando too. Battlefront II didn’t have the most story heavy campaign, and was more or less just a bunch of objectives on a ticklist, but it still told a very interesting story through the eyes of a 501st Legion Clone trooper, and, perhaps most importantly: it felt like it had heart and a lot of passion pumped into it. The story felt personal because I was playing as a blank slate clone trooper in the middle of a galaxy-spanning war which quickly takes a dark turn, and I could project onto the character because of this. In contrast, Commando’s companion characters are quirky and completely individual to one another, despite being clones. Compare that to EA’s Battlefront games, and they’re both cold and paint-by-numbers by comparison, even if they do capture the visual and audio cues of Star Wars with little fault. Iden Versio is something of a composite character, which simply does not work, and her being given a name and a less-than-generic face makes it extremely difficult to project onto: she’s difficult to like. Star Wars, above all else, is about using its characters, it’s spectacle and it’s duality of right and wrong, and the slither inbetween and outside of that duality, to teach invaluable life lessons to its audience. It was never just about telling a story: it was about relaying relatable archetypes and motivations to generations of people who wanted someone to empathise with. So, in the case of Star Wars, personally, if I don’t like the character and I can’t understand their motivations, I’m not going to invest myself in them. In terms of a single player video game experience, this means I simply will not enjoy the game or the story that they’re trying to tell. They need to haul some of the best video game writers into the same room, like they did with some of the best film directors and writers for their slate of films, and pay them handsomely to tell a refreshing and interesting story a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Honestly, I think that the best approach would be to revive Lucasarts as a publisher, and contract developers on a game-by-game basis. First person shooter? Call up Bungie, Bethesda, etc. Real time strategy? Creative Assembly, Relic Entertainment, etc. Immersive open world game? Give CDPR a go. Starfighter simulation? Factor 5 or Criterion (who did great with that part of BFII). Musou with lightsabers? Koei Tecmo. Having the Star Wars video game rights exclusive to one third party publisher is like giving all of the Star Wars films to one director. It’s just not a good idea.

Well, they could. This is just a bunch of hearsay, as we don’t know what their contract with EA entails, but it depends entirely upon the contents of the contract; namely, any specified clauses. It has been long speculated that Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm back in 2012, for instance, probably holds a bunch of clauses pertaining to Lucas’ poorly received works, potentially such as how the special editions are the only version of the original trilogy that Lucas wants out there, or how he doesn’t want the prequels remade, etc. Disney would then be contractually obligated to not rerelease the original versions of the films or remake the prequels. Disney’s contract with EA could contain a clause which details something extremely specific, such as how Disney want X amount of games released in X amount of years. They could also be vague, such as EA acting unethically with their license (i.e. the backlash to microtransactions, in particular the argument that it is gambling aimed at children, is something that Disney would of course want to distance themselves from). Failing to abide by such clauses, thereby failing to fulfill contractual obligations, could potentially see the license revoked, or EA’s exclusive video game rights to the franchise ceased. The contract is probably more along the lines of “These rights are exclusive to you until 2023 SO LONG AS you do/don’t do X, Y, Z,” rather than “These rights are exclusive to you until 2023, regardless of what you do”.

Yeah, I have to agree. Fortunately, Respawn might still be able to redeem EA somewhat (if that game’s still in development, that is). And I have to agree with that, too. Star Wars games will sell well regardless, and EA already makes way too much money from FIFA Ultimate Team, yet they still decide to (attempt to) destroy these games with microtransactions, loot boxes, etc. Has their own greed made them completely oblivious to the fact that for a great selling game you need a) an IP the audience/fans can invest in and b) A GOOD GAME?! They’re already halfway there just by having the Star Wars brand associated with the game. The money that they make elsewhere - namely Ultimate Team - is enough to more than please their shareholders and keep a “live game” well and truly alive without the need for microtransactions. I’d love to see the unreleased Factor 5 game come to Switch, but I think the possibility depends purely on the game’s contents and whether or not it clashes with canon. But hey, one could hope, right?

