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EA Is the Game Company Disney Was Looking For

Posted by samzenpus on from the may-the-force-pad-be-with-you dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Electronic Arts announced today it has landed an exclusive multi-year agreement to develop and publish games based on Lucasfilms' Star Wars universe. EA said the it will create and publish Star Wars games for a 'core gaming audience' across 'all popular platforms' and genres. The EA studios creating those 'core' Star Wars games are Battlefield developer DICE, Dead Space developer Visceral Games and Mass Effect house BioWare."

42 of 254 comments (clear)

  1. Great... by SanDogWeps · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now all EA games will come with free misery AND a Force Choke...

    1. Re:Great... by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Insightful

      EA promises to do for Lucas Arts what Disney pledges to do for Lucasfilm.

      This is following the lead established by McDonalds - and what they've done for beef.

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    2. Re:Great... by failedlogic · · Score: 2

      Free? .... "misery And Force choke? Really, Free?! I think you'll have to pay EA for these as DLC on first day. And chances are, the game won't run without misery.

      Sooner or later, you'll have to pay to have a player that walks and runs - $1.99 each.

      I haven't played the online Starwars mmporg, but the original Bioware Knights of Old Republic I & II (save for a few annoying characters ... which seems the norm for the SW universe .... ) were among the best games I've ever played. Now EA owns Bioware, which means Bioware cannot be any better than any EA game. Sigh.

    3. Re:Great... by 24-bit+Voxel · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Same here. For me, if it's not on steam it doesn't exist. And since EA isn't on steam... well... it's as if hundreds of games screamed out in isolation and were suddenly silenced.

    4. Re:Great... by westlake · · Score: 4, Insightful

      EA promises to do for Lucas Arts what Disney pledges to do for Lucasfilm

      You hear any Marvel Comics fan complaining about Disney? Didn't think so.

    5. Re:Great... by Dahamma · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, to be honest Disney will be hard pressed to mangle the Star Wars franchise any more than George Lucas did.

    6. Re:Great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Presumably that's why they hired EA.

    7. Re:Great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't have problems with DRM per se. I do have problems with DRM when it becomes disruptive. Steam isn't disruptive. Sometimes there are glitches in their system, but occurrences are few and far between nowadays, I can't really remember the last time I have had a problem. It allows people to install their games on an unlimited number of computers regardless of os. Game updates are reliable and unobtrusive. They give the little guy massive help by making sure indie games get as good exposure as the triple a titles. Not to mention the fact that they always have something on sale.

    8. Re:Great... by Totenglocke · · Score: 4, Informative

      Check out Good Old Games (gog.com). They're all DRM free and that's where almost all of my game purchases are anymore, because I despise companies punishing people for buying their product.

      --
      "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
    9. Re:Great... by VanGarrett · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If all DRM were implemented the way it is implemented with Steam, then we wouldn't be having such heated arguments about DRM.

      --
      Learning about brewing beer, by brewing beer.
    10. Re:Great... by Desler · · Score: 2

      Marvel's stories deal with darker, more complex, and more adult issues. These are issues that Disney is not accustomed to working with.

      Miramax was part of Disney for 17 years. You have heard of them, right?

    11. Re:Great... by geirlk · · Score: 2

      I forgot to answer the claim of "...and an internet connection, even for single player".
      That is simply not true. There is offline mode. It works. And it can be enabled _after_ you lose connection, albeit it's a bit of a hassle then.

      As with most DRM services, you do have to log in every once in a while to update the info.

    12. Re:Great... by Mike+Frett · · Score: 2

      For me, if it's not Cross Platform (Win,Mac,Nix) then it's useless. Seriously, there isn't any reason NOT to have Cross Platform, more money is better than limited money from a single Platform that may or may not continue to exist in a few years, since XNA and DirectX is pretty much dead now, not to mention limited to a single Platform whereas OpenGL is available to all. Bottom line, there is more money to be made by being Cross Platform; It's also my understanding that a certain company actually pays Devs to make their Games exclusive.

      Thing is, the money given to them for being exclusive could probably be made up by being Cross Platform. So it still doesn't make any sense to be so single-platform minded. I mean, I've been thinking about making a small Game Company, but we're not going to develop for just one Platform when more Money can be made from multiple platforms. Not to mention more exposure and fans, a non-evil Company is what we're aiming for =)

      By the way, you don't think this EA agreement had something to do with the Jedi Knight source code being removed from SourceForge do ya. Not that it matters, everybody has it now and I've been playing Jedi Academy with the Linux port.

    13. Re:Great... by geirlk · · Score: 2

      How so?

      Are you claiming you have _no_ internet connection? WTF do you use Steam/digital distribution for then in the first place?
      It is still not "always online" SP.

    14. Re:Great... by mythosaz · · Score: 2

      Bioware still makes great games, despite EA owning them.

      They've spent pretty much the last DECADE making two games -- Mass Effect and Dragon Age -- both of which were, in a word, awesome. [Some argument can be made about the ending of ME3 being weak, but it doesn't ruin a great franchise.]

      Before that they did such duds as Neverwinter Nights and KOTOR.

      EA or not, I'll eat whatever Bioware is serving with a smile.

  2. Battlefield: Star Wars by SirSlud · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Make it happen.

    --
    "Old man yells at systemd"
    1. Re:Battlefield: Star Wars by doctor+woot · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Make it happen.

      You've never played Battlefront?

  3. Lando Reaction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This deal is getting worse all the time.

  4. Well, they needed an evil empire... by DanielRavenNest · · Score: 4, Funny

    And with Electronic Arts, I guess they found one.

    1. Re:Well, they needed an evil empire... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Presumably a decision made to take advantage of the local cheap ewok labour. A lesson in outsourcing for us all.

