In the world of gaming there are juggernaut companies, known for their blockbuster titles that publish tons of games. There are indie developers who publish incredibly strange titles for niche audiences. And then, there is LucasArts.
LucasArts is a company that straddles the industry, its publishing history including massive hits like the recent Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, as well as beloved adventure games featuring Guybrush Threepwood and Sam and Max. It's hard to imagine the company began 25 years ago with only a handful of employees, without even the thought of Star Wars on their mind.
In honor of the anniversary, and because it's just so darn interesting, Rob Smith, (Editor of PlayStation: The Official Magazine), takes us on a journey into the past filled with hilarity and nostalgia (Hilstalgia?) by writing Rogue Leaders: The Story of Lucasarts. The hardcover from Chronicle Books will be hitting stores in time for the holidays. Pick up a copy today from StarWarsShop.com.
So how did your book come to be?
It really started as a 25th anniversary of LucasArts and evolved a little from there as we got deeper into what the actual content would be. Amongst the rest of the industry, LucasArts is in a really unique position and place. First having survived as an independent studio -- it has really survived many ups and downs that the games world has faced. You cannot go through this industry for that long without pretty much experiencing all those sorts of highs and lows. It was always going to be an interesting journey. As each piece was put together it got more and more interesting as we went along.
Why did LucasArts, specifically, pique your interest?
The back-story is interesting, where the company started. While LucasArts, today, is set in the mind of gamers as being related to Star Wars, they didn't actually do a Star Wars game for 10 years. The company had already built its legacy through different kinds of direction. Producing adventure games, different kinds of games that were outside of the current company's portfolio. It was really that -- where did that come from, how did that come together? Consistently developing new technologies for their games as well, since the company really hasn't licensed technology, but rather created its own.
As you dove into the history of LucasArts, what were some of the stranger things you found?
Getting little bits of stories about what some of the attitudes were towards certain game types. Noah Falstein told a story about when he was coming up for the concept of PHM Pegasus -- a sort of hydrofoil simulator that was also a war game -- and there was dissension that they shouldn't be doing these kinds of violent games. The adventure games they were getting known for were much more wholesome and they shouldn't be going down the route of the actual war games. Between that and Hollins' games (Battlefront and Luftwaffe), LucasArts actually got a lot of positive buzz amongst PC gamers.
