[Capella]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 I saw something about a new Star Wars game ("1313"?), but that's all I picked up on. I don't game, and I don't know what "1313" means. Is that a year? 1313 BBY?

What Wookiepedia knows. It's not much.

Originally Posted by Robo Everybody thought it was going to be about Boba Fett because I guess he was born in 1313 or something, but it turns out that it takes place in the underground of Coruscant, and "1313" is the level/depth. It still has bounty hunters though, I think. Just not Boba Fett.

If we're using BBY (Before Battle of Yavin, aka before Episode IV) dating, we'd be talking about over a thousand years pre-Clone Wars or ANH. Now, the Ruusan Reformations happened in 1000 BBY, so it's possible it could be set in 1313 BBY; there's lots of warring going on during that time period. See, the way people reconciled the EU with the movie statement of "no major galactic wars since the foundation of the Republic" and "a thousand years" is by pointing out that the Republic underwent a major reformation that limited the powers of the Jedi and disbanded the Republic's standing army/navy complex. So the leadup to that is going to be a ton of conflict. Wookiepedia doesn't state anything major happened in 1313, which makes it a blank slate that the game would have a lot of area to work in.

There's compelling reasons to argue for movies-time and not-movies-time both. In favor of movies time, between 31 BBY (TPM) and 4 ABY (ROTJ) is the sweet spot for Star Wars products because of the sheer recognizability of the timeframe. Plus, you can have cameos all over the place. However, you could argue that there's a glut of products during that time and therefore it would be better to do something in a less crowded period. I'm not sure LucasArts wants to do another "far in the past" game, though. It worked well for the original Knights of the Old Republic, but The Old Republic is currently dominating the middle-Old-Republic timeframe and you don't want to put them too close together. 1313 BBY is 2000 years after TOR and 1000 years before the current timeline, so it's a good midpoint to not encroach on either side. There's also the future time period (post-ROTJ), though, which other games have used (ex: the Jedi Knight series).

tl;dr: lots of times it could take place in, but I'm not sure the title was ever intended to reflect timeframe.

Originally Posted by Robo They're apparently approaching it like it's a Big Damn Deal, though. I think they want to make 1313 it's own series/sub-universe, rather than just a "regular" spinoff. So it's not Clone Wars, but if they have their way, 1313 might be the next Clone Wars-type thing. I guess. But it seems to have more original characters.

This is par for the course for LucasArts. They have generally always highly supported their major video game endeavors with a plethora of other tie-ins: books, comics, figures, etc. That started at least as far back as Dark Forces (novelizations) and Shadows of the Empire (novel, comic), and continued with Knights of the Old Republic (comics), Republic Commando (novels), The Force Unleashed (novels), and The Old Republic (comics, novels, and even more). I have no interest in the game itself because I don't like shooters, but I would definitely pick up comics or books related to it. Most of the Star Wars game lines aren't just games, they're multi-media experiences, and I think the fact that they're able to integrate their property in ways that appeal to disparate groups (books to appeal to non-gamers, comics to appeal to non-readers, etc) is one of their best strengths.

Originally Posted by Robo The production values seem to be much higher than most Star Wars games. Most "licensed" games are quick cash-ins — no more an artistic contribution to the universe they're based on than lunch boxes or other merch — but they seem to be trying to avoid that with the most recent Star Wars games. I think the developers genuinely see video games as a medium in which the Star Wars saga can continue to be told. I'm not really a Star Wars person, but it's neat to see a universe Take Games Seriously.

I think the reason LucasArts pays for the best developers is because they know that Star Wars is in many ways a perfect gaming property. As a space opera franchise, it thrives on high camp over-the-top action-adventure. How many youngsters grew up playing Star Wars with each other? Who hasn't wanted a lightsaber? Video games are the perfect medium with which to express the feeling of being a Big Dam Hero who can take on impossible odds and come out swinging, and Star Wars is the epitome of a certain genre. They're made for each other.

It also helps there's a Star Wars game for everyone. If you like FPS war games, you might like the Republic Commando series. if you like being a powerful Jedi, try Knights of the Old Republic. Quake gameplay? Jedi Knight.* MMO? The Old Republic.** The property appeals to so many different kinds of people that LucasArts can't waste money with a slipshod game. They're going to have to do AAA quality work on all their titles. And except for a few cases, they haven't really ever failed to do that. For example, people can argue that TOR has flaws as an MMO, but I haven't yet heard anyone say it doesn't feel like Star Wars.


*Did anyone else ever multiplayer in Jedi Knight II: Outcast or Jedi Academy? Because I love Jedi Academy and no one plays with me much; anyone want to start a mini AppleNova free for all?
**The Old Republic is introducing to level 15 free trials in July, but if you want to check it out before then, PM me, I have several friend trial codes remaining.