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[sambojin]

Just a little bit of a tidbit for now.

Warren Spector, of the original System Shock, Wing Commander 1+2, and some Ultima games, has signed on to make System Shock 3.

When, why, how? We don't know a lot, other than it's being done by Otherside Entertainment.

Here's an article:
http://www.gamewatcher.com/news/2016-17-02-warren-spector-is-now-with-the-studio-making-system-shock-3

And a facebook page, so you can follow updates and stuff (or keep asking when it'll be done). It's his one, so be nice:
https://mobile.facebook.com/warren.spector?v=timeline

Warren's Wikipedia page:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Spector

Otherside Entertainment's Wikipedia page:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otherside_Entertainment

Paul Neurath's Wikipedia page (creative top dog for Otherside Entertainment, previously from Deus Ex, etc):
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Neurath

[sambojin]

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[sambojin]

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[Neonivek]

I feel like modern horror is dead...

Every part of me wishes System Shock 3 could be the exception and prove that I am wrong and that American companies can do more with horror then "don't look!"

Not to mention videogame's current trend of remakes and reimagining. Thief? sucks. Syndicate? Sucks. Xcom? 50% Sucks. Dungeon Keeper? Sucks. SimCity? Sucks

THEN there is the "Casualization of videogames" and the fact of the matter is. System Shock 2 was not a casual game. So to make a modern rendition it would need to have its gameplay soaked in a vat of bleach to eliminate any color it once had.

So yeah... System Shock 3 is fighting every single thing that could possibly ruin it. I REALLY hope they buck the system. I want to believe in remakes again.

[sambojin]

The team has a pretty impressive list of credits to their name, but all the really good ones were 10-20 or so years ago.

Here's hoping that this isn't a retirement shovel job. If they can recapture some of the greatness of earlier Origin, Looking Glass and Ion Storm titles, this'll be great. New technology be damned. Good games that are remembered fondly rarely had amazing graphics (for the time) or fit into the Hollywood mould of game development. They had to be good, and the developers had to work their arses off to make them.

They all had interesting systems that made you think, interesting characters and motivations (even just big evil baddy can be done well), and a pretty basic yet epic storyline.

[Mookzen]

Expectations of production values are high > quality threshold for a viable product are high > costs are high > investors need to invest more >  need a sure thing to justify > more control over the project > only mass appeal can provide acceptable return on investment  > streamline, simplify, copycat > system shock name is a bargain > cash in on name, hopes and nostalgia > value proposition misunderstood > game is shit > lose money anyway

My expectations are not high, to say the least.

[sambojin]

Mine are. SS1 wasn't exactly commercially successful, but had a hell of a lot of work put into it (even with publisher/overlord compromises). It helped things not just be about machine guns and rocket launchers, even when sometimes they were.

Ultima 6 was one of the better bad-guys ever (you were the enemy's destroyer, until you worked it all out).

Ultima Underworld 1+2 was the Skyrim of its day, even whilst being heckled for not doing proper 3d like "real games". But they did proper gameplay and story, that Daggerfall didn't, whilst both of them looking Wolfenstein'y.

Bioshock 1 was pretty f'ing fantastic. In lots of ways.

Deus Ex was good too.

There's proper AAA cred on the development team, but interesting cred. Bucking trends and making good, memorable, successful games seems to be pretty high on their list of honours. I just hope they haven't got too old, too lazy, and too comfortable to remember how to do good things. They're not shovel-ware merchants. I just hope they're not going to lean on a shovel, pretending they're working, while they wait for retirement.

They know our expectations. I just hope they're up for all the hard work required to fulfill them. It's not as though they're working for free.

[Neonivek]

Triple A cred is kind of like a negative.

The more money that goes into the game the more bland it will have to be.

[sambojin]

Good games can in fact make money.

CoD 20375826 Extra-Hyper-Turbo-Plus edition isn't actually the norm. Neither is WoW. They stand out so much because they're a rarity.

There's better shooters. There's better MMOs. It turns out that these other games actually did make money as well, to the point of having sequels. Don't Hollywood a game. There's quite smart people investing good money, expecting a good return. It might not end up as CoDzilla, but having AAA cred and investment doesn't mean a bland necessity, nor a poor choice to the money backing it.

There's a reason that the gaming industry is bigger than Hollywood. It's due to a lack of these stereotypes, as well as damn smart people. Often including the end customer.

You can't just rely on a name or a franchise. The fact that this one is good, with a bit of cred to it and the team designing it, bodes well. I hope.

[Neonivek]

Shhhh don't destroy the delusion that games are more sexist, racist, age-ist, and homophobic then movies.

People like their Scapegoats. It distracts them from the fact that they transformed a scientist rookie soldier in the comics, then in Captain America 2 into a "Wise Cracking Blackman" stereotype in the movie.

[sambojin]

But this one has everything..... Even a strong female protagonist.

Oh, ummm. Probably. SHODAN's nice, isn't she?

[itisnotlogical]

I don't get the "it's new and different and therefore BAD" meme. Didn't XCOM handily disprove that? And Fallout 3 and Resident Evil 4, to their respective fanbases? And a lot of other games I'm probably not remembering now?

[sambojin]

I'm going to get all poopy if they re-imagine Nibbles and Gorillas too. It probably won't even be in QBasic.

Heresy!

(I will admit that the Xpiratez mod for openXcom Extended still shits all over newCom1 and 2 for gameplay though)

[Majestic7]

Ehhh.... I'm a shameless SS fanboi and I practically fapped to Shodan. However, I really hope they won't simplify and railroad the content. I mean... just look at the reboot of Thief that lost most of the things that made Thief games awesome or the shitfest that is Hitman Absolution. (Plus I think Fallouts 3/4 suck because Bethesda hired baboons as writers, although I admit the sandbox environment is fun. The plot is just diarrhea.)

So yeah, it would great to get an actual new System Shock, but the chances are it will be a shitty reboot that poops on the good name of the originals. However, on the positive, if it sells well maybe it can start some sort of cyberpunk renaissance even if the game is shit.

[debvon]

I feel like modern horror is dead...

Every part of me wishes System Shock 3 could be the exception and prove that I am wrong and that American companies can do more with horror then "don't look!"

Not to mention videogame's current trend of remakes and reimagining. Thief? sucks. Syndicate? Sucks. Xcom? 50% Sucks. Dungeon Keeper? Sucks. SimCity? Sucks

THEN there is the "Casualization of videogames" and the fact of the matter is. System Shock 2 was not a casual game. So to make a modern rendition it would need to have its gameplay soaked in a vat of bleach to eliminate any color it once had.

So yeah... System Shock 3 is fighting every single thing that could possibly ruin it. I REALLY hope they buck the system. I want to believe in remakes again.

So modern renditions of classic games are all bleach soaked casual fodder? Okay. I don't know about you but when SS2 was released I was 10 years old. My friend and I had no problem getting through it. You might say "good for you, it's just a matter of perspective then"- exactly. Your perspective is that of a jaded gamer. You've seen all of the tricks. Modern sequels aren't bringing 100% new material to the table because you've seen most of it before. It doesn't mean the games suck, it means your jaded experiences suck compared to what you experienced as a kid. The sequels of today are the classics of tomorrow. Kids are loving this shit and everything in the future will be terrible in comparison.

For the sake of your own enjoyment you should learn to lower your expectations. Imagination is great for filling in the gaps and making "shitty" games pretty great.