LucasArts opening up vault for direct download of ‘classic’ game titles

Something something BattlefrontLucasArts announced via Twitter that they are going to be releasing many of their older PC game titles for direct download. The first batch of ten classic games, including Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, LOOM, Star Wars: Battlefront II and The Dig will be re-released on July 8 via Steam, the online delivery system from Valve Entertainment. Steam will also be the download system for the PC version for the upcoming Monkey Island remake The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, coming out July 15.

The full list of games being released on July 8 contains some classic graphic adventures, and some more recent action titles:

  • Armed and Dangerous
  • Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
  • LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure
  • LOOM
  • Star Wars Battlefront II
  • Star Wars Republic Commando
  • Star Wars Starfighter
  • The Dig
  • Thrillville: Off the Rails

This is only the first batch of classic LucasArts games to be released – and noticeably some popular game franchises are absent, possibly to be re-released in future batches: Maniac Mansion, X-Wing, Dark Forces, and Grim Fandango. No pricing information is yet available.

Meanwhile, the new Monkey Island game from Telltale Games, has its first episode coming out tomorrow, Tales of Monkey Island – Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal for PC. The Wii version will be released in the coming weeks.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis was also included as a bonus game in the Wii version of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, released in June 2009.

Morning news sarcasm: High culture, low culture

operaHigh culture, with bunnies. A friend of mine actually went to see this production of Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre involving lightsabers, but us uncultured barbarians are probably better off with Chuck Jones and DVDs.

High culture, geek edition. Does the world really need another Tolkien book? Apparently, yes.

It’s on TV! Variety’s Season Pass blog has a great interview with Lost‘s Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. Sorry, no snark here: If you watch the show, this is a must-read.

Video games. Bad reviews make creators sad? Come on guys, you work for LucasArts. Embrace the pain.

Indiana Jones game – not so canceled?

Video game site Kotaku discusses the trailer for the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings video game, coming for Wii, Nintendo DS and Playstation (likely for PSP). While previous rumors had indicated that the Indiana Jones next-gen video game that had been in development for years had been canceled, perhaps some of the story elements from that game got pushed into this one. Lao Che, Nazis, and ancient treasures — Indy’s back in action!

Rumor: Indiana Jones game canceled?

IGN had multiple sources saying that the in-development Indiana Jones game has been canceled. Kotaku has a vague response from LucasArts that could mean anything.

I’m not sure exactly how long it takes to make the things, but I believe the last we heard of it was early footage/teasers for it around the same time as The Force Unleashed was getting teased – back before Celebration IV. I’m inclined to write it off… Particularly after the long, rumorful runup to the The Old Republic announcement, or the years of buzz overload (okay, there were a few delays) that paved the way for The Force Unleashed. On the other hand, with Bioware handling TOR and TFU out and about, maybe Indy is next up on the LucasArts plate. No doubt we’ll hear something… eventually.

KOTOR MMO announcement on October 21st?

Gamasutra reports that LucasArts and Bioware are holding a media event at LucasArts’ San Francisco office on October 21st. They describe the invite:

The postcard, which proclaims “The wait is over” and promises “the official unveiling of the game that’s been rumored about for years,” makes no explicit reference to Star Wars. It is branded with the LucasArts and BioWare logos and depicts floating robots and hooded figures in futuristic interior locations reminiscent of the sci-fi franchise.

It certainly sounds (and looks!) like KOTOR, but I guess we’ll see… (via)