    2. Re:Well, they needed an evil empire... by Imrik · · Score: 2

      I feel obliged to point out that the shield in question was intended to protect it while it was under construction, not while it was in use. Also, to reach that shield they needed authorization which may have included letting them through the local planetary shields.

  5. Mediocrity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And so the lineage of mostly-forgettable Star Wars games continues unabated...

    1. Re:Mediocrity by grimmjeeper · · Score: 2

      Oh no, they will be very memorable. If they're anything like the latest Sim City, expect them to blow up like the Death Star.

  6. Merchandising within merchandising by Dynedain · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can see the tie-ins now... Star Wars Sims: Make your Ewok's spend less time brushing their teeth with Crest!

    --
    I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
    1. Re:Merchandising within merchandising by dufachi · · Score: 2

      Where's My Force Lightning?
      An anthropomorphic tie-fighter movie
      The full Episode 4 using Disney iconic characters with the witch from Sleeping Beauty as Darth Vader
      Star Wars Social - beg your friends to help you outfit your own Jedi college that randomly gets murdered by a rogue Jedi turning to the dark side.

      --
      -Kinsey
    2. Re:Merchandising within merchandising by White+Flame · · Score: 4, Informative

      The full Episode 4 using Disney iconic characters with the witch from Sleeping Beauty as Darth Vader

      Her name is Maleficent, which is a pretty cool villain name to know.

  7. Is Disney Blind? by ohnocitizen · · Score: 2

    Why go with a company who has been making the news for broken games and abrasive customer service? Are executives at Disney really ok with taking such a big risk on such a valuable property?

    1. Re:Is Disney Blind? by gl4ss · · Score: 2

      Why go with a company who has been making the news for broken games and abrasive customer service? Are executives at Disney really ok with taking such a big risk on such a valuable property?

      maybe the deal is such that disney makes money no matter what.

      the only game company stupid enough - and with enough cash going around(even if they're not making cash well) would be EA.

      I'm not holding my breath for another TIE fighter classic though.....

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Is Disney Blind? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Why go with a company who has been making the news for broken games and abrasive customer service?

      Because EA is still making more money than $RANDOMDEITY, because the average gamer doesn't really give a shit and will happily buy Medal of Duty: Call of Honor 15: Infinite Titanium Xtreme as soon as it hits the shelves after a period of no beta testing.

  8. EA DRM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    EA's DRM will now stand for Darkside Rights Management

  9. evil + evil = by citylivin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Profit!

    Time to buy some stock!

    --
    As a potential lottery winner, I totally support tax cuts for the wealthy
  10. Ongoing boycott by CmdrEdem · · Score: 2

    Since EA said it would require Simcity to be always on (Yeah, I predicted correctly that shit would hit the fan at launch just like Diablo 3) I started boycotting EA. Luckily I`ll always have the back catalog of awesome Star War games. Farewell Star Wars games, may the force be with you. And I`m not talking about Starforce.

    --
    This combination doesn`t exist: ETIs that know about humanity and want to see us dead. Otherwise we wouldn't exist.
  11. The death of Lucas Arts wasn't painful enough... by celest · · Score: 2

    Because the death of Lucas Arts wasn't painful enough for Star Wars fans, we can now look forward to all future Star Wars games being in the Origin-only, Rootkit-DRM enabled, online-at-all-times failboat that is EA's formula. Or is my lack of faith disturbing?

  12. xwing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Say goodbye to modding any star wars games, and hello to paying through the nose for DLC.

    Oh well. I just hope they re-make X-Wing.

  13. Losing optimism on Disney and Star Wars... by runeghost · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As a casual Star Wars fan, I've tried to stay upbeat about the sale of Star Wars to Disney. After all, as my friends and I keep telling each other, "It can't actually be worse than the prequels, right?" But I've watched announcement after announcement with trepidation. J.J. Abrams directing? Clone Wars unceremoniously canceled and the people making it let go? Now the universally-loathed EA is to be in charge of the gaming wing of the franchise? (I'm expecting Disney to cancel Dark Horse's comics license as soon as they legally can, if not sooner.) Star Wars has had a great many ups and downs over the years, but there have been some amazing stories along the way. I fear that the Mouse is going to steamroller that whole universe into bland commercialism for the rest of my life.

    1. Re:Losing optimism on Disney and Star Wars... by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      I would love for a Starship Troopers reboot that was more true to the book. I mean, they even had the nerve to call them "cap troopers" in the movie when they rode down on boats. And of course there was the whole lack of powered armor thing.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  14. Re:two wrongs dont make a right by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 3

    Apprentice. Disney was the primary advocate and beneficiary of the Sonny Bono Act.

  15. Who cares? by Animats · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Who cares? This franchise is way past its sell-by date.

    Looking forward to the new Honor Harrington movie.

  16. X-Wing or TIE Fighter game, please by BTWR · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That's all I want, not another Star Wars: Battlefront game. KOTOR was great, but I don't need another one. XW and TF were 2 of the greatest games ever made. X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter was a letdown and X-Wing Alliance, while good, wasn't as good as its predecessors.

  17. Lens flare ^ 2 by dstyle5 · · Score: 2

    Given the supernova suns DICE implemented in Battlefield 3 plus J.J. working on the next Star Wars movie, the DICE Star Wars game is going to require sunglasses to play. If you want to save your eyesight, that is.

  18. EA is the game company by alteveer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...that Disney deserves.

  19. Re:Star Force by Tyrion+Moath · · Score: 2

    I don't get it. What does a vertical shooter by Tecmo have to do with Star Wars or EA?

    Wrong Starforce. He meant the one that destroys your CD drive.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarForce