Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
The three things I love in life: Star Wars, Video Games, and Star Wars Video Games. But this question has been on my mind lately. Are Star Wars video games considered canon? Since all Star Wars games are made by LucasArts, which is a company George Lucas owns, does that make anything featured in these game officially part of the universe? Or are they more in the realm of the EU?
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
posted
With Trek, it's the Series, Movies, and technical manuals based directly off the series and movies- The cartoon series is never included in canon. Novels, games and other anything else is non. Since Lucas does have full control over the games, mayhaps? I would say no- Unless George also comes out and blesses the game and flicks some water on it and announces that all shall consider it part of the Star Wars Universe.
Registered: Dec 2005
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-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
I'm pretty sure that the overall storylines of *some* of the games are meant to fit in with the movies and be a "real" part of the universe. For instance, the events in the game, "Shadows of the Empire" happened, but the fact that the main character died 50 times and was miraculously resurrected over and over again to continue the adventure, didn't happen. "Shadows" was always meant, as far as I know, to be the movie that was never made and thus, all of it's elements were meant to work into real universe.
Obviously, the games that allow you to replay the movies are not canon and should be considered on an ElseWorlds level.
posted
Wait, was "Shadows" a game or a novel first? Because I have the book, but I don't remember a game.
quote:...all Star Wars games are made by LucasArts...
Not quite. Sure, they've made most of them since they've been around, but they certainly didn't make the first games, like the vector graphics one where you ran the trench run 50 times. (You want that one canon, too?)
posted
Hell yes: the Empire had a Death Star mass production line- at least 100 stations and the TIE fighters werre all using some new weapon that looked like a pom-pom was thrown at your ship...
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
"Shadows" was a game, a novel and a comic book series all at the same time. As I recall, they worked as independant stories themselves, but you had to give George Lucas your money for all of them in order to get the whole story.
OnToMars
Now on to the making of films!
Member # 621
posted
Kyle Katarn is a good example of a game growing into about as near as canon as can be.
Kyle's now a fairly regular Jedi, getting mentioned in the New Jedi Order, getting a line or two some where near the end, and actually shown interacting with everyone else in the Dark Nest trilogy, after the NJO.
-------------------- If God didn't want us to fly, he wouldn't have given us Bernoulli's Principle.
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
There is no definitive answer to the question. Some of the games are indeed directly tied into the main fiction as behind the scenes sub-plots (like Republic Commando, which follows a "special ops" team of clone troopers up to the battle of Kashyyk featured in Ep. 3). Others, however, are simply there to try to recreate one element of the SW universe to provide fun for the player (read "simply there to annoyingly redundantly recreate the Hoth battle sequence or Death Star trench run to fatten the Lucasarts treasury and milk the consumer"). The SW franchise has been shamelessly exploited on everything from toothebrushes to BK cups, and the games are no exception. Every now and then they release a good one that ties into the "real" story, like Republic Commando, the Rogue Squadron series, or Knights of the Old Republic (although this is debatable as they take place 5000 years before the films). They also, however, have released completely backwards nonsensical steamy piles of gaming crap, like Jedi Power Battle (picture Street Fighter with Luke and horrible physics/controls).
Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
How is the concept of Jedi Power Battle an exploitation of the franchise? Leave the game quality, and the crappy name aside. It's just a fight game that lets you fight as Star Wars characters with their weapons and powers. So? It's obviously not supposed to tie in with the movie continuity.
If the game quality sucks, than the developers should've done a better job, but that doesn't mean the concept exploits the franchise.
posted
Grrrrr.... I have beef with anyone who says the Clone Wars cartoon is not canon.
-------------------- Blaze da finest weed in da shire... I shake my trekbbs at flare.solareclipse.net
Registered: Mar 1999
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
TOPACE.PLT > LUKE SKYWALKER
Registered: Nov 1999
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
I've played Kotor 1 and in the process of finishing off Kotor 2, that game is so damn confusing it gives me migranes, it's not hard to play, but the storyline makes my head nearly explode. that and there's a few bugs, definately not one of Lucasarts better titles. The Dark Forces and Jedi knight series, i agree are very close to canon, I started reading the NJO books last week, i'm nearly done Star By Star. Only two chapters left, and i started it yesterday.
I'm not sure if Lucas has an active role in the production of these games, but I'm sure that he reads the scripts and approves the story before the game is made. Who knows, he may even play the odd game when he's not too busy making money.
The only recent games I've played were Battlefronts 1 and 2. I've played many of the older ones such as TIE Fighter, X-Wing, a little bit of XW vs TF, Dark forces 1, 2, Jedi Knight 1, 2, and 3 (Jedi Academy) Star Wars Rebellion (it's a good game really!)Shadows, Rogue Squadron. and I'm sure there two or three i can't remember right now.
As for the clone wars cartoon, it has tie ins to the movies so it must be canon, for example: I wondered why General Greivous was hacking and wheezing through the movie, and I found out why by watching clone wars.
Cartman, is TOPACE your X-Wing Alliance pilot?
My pilot, Ooga Magooga is better than Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles, and Darth Vader all rolled into one. He's personally vaped more TIEs than all of Rogue Squadron combined.
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
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