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EA "very cognisant of our past," haven't forgotten classic IP gems
Posted: 25.03.2011 12:02 by Simon Priest Comments: 2
EA Games label supremo Frank Gibeau swears they haven't got a selective memory when it comes to their catalogue, they remember the old franchises well.

They do "look at that stuff" from time to time, judging if it'd be right to bring it back. Have to be careful with things that look "nicer in the rear view mirror" he warns.

"Absolutely not," said Gibeau when asked if EA has abandoned its past. "I worked on Desert Strike and Road Rash back in the day on Sega Genesis so trust me I'm familiar with the IP history." Dungeon Keeper is becoming an MMO in Asia.

"When looking at a new bet, a new investment to make we always look at whether we should create a new IP, bring one back or have something in active growth right now that we can double down on."

"So we constantly look at ways to grow the recent category of titles like Burnout, Need for Speed, Road Rash are constantly things we think about. It's the same thing with the old Bullfrog IPs like Dungeon Keeper, Populous, Powermonger, Magic Carpet, I can go on. So we do look at that stuff and are very cognisant of our past," continued the boss.

If EA does bring any back then "the game has got to be good. I don't know about you but when I look back at GoldenEye, I think of it as this amazing game and the you go and play it and are like, 'Oh. Really?'." Nostalgic memory is dangerous for videogames.

"From our perspective we have to manage that element which makes things look nicer in the rear view mirror compared to what you have to do now in the modern day."

"Production values and game mechanics are very different than what you see on some of those IPs but trust me, it's a part of the asset of our company to have 25 years of IP and you'll see them come back in different ways at different times."

EA's latest release is Crysis 2 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this week. Rumours have Syndicate making a return and that Starbreeze Studios is handling the revival.

Source: CVG

Comments

By herodotus (SI Herodotus) on Mar 25, 2011
herodotus
They might look back with fondness, but the creature they quite often bring forth is the spawn of Satan ("C&C 4"). I'd like to see a re-make of this classic, but with quality and not profit margins as the focus.
By Eversor (SI Elite) on Mar 26, 2011
Eversor
Hmm, it would be good to have a re-make of a game like this.