Articles

LucasArts Speaks 02 Aug, 2009 / Comments: 16

By Gabez


The Sam and Max 2 cancellation was the 9/11 of the LucasArts Fan Community. Afterwards, we experienced difficult times with an alarmingly protective administration. But now there's a new president, and it's time to catch up with what (if anything) has really changed.

As someone who has worked at LucasArts for twenty years, Mary Bihr was well placed to withstand our excessive interrogation. Observe.
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16 Comments

  • Rip on 18 Aug, 2009, 21:24…
    What a great example of coroporatespeak!
  • deadworm222 on 05 Aug, 2009, 01:18…
    I loved the way she didn't answer any questions. What a weasel, reminds me of my ex.
  • Jaap on 03 Aug, 2009, 17:57…
    A little bit more info on the involvement of George Lucas:

    "How much influence did George Lucas (and Steven Spielberg) have over the games LucasArts made? Did they help you in the design process, or were they too focused on their own movie projects?

    - They had other things to think about and mainly left us blissfully alone to do what we're good at. I can count the number of times I met with either of them on the fingers of one hand."


    http://www.telltalegames.com/community/blogs/id-143

    (not entirely what i was looking for though)
  • Jaap on 03 Aug, 2009, 17:51…
    Nice interview! However the supposedly involvement of George Lucas is bullshit. I understand they try to maintain the image that he is seriously involved (the company is named after him afterall), but I don't believe it. Even in the LucasFilms days there was hardly any involvement. I remember reading one of the plenty interviews with the MI ceators, and it was explained that Steven Spielberg showed more interest than Lucas himself. I'll do my best to try to locate that interview ;)
    The boomblox franchise indicates that spielberg really cares for games anyway :)
  • MrHarper on 02 Aug, 2009, 21:53…
    "We also have several unannounced projects in the works that we hope will excite fans"

    MI2:SE?
  • Jeff on 03 Aug, 2009, 20:38…
    This is what caught my eye. Lucidity is probably one, and MI2:SE could be another. But it'd be great if one was something we've heard nothing about (and something we'd actually be interested in). Ah I love it when LucasArts can be discussed in an exciting way.
  • jp-30 on 02 Aug, 2009, 23:03…
    Lucidity, for one.
  • Giygas on 02 Aug, 2009, 21:51…
    I think elTee belongs in an asylum, I mean LucasArts re-releasing old games and doing another Monkey Island? What was he thinking?
  • Udvarnoky on 02 Aug, 2009, 21:43…
    Pretty amazing and awesome to see Mojo conducting an interview with someone as high up as Bihr.
  • hierohero on 02 Aug, 2009, 21:33…
    Yeah didn't really get much out of that.. was hoping to hear their thoughts on MI:SE sales
  • Logic on 02 Aug, 2009, 21:00…
    Interesting read. It feels a little cold to hear the games referred to as "heritage titles", though I guess that's exactly what they are. Just goes to show how distanced Lucasarts became from those titles when adventure games fell off the agenda for a while and the people who worked on them left.

    If I have one plea to the company during this marvelous adventure-game renaissance, it would be to hire passionate and talented artists dedicated to drawings and luscious hand-painted goodness. MI1:SE is cool, but the art is a big step backwards from CMI for instance.

    So much of the beauty and character of the classic adventures came from rich, evocative 2D art. With screen resolutions and video cards as good as they are lately, the potential for immense 2D beauty has never been greater.
  • syntheticgerbil on 03 Aug, 2009, 14:49…
    Not only are they going to be selling "heritage products," but we must remind you that "we have teams working on games including the Clone Wars franchise, Lego Indiana Jones 2 and the Battlefront handheld game, and of course The Old Republic."

    Good ol' corporate pitching.
  • Kroms on 02 Aug, 2009, 20:13…
    Good interview, but did anyone else feel like they were in a shareholders meeting?

    Can't be helped, I suppose.
  • SurplusGamer on 02 Aug, 2009, 22:35…
    'the full spectrum of digital pipelines'

    Seriously... who talks like that?

    Still, it's nice to see us on speaking terms :)
  • Erwin_Br on 03 Aug, 2009, 20:33…
    Maybe they're going to re-release Pipe Dream?
  • syntheticgerbil on 03 Aug, 2009, 14:50…
    Maybe she's trained herself to talk like that in every situation no matter how casual or business like?