What will the Next WC Game Be?
- Thread starter johnhawke
- Start date
ChanceKell
Rear Admiral
A galactic space war. Probably. EA. I like things simple.
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
I see many things... I see plans within plans.
I can forsee several possibilities that will result in new Wing Commander games. These are the most likely:
1 - EA develops or contracts a new Wing Commander game. Such a game would be developed for multiple next generation consoles, with a possible PC port. It would be a 'prequel' designed to play off the nostalgia of the 'classic' Wing Commander concept (fighting space cats). That is to say, it would be a 'prequel' ("Everyone likes prequels!")... but, and fanboys take note, an adaptation of Action Stations. Characters would be CGI, voiced by WC-familiar cast members if possible. The stumbling block here is Chris Roberts - EA doesn't believe that a Wing Commander game will sell without Mr. Roberts' name on the box. EA has shown interest in this sort of project in recent months, but they need to work out a deal to have Roberts 'executive produce' the game... and their ability to do that may depend on his movie career. NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE: NO FREAKING PROPHECY SEQUELS. The idea of a Prophecy 'trilogy' was dropped before Prophecy even came out.
2 - EA could develop (or be developing?!) a Privateer Online concept. One or more of several factors needs to come into play for this to go anywhere. The industry must continue to refuse to accept that MMPRPBLAURGHs are a fad, and insist on pouring money into them as the future of gaming. It seems likely that Worlds of Warcraft will extend the lifetime of the MMP craze for a short time, which could be enough for EA to invest money in Privateer. Another big help would be if Star Wars Galaxies... In Space! sells well (the 'space combat' addon dealy). If VerantSonyWhatever makes a boatload of money off of their Star Wars game, EA could put two and two together and realize that they own a franchise that's always gone toe and toe with the Star Wars sims. The random variable here is the fact that no one has done a succesful space combat MMP game. EA could look at Earth and Beyond as either proof that no one cares or proof that they should have done Privateer to start with. The fact that they eventually got around to making UO2 (OWOWOX... or... whatever) makes me feel better about their ability to look at previous stupid mistakes seriously.
3 - Someone somewhere who loves Wing Commander could enter a position where they can support the franchise. People who were fifteen when the original game came out are thirty now, and the people who were teenage fans in 1990 are going to start having more and more prominence in the gaming industry. This is not as stupidly far fetched as it seems - this is how Prophecy GBA came about. A team of people who liked Wing Commander so much petitioned EA to be able to do a port. Now imagine how great it would be if Raylight were a GameCube developer or a PS2 developer.
I did not say this. I am not here.
I can forsee several possibilities that will result in new Wing Commander games. These are the most likely:
1 - EA develops or contracts a new Wing Commander game. Such a game would be developed for multiple next generation consoles, with a possible PC port. It would be a 'prequel' designed to play off the nostalgia of the 'classic' Wing Commander concept (fighting space cats). That is to say, it would be a 'prequel' ("Everyone likes prequels!")... but, and fanboys take note, an adaptation of Action Stations. Characters would be CGI, voiced by WC-familiar cast members if possible. The stumbling block here is Chris Roberts - EA doesn't believe that a Wing Commander game will sell without Mr. Roberts' name on the box. EA has shown interest in this sort of project in recent months, but they need to work out a deal to have Roberts 'executive produce' the game... and their ability to do that may depend on his movie career. NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE: NO FREAKING PROPHECY SEQUELS. The idea of a Prophecy 'trilogy' was dropped before Prophecy even came out.
2 - EA could develop (or be developing?!) a Privateer Online concept. One or more of several factors needs to come into play for this to go anywhere. The industry must continue to refuse to accept that MMPRPBLAURGHs are a fad, and insist on pouring money into them as the future of gaming. It seems likely that Worlds of Warcraft will extend the lifetime of the MMP craze for a short time, which could be enough for EA to invest money in Privateer. Another big help would be if Star Wars Galaxies... In Space! sells well (the 'space combat' addon dealy). If VerantSonyWhatever makes a boatload of money off of their Star Wars game, EA could put two and two together and realize that they own a franchise that's always gone toe and toe with the Star Wars sims. The random variable here is the fact that no one has done a succesful space combat MMP game. EA could look at Earth and Beyond as either proof that no one cares or proof that they should have done Privateer to start with. The fact that they eventually got around to making UO2 (OWOWOX... or... whatever) makes me feel better about their ability to look at previous stupid mistakes seriously.
3 - Someone somewhere who loves Wing Commander could enter a position where they can support the franchise. People who were fifteen when the original game came out are thirty now, and the people who were teenage fans in 1990 are going to start having more and more prominence in the gaming industry. This is not as stupidly far fetched as it seems - this is how Prophecy GBA came about. A team of people who liked Wing Commander so much petitioned EA to be able to do a port. Now imagine how great it would be if Raylight were a GameCube developer or a PS2 developer.
I did not say this. I am not here.
TheRedDuke
Spaceman
TopGun said:
Eh, I dunno...I play WC because it's a flight simulator/space shooter, not a FPS. Besides, all I can think of is that stupid scene in the movie when Blair accompanies the marines aboard that Kilrathi ship. He's a pilot.
AdmiralHuang
Spaceman
I'd like a RTS game based on WC. But I think another space sim would be better for the franchise.
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
(In the 'traitor' version of the movie, Blair is the gunner onboard the Diligent. He goes onto the ComConn on his own to hunt for a signal he's scanned.)
Bandit LOAF said:
Part of that was from DUNE! I love that movie, and the book, and the games!
