Monday, Dec 29, 2008
Some times some very interesting titles are canceled by their developers and this leaves gamers waiting for these titles disappointed. Some of these titles that I was looking forward to are:
1. Tiberium
The second first person shooter to be set in the Command and Conquer universe, Tiberium was being developed by EA Los Angeles and was set for release in Autumn of 2008, that is, before it was canceled because it didn't meet quality standards. I'm not really an RTS player, and my only link to the CnC universe was through CnC Renegade which was the first FPS game to be set in the CnC universe. I, along with many other gamers I'm sure, was very disappointed at EA's decision to shut this project down.
2. Starcraft Ghost
I believe I first saw the trailer for this one in the Diablo 2 expansion CD (could have been a StarCraft disk too.. don't really remember). The moment I saw the gameplay and graphics (back THEN, obviously) I knew I wanted to play this game. Unfortunately, the game seems to have been "shelved." Though there have been statements from Blizzard talking about how the game is not "technically" canceled, its future seems unclear and even if it is released a few years from now (once Blizzard takes care of the more "high profile" titles) it won't be the same game I was looking forward to (it may be better, but won't be the same
).
3. Stargate SG-1 The Alliance
A game about Star Gate SG-1. I had been waiting for this for a very very long time. Unfortunately, and yes you guessed it, it was canceled a few months after I found out about its existence. I probably would have enjoyed this game.
4. Fallout 3 (Van Buren)
This was a game I did not find out about until media from the "now released" version of Fallout 3 started pouring in. I first found a few videos of the tech demo on youtube and in my opinion this wasn't very bad. Although I like the new Fallout 3, I always wonder how Van Buren would have turned out if it had been given time to be polished and refined (and completed, for that matter).
So, why did I just waste 10 precious minutes of your life (give or take a few) listing things you may already know? Well, it was necessary to provide that information in order to present my point for writing this blog:
A SECOND CHANCE???
Should these projects (along with others) be given a second chance?
"Yes," I say, these games deserve a second chance but how? Most of the games are canceled either because of their quality (which directly influences their ability to make a profit) or because of financial issues. How can these games be given a second chance, a new life?
The answer:
MODDERS...!
Yep, the very people who spend their time developing new games or modifying old ones so that we, the gamers, can play them at no extra cost. There are over 4000 mods listed at moddb and their numbers are rising every day. From simple mods that add one or two gametypes/assets to complete games good enough to rival the game they were developed for, it wouldn't be an overstatement if someone said that modders are the future of the gaming industry.
I say the developers should give these projects to select modders (people who have shown exceptional skills with modding in the past) and see where they take them. Especially Tiberium and SG-1 The Alliance would particularly benefit from this given the number of modders out their skilled in using the Unreal engines.
The developers "owe" at least this much to their fans. It's not like handing over everything from these project would hurt them in any way (I mean come on, they weren't even using these) and I'm sure they can find modders that are willing to complete these projects for free and distribute the final games to the gamers eager to get their hands on them for free as well.
Note: I'm fairly certain that my voice will not be heard by the developers from this blog, but I needed to say this somewhere
, Thanks for being a good audience.
1. Tiberium
The second first person shooter to be set in the Command and Conquer universe, Tiberium was being developed by EA Los Angeles and was set for release in Autumn of 2008, that is, before it was canceled because it didn't meet quality standards. I'm not really an RTS player, and my only link to the CnC universe was through CnC Renegade which was the first FPS game to be set in the CnC universe. I, along with many other gamers I'm sure, was very disappointed at EA's decision to shut this project down.
2. Starcraft Ghost
I believe I first saw the trailer for this one in the Diablo 2 expansion CD (could have been a StarCraft disk too.. don't really remember). The moment I saw the gameplay and graphics (back THEN, obviously) I knew I wanted to play this game. Unfortunately, the game seems to have been "shelved." Though there have been statements from Blizzard talking about how the game is not "technically" canceled, its future seems unclear and even if it is released a few years from now (once Blizzard takes care of the more "high profile" titles) it won't be the same game I was looking forward to (it may be better, but won't be the same
).3. Stargate SG-1 The Alliance
A game about Star Gate SG-1. I had been waiting for this for a very very long time. Unfortunately, and yes you guessed it, it was canceled a few months after I found out about its existence. I probably would have enjoyed this game.
4. Fallout 3 (Van Buren)
This was a game I did not find out about until media from the "now released" version of Fallout 3 started pouring in. I first found a few videos of the tech demo on youtube and in my opinion this wasn't very bad. Although I like the new Fallout 3, I always wonder how Van Buren would have turned out if it had been given time to be polished and refined (and completed, for that matter).
So, why did I just waste 10 precious minutes of your life (give or take a few) listing things you may already know? Well, it was necessary to provide that information in order to present my point for writing this blog:
A SECOND CHANCE???
Should these projects (along with others) be given a second chance?
"Yes," I say, these games deserve a second chance but how? Most of the games are canceled either because of their quality (which directly influences their ability to make a profit) or because of financial issues. How can these games be given a second chance, a new life?
The answer:
MODDERS...!
Yep, the very people who spend their time developing new games or modifying old ones so that we, the gamers, can play them at no extra cost. There are over 4000 mods listed at moddb and their numbers are rising every day. From simple mods that add one or two gametypes/assets to complete games good enough to rival the game they were developed for, it wouldn't be an overstatement if someone said that modders are the future of the gaming industry.
I say the developers should give these projects to select modders (people who have shown exceptional skills with modding in the past) and see where they take them. Especially Tiberium and SG-1 The Alliance would particularly benefit from this given the number of modders out their skilled in using the Unreal engines.
The developers "owe" at least this much to their fans. It's not like handing over everything from these project would hurt them in any way (I mean come on, they weren't even using these) and I'm sure they can find modders that are willing to complete these projects for free and distribute the final games to the gamers eager to get their hands on them for free as well.
Note: I'm fairly certain that my voice will not be heard by the developers from this blog, but I needed to say this somewhere
, Thanks for being a good audience.Some people just don't have opinions. Like jariullah.
jariullah must really love MovieTome and agree with every review we've ever written! What other reason could jariullah possibly have for not rating a single film?
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