LucasArts canceled at least 20 Star Wars games over the years… here are their logos

Posted on July 29, 2013 by John Scalzo

starwars-canceled-logosThe book Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts was first published in 2008, but I guess no one bothered to look at the appendices until All Games Beta did today. There, in Appendix C, they found concept logos from 20 canceled Star Wars games. Wow!

It’s likely that most of the logos were designed for games that only existed as part of a collection of pre-production documents, but some of them have interesting stories behind them…

  • Star Wars: Vader was an early version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (players could still play as Darth Vader during the game’s tutorial level). “The Force Unleashed” was originally a working title and it’s likely many of the logos pictured (Jedi Hunter, Dark Jedi, Rebel Fury, Jedi Rebel, Rebel Jedi, etc.) were alternate titles for the story of Vader’s Dark Apprentice.
  • Star Wars Jedi Knight III: Brink of Darkness (or the similarly logoed Star Wars: Jedi Outlaw) would have been been the fifth game in the extremely popular Dark Forces series.
  • Star Wars: Underworld shares a name with the long-in-development Star Wars live action television show. It was eventually announced as Star Wars 1313, which was canceled after LucasArts was purchased by Disney.

Personally, I’d love to know what kind of game Star Wars: Scum and Villainy was being developed as. You can find the complete list of canceled titles after the break.

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Posted in News |

Daily Scoop: July 29, 2013 – Nearly August!

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Nicole Kline

It’s nearly August, and you know what that means… it’s nearly time for PAX Prime! The PAX 10 was just announced, and one of my 2013 darlings, TowerFall, is on the list! I couldn’t be more excited. Congratulations, Matt Thorson!

Amazon is having a few decent deals today. The featured ones right now are Dishonored for $19.99, Metro Last Light for $39.74, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition for $39.99. Scoop ’em up!

There are a few great t-shirts up today…

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Fez II canceled as Phil Fish quits game development

Posted on July 29, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Phil Fish is one half of Polytron and the outspoken developer behind Fez, a highly acclaimed puzzle platformer released on the Xbox 360 and PC last year. During this year’s E3 Expo, Fish announced that he had begun work on a sequel, Fez II. But over the weekend, things between Fish and the gaming public turned ugly and he has canceled Fez II. In fact, Fish has decided to get out of game development completely. In a statement on Polytron’s webiste, he wrote:

FEZ II is cancelled. i am done. i take the money and i run. this is as much as i can stomach. this is isn’t the result of any one thing, but the end of a long, bloody campaign.

you win.

The dustup started after Marcus Beer, the “Annoyed Gamer,” tore into Fish on the latest episode of Invisible Walls, his show on Game Trailers. Beer was angry at Fish for refusing to comment on Microsoft’s recent Xbox One policy change allowing indie developers to self-publish their games on the system. Actually, describing Beer’s tirade as “angry” might be underselling it. It was much closer to verbal abuse.

Fish, quoting a line said by Bender on Futurama, told Beer (via Twitter) to kill himself and promptly canceled Fez II. Phil Fish has endured a lot of criticism from gamers over the years. Some of it is fair and some of it isn’t. But it looks like his battle with Beer was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Unless Fish changes his mind and tries to play the whole thing off as a PR stunt.

Posted in News, PC |

Tearaway release date tears away into November

Posted on July 29, 2013 by John Scalzo

tearaway-boxesMedia Molecule has announced that Tearaway, their Vita-exclusive platformer, won’t be available on October 22. The game, set in a world created in a papercraft sty;e, will now be released on November 22.

According to Rex Crowle, Media Molecule’s Creative Lead (via the PlayStation Blog), the Tearaway team just needs a little more time to polish the game up and to “tie all of the mechanics, story and amazing visuals together into the adventure that we want you to play.”

But Crowle is confirdent that they can do it and also said: “Here at Media Molecule we love to make new things on new platforms. To us, making games is a real labor of love. Our very blood, sweat and tears are poured into every pixel, every line of code, every note in every song, and every little post it note we use to plan our lives.”