But as for the next WC game, IF there is one, it will be another Prophecy sequel. As for who will make it, it will NOT be EA. I am sorry, but I doubt they will continue their series anymore, despite how popular it was. That is the problem with a lot of these companies. They will continue game series that have absolutely nothing good about them (They should have stopped Final Fantasy at #8, IMO) and they will not work on games that have possibilities (Anyone heard of Shogo or Hardwar?) Wing Commander, if it continues, will be done with the help of Secret Ops and the creators of mods, who insist on keeping WC alive!
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
I'm pretty sure it won't - games are financed based on how much money they expect to make. Back in 1998, the idea of doing a sequel to Prophecy was dropped very quickly in favor of various multiplayer concepts (Strike Team, Wing Commander Online). Secret Ops was made for two reasons - it was a fairly cheap project to do and it had 'UO-style' potential to take off and become something incredibly profitable. EA was crossing their fingers and hoping that X-million people would download Secret Ops for free, creating a whole new way to sell games (subscribe to pay a few bucks each week for your new episode - would have been great, didn't work out).
EA is the only company that can publish a new Wing Commander game. They own the legal rights - no one else can do it. I personally doubt an internal EA team would be tasked with developing the next game (more likely it would be an outside console team hired by EA)... but it's certainly possible.
Sequels are based on cash flow, not on quality of the original. Shogo and Hardwar didn't sell. Space sims aren't selling. Final Fantasy *is*. Simple as that. EA will make more Wing Commander games the minute they think they'll turn a profit (or when they're in a position that requires they risk such a venture).
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
The difference between what we *want* and what we're going to *get* is important here.
You know, a Wing Commander 6 (chronologically speaking; or 7 or whatever you want to call it) wouldn't necessarily have to follow a "Nephilim trilogy". While I'm sure us fans are dying to know what happens, here's a scenario that's perfectly realistic:
1) The Nephilim, after Secret Ops, never show up again. Just as it's a completed mystery as why they showed up in the first place, it's an equally complete mystery as to where they've gone off to. Perhaps they're retooling their invasion plans for a future date, or it takes a long time to regenerate the wormholes. Assuming the Nephilim had contact with, say, the Kilrathi in the past, thousands of years between invasions isn't unreasonable. By then, of course, all of the current batch of characters will be dead.
2) Of course, this still leaves the fate of the Prophecy cast up in the air. Two possibilities of dealing with this. Either they could simply be shuffled around off scene, or to cameo parts at the most (as happens from game to game; new characters pop up, old characters simply disappear for misc. reasons), or they could keep the current cast but make a non-Nephilim-oriented story, or they could actually do a Nephilim story based on #1, thrown a thousand years into the future, making a clean break with current history.
So you can see, a continuation of the story doesn't necessarily imply Prophecy with better graphics/gameplay/multiplayer. LOAF has a pretty good point, though, about how a prequel game, or a radical departure on the gameplay formula (like an online component, "massive" or otherwise, or a genre bender) would probably have a better chance of making it through the strategic decisionmakers at corporate EA.
Something to consider, though. While I'm just speculating wildly here, it could be that there's hardly anyone left at EA who wants to pitch a WC game idea. If I recall correctly, a lot of the people who were really involved with WC were laid off, and a number of them probably want to move on to something fashionable and new and perhaps more commercially successful, so they can keep their jobs, and just for the sake of trying something new. Over time, franchises can be forgotten, even if they were once popular serial series, and be relegated to the dustbin of gaming history. It could well be that we won't see another WC game until someone 10 years from now decides they want to do a "remake" of classic 1990s gaming action, except with modern gaming technology like UltraMegaPrecision TriDimensional HyperTexel QuadScopic Light Acceleration XIV (TM) (as featured on the latest ATidia RadeForce 955900 XLPTRQ). Of course, someone with some actual knowledge of what goes on at EA today could perhaps provide speculation somewhat more grounded in facts.
1) The Nephilim, after Secret Ops, never show up again. Just as it's a completed mystery as why they showed up in the first place, it's an equally complete mystery as to where they've gone off to. Perhaps they're retooling their invasion plans for a future date, or it takes a long time to regenerate the wormholes. Assuming the Nephilim had contact with, say, the Kilrathi in the past, thousands of years between invasions isn't unreasonable. By then, of course, all of the current batch of characters will be dead.
2) Of course, this still leaves the fate of the Prophecy cast up in the air. Two possibilities of dealing with this. Either they could simply be shuffled around off scene, or to cameo parts at the most (as happens from game to game; new characters pop up, old characters simply disappear for misc. reasons), or they could keep the current cast but make a non-Nephilim-oriented story, or they could actually do a Nephilim story based on #1, thrown a thousand years into the future, making a clean break with current history.
So you can see, a continuation of the story doesn't necessarily imply Prophecy with better graphics/gameplay/multiplayer. LOAF has a pretty good point, though, about how a prequel game, or a radical departure on the gameplay formula (like an online component, "massive" or otherwise, or a genre bender) would probably have a better chance of making it through the strategic decisionmakers at corporate EA.
Something to consider, though. While I'm just speculating wildly here, it could be that there's hardly anyone left at EA who wants to pitch a WC game idea. If I recall correctly, a lot of the people who were really involved with WC were laid off, and a number of them probably want to move on to something fashionable and new and perhaps more commercially successful, so they can keep their jobs, and just for the sake of trying something new. Over time, franchises can be forgotten, even if they were once popular serial series, and be relegated to the dustbin of gaming history. It could well be that we won't see another WC game until someone 10 years from now decides they want to do a "remake" of classic 1990s gaming action, except with modern gaming technology like UltraMegaPrecision TriDimensional HyperTexel QuadScopic Light Acceleration XIV (TM) (as featured on the latest ATidia RadeForce 955900 XLPTRQ). Of course, someone with some actual knowledge of what goes on at EA today could perhaps provide speculation somewhat more grounded in facts.
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
If only LOAF had posted something.