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Person who never played TIE Fighter, or Super Star Wars unsuccessfully comments on the history of Star Wars gaming 03 Apr, 2004 / Comments: 24

By Jake


There's a new editorial on TheForce.net about the history and impact of Star Wars games, and it seems to be wrong. The writer of the article talks about "early" Star Wars games failing to be "system sellers." Unfortunately, he's not talking about Rebel Assault, or TIE Fighter (which were at least "CD-ROM drive sellers"), and he's not even talking about Super Star Wars for the SNES. His definition of "early Star Wars game" is in fact Episode I Racer for the PlayStation 1.
You couldn?t rank a SW title back then with a Donkey Kong Country or a Doom game. Star Wars games then were mainly made for the simple Star Wars fan. You wouldn?t expect a SW game then to set sales records and sell out the first day of its release. It just wasn?t in the nature of a SW game to do such a thing. Come on, look at all of the PlayStation SW games like Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Power Battle, they are all laughing stocks.
Just for the record, in 1995 LucasArts was the #1 PC publisher in terms of market share, having 4 out of the top 20 titles of the year, due to Dark Forces, X-Wing Collectors Edition, TIE Fighter, and Full Throttle. Give it a read, and be confused.
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24 Comments

  • JBRAA on 08 Apr, 2004, 09:27…
  • JBRAA on 08 Apr, 2004, 09:26…
    >img src"http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/temp/virtual2.gif">
  • black_sheep on 07 Apr, 2004, 08:01…
    sorry to cut through the chat but-- is the sam n max 2 ad real or not ?!?!
  • Remi O on 08 Apr, 2004, 11:07…
    Yes. As stated many times in the comments of that news story. ?
  • grogmonkey on 07 Apr, 2004, 00:44…
    Jake, first you curse LEC's starwars games and then turnaround and defend them? i don't care what is said about those games, (though i will admit that the early ones were pretty good) the fact is that that LucasArts is making too damn many SW games and that has got to stop!

    how i miss adventure games:(
  • Jake on 08 Apr, 2004, 19:32…
    People seem confused. I'm not anti-Star Wars, I'm anti-crap.
  • jp-30 on 07 Apr, 2004, 03:27…
    I don't care how many SW tit;es are churned out, so long as LucasArts continues to develop its own intellectuial property at the same time.

    We've had Armed & Dangerous, Gladius, Wraith & Secret Weapons lately, with Mercenaries in the wings. This is all good in and of itself, the problem being we were all waiting for the resurrection of the Lucas Adventure Franchise.

    // waits //
  • scabb on 06 Apr, 2004, 17:53…
    I truly hope that this news post marks the start of some sort of continuing petty rivalry between Mojo & TheForce.
  • jp-30 on 06 Apr, 2004, 18:12…
    Well, that would sure suck for me. :-(


    ;-)
  • QueZTone on 05 Apr, 2004, 20:33…
    could someone of LucasForums restore my account as in send me my password to my email addy? the auto password retriever doesnt work (it says it does but i never receive my email)

    -- QueZTone
    ps.
    i like heinz tomato ketchup
  • Metallus on 08 Apr, 2004, 03:28…
    You should have the new pass now.
  • PirateKingChris on 05 Apr, 2004, 19:48…
    Idiocy is hilarious.
  • The Fool on 05 Apr, 2004, 07:54…
    When I read this article, I noticed that this guy has an uncanny ability to distort the perception of time. Reading his sentences makes me feel like Racer was released 10 years ago, and that a long time (a couple of years) passed between the release of SWG and KOTOR.

    I also believe that he is an agent of the LucasArts mafia, working for Don Nelson, on a mission to convince people that LucasArts = Star Wars since its begining.
  • csenosiain on 04 Apr, 2004, 13:19…
    You know, seeing this newspost(the mixnmojo one, not the TF.N one, it reminds me of the time when I like Star Wars games, when I was looking forward to the next X-WING sequel, or the next Dark Forces.
  • Darth Darthy on 04 Apr, 2004, 12:55…
    TFN have no idea about games. At all. In any way. Just read their reviews - they actually enjoyed Demolition (DC) and AOTC (GBA)?!? I didn't think that was humanly possible...
  • jp-30 on 04 Apr, 2004, 15:54…
    >> TFN have no idea about games. At all. In any way.<<

    Actually, while some of the old staff reviews are 'strange' most of the newer ones (Armed & Dangerous, SWON, Jedi Academy, KOTOR) seem on the mark. The guy that runs the /games/ section night4554 is very clued up and knows his stuff. And those of us on the games board are pretty clued up too.

    http://boards.theforce.net/Games:_Board_and_Videogames/b10005/

    Here's the thread about that editorial;

    http://boards.theforce.net/Games:_Board_and_Videogames/b10005/15432637/?20

  • Eets on 04 Apr, 2004, 11:55…
    What the **** is that guy smoking? :|
  • Dalixam on 04 Apr, 2004, 10:53…
    It's not very well written either. It's quite a challenge to get through the article as it's filled with grammatical errors, weird sentences, and obvious spelling errors. ("Won" spelled "One"). I don't think he even proofread it before submitting it.
  • LucasTones on 04 Apr, 2004, 05:52…
    This is one of those things that made me laugh properly. One of the newest, and quite good Star Wars games (not really made by LucasArts though) is Rebel Strike, which was released with a bonus disc containing the 1982 version of the Star Wars game. He failed to mention this game I think.
  • warmgun on 04 Apr, 2004, 03:29…
    At this point, the "fans" of star wars games have got to be those enamored with the universe and not necessarily the games themselves. This community is probably the only fans capable of writing an article like this, of showing any real interest or loyalty to Lucaslrts as a company and a creative force.

    Am I deluding myself into thinking that Lucasarts is going to regret having alienated us?
  • Remi O on 03 Apr, 2004, 22:41…
    Heh, it's that the early to mid 90s SW games often had great quality, the already mentioned X-Wing and Dark Forces being good examples.
  • Remi O on 03 Apr, 2004, 22:42…
    Add an "ironic" before "that". I blame Randy Breen for any typos. ?
  • jp-30 on 03 Apr, 2004, 16:47…
    I was going to write a counterpoint to that editorial too on the TFn Games board, but I haven't found the time as yet.

  • DMCBatman on 03 Apr, 2004, 15:56…
    I read that article at TF.N yesterday, and those were my thoughts exactly.

    How could he not mention X-Wing or Tie Fighter? Dark Forces OWNED Doom. This guy should be fired, because he obviously doesn't do his homework.