Thursday, September 5, 2013

Raiders Of Lost Games...







Lucasfilm licensed their Star Wars gaming rights to Electronic Arts recently...

And even though the company is primarily known for that property, and it's primarily why the Mouse bought the company, it's not the only property they are known for.  Kathleen Kennedy was the mover/shaker behind this decision with EA, dispite everyone thinking it was motivated by Iger or Horn.  They did sign off on it, but the decision was hers.

She's the one who initiated the deal for the three games (yes, three) that EA are working on.  But one has to wonder where the deal will go.  Again, Lucasfilm isn't known just for these characters.  Kennedy knows that and wants to expand the brand within the Disney empire over time.  It's one of the reasons she is moving forward with Gary Rydstrom's animated film.  Hopefully somewhere down the line she'll get to work on cultivating more Man in the Hat possibilities.

You all know my long wished dream of an animated series/movies based on George Lucas' inspired hero.  But there are other uses for him. The last decade has shown that Lucasarts didn't know what to do with this property.  "Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings" was a waste of an amazing character and a squandering of time for anyone playing it.  If you wanted to play an Indy game, you had to have a PS3 and you needed to own a copy of  "Uncharted".

I've talked about this before, but if only Naughty Dog were in charge of coming up with a game or series of adventures for the famed archeologist, then we would get the game we've all been waiting for.  Now that Lucasfilm has handed over the rights to their most famous creation, what will they do with their next most famous IP?  Now this is speculation combined with geek dreaming.  I have no knowledge that anything like this will happen.

But what if Kennedy likes what EA is doing?  The direction that the games they're working on could lead to alternative opportunities.  The idea of licensing other properties could be suggested.  Maybe even game designers in the companies many divisions could pitch a form of this to her.  Would it be out line to think that someone at DICE or Bioware wouldn't want to create their own Uncharted?  And with the original character that inspired it?

With teams that have worked on "Battlefield 4" and "Mass Effect 3" with all their talent, couldn't this become a possibility?  How many game developers with the various divisions wouldn't jump at the chance to create a game like that?  Imagine the mythos they would be working with?  The stories could involve old characters on new adventures, recreations of old adventures, or expansions of entirely original stories.  

What about a new game on Raiders of the Lost Ark with expanded story elements, Temple of Doom where you could play as Short Round, or an adventure with Indy finding the Spear of Destiny or the City of the Gods?  The possibilities are endless.

The treasure awaits someone willing to go on the journey...

2 comments:

Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir said...

A game featuring the exciting exploits of Henry Jones Jr. by Naughty Dog would be most excellent!

Urban Myth said...

Staff of Kings is soooo lame. It is lifeless. I wonder if any of the people that worked on tI ever played Uncharted? I picture them going: "Oh, this is how it was supposed to be."


Naughty Dog PWND Lucasarts

Uncharted OWNS Indiana Jones Staff Of Kings


Hire some away from Sony if you want it right!