The Week in Review

We know you’re all busy, so we’ve rounded up some of the week’s top stories and compressed them into handy bite-sized chuncks. Enjoy them with our compliments.

George Lucas, Steam and a Great Deal of Excitement
This week’s top story is the news that LucasArts is bringing their back catalogue to Steam. After teasing us with a Twitter post, they announced that the first wave of titles would hit the service on the 8th July, giving us old-timers a chance to relive the halcyon days when LucasArts made something other than Star Wars games, and gives you whippersnappers a chance to see what we’ve been going on about for all these years. To put it another way, if you remember Loom, it’s up for grabs right now, and if you don’t, well, it’s only five bucks, what are you waiting for? (link)

Sony CEO Likes to Live Dangerously
Sony CEO Howard Stringer has responded to Activison boss Bobby Kotick’s comments that his company might have to stop supporting the Sony if the price of the PS3 didn’t come down. Speaking to Reuters, he brushed off Kotick’s comments, saying: “He likes to make a lot of noise, he’s putting pressure on me and I’m putting pressure on him. That’s the nature of business.” Stringer also addressed the issue of the PS3’s price saying that any drop would mean that Sony would lose money on any PS3 sold. (link)

GO FOR THE EYES, BOO!
This week also saw BioWare talking about Baldur’s Gate. With BioWare’s acquisition by EA, and the Dungeons & Dragons license managed by Atari, another Baldur’s Gate game seems unlikely. When Greg Zeschuk was asked if they would ever revisit the series, he said: “Maybe. The things we miss more than anything else are some of the characters we created. It’s frustrating – like Minsc and some of the other characters we built over the years – not being able to continue to stem that is a bit frustrating.” Despite this, Zeschuk felt that the Baldur’s Gate II expansion Throne of Bhaal was a fitting end for the series. “We feel like we finished our work at that time … we don’t have regrets.” (link)

Mickey Mouse Buzz Saw Nightmare
How about something out of left field? According to Kingdom Hearts producer Tetsuya Nomura, the concept of the keyblade was central to the story, even before there was a story. But the keyblade wasn’t the first idea that Nomura had, not by a long shot. Nomura first envisioned a chainsaw. Unsurprisingly, Disney didn’t go for it, although the idea of Mickey wielding a lancer has a certain appeal… (link)

The Sincerest Form of Flattery
Finally, something that’s gotten Korean gamers all kinds of annoyed. H.A.V.E. Online is a class-based FPS from publisher SK iMedia. That’s not what’s making Korean gamers angry though, it’s that the promotional trailer bares certain similarities to Team Fortress 2. Naturally, SK iMedia has denied claims that they’ve ripped off Valve’s hit shooter, releasing a statement saying: “Debating [whether or not it’s a rip-off] is like having blind men touching an elephant and describing what it looks like,” the company said. “We will reveal the gameplay soon. Other than that, we have no comment at this time.”

It probably makes more sense in Korean… (link)