I hope more than anything that this is true. Star Wars is obviously enormous, and to give a company like EA exclusive rights to the video game license was always a silly idea. After the Battlefront II debacle, it always seemed likely that Disney/Lucasfilm would be pulling out of their exclusive relationship with EA. The only major problem I see remaining between us and a great Star Wars game, if this does go through, would be with regards to how the Story Group communicates with the writers of the developing games, as this was supposedly a huge problem with the development of Visceral’s Star Wars game. But a potential Battlefront III by Activision and an open-world/space game by Ubisoft? Not my first choices, by any means, but the prospect excites me all the same

No kidding! And, if I recall correctly, not only will they be publishing SEGA/Atlus games in Europe, but this acquisition would mean that they would be publishing Shenmue 3, which I believe was due to be published by Deep Silver. What’s even more intriguing, with regards to Shenmue, is that Shenmue 1+2 HD is heavily rumoured to be making its way out from SEGA prior to Shenmue 3’s release. So, in Europe, at least, THQ might get to eat all of the proverbial Shenmue pies

Mulaka launches on Nintendo Switch on March 1st, with a file size of 3.8GB, costing £15.99. It also has a pretty good-looking icon.

Yeah, I get exactly how you feel about last year’s show. I found Nintendo’s E3 Spotlight to be short (perhaps a bit too short?) but completely to the point, which I liked, and I also enjoyed a fair few parts of the Ubisoft conference. Sony’s felt like it might as well have been a Direct-esque approach for those at home, and whilst I enjoyed seeing what was on offer, it seemed to lack momentum to me completely, and had petered out by the midway point. Closing up with some QTE footage from Spider-Man, a game that was already announced, seemed completely nuts to me, especially considering that they opened the show fairly strongly with announcements for Shadow of the Colossus Remake and Monster Hunter World. EA’s stuff always seems like a public business meeting - scummy - and it felt, to me at least, that Microsoft were trying to revive the console war with PlayStation with “(Timed) Xbox One (& Windows 10) Exclusive” — despite being so far behind in all regards this generation. I (very optimistically) think that E3 2018 has to be better than last year’s showing because, if nothing else, the start of the “next generation” with PS5 and Xbox Two/Infinity/720/1080/Home Premium is fast approaching, so I think we’re going to start seeing PlayStation and Xbox throwing the kitchen sink at us. I could be completely wrong, but, at the latest, I think we’ll be seeing the start of the “next gen” (or smartphone-like iteration) by Q4 2020, which would give them some two and a half years or so to start delivering on games that we’ve already seen announced. The Last Of Us Part Two and Final Fantasy VII Remake in particular come to mind. It’s also worth mentioning that we know offensively little about H2 of this year, the only game with a fixed release date at this point being Red Dead Redemption 2 on October 26th. Of the “Big Three”, then, I think that Nintendo is going to be - as ever - the completely unpredictable loose cannon. I don’t know about you, but the lack of a true Direct in January seemed like something of a missed opportunity to me, even if it is a wise one in the event that they have no new major tentpole first party games to reveal and release before E3; they’ve still done a good job of filling H1 with a vast array of titles for all audiences, in large part thanks to its indie offering. I think that Nintendo has to have a longer Spotlight than last year because, whereas 2017 was almost purely about pumping out excellent games, 2018 is being set up to be the year which decides the console’s future. I don’t think that they can leave it much later than E3 to reveal the plans for their online infrastructure, which launches only three months later in September, and fans have had a hankering for Virtual Console on Switch since it launched. Unlike the Wii and Wii U, and arguably even the 3DS, the constant stream of support for Switch, should it continue, doesn’t seem to allow for a quiet window to fill with the launch of Virtual Console, and nor should it. I think this is Nintendo’s chance to get Virtual Console right, and I seriously hope that it isn’t in the form of a Netflix-like service. As someone who has a very long backlog of Nintendo games to plough through in particular, I want to have ownership of these games, and don’t want them taken away like PS Plus games. Perhaps paying for their online service could offer users an amount of points which could be used on Virtual Console titles: each month of their subscription, users get 1000 points, with NES games costing 500 points, SNES games costing 1000 points, GC games costing 1500 points and Wii games costing 2000 points. Users can then spend and save their accrued points as they please, with the points being tied directly to their account. Heck, much simpler: just offer users of the online subscription service an exclusive discount on Virtual Console games. We know so little about Nintendo’s offering this year that I think they have to go big at E3 if they do plan on holding the majority of their top tier games (Fire Emblem, and possibly games like Animal Crossing, Smash Bros. Switch and Pokémon Switch) back for the latter half of this year. I doubt I’ll be watching EA’s and Microsoft’s conferences this year, but Bethesda could also show off something amazing, like Elder Scrolls VI or that rumoured new sci-fi space-venturing IP, Starfield. And we can probably expect news on Cyberpunk 2077. And Shenmue 3. And Shenmue 1+2 HD. And other stuff. I’m optimistic that it’ll be better than last year, and hopefully by a long shot