We’ll find out for sure on November 22.

Posted in News, Vita | Tagged

Nintendo files new trademark for downloadable Eternal Darkness game

Posted on July 29, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Precursor’s Kickstarter campaign to fund Shadow of the Eternals, a spiritual sequel to Eternal Darkess: Sanity’s Requiem, is now entering its second week. Backers have pledged $164,517 to the project, almost 22% of Precursor’s goal. They just might make it. But Nintendo may beat them to the punch with an official sequel.

The publisher filed a new trademark application for “Eternal Darkness” with the US Patent and Trademark Office on July 23. But wait a minute, you might ask, doesn’t Nintendo already own the trademark to Eternal Darkness? It’s true, Nintendo already owns the trademark to Eternal Darkness, but this new application specifically adds “downloadable electronic game programs” and “downloadable electronic game software” to the list of products the trademark would apply to.

Before we all jump to conclusions, this application could be something as uneventful as Nintendo covering their bases in case they someday wanted to create a downloadable Eternal Darkness expansion. But it could also mean that their plan to add GameCube games to the Wii U eShop is finally coming together. Or, yes, it could be that Eternal Darkness sequel we always wanted.

I guess we’ll just have to sit back and wait.

Posted in News, Retro | Tagged

Fan petition wants Reggie Fils-Aime as a fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4

Posted on July 28, 2013 by John Scalzo

reggiebowser3dsHere’s something fun for your Sunday afternoon. A group of petitioners on Change.org want Nintendo to add Reggie Fils-Aime to Super Smash Bros. 4 as a playable character. Fils-Aime is Nintendo of America’s hulking President and is affectionately referred to as “The Regginator” by fans.

The petition was created for the game’s director, Masahiro Sakurai, who has stated that several new characters will find their way into the upcoming Wii U and 3DS game. So far, Sakurai has confirmed that a villager from Animal Crossing, a Wii Fit trainer, and Mega Man will be added to the fighting franchise’s roster. I’ve got to admit, including Reggie in a Smash Bros. game sounds pretty perfect. After all, the man introduced himself to the gaming press at E3 2004 with one of the greatest lines ever: “My name is Reggie. I’m about kickin’ ass, I’m about takin’ names, and we’re about makin’ games.”

The petition is currently sitting at 4,232 supporters. It may not be enough to convince Nintendo to include Fils-Aime as a playable character in a Smash Bros. game, but maybe he can be included in some other way.

Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U | Tagged ,

Weekly Warp-Up: Business Decisions Edition

Posted on July 28, 2013 by John Scalzo

No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…

This week is all about major business moves, so get set to hear a bunch of executivespeak.

Activision can now be considered an “independent” company because CEO Bobby Kotick and other investors have bought the company from Vivendi for $8 billion. And speaking of the indie movement, Microsoft has decided to allow independent developers to follow Sony and Nintendo’s lead. Reversing a previous policy decision, Big Redmond has announced that indie developers will be able to self-publish their games on the Xbox One.

Finally, Precursor Games is taking another crack at funding Shadow of the Eternals, their spiritual sequel to Eternal Darkness, through Kickstarter. Those crazy kids have been through a lot, but they just might do it this time.

That’s all the business news we’ve got, but you can find even more of this week’s new news after the break.

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Posted in News |

New Releases: Terraria: Collector’s Edition

Posted on July 28, 2013 by John Scalzo

terraria-boxIt ain’t The Smurfs 2, but we’re in for another week with only one new retail release.

This week, gamers can look forward to Terraria: Collector’s Edition, an “action-packed sandbox adventure,” for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Originally added to the PlayStation Store and XBLA in March, the Collector’s Edition of Terraria comes complete with a game download code (which requires an Internet connection) a 2GB USB Stick shaped like a pick-axe, an exclusive “Items Crafting Poster,” and a set of Velum Character Stickers.

We’re definitely in for some more variety next week.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged