Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming: The future of Star Wars games, TV, and comic books is ... Legacy?

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Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Saturday, July 01, 2006

The future of Star Wars games, TV, and comic books is ... Legacy?

I'm building a picture of what the new direction will be for the Star Wars franchise.

I may be off, but I think we're going to be seeing a whole lot of Star Wars Legacy.

What's Legacy? It's set more than a century after the defeat of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. There's been an extra-galactic invasion (by the Yuuzhan Vong), that forced the Galactic Alliance (what was the Republic, which was the Rebellion) to partner up with the Imperial Remant to repel.

"Decades later", the Imperials again proclaim an emperor -- albeit more of a figurehead than Palpatine ever was.

A hundred years after that, new Sith emerge from hiding, led by Darth Krayt, who's done away with the Rule of Two -- so now there are a bunch of equally deadly followers of the Sith out to destroy all that is good in the universe. The new Sith partnered with the Imperials, and have manufactured a war that puts the few remaining Jedi on the outside.

Where does this fit into comic books? Easy -- Dark Horse Comics (probably the best thing to happed to the franchise) just released a 25-cent teaser explaining the history, backstory, characters, weapons and ships of Legacy. There's a lot going in this expanded universe -- pirates, bounty hunters, a rebuilt Coruscant, a flourishing underworld, a brutal and organized Sith, a new Empire, Imperial Knights ("gray " Jedi who put the Empire before the Force), a class of Imperial pilots (akin to those in Battlestar Galactica), a twisted political Imperial family, and Stormtroopers that now encompasses far more than just human clones -- creating a vibe like Marvel/Epic Comic's in-need-of-resurrection Alien Legion series.

And this led me to the TV series.

I know Lucasfilm Shanghai is purportedly working on a top-secret CGI-only TV series. And there's supposedly a live-action TV show in the works. And I saw a concept sketch for character Konrad Rus, a pseudo pacifistic -- but highly political -- Imperial. The sketch looks identical to Henry Gibson (we're talking more than Marvel's Ultimate Nick Fury looks like Samuel L. Jackson). And that kicked off this whole train of thought.

What about gaming (ah, now I get to it)? Rumors are swirling that Bioware Austin is working on an MMORPG (the first for Bioware), and rumors also say that MMORPG is Star Wars themed. What better, richer, and more diverse way to use and expand on the strengths of the canon that with this thing called Legacy?

Think about it. An MMORPG with multiple factions/classes (Imperial, Galactic Alliance, Republic, Pirate, Imperial Knight, Sith, Jedi, Underworld, Bounty Hunter, Yuuzhan Vong) and races. Worlds, leveling that would "feel" organic to every raction/class, etc.

Like I said, I could be totally off, but I'm thinking this is the next thing for Star Wars comic books, games, and one or more TV series.

Hey, I know I'm right about the comic book ...

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SOURCES: Gamespot.com, joystiq.com, kotaku.com, Xbox.com, IGN, GameInformer, Official XBox Magazine, CNN, gamesindustry.biz, and others.

Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Saturday, July 01, 2006

The future of Star Wars games, TV, and comic books is ... Legacy?

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