When asked about how their games are faring on the Nintendo Switch in an interview with EDGE, Square Enix president and CEO Yosuke Matsuda responded that: I can't wait to see what else SE has planned for Switch, especially after the success of Project Octopath Traveller. Hopefully they'll be 100% on board when Nintendo decides that it's time to get the good ol' Virtual Console up and running on Switch

PLEASE: SPOILER TAG ANY POTENTIAL E3 LEAKS, AND ANY CONVERSATIONS PERTAINING TO SAID LEAKS, PRIOR TO THE GAME’S REVEAL AT E3. Thanks. Major press conference dates & times EA Play — UK: Saturday 9th June at 19:00 BST — Local: Saturday 9th June at 11:00 PDT Xbox Briefing — UK: Sunday 10th June at 21:00 BST — Local: Sunday 10th June at 13:00 PDT Bethesda Showcase — UK: Monday 11th June at 02:30 BST — Local: Sunday 10th June at 18:30 PDT Devolver Digital — UK: Monday 11th June at 04:00 BST — Local: Sunday 10th June at 20:00 PDT Square Enix Showcase — UK: Monday 11th June at 18:00 BST — Local: Monday 11th June at 11:00 PDT Ubisoft Conference — UK: Monday 11th June at 21:00 BST — Local: Monday 11th June at 13:00 PDT PC Gaming Show — UK: Monday 11th June at 23:00 BST — Local: Monday 11th June at 15:00 PDT PlayStation Showcase — UK: Tuesday 12th June at 02:00 BST — Local: 11th June at 18:00 PDT Nintendo Direct: E3 2018 — UK: Tuesday 12th June at 17:00 BST — Local: Tuesday 12th June at 09:00 PDT Original post: It's never too early to start talking about E3, but the time has finally come where rumours about the content of this year's E3 are starting to swirl about all over the place. This year's E3 proper will be taking place from June 12th until June 14th, with conferences expected from June 9th up to June 12th. Based on recent precedent, it is currently expected that: EA will hold a conference on Saturday 9th; Microsoft and Bethesda will hold a conference on Sunday 10th; Ubisoft and Sony will hold their conferences on Monday 11th, which will also see the start of the PC Gaming Show; and Nintendo will reveal their Direct-esque video on Tuesday 12th. The preliminary E3 2018 floor plans (which are subject to change) are also up, which are always fun to talk about. West Hall South Hall Worth noting is that Microsoft's exhibit looks like it will be even smaller than it was last year, and that Square Enix's is surprisingly large. Maybe they'll be playing host to their own show again this year? I'll be sure to update this post as we learn more about this year's E3 schedule, but what would you nice folks want to see at this year's E3, be it with regards to games or to how conferences play out? I kind of hope that Sony allow those at home to watch trailers in full without awkwardly cutting to an in-theatre camera to show off their special effects, and with regards to games, I really want to learn/see something about/from Final Fantasy VII Remake, Cyberpunk 2077, Pokémon Switch and Metroid Prime 4.

