Star Wars is back. But how will that shake out for videogames?
Following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm last year, the new owner of Star Wars has made no bones about its galaxy-spanning ambitions to continue the beloved sci-fi film series and even get solo character spin-off flicks into theaters. What it hasn’t said anything about yet are games. With Disney shutting down its Junction Point development studio as part of a concerted effort to turn the interactive division profitable, what does this mean for LucasArts? Does Disney’s pursuit of social and mobile games mean the death knell for epic-scale console versions?
Most importantly, we know J.J. Abrams will direct Star Wars Episode VII , but who’ll make the next big game?
Wired spoke to 17 creators, thinkers, designers and producers, most of whom have spearheaded some of the most original and innovative game designs of recent years, to ask them what Star Wars game they’d make if they had carte blanche access to the series. In the pages that follow, David Cage ( Heavy Rain), Jenova Chen ( Journey), Jake Solomon ( XCOM) and many more weigh in on what they’d love to see in the future.
And who knows: With the future of the franchise so up in the air, maybe some of these dreams will become reality one day.
Kim Swift, designer, Portal : I have a secret shame; I really like Ewoks. I’m often hesitant to admit this because I’ve caught hell from diehard Star Wars fans about that fact. I have also been playing a lot of strategy games lately so that genre has been floating around in my head. Based on that, the Star Wars game that I would create is an Ewok tower defense game called Def-Endor. I also like puns; I can already hear the collective groaning from the internet.
In Return of the Jedi, the Ewoks had really interesting defenses that would make for a compelling spin on the strategy game genre. In Def-Endor, you play as the tribe’s leader and you’re tasked to protect the village from an incoming invasion. Imagine building up your Ewok village, setting guerrilla warfare style traps, building look-out towers and preparing for waves of Imperial troops. Have I mentioned that Ewoks are awesome?
Derek Yu, designer, Spelunky : The best Star Wars game I’ve ever played is TIE Fighter, which put you in control of a pilot for the Galactic Empire. The space combat itself was superb, but what really made the game stand out was its unique portrayal of the Empire/rebel relationship from the perspective of a simple soldier (needless to say, the Imperials are the “good guys” in this story). I also liked that big-name characters like Vader were used sparingly but effectively — that kind of restraint is a hallmark of good design.
TIE Fighter could have been an entire series all on its own, but sadly it began and ended in 1994 — I’d love to see it resurrected for the modern era! Give me modern 3-D graphics with all the fixings. Give me an Oculus Rift, a microphone, and a good joystick and let me feel like I’m really in the cockpit. But maybe more importantly, give me a little more freedom between missions to look around and talk to my fellow soldiers and officers. For a flight simulator, TIE Fighter had a fantastic narrative and I’d like to see that pushed further in a sequel.
There’s a lot you could do with a dream game set in the Star Wars universe, but right now all I can think about is hunting down some rebel scum!
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Illustration: Simon Lutrin/Chris Kohler/Wired. Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired
My Favorite Decoration
Ashly Burch, voice actress, Borderlands 2 : I would pretty much just make a game entirely about Han Solo. Kind of like his origin story, and going through until the events of the last of the original series. Maybe you would alternate between being Chewbacca and Han Solo. It would kind of be like Serenity or Firefly but in a Star Wars universe. He’s so charming. He’s the guy, you know what I mean? His whole devil-may-care persona.
Rich Hilleman, chief creative officer, Electronic Arts: I know exactly what I want to make. To me, the most interesting part of the Star Wars saga is, what the heck did Han Solo and [Lando Calrissian] do when they were kids? I want the Han Solo juvenile delinquent game, which is basically about stealing spaceships, mostly. And then selling them. There was the hint of the other George Lucas, the one from American Graffiti. So what I wanted was the cross of Star Wars and American Graffiti, which is about Han Solo as a juvenile delinquent. So that’s my pitch.
