I don't share the shining hope and optimism

[Bandit LOAF]

As for Flojomojo's post about the PSP, I think it is really really awesome that there are different opinions of how EA Replay will affect the WC community.

I think this entire discussion has been handled very well by all parties involved. It's a credit to our community that we pursued a reasonable, intelligent dialogue rather than letting some small amount of dissent break into a flame war.

Fair 'nuff. What about the newscasts? Not many of them are relevant to the story.

The newscasts were shot for the original game and then cut out. You can argue that it was for space and that they should be returned now that 'moderm' 72-minute CDs are the norml... but at the same time, they remain unfinished sequences -- none of the effects work or integration that was planned for them was ever completed, so they're just Barbara Miles talking without graphics.

 

[Howard Day]

So, I've been playing through EA Replay for a bit now, and I've gotta say that's pretty fricken sweet. I've got some minor complaints with the controls (the 8-direction limit, and the somewhat large deadzone for the analog stick button). The radar also seems a bit twitchy, which makes it difficult to keep track of what the heck is going on around you. Also - does anyone else get wierd visual distortions in asteroid fields? It seems like the asteroids/mines are rotating with my ship at times. Just a bit odd. Anyhow - minor stuff, like I said. I got used to all of it pretty quickly. As for the Good stuff, there's a lot. I love the different launch sequence - very classy - and the new intro into Secret Missions. It's just plain fun. As for the whole "will this bring about a new era of WC games?" thing...I honestly don't know. It would be absolutely awesome if it did, for sure - but I'm more than content to look at the EA Replay release as just awesome on it's own. WC in my pocket! What could be cooler?

 

[Dran]

Personnally I can't get past the 1st misson.

 

[Maj.Striker]

which would have further explained that the pilot of the Talon had been interviewed by the CIS and that he was from the familiar Wing Commander setting.

Interesting. That raises a lot of questions though doesn't it? Considering the pilot would have been at least a 100 if not older?

 

[Bandit LOAF]

The game taking place a hundred years after Prophecy isn't the same thing as the game taking place a hundred years after everyone stops using Talons.

 

[Delance]

Considering we don't know where the Tri-System is, or how the Talon might have ended up there, how can we calculate how much time it would require?

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Striker's point was that Privateer 2 takes place 109 years after Wing Commander Prophecy, and that someone flying a Talon for that long wouldn't be alive when it was recovered. If the story involving the living pilot were included in the game, though, the fighter wouldn't have to be that old -- something like the Scimitar served for well over a hundred years. A Talon discovered in 2789 could easily be one built and/or operated in that era.

 

[Darkarbiter]

What does EA Replay mean to me?

Unfortunately, I don't share the shining hope and optimism reflected here. It strikes me as a cynical cash-in. It's an emulation of a second-rate port, bundled with other intellectual property from the era that happened to be ready to go. It's not a comprehensive collection, and the quality of the emulation remains to be seen. It shares shelf space, a release date, and a budget price with other retro collections (namely "Activision Hits Remixed," a collection of Atari VCS games, and the "Sega Genesis Collection," which is a similar, better-known 16-bit collection like EA Replay).

The little development effort that went into this project was very likely spent on packaging, distribution, and marketing. Personally, I would prefer to see some game design work on my retro collections whenever possible. A good example of this would be Namco Museum Battle Collection, which adds new modes and styles of play to the familiar emulated games. Failing that, it would be nice to have the best possible version of the game on display, like the Capcom Classics Collection Remixed, which was never previously possible on home consoles. EA Replay is too little, too late. Are we so hungry and desperate for Wing Commander that we'll take any scrap that's thrown our way?

I liked the Super Nintendo when it was new, and I really wanted to like Mindscape's take on Wing Commander, but it's easily the weakest version available. I knew it then and I know that it will not have aged gracefully. As much as I'd like to see a portable space shooter, this isn't going impress anyone. Reviews and young people will not be kind to the crude graphics and animation in this 15-year-old game, and I suspect it will be relegated to the bargain bin soon after the holidays.

You might think I'm being a little negative about this game. That might be true, but at least I'm paying attention to it, which is more than the bulk of the PSP-buying public is likely to do. I'll probably buy it eventually, even though I have the cartridges and can play the Genesis games anytime I want on my GP2X.

Best case scenario: EA Replay sells enough to justify its release, and emboldens EA to release other emulation packages with no risk and some potential reward. Will they look at the numbers and realize that space shooters are still popular with a certain segment of their audience? As much as I'd like to think so, all rational signs thus far point to NO.

*coughyoungpeopleslookatthegrahpics~~~*Cough
Im 13 and wing commander 1 still looks better then warcraft 3....