In an interview with Vodafone, Mike Pondsmith - the author of the original pen-and-paper RPG on which Cyberpunk 2077 is based - has teased that the game's next trailer will exhibit "how much death" there is in the dystopian setting of Night City. The fact that there's talk about the contents of the next trailer means that its in development to some extent, and seems to be yet another hint that the trailer could appear at this year's E3.

The game's release date won't be unveiled until E3. Considering how SE seem to be sticking with the game releasing this year, I'd guess that probably means it'll be released in Q4?

I think that you might be getting Star Wars 1313 confused with Star Wars Battlefront III. 1313 was trademarked in May 2012, LucasArts announced it later that month, and it was revealed in June 2012 at E3. Disney purchased Lucasfilm in October 2012, but development at LucasArts wasn't officially ceased until April 2013. Development, I imagine, would have been very sporadic and less confident in the weeks leading up to, and the months after, Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, but I don't recall ever reading or hearing about that game in particular having development issues, and the short window between trademark to announcement and then to reveal seems to bolster that somewhat. Battlefront III, in comparison, was an absolute mess, and its been well-documented as such (which is why I mention it specifically). There were supposedly no major deadlines to work towards, direction was infrequent, and funding and support from LucasArts was supposedly very hard to come by for the game's developers. I was kind of hoping that Nintendo's own EPD division would be taking on the game, so hearing that Namco might be taking on the project does make me a little nervous. It's got very little to do with their lack of a first-person action-adventure game, and much more to do with the fact that, from what I gather, it was the western influences on the original Prime games which made them so great (I haven't played them myself yet, so I can't comment on how true that is). Metroid hasn't ever really sold like Nintendo's tentpole franchises, but I do hope that, whoever Nintendo decides to entrust with Prime 4, they are being entrusted because Nintendo believes that they can evolve the franchise whilst paying homage to what made the other Metroid games so interesting.

Some guy/gal called Pixelpar on Twitter (who has a fairly good track record, revealing the Direct Mini date and Wild Guns Reloaded well ahead of schedule) has some supposed tidbits about the game. They all actually seem fairly realistic (and a lot like a Pokémon game, surprisingly). As an aside, they've also suggested that Creatures Inc. are currently working on multiple games, with one being for smartphones. The game will supposedly: Feature fully 3D with hi-res assets. Have a cel-shaded art style (no surprises here). Make use of the Switch's touch screen. Feature an animated/moveable UI. Make use of a peer-to-peer online system. They've also suggested that the Ultra Beasts introduced in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were originally intended for Pokémon Switch.

Square Enix recently held a Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary concept art exhibition in Tokyo, where some previously unseen VII Remake concept art was shown off. Though SE currently have no plans to share the concept art elsewhere, some interesting details have emerged from those in attendance. According to some of the fans in attendance, there’s been a change in Cloud’s design. According to development leader Naoki Hamaguchi, this new design was said to have finally got the go-ahead from director Tetsuya Nomura. While it’s been a struggle for the team, the hard work appears to have paid off as Tetsuya Nomura went as far as acknowledging it as “the closest one to the original [Cloud design] up until now.] A fan also described Cloud’s new design as a more natural look. Nomura and Hamaguchi mentioned that “while Cloud may look this way, he was a dork. I believe those of you who played the the original would understand what I mean by saying he’s a dorky character.” That said, we’ll see more of the youthful side of Cloud rather than the always-serious one we’ve seen more outside of the original game. The four screenshots also showed other members of AVALANCHE, and one fan described Biggs as “super handsome,” Wege as “refreshingly chubby,” and Jessie as “cute!” Personally, I think that this is great news, as I honestly wasn’t digging Cloud’s redesign and art style in the trailers we’ve had for the game so far. I feel like this ultra realistic art style doesn’t seem suited to the game, and I think that a design more along the lines of the original concept art and FMV for the original game - with larger eyes and a more anime/manga-styled design, in particular - would be more suited to Remake. But that’s just my two pence, anyways

GTA V has sold over 90 million units worldwide, having sold a total of 15 million units in 2017 alone. Approximately 1 in 3 current gen gamers have purchased the game. Must be nice. [for Rockstar]

