Can "Classic" games make a comeback?

[Coldren]

I am the happy owner of a recently purchased console game... The latest in small, little known franchise called Street Fighter. Street Fighter 4, to be precise.

It's absolutely astounding what a perfect rendition this game is of the original Street Fighter 2 I used to love and play in arcades and on my SNES. I was able to put the game in, and instantly pick up where I left off with my favorite character. It's as if the muscle memory built up after years of playing it as a youngin' hadn't faded a day. The best part was, all the core mechanics that you loved are there, but there's just a llllliiiiiiitttttlllleee twist here and there to make it feel "new" while keeping the "old school" feel. The added ability to play online against other players with a ranking system is just the icing on the cake. And last, but certainly not least, I think it's drop-dead gorgeous to look at. Needless to say, I'm enamored with it. And so are approximately 2 million other people, according to this article.

This makes me wonder, is this a unique case, or is it repeatable? Could it be possible to take everything that many of the "Old school", Classic Shard proponents, Freeshard players, and Darkfall fans of UO want, beef it up with modern graphics and techniques, and have the same effect, while at the same time drawing in a new generation of players who have know only WoW?

In such hard economic times, John Riccitiello (EA CEO) said in a recent DICE presentation that they must "Decide What Is Important", "Invest in that List", and "Cut the Rest". Given the fact that UO is over 11 years old, and still has a fan base capable of sustaining a profitable MMO, wouldn't it make good fiscal sense to invest in sequel? An MMO that would have the same type of staying power, but capable of drawing in a larger base? While some may argue UO has the staying power, can it be said that it is drawing in a younger audience, or very many genuinely new players?

Perhaps it's time to take the formula for a proven MMO, improve it, punch it up, and see what happens.

Just a random thought. Discuss!

 

[Myphsar]

When i first got my Xbox 360 the first game i downloaded was streetfighter 2.
I love the fact that i can play others online with one of my all time favourate games,
Not tried streetfighter 4 yet.

 

[Deaol]

I don't believe it would work in the case of "UO" to produce a "sequel" as there would be to many people whose investment into this game would goto waste, in their eyes, hence why new clients are being developed that incorporate the last 11 years...

 

[4th3ist]

This makes me wonder, is this a unique case, or is it repeatable?

In the case of UO, of course it would be repeatable. The game would be an instant success, and even if it didn't retain popularity after launch EA/Mythic would probably make MILLIONS just on box sales from people picking them game up at the store simply from hearing about UO "1" for eleven years.. The fact that "officially" the game has retained 100k or so players for 11 years and the private servers probably have hundreds of thousands more, well... I think it'd be a safe investment on EA's part.

However, I don't think it will EVER happen. The UO legacy will live and die with its first rendition. I doubt there will ever been a UO2. Personally I don't think this is a bad thing either.. I don't think I'm ready to tackle a UO2, I'm still learning new things and having a blast in UO every day to this very day. I think by the time I've grown out of UO, I will be satisfied in the genre enough that I won't be pioneering UO2. Not to say others here won't be some day

 

[Coldren]

I don't believe it would work in the case of "UO" to produce a "sequel" as there would be to many people whose investment into this game would goto waste, in their eyes, hence why new clients are being developed that incorporate the last 11 years...

Too many people whose investment into the game would go to waste? How so?

1) I doubt they'd shut down the original. Why kill a cow you can still milk?

2) Odds are pretty good that those who play UO2 would never play UO1. If not, the would be playing it now. There's untold millions of MMO players out there, but is it accurate to state that only the 100k or so that currently play UO1 would ever play it?

The question is one of Cost of Opportunity. And to make it clear, I never want to see the original UO stop growing. I'd likely play both. But from a business standpoint, how much can be GAINED, not SUSTAINED, by investing in a sequel rather than resting on the laurels of the original? What would the cost involves really be, since the changes and improvements made in a sequel could not be made in the original?

 

[Bara]

It would be brilliant to make a uo 2.

It would be wise.

 

[Coldren]

When i first got my Xbox 360 the first game i downloaded was streetfighter 2.
I love the fact that i can play others online with one of my all time favourate games,
Not tried streetfighter 4 yet.

You'll LOVE Street Fighter 4. I didn't download SF2 Remix because I had heard 4 was so much like the original. I'm glad I waited.

 

[Violence]

I can only say Street Fighter 4 is a brilliant and so far unique example of sequels staying so close to the original, yet at the same time being x100 more enjoyable both in graphics and game-play.

Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike still remains my favourite but this one is right next to it.

Third favourite would have to be Tekken 6: Bloodlines, followed closely by the new Soulcalibur, the version with Darth Vader as a special character(PS3?).

Anyway sorry, a bit OT.

 

[Coldren]

I can only say Street Fighter 4 is a brilliant and so far unique example of sequels staying so close to the original, yet at the same time being x100 more enjoyable both in graphics and game-play.

Exactly my point.. And I'm wondering if it's truly that unique, or if it can be repeated with, say.. UO.

Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike still remains my favourite but this one is right next to it.

Third favourite would have to be Tekken 6: Bloodlines, followed closely by the new Soulcalibur, the version with Darth Vader as a special character(PS3?).

You know, I never played any of those games. Maybe I should look them up sometime. Thanks!

 

[Alezi]

A proper 3D client with gameplay adjusted to work with it = win.

Kingdom Reborn is ****.

 

[Sunrise]

two words..

Classic Rock.

I go back and play those games I spent TONS of quarters on...Now its so much easier to just find them on the web and play them for free...UGH the money.

But for the next generation...They need the WOWs and the WARS and ever other cutting edge game out there..Hey didnt we also? Remember pac man? Can U see yourself being 15 again and paying to play pac mac over and over again in todays day and age?

