Indy Next Gen Game Possibly Canned? And Neversoft Kicks Tony Hawk To The Curve

[Sam Fisher]

Rumor: New Indiana Jones Game Canceled

Remember that gorgeous Indiana Jones game built on the same engine used in the recent Force Unleashed and featuring all kinds of destructible environments? IGN believes it's been canceled.
Citing "multiple sources (both internally at LucasArts and elsewhere)," IGN claims that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title has been aborted, and its developers have been shifted to other in-development projects within LucasArts.
Indy fans will recall that this is far from the first time that rumors of the game's demise have begun circulating, though the current economic situation certainly adds more credence to this latest round of speculation.
http://blog.wired.com/games/2009/01/rumor-new-india.html

Video game developer Neversoft is going to be leaving the Tony Hawk franchise in other hands, reports Ars Technica.



Neversoft has released at least one Tony Hawk skateboarding game every year since the well-received Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in 1999. 2008 was the first year since then that did not see a Tony Hawk release.



While the first game received a review average of 92/100, the recent games have proven less successful, with 2007’s Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground earning a paltry 57/100 average for the Wii version (the other versions fared slightly better in the 60-70 range).



The saturation of the Tony Hawk games had left gamers bored and indifferent, leading them to turn to EA’s fresher Skate.



In 2007, Neversoft turned to flooding the shelves with an abundance of music games rather than skateboarding games by developing the third Guitar Hero. Since then, they’ve also released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero World Tour, and are working on Guitar Hero: Metallica.



As a result of the success of the Guitar Hero games, it seems Neversoft has no more need to keep Tony Hawk around. The handling of the series has gone to an undisclosed developer.



Even though publisher Activision has announced that Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock has become the first game to reach $1 billion in sales, it’s only a matter of time before gamers once again become worn out by the routine.



With 6 Guitar Hero games released in less than 2 years (4 of them by Neversoft), “Tony Hawk Syndrome” may soon afflict gamers once again, causing them to turn towards competitor Harmonix’s less-diluted Rock Band games.

http://www.redherring.com/blogs/25733

 

[Bathead]

That's "curb" not "curve".

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Heres the latest from LucasArts on the Indy game.

LucasArts remains absolutely committed to the Indiana Jones franchise. While we are aware that fans have been eagerly awaiting additional information on the upcoming game, they can rest assured that details are forthcoming.

http://kotaku.com/5130132/indiana-jones-canned-[update]

 

[Sam Fisher]

That's "curb" not "curve".

Whatever. Got anything more interesting to say?

 

[Havok83]

Neversoft kicking Tony Hawk to the curve? More like Activision is taking them off it and having them focus solely on Guitar Hero which makes sense considering that series has been doing alot better than TH

 

[StrainedEyes]

Tony Hawk is over anyway. The last few games have been awful.

 

[Havok83]

The series was at its peak with THUG 1. THUG 2 was good but it went downhill from there with the disastrous American Wasteland. Activisions decision to turn it into MTV Pro Skater was what hurt the series and turned me off from it. Project 8 was decent but wasnt enough to bring the series back up to the greatness it once was

 

[Spider-Vader]

That Indy game better come soon. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

That Indy game better come soon. I'm really looking forward to it.

Eh, i dont think we'll see it any time soon.

 

[Timstuff]

IMO, Tony Hawk hit its peak with Tony Hawk 4. It had all of the core gameplay perfections of Tony Hawk 3, combined with the open, exploration-friendly format of Aggressive Inline. I thought that THUG was just a lame attempt to cash in on the "edgy" Grand Theft Auto craze, and from there it was totally downhill. From THUG we ended up with THUG 2, then Project 8, and finally, the series hit rock bottom with Proving Grounds. And for all intents and purposes, it looks like Neversoft is embarking on a similar campaign with the Guitar Hero franchise, which they didn't even create. They're running it straight into the dirt with their semi-annual installments, and it's only a matter of time before people get tired of unpolished rehash after unpolished rehash.

As for Indiana Jones, it's a shame we likely won't be seeing his return to gaming any time soon. Lucas Arts stated quite emphatically that the game is still in development, but after two years with no updates, I have my doubts.

What we REALLY need from Lucas Arts IMO, is a NEXT GEN X-WING GAME!

 

[Addendum]

Because a gaming generation isn't complete without blowing up the Death Star for the umpteenth time

 

[Timstuff]

You haven't blown up the Death Star until you've done it with all your ship's power diverted to the front deflector screen. And on top of that, I really need something to justify buying one of those Saitek Aviator joysticks. Tom Clancy's HAWX alone is not enough!

X-Wing was a different beast from the Rogue Squadron games because it was a hard core flight combat sim. If you wanted to train to be a rebel pilot, you'd do it by playing the X-Wing games. Unfortunately, the space combat sim genre pretty much dried up in the early 2000's, after ending on a high note with hits like Freelancer and Freespace 2. It's a genre that I very sorely miss, and I think Star Wars is the perfect franchise the revive it with. I am still scratching my head trying to figure out WHY Lucas Arts has sat on the opportunity all these years.