It’s great that we finally have word on what’s going on with this. I won’t be getting a Switch until later this year, but the more we know about how they’re going to handle things going forward, the better! 5% for downloaded games and 1% of the download value for physical games isn’t great, but I think that it’s good enough to warrant registering games anyway (and should definitely be a great way to pick up some Nindies and smaller titles every now and then). My next question, of course, would be whether or not these points can be used for Virtual Console, if and when it launches, or if perhaps it will tie into the Switch Online somehow? Just as an example, PS Plus delivers some exclusive discounts to members, so membership to Switch Online could perhaps offer exclusive discounts or even greater earn rates?

Lovely jab at DC, and nice to see them putting nods in to their new Disney overlords already

David Benioff and D.B.Weiss, the creators of Game of Thrones, will be writing and producing a new series of Star Wars films. These films will be separate from the episodic Skywalker Saga and the recently-announced Rian Johnson trilogy. No release dates have yet been set for these films.

This purported LinkedIn listing has Bandai Namco working on two projects exclusively for the Switch: Ridge Racer 8 and an unannounced IP which is a first-person shooter adventure. Some have taken this to mean that they're working on Metroid Prime 4, which would tie in nicely with the supposed leak from a few months ago which detailed that they were working on MP4, but I think it being slated as being for an unannounced IP goes some way towards debunking that particular line of thought. Either way, if this turns out to be accurate, I'm happy to see Nintendo continuing to strengthen its relationship with third parties that they have already developed some good games with.

The game’s producer - Square Enix’s Masashi Takahashi - and director - Acquire’s Keisuke Miyauchi - sat down with Famistu to talk about Project Octopath Traveller. To summarise: Development • The biggest theme of this game is ‘the journey’. The world is ripe for exploration with any of the eight characters. • The project was started by Takahashi and producer Tomoya Asano, who headed the Bravely series. • Acquire was chosen as development partner thanks to their work on the What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? series, showing off their pixel art prowess. Miyauchi recalls Takahashi and Asano coming together and suggesting, “What would this look like with rich-looking pixel art enhanced by modern technology, instead of just normal pixel art?” • It took a long while to perfect the HD-2D look. At first, they didn’t add enough depth to the view, and it was uninteresting. Another time, they went too far on the resolution and saturation, losing the appeal of pixel art. It was tough to balance things, such as whether water should be pixel or photoreal. • Furthermore, sprites looked lonely and simple in the context of a larger screen. In order to keep the appeal of sprites, the development team increased the density of tile variations and colors to create an altogether richer view. Characters • In order to have different party variations, they decided on having 8 characters: four male, and four female. In order to have different experiences with each character, they took care to differentiate each character’s storyline. • All the characters have different classes, and more info will be released later. However, Takahashi mentions that character classes verge on the realistic side, being based on different occupations in Medieval Europe. The field commands were devised based on the classes. • Olberic is popular with the Square Enix side staff thanks to being the first created character, but the man on the very left of the key art, reading a book, is popular with female staff. On the Acquire side, the man with the muffler and the woman with the hat are popular. • Olberic and Primrose were chosen to be the demo protagonists as their stories started in a similar place, and the developers wanted people to be able to recruit the other character after beating the story. Battle System • Asano and Takahashi requested to Miyauchi that the battle system be something that everyone can enjoy, even if it is old school. Takahashi further elaborated, stating that the action RPGs that are the current trend are hard for him. • A simple turn-based battle system wouldn’t be turning any heads, so after trial-and-error the Command Boost and Break systems were added. Both aren’t new concepts, but go well with turn-based systems and add another layer of strategy. • In order to add to the fun of the game, the guard points are displayed, showing how many attacks under a Break occurs. This means that players can set off their own combos, which is always a good feeling. • Battle difficulty in the game is based on area, and not by character level.

I’m not not really sure how I feel about it. Take out Chewie, the title card and the Star Wars theme and it looks, feels and sounds like a run-of-the-mill sci-fi blockbuster.