Jake Solomon, designer, XCOM: Enemy Unknown : Being a Jedi is all well and good if you’re into the whole galactic choir boy thing. And yes, whipping out a lightsaber is always going to impress people. But Luke, Obi Wan and Yoda, while nice enough guys, aren’t exactly relatable. As characters, they are driven by destiny, by fate, by an all-powerful Force. That makes for a great story, but a great game needs to give the player a motivation that goes beyond some fabricated narrative. And if you’re looking for a powerful motivator, well, it’s hard to beat greed.
Han Solo is the real hero in Star Wars. He doesn’t have the Force, he wasn’t foretold by any prophecy, he’s just a regular guy trying to make an illicit living. In my dream Star Wars game, the player is a contemporary of Han Solo. Imagine building up a small team of intergalactic rogues, and then traveling from star port to star port taking any job that interests you (as long as it pays). Imagine Red Dead Redemption, Firefly, and Sid Meier’s Pirates! all rolled into one. Take some suspicious cargo from the edge of Imperial space and deliver it to some rebels right under the Empire’s nose. And then sell those rebels out to the Empire if you feel so inclined. Imagine some Diablo -style looting on the surface of a jungle planet, and then the race to find a buyer for your hard-earned goods before the market turns. And all that money will come in handy because you’re going to need a new ship. Your current one is much too slow, and much too recognizable to the rebels, imperial troops and various bounty hunters that are looking for you. Of course, once you get your hands on a new ship, the temptation to prey on the smaller vessels you encounter may be too much to resist. Next thing you know, you’ve developed quite the reputation around the galaxy as a pirate, a rogue and a very dangerous person. And that’s when the really interesting jobs start pouring in.
Amir Rao, designer, Bastion : I really want a Star Wars game about the Kessel Run. The smuggling underworld, and bounty hunters, and … all those expanded-universe characters. I think there’s a lot of richness there in the whole sort of non-Empire, non-Rebel Alliance story. I love the seedy underworld. The scenes in Jabba’s Palace are some of my favorite scenes. There are so many characters packed into such small screens that you wonder who they are and what they’re all about.
Illustration: Chris Kohler/Wired. Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired
On a Hero’s Journey
Robin Hunicke, producer, Journey : I think it would be interesting to make a game that modeled the Council, and the politics of the Council. Something that was a little bit strategic, where you could make pacts and votes and try to push the alliance’s agenda, try and save the Federation and make sure things are moving in the right direction. Maybe you could hire assassins and mercenaries. I’ve always wanted to work on a game where you had a social infrastructure, so it could be Facebook or something like that — but that most of the game took place over e-mails. So you could get an update, make a few choices and send the email back. Very simple.
Jenova Chen, designer, Journey : I want to play a tower defense game where I’m playing the Death Star. I’m going to defend from those force users directing a missile into my belly.
Kellee Santiago, producer, Flower : I guess to go with something different I’d make a game that follows the narrative of a young Princess Leia, and how she handled these issues with her parents, growing up as royalty and all these things. I would picture sort of an interactive narrative, Heavy Rain style.
Illustration: Simon Lutrin/Chris Kohler/Wired. Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired
S-Words
Jesse Schell, president, Schell Games: No one’s ever made a good lightsaber game. I would love to play a really good lightsaber game. My inclination would be like a PlayStation Move-like technology. Because Move for swordfighting, god damn is that good. That’s where my mind jumps first, because so much has been done with games in that space in that universe. A lot of that stuff’s been tapped. But the thing that never has really been nailed is the lightsaber experience. It’s really hard to do well.
Chris Hardwick, founder, Nerdist Industries: They should have the Star Wars version of a blacksmith, a guy who just makes lightsabers. I just like the mundane. Sabersmith. And it’s not really that exciting or compelling of a game, it’s just the idea that, well, someone’s got to make these things. And I know Luke constructed one but somewhere in that universe, there’s a guy who’s like, ah, I gotta forge another lightsaber. I have to trap light in the shape of a blade. “Can you make it blue?” Jesus Christ, three times you’ve had me change the color.