 

[Havok83]

IMO, Tony Hawk hit its peak with Tony Hawk 4. It had all of the core gameplay perfections of Tony Hawk 3, combined with the open, exploration-friendly format of Aggressive Inline. I thought that THUG was just a lame attempt to cash in on the "edgy" Grand Theft Auto craze, and from there it was totally downhill. From THUG we ended up with THUG 2, then Project 8, and finally, the series hit rock bottom with Proving Grounds. And for all intents and purposes, it looks like Neversoft is embarking on a similar campaign with the Guitar Hero franchise, which they didn't even create. They're running it straight into the dirt with their semi-annual installments, and it's only a matter of time before people get tired of unpolished rehash after unpolished rehash.

As for Indiana Jones, it's a shame we likely won't be seeing his return to gaming any time soon. Lucas Arts stated quite emphatically that the game is still in development, but after two years with no updates, I have my doubts.

What we REALLY need from Lucas Arts IMO, is a NEXT GEN X-WING GAME!

You forgot about American Wasteland. I guess it was so bad that it wasnt even worth mentioning...lol. As far as Guitar Hero, I blame Activision more than anything. They are the greedy publisher and control Neversoft. They dictate what they do and they want them to constantly pump out GH games.

 

[Addendum]

You haven't blown up the Death Star until you've done it with all your ship's power diverted to the front deflector screen. And on top of that, I really need something to justify buying one of those Saitek Aviator joysticks. Tom Clancy's HAWX alone is not enough!

X-Wing was a different beast from the Rogue Squadron games because it was a hard core flight combat sim. If you wanted to train to be a rebel pilot, you'd do it by playing the X-Wing games. Unfortunately, the space combat sim genre pretty much dried up in the early 2000's, after ending on a high note with hits like Freelancer and Freespace 2. It's a genre that I very sorely miss, and I think Star Wars is the perfect franchise the revive it with. I am still scratching my head trying to figure out WHY Lucas Arts has sat on the opportunity all these years.

If you want to spend money on a flight sim, go ahead. Nothing about it appeals to me, but that's the joy of different interests

 

[Electro UK]

Indy is something I'm interested in, but not something I'm sold on. They're my favorite films, sure... but the impressive Euphoria engine got us all hyped for The Force Unleashed, and that turned out to be "okay".

 

[Timstuff]

I'm guessing that if Indy is still in development, it's undergoing a design overhaul. It's going to take more than a fancy ragdoll engine to compete with the likes of Uncharted.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

I'm guessing that if Indy is still in development, it's undergoing a design overhaul. It's going to take more than a fancy ragdoll engine to compete with the likes of Uncharted.

I think the name alone will have a ton of ppl picking it up. But i agree, Uncharted settled all my desires for an Indy game.

 

[Raiden]

I think Activision (and Neversoft) is going to kill the music rhythm genre soon with their rush of Guitar Hero sequels and spinoffs. When you compare GHWT and RB2, it's easy to see that RB2 is the better game, although GHWT's instruments have gotten more praise than RB2's. I'm glad that HMX has decided not to have RB3 this year, and opted to support it with DLC instead.

 

[StrainedEyes]

Indy is something I'm interested in, but not something I'm sold on. They're my favorite films, sure... but the impressive Euphoria engine got us all hyped for The Force Unleashed, and that turned out to be "okay".

GTA's use of Euphoria was leaps and bounds above Force Unleashed.

 

[Hush]

Well i never understood why you would use Euphoria in **** because you are dealing with "unleashing" the force so why would objects need to feel ANY weight? You blast them back and such, it just didnt make any sense at all. I think if it had been more limited with Force Powers it would have made sense but it just didnt.

 

[Joker]

Neversoft: Too busy ruining Guitar Hero to focus on further ruining Tony Hawk

 

[Timstuff]

Neversoft: Too busy ruining Guitar Hero to focus on further ruining Tony Hawk

Quoted for truth.

 

[Bathead]

Whatever. Got anything more interesting to say?

Nope, just being a ***** today, sorry.

 

[StrainedEyes]

Well i never understood why you would use Euphoria in **** because you are dealing with "unleashing" the force so why would objects need to feel ANY weight? You blast them back and such, it just didnt make any sense at all. I think if it had been more limited with Force Powers it would have made sense but it just didnt.

It makes perfect sense, I have no idea what you're talking about. The objects having weight make it much more exciting when you throw them around and into things, otherwise stuff would just fly and bounce all over the place and look ridiculous.

All of the tech demos for Force Unleashed showed how it should have been. The objects and characters having actual weight was a major part of that.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

I see a report about Indy. I don't think it has been canned though, just severely delayed.