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5 Classic PC games begging for the iPad treatment
Yesterday, the fantastic iOS port of Knights of the Old Republic received full MFi controller support and cloud save functionality that lets you transfer progress from one device to another (like when you upgrade your iPad, for example). Combine those features with the revamped HD visuals and a few other tweaks the game has received since its iOS debut, and the iPad is now the premiere platform on which to experience one of the greatest western RPGs ever. The iPad, in all of its current incarnations, is a powerful tool for productivity, but what's becoming more and more apparent is that it's the perfect platform for yesterday's PC games to receive a second life. It's a big risk for a developer to put the resources into reviving a classic game, but there are a few sure bets out there that would undoubtedly thrive on the App Store. Grim Fandango It's a little bit absurd that this classic hasn't already been reborn on the iPad, especially given the soft spot many adult gamers have for this Tim Schafer epic. 3D models on top of static backgrounds might prove a little tricky to bump up into a Retina-friendly resolution, but the game was already pretty sharp looking and I don't think anyone would complain about a straight port. Give it to us now! Syndicate/Syndicate Wars Syndicate -- and its sequel, Syndicate Wars -- are still pointed to as inspiration for modern cyberpunk-themed games, and the isometric perspective of the original PC titles would be a perfect fit for the iPad. Controlling a team of mechanically enhanced assassins as you swipe and pan around a cityscape would be made much easier with the help of the iPad's touchscreen, and the modest weapon effects and other visual touches would be no problem for even the still-in-production iPad 2. Theme Hospital Theme Hospital has all the makings of a great iOS game: It's relatively easy to learn, deep enough that it can keep you busy for hours, and it's absolutely absurd. At its heart, it's a sim-style management game, but the hilarious patients and fast and frantic pace of the entire experience would be great on a tablet. Deus Ex Yes, a new Deus Ex spinoff recently launched on the App Store, and that game's solid controls and console-quality action just proves how easy it would be to port the original title to Apple's tablet. Everything from the hacking to inventory management would be made easier and more fun with the use of a touchscreen, and as KOTOR shows us, upping the resolution of these basic 3D models looks just fine on a Retina display. Black & White One of the most beloved "god games" of all time, Black & White on the iPad would finally let you touch your creations the way the game had always intended. In the PC version of the game your on-screen hand was responsible for manipulating various aspects of the game world, so a tablet version would translate wonderfully. You could cast lighting down onto your subjects from the heavens with a flick or discipline your "pet" with a tap on its head. Please make this happen.
Syndicate Wars successor Satellite Reign heads to Kickstarter
As expected, real-time strategy game Satellite Reign recently began its Kickstarter project, and will need £350,000 ($532,455) by July 28 to become a reality. Satellite Reign is a real-time strategy game that draws inspiration from Syndicate Wars, another tactical game developed in 1996 for PlayStation and DOS by 5 Lives lead Mike Diskett. The project boasts emergent gameplay within a "living metropolis," along with tactical combat driven by different character classes, weapons and augmentations. Satellite Reign's crowdfunding campaign is already off to a great start, as it has raised £95,474 ($145,244) thanks to 3,355 backers so far. The developer is looking to bring the game to Steam and GOG for PC, Mac and Linux, with DRM-free options being made available to all backers.
Syndicate Wars inspires 5 Lives Studios to get a Kickstarter in June
Five Lives Studios is teasing a Kickstarter project for something called Satellite Reign – and all signs point to a game inspired by Syndicate Wars. The Kickstarter is scheduled for June, with a countdown on the Satellite Reign site. The teaser video reads, "In 1996, this man –" referring to Syndicate Wars lead Mike Diskett, it would seem "– created a Bullfrog masterpiece. In 2013, with your help, we will redefine the genre." The original Syndicate Wars launched for the PlayStation and DOS in October 1996 as a real-time tactics game. Syndicate got an FPS reboot from Starbreeze Studios and EA in February 2012.
GOG adds 10 games for OSX: Guilty Gear, Rise of the Triad and more
GOG has added 10 more jams to its ever-growing list of OSX-compatible games, almost all of which have never been available on an Apple platform previously. Mac folk running OSX 10.6.8 or newer can now partake in Syndicate Wars, Rise of the Triad: Dark War, Blade Stone: Planet Strike, Strike Commander, Slipstream 5000, Darklands and Litil Divil. Anyone with OSX 10.7 or newer can also pick up Evil Genius, the phenomenal Guilty Gear X2 #Reload and the experimental (for better or worse) Guilty Gear Isuka. As is typically the case at GOG, most of these games also include bonus goodies, ranging from digital manuals, to wallpapers and complete soundtracks.
Rumorang: Riddick dev helming new Syndicate game
A new report suggests that Starbreeze Studios is working on a new Syndicate game, with Electronic Arts set to publish. Word of the Riddick and The Darkness dev's involvement with the title first made the rounds last October. Possibly related is a new casting call posted on superannuation for actors in an upcoming "futuristic" Starbreeze/EA title called "DART," which according to the post will be set in a "high tech city."Though nothing has been formally announced, sources tell GI.biz that the Syndicate series is behind EA and Starbreeze's mysterious Project RedLime, which was originally referred to as a "classic franchise" for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. While that project was said to be "already deep in development" in February 2008, don't expect to revisit the classic cyberpunk series anytime soon. According to the report, the new Syndicate title won't be released until Starbreeze finishes up its current project based on Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne. Until then, the four gentlemen in the corner giving us the crazy eyes will just have to wait.
Rumor: EA has Starbreeze working on new Syndicate
CVG claims that EA has Starbreeze Studios working on a new entry in the Syndicate franchise. Starbreeze is best known for creating the Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness. The original Syndicate was created by Peter Molyneux's old studio, Bullfrog.Starbreeze doesn't note that a new Syndicate game is currently in production on its website and this information isn't official. A return to the Syndicate universe does sound like a nice idea, so hopefully CVG's source isn't the same one that told it about the Starcraft MMO last year.[Via Big Download]
Molyneux interested in revisiting old franchises
Speaking to Gamespot UK, the ever-enthusiastic and monochromatically inclined Peter Molyneux expressed interest in revisiting some of his old franchises. Licensing complications aside, he asserts that "some sort of next-gen online version of Syndicate would certainly be popular with gamers," and that new versions of Dungeon Keeper and Populous would be equally exciting to him. Having been purchased by Microsoft certainly makes the prospect of these sequels appearing at Lionhead (and not EA) less likely, but not impossible.In fact, we're already swooning over the idea of a sprawling Syndicate sequel -- perhaps a next-gen variant might even give us that real ending we were so rudely cheated out of years ago. Then again, sprawling development costs might say otherwise. "But it should be remembered that there is a law of diminishing return here, so if you spend $5 million and double that to $10 million, you don't get double the quality. This trend really can't continue, and the industry must face the fact we need to stabilize our costs. This will mean that reuse of technology and assets needs to be much better managed." For further Molyneux insight, check out Joystiq's "But you said that about Fable 1!" interview conducted at last month's Develop Conference.[Via GamersReports]
