VIDEO Dark Times for Star Wars gaming...

Bright times for gaming at those days, but not now...

Playstation 1 has Dark Forces, Rebel Assault 2, Masters of Teras Kasi (exclusive), Demolition, Phantom Menace, Jedi Power Battles. Playstation 2 has Starfighter, Jedi Starfighter, Bounty Hunter, The Clone Wars, The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, Battlefront I & II, The Force Unleashed, Revenge of the Sith, Racer Revenge (exclusive), Super Bombad Racing (exclusive), some Lego Star Wars games. On N64 we have Shadows of the Empire, Racer, Rogue Squadron and Episode I Battle for Naboo. Nintendo Gamecube has Bounty Hunter, Jedi Outcast, Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (exclusive), Rogue Squadron III - Rebel Strike (exclusive), The Clone Wars and also two Lego Star Wars games. X-Box has Obi-Wan (exclusive), Republic Commando, Battlefront I & II, Knights of the Old Republic I & II, Starfighter: Special Edition, Jedi Starfighter, Revenge of the Sith, The Clone Wars, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, also some Lego Star Wars games. Playstation 3 - The Force Unleashed I & II, The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, some Lego Star Wars games - NO EXCLUSIVES. X-Box 360 - Star Wars Kinekt (exclusive), The Force Unleashed I & II, The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, some Lego Star Wars games. Nintendo Wii - The Force Unleashed I & II, The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, some Lego Star Wars games, Star Wars the Clone Wars: Light Sabre Duels (exclusive). Nintendo DS - Lethal Alliance, Revenge of the Sith, The Force Unleashed I & II, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron, The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance (exclusive), The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, some Lego Star Wars games. Sony PSP - Lethal Alliance, The Force Unleashed, Battlefront II, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron, Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (exclusive), The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, some Lego Star Wars games. PC has more than 50 games, most of them exclusive...

Now - Nintendo 3DS - NOTHING... Nintendo WII U - NOTHING... PS Vita - NOTHING... PS4 & X-Box One - only new Battlefront... PC - new Battlefront and The Old Republic. Some games for mobile phones (nothing serious) ...

Dark Times for Star Wars gaming...

 

Exaggerating much? Games these days take longer to make, especially AAA games as SW is now. You can't just push out 4 console SW games in a year. Games these days are bigger and graphically superior, so more time is taken to make a game good. EA has 5+ studios working on SW games. Visceral has been working on one for 3 or so years, apparently open world. Starting next year is when console SW games will start hitting big. So no, not really a dark time for SW gaming. I'm content with the current gen. I don't wanna feel overwhelmed and not know which game to play. We got Lego TFA this month, and some new Battlefront DLC. That'll more than tide me over for a while, on top of that The Old Republic on PC to play.

 

It's true that those were the golden years of Star Wars gaming. A lot of good games, some really great. I still play Battlefront 2 these days, and I have warm memories of Jedi Power Battles as well. My only wish is that we would have gotten more post-NJO EU games while the time was there for them. Alas, alas.

 

OP is absolutely correct in my opinion. EA has the license for the next decade. So yes, it is indeed the dark times for SW gaming. EA didn't earn the title of, "Worst Company in America," multiple years in a row for nothing.

If their Battlefront is any indication, it's no wonder people have serious doubts. It's ratings are mediocre at best, and having personally owned it since launch (played since beta), it's very apparent why they missed the mark. They aimed the game at casuals and nostalgic SW fans, but omitted any meaningful offline gameplay. Something the original BF games excelled at. Therefore they throw all the casual gamers/SW fans in with the competitive FPS players, and churn out a frustrating experience that instead of fulfilling SW fantasies turns the people who MOST want immersion and fantasy into canon fodder for the try hards who only care about their K/D ratio.

So far as I'm concerned the game has an identity crisis, as it tries to be something for all ranges of gamers from casual to serious, yet excels at none of them. It's dumbed down load out system and run and gun style of gameplay will leave series FPS players wanting something more. And the try hards who live to rek noobs will be a major turn off for the casual who just wants to run around on the beautiful Endor map, but can't seem to get 10m out of the spawn without being crushed over and over and over.

Anyway, if the approach they took with Battlefront, which seemed to be a jack of all trades master of none style of game, is any indicator of the approach they will take moving forward, I expect we will see further mediocrity. And more upset Star Wars fans. Dark times indeed...

 

some of us do not like mmo's. we need something for people that want a story

 

TOR plays more like a single player game than an MMO, but that's fine if you don't like the genre. Just be patient, and in a year or two we'll have a great open world SW game.

 

I did play TOR some, but I hate grinding

 

I wouldn't mind a council version of TOR.

 

With EA owning the license, I will say these are dark days indeed for SW. What we Know so far is back in 2012, there were at least five SW games being worked on, then came the closing of LucasArts. We won't be seeing an increase of SW games till 2018 is what I am thinking. There will be at least one game released in 2017. With the release The Force Awakens and Rouge One coming out, there will be a demand for more SW games other then Lego and Battlefront. The real question is will the games be of real quality and game play, or will the company just fall back on safety with what they know will work until it gets even more deluded and watered-down.

 

No, we'll have half of an open world SW game, the other half being kept back for season pass DLC and specific shop exclusive pre-orders. EA

 

Well, Battlefront 2 was announced for release in 2017. So as you mentioned, there's definitely at least one.

Plus EA has Motive Studios and Visceral Games working on titles right now as well. Though I don't know the time frame for those two.

