Brad Wardell Wants To Make a New Star Control?
I was reading some articles, when I found an article by journalist/Star Control fan, Chris Remo, titled “Stardock CEO Wardell Eyes Star Control, Orion, And More”:
As it turns out, that's[Master of Magic] not the only lapsed property the Stardock team dreams of getting its hands on -- and not the only one currently owned by Atari, for that matter.
"I actually pitched Atari on a whole idea for a true successor to Star Control," CEO Brad Wardell tells Gamasutra, noting that the game would follow original series developer Toys for Bob's Star Control II rather than the Legend Entertainment-developed Star Control 3 ("We just pretend that never happened," the CEO says of that release).
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Novato, California-based Toys for Bob has actually floated the idea of making its own Star Control II sequel, with co-creator Paul Reiche III indicating he has tossed potential design ideas around, but with the company now owned by publisher Activision the proposal seems to be stuck in limbo.
- Chris Remo, Stardock CEO Wardell Eyes Star Control, Orion, And More
Brad Wardell wants to purchase a bunch of video game rights, including Star Control. Stardock is a great company and their game, Sins of a Solar Empire is a great real-time strategy game that has a great fanbase. Their philosphy that copy-protection causes more piracy than it prevents is something that I share, along with many other PC gamers.
They know how to make good games and I realize that Star Control wouldn’t be the same without the TFB-twist that Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford have done with the previous Star Control games. I remember Alex Ness writing on the TFB website that Paul has a bunch of ideas for the Star Control sequel:
Besides helping us convince Activision that there is a fan base clammoring for this game, the emails really fire Paul up. He's been brainstorming ideas on his spare time for a possible sequel and come up with some really cool stuff.
- Alex Ness, June 28 2006
I would love to see Paul’s ideas come to life in a new Star Control sequel that they have complete control over. One of the many things that make Star Control II unique is that it’s never too serious or cartoony; it switches back and forth with alien races such as the Kohr-Ah, Spathi, Ur-Quan, Zoq-Fot-Pik, etc. Not everyone is a high-tech “let’s move in for the kill” starship captain.
I appreciate Brad’s ambition to revive these games, and I feel that the only people who should have the rights to Star Control should be Paul and Fred. The open source version of Star Control II is called “The Ur-Quan Masters” because Atari owns these rights, but I still call it Star Control regardless of the legalities.
There’s nothing I can do to stop Brad from wanting to buy the rights to Star Control and if they do go through with it, I hope he contacts Paul and Fred and gets them involved in the project, allowing them to shape the potential Star Control any way they wish. If they are allowed to have creative control over the project, I wouldn’t mind seeing a Toys for Bob/Stardock alliance.
I’m glad that there are other game developers out there who care about having a Star Control and there needs to be emphasis that only Toys for Bob can make this sequel and they’re the only ones who can do it right. They need to take their time with it, without being forced to meet a ridiculous deadline.
I know that Stardock understands how hard it is to release an Intellectual Property game and promote it at the same time, and their experience with Sins of a Solar Empire shows that they know what they’re doing. Brad, please don’t take Star Control away from the gods that created it. I seriously thought about buying the rights myself and I realized that I have no legal-experience and very little cash to do it. The only way I can see Stardock making a worthy sequel to Star Control II is if they work with Toys for Bob, and have their approval and guidance for every single thing in the game. If they feel generous enough, they could give the rights to Paul and Fred, so that Atari can’t slaughter the name any further. However that’s completely up to Brad, and I’ve never heard of people generously giving legal rights away.
If they do get the rights to Star Control and make a sequel that Toys for Bob does not approve of, I will not hesitate to call it “SCnot3-2”.
Full Story: Stardock CEO Wardell Eyes Star Control, Orion, And More by Chris Remo