For UO. Leave UO the way it is. Im still waiting for UO2. I do see where you are going...but UO will never be the WoW game. It has its cult following. Thats where UO is now and will be until they pull the plug. Which to be honest with you will be a long long time from now...


EDIT: classic games have made a comeback. I still check out the web to play pac man..dig dug...heck paperboy etc etc to just name a few.... Now its free instead of many many quarters but still..it brings back a time and place for me...and its also nice to finally beat the dang games...when back then I couldnt...Ran out of money...

 

[Heartseeker]

Coldren I would love the Classic back.

Close to the original as possible.

 

[rwek]

I don't know, but Diablo 3 is being made. Those were always good for a couple weeks entertainment.


town kill FTW!

 

[rwek]

Oh, just remembered. Did you watch the movie King of Kong?


What a bunch of nerds, but it really made me wish i had a classic machine to try their scores.

That whole company/organization that hosts the world record scores is so corrupt and lame.

 

[ColterDC]

Even if they made UO2 it would still have the same problem as the current UO.

EA would be in charge.

 

[Violence]

If you want to go further back in time, give "Garou: Mark Of The Wolves" a try. I think you'll love that one as well.
I personally did not like any of the "Guilty Gear" games, but keep that series in mind as well.. Just to expand your horizons.. ;D

PS > Mortal Kombat also goes way back, with the most recent addition(MK Vs. DC) being the 2nd best in the series in terms of general feeling.

 

[Fink]

A proper 3D client with gameplay adjusted to work with it = win.

Kingdom Reborn is ****.

What do you regard as "proper" 3D? An example would be...?

 

[Coldren]

What do you regard as "proper" 3D? An example would be...?

He likely means non-isometric. Think WoW.

To be honest, I don't know that a new game would need to be 3D, persay. That would be a pretty drastic change from the original, and hence, lose some of that classic feel.

I mean obviously, new, high-texture poly-count graphics would definitely be needed. But 2D or 3D? You know I'm not really sold on 3D. Unless, of course, you make 3D models that are capable of being played in 3D, but allowed you to switch between Isometric and 3D on the fly would be interesting.. Play in Isometric, take beautiful screenshots in 3D. If you think about it, SF4 kind of did that. They're 3D rendered models but you play in 2D.

Sarphineea(sp? Sorry!) showed what some really cleaned up 2D artwork could look like. Take that, and add a bit more depth and texture, and I think that would be just gob-smacking beautiful. I like the 2D "Style".

The one thing I always liked about 2D and didn't like about KR was proportion. Things just didn't seem to be the right "size" to me in KR. Hard to articulate.

 

[Silverbird]

Maybe we are having luck with it:
- Blizzard bought the license for a remake
- Their announced 'next-generation-mmo' is actually a remake of our uo.

Sorry ... couldn't resist ....

 

[Coldren]

Maybe we are having luck with it:
- Blizzard bought the license for a remake
- Their announced 'next-generation-mmo' is actually a remake of our uo.

Sorry ... couldn't resist ....

I've been hoping they'd go Sandbox with their new MMORPG, but something tells me they likely won't. It'll likely be another theme park.

I'd agree. I'd love to see them make UO2.. Hell, I'd like to see ANYONE make UO2...

 

[Hemisphere]

What do you regard as "proper" 3D? An example would be...?

He may also have been referencing the fact that KR is by no stretch of the imagination "3D". 3D implies, at the very least, that the character and environment models are constructed with polygons (emphasis on the plural - a single polygon with a 2D image projected on it doesn't count).

A lot of people misunderstand that the KR client is 3D, especially when the legacy client is continually referred to as "2D" (which is itself a legacy from the time when the alternative client actually was 3D, or at least had polygons in it )

 

[Zyon Rockler]

I don't think games make a come back as much as they do build off of each other. Games are basically systems that are put together in a certain way that allow us to interact. So, by using the same system it's not really new and it's not really different at all except for in ways of graphics, music, and sometimes the concept is tweaked.

I think if we look at the history of computer games, starting with the first to some of the most largest and realistic ones we have today, I think we can still find alot of the same systems being used in all of these games.

Sometimes, game technology can surpass what it was meant for. I remember buying Janes F-15 and reading that its' capabilities were top secret, so, they would not all be available in the game version. This is proof that games are much more than they appear to be.

One of the first games I ever played on a computer was text only and you followed a story line and the world image was created in your mind. For example: You were on a beach you would picture you were on a beach. So, already I think we began to design what the perfect game would be and graphics was the next step, then sound, and then finally internet.

I think UO captures all of these things in a unique way and says here we got everything we need but for some reason they left it go and other games were able to improve upon the same ideas creating a long list of spin offs.

If UO 2 had been created it probably would have been the biggest and best game ever. It's just ashame they didn't have a chance to evolve.

Now, when we play games we still picture in our minds what we want and unless these things are added and the game is changed to those visions it will be seen as something less than a game that does more.

So, it is not only an opinion that Street Fighter was a good game but it is a fact that it is now a better game and as long as it can do that the game will never be forgotten.

UO 2, UO Oddessy and any other UO that was scrapped and all the ideas that came about because of UO will eventually be incorporated into a game system. If EA doesn't do it then someone else will profit from these ideas.

 

[Lost-Soul]

sure they can... I play my gametap account all the time. Has plenty of old games. Even had the original Ultima games awhile back. For those who don't know they add new content all the time based on contracts for liscenses with old/out of date companies.

 

[Coldren]

If EA doesn't do it then someone else will profit from these ideas.

Couldn't agree more, and that's kind of what I was alluding to. If EA doesn't capitalize on some incarnation of an updated UO, someone else will.. And it will be profitable.