If I'm remembering correctly EA said something about 6 different SW titles in development. No idea about time frames, or how many more they will make in the next decade while they still have the license.

 

I totally agree with the OP. At least Lego Star Wars IV looks fun

 

And no Mac game ever. SWTOR is stil being worked on(patches etc.), but no Mac port.

 

Battlefront 2 was the one I was talking about. Yes there are a couple of games they are working on, but I believe they will not be released till 2018, or might be released in late 2017 near the holidays.

 

I don't play many video games, so I have no comment on that. However, if any of you have a my curiosity in Star Wars tabletop games, we're in an absolute golden age right now. X-Wing, Imperial Assault and The Edge of the Empire RPG have become some of my all time favorites.

I know it's not the same as video games and I'm not trying to derail the thread, but I just wanted to throw this out there.

 

2003-05 was the GOAT time for anything, especially SW video games. Battlefront 1 and 2, Lego Star Wars, KOTOR 1 and 2, Republic Commando, and Jedi Academy! Miss the golden age so much... the new Battlefront is the most disappointing game of all time: no Clone Wars era. In the words of the legendary Charles Barkley- Come on, man!

 

Yeah, its a pretty sad era, although Star Wars gaming has been in decline for years. TFU was probably Lucasarts last big project, and TFUIII was already cancelled before TFUII was even released, despite ending on a cliffhanger. EA getting it didn't do it any favors either.

Battlefront looks great, but I have no interest in multiplayer or in getting killed over and over by skilled players, or even worse, hearing their insults over voice chat. There's a chance some of the other EA studios will come up with something, but with the reboot, I'm expecting it'll all be focused around the OT, and don't care about seeing the Battle of Hoth again.

I don't think we even got a quick TFA game to cash in on TFA's release, did we? That's how bad things are. Lego Star Wars is coming out with a TFA adaptation soon, but aside from that, nothing else interesting. Sadly the easiest profit is on mobile, so that's where there is the most activity, but not really worth paying attention to. They even got rid of Tiny Death Star, I think.

SWTOR is... ok, but its a huge step down from KotOR I or II. Doesn't help that the story is ok, but doesn't reach the heights of either of those games, and as an MMO is decent, though recently the MMO aspects have been neglected, so neither side (KotOR fans or MMO players) are super-happy.

 

Wait until EA's E3 conference next Sunday ...

 

E3 looks pretty gloom to me, with many pulling out. But with the Satellite Wars going, some stations show coverage of it at high levels while others cover it with little to show or none at all. Direct vs Dish.

 

Nah, E3 is still going to be the major showcase week. EA is just following Nintendo and Bethesda's steps by holding their own show that just happens to be conveniently timed for the same week as E3. That way they cash in on the goodwill and hype without having to pay any overheads to the show runners. It's evil corporate genius.

And if you think that EA are going to go this weekend without showing off their biggest pre-existing license then you've got another thing coming. Even if their next Star Wars game is only coming in 2018 you should expect a pre-rendered CGI trailer announcing it this year. Star Wars Battlefront was revealed in 2013, and that 40 second trailer was a minor miracle for EA share prices. I'd also expect to see the VR Battlefront title at the Sony conference.

There'll probably be more meat for hungry fans to chew on in the next month than they have seen in years.

 

I think the Star Wars license shouldn't be an EA exclusive.

 

I honestly don't see it being that different to the license being used under the sole discretion of Lucasarts. Really, after 2005, what did the Star Wars brand being under the complete control of one entity do for the franchise?

Ironically enough two of the most beloved Star Wars games were developed by studios that went on to become EA subsidiaries, Bioware and Pandemic.

For all of EA's problems I do believe that Battlefront demonstrated some promise. There were no micro-transactions or hidden costs, the game actually worked at launch (contrary to Dice's other recent efforts) and EA were pretty upfront about everything. This isn't me forgiving the lack of content at launch, I've been very vocal about how in a world where Overwatch and Splatoon exist there is no right for a game to come out at full retail price with only four environments then charge for the rest of the maps. That being said, Battlefront was made in two years and was clearly rushed out of the door to coincide with the new movie. The rest of the titles in development have been in the oven alongside Battlefront, so will naturally have had a longer gestation process by the time they see release. I honestly think they have a good chance at being strong titles. If they don't then, well, EA wont have any excuse to hide behind. We just have to wait and see before we pass final judgement on their tenure as the go to Star Wars developer.

As bad as EA can be we've already seen a radical improvement on latter day Lucasarts. If nothing else they actually did what many people wanted and released a new Battlefront game, instead of commissioning one and cancelling it multiple times, resulting in the closure of several development houses. Were the titles Lucasfilm had in development at the time of the Disney buy out the phoenix rising from the ashes that many people hoped for? That's for alternate universe us to decide. All I know is that we've already seen a tremendous improvement over the cynically corporate baloney that was...

 

EA also ruined those two subsidiaries. Pandemic was a shadow of their former self as soon as EA acquired them, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten the pathetic attempt at Tolkien meets Battlefront that was The Lord of the Rings: Conquest. BioWare is only getting by through shear force of will.

DICE Battlefront isn't a Battlefront game, otherwise it wouldn't have been an arcadey run and gun third person pew pew fest with almost no content. I fail to see how that was any better than Kinect Star Wars.

 

I haven't nothing against EA, but I think: more licenses=more videogames and differentation. We could have canonical games by Disney and Legend games.