Tommy Refenes, designer, Super Meat Boy : It would be a multiplayer game called Jedi Mind Training. It’s not even a videogame and there can be any number of players. Team 1 consists of one player holding an axe handle while wearing a blindfold and nothing else. Team 2 members all have paintball guns. Team 2 members shoot paintballs at Team 1 while Team 1 tries to deflect them with the axe handle, identical to Luke’s training with the lightsaber and the little ball droid that shot at him while aboard the Millennium Falcon. Team 2 wins when they run out of paintballs and Team 1 can’t win.
David Cage, creative director, Heavy Rain : I would focus on the story and the characters, not on the swordfights. When there is an invitation of a movie game, usually the game developer tries to identify the mechanics they can use. Usually it’s about violence, so each time they fight with their laser sabers, it’s great, it’s very spectacular, let’s make a game around it. But Star Wars is much more than that. It’s not just about fighting, it’s about the destiny of these characters, it’s about how they interact, their relationships, it’s about all those things. So yes, there are some epic moments, some spectacular stuff. But it’s much more than that. So I would like to translate that into a game, and try to make sure that I convey the complexity of the relationship and the characters as much as I can.
On the Dark Side
Kepa Auwae, designer, Punch Quest : A two player Star Wars game, where instead of playing a character, it’s a simulator where you’re making a Star Wars movie. Player one starts with a basic script and design for their Star Wars movie, and has various elements they can to it. Add and customize a goofy alien sidekick. Shoehorn in an extra hour of romantic sub-plot. Choose between real locations or a green screen. Have Angry Birds or Dilbert make a special appearance in Star Wars: Episode VIII. Try to appeal to as many demographics as you can for a big box-office hit, while also establishing as many merchandising opportunities as possible.
Player two has to try to salvage the movie in the editing room.
Zach Gage, designer, Spelltower : It’s a funny question, to try to think about my dream Star Wars game. So much has happened to the franchise that it’s difficult to even really remember what made me love it so much to begin with. When I look back, both at the movies and videogames I enjoyed, I notice that a lot of them have one really particular thing in common: They’re unassuming. Star Wars is this really specific story set against the backdrop of a thousand worlds and a billion alien races. It shows them off for sure, but it’s not a show off. That’s why Boba Fett was so cool to begin with, he was just a side character, amongst a thousand side characters, all of whom were amazing, and all of whom would inspire young imaginations by their brevity. Now Boba Fett is a full character with an exploited backstory. So I don’t have an exact dream Star Wars game; I’d accept an adventure game, an RPG, a flight sim, a first person shooter, a puzzle game, or nearly any other genre you can think of, as long as it’s lovingly told, and doesn’t brag about how cool it is. I’d like a real story in an incredible world, not an incredible story in a boring one.
Adam Saltsman, designer, Canabalt : I mean, practically every game ever made is inspired by Star Wars in one way or another. Just because most of the licensed ones are a mess (except maybe Dark Forces and Episode I Racer?) doesn’t negate the fact that there are some pretty perfect Star Wars games out there already. Games like Sins of a Solar Empire feel very Star Wars y to me. FTL is a really good Star Wars game, I think. Ultimately I think the most interesting thing that anyone could do with a game is make something not inspired by Star Wars. And I say this as a passionate fan of the original trilogy and a lover of videogames!
Frank Lantz, director, NYU Game Center: As someone who grew up in the 70’s, and for whom science fiction was, and continues to be, an essential part of my psyche and worldview, I’d like to say, with all due respect, fuck Star Wars. What I’d like to do with the Star Wars universe is pull the plug on it. We don’t need any more Star Wars, we need something that does what Star Wars did — create something new out of old elements, something vibrant, stylish, gripping, alien and familiar, packed with more ideas than you could understand and more images than you could look at. We need more real science fiction, not the comforting domesticity of this nostalgic tranquilizer, this warmed-over buffet of flaccid fan-service. I never want to make, or play, another game or see another movie, cartoon, or lunch box set in that desiccated husk of a universe. That’s my dream!
Ryan Rigney and Andrew Groen contributed reporting to this story.
