Cross-Contaminated Media: Star Wars

Star WarsWelcome back to Cross-Contaminated Media, a series in which I explore successful franchises that have made the transition to video games from other media, and vice versa. I know that in my previous article I promised that I would look at Blizzard’s franchises, but I felt that it would be appropriate, given the recent release of the Ultimate Sith Edition of The Force Unleashed, to take a look at George Lucas’ eminent sci-fi empire.

When the original Star Wars movie was released back in 1977, few predicted that it would become the massive entertainment juggernaut that it is today. For good or ill, George Lucas had the foresight to retain international merchandising rights, and once video games were beginning to enter prominence as an accepted form of entertainment media, LucasArts was founded to capitalize upon this new venture.

LucasArts didn’t find its early success with Star Wars titles, though; in its beginning days it was well known for its clever and inventive adventure games ranging from Maniac Mansion to Monkey Island. The first Star Wars title produced in house was X-Wing in 1993, a fairly deep space-combat simulator made for the DOS operating systems. Though the graphics and game-play appear dated now, the game is still highly regarded in fan circles with the TIE Fighter game being declared the favorite of the series.
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GamerSushi Asks: Adventure Games?

monkey-islandOne of my favorite old school genres had to be the point-and-click adventure games for the PC. I remember when I was a kid I used to love playing games like Police Quest, Space Quest, Maniac Mansion and Myst. Myst especially changed the way I viewed video games, with its hauntingly quiet atmosphere, its hefty brain teasers and creepy story of two sons. I for real used to play that game for hours at a time.

However, I never played The Secret of Monkey Island until just the last couple of weeks, when it re-released in a special edition form on XBox Live Arcade. I’ve always heard great things about it, but I’m finally getting to experience the games charms for myself. It really has some brilliant writing, great characters and some laugh-out-loud moments.

The crazy thing is I’m realizing just how much I miss these kinds of games. How cool would it be if all of those old school games started re-releasing with new coats of paint? I’d play the heck out of them, that’s for sure. So what about you guys? Did you ever get into those old school point-and-click games? What were your favorites? Go!