Game News Bioware unveils 'Dragon Age'

[Avin]

Believe me... in a year or two you won't imagine what else the game could be called.

oh, but i can suggest it:

crouching tiger, hidden dragon
enter the dragon
red dragon
dragon bio z
year of the dragon

and so on. i even played "double dragon" and "spyro the dragon".

 

[Sammael]

As far as an "inspired" title goes, keep in mind that it all depends on what your plans are for that title. If you're planning on a shelf-life and sequels and such, you want a name that's simple, catchy and not story-specific.

Right. So the name Baldur's Gate was simple, catchy, and not story-specific? [HINT: THIS IS SARCASM] And yet its sequel was one of the most highly anticipated sequels of all times?

 

[Elwro]

Well, maybe it would have sold 200,000 more copies if it had been called Diablo.

 

[Psilon]

No, Diablo wasn't mainstream enough.

 

[Fireblade]

I wonder who's developing the ruleset for the poor game...

They can still use the d20 system without a license, without calling themselves D&D, right?

 

[MrBrown]

They can still use the d20 system without a license, without calling themselves D&D, right?

Nope.

To put it simply, it's not open for computer games.

 

[Whipporowill]

They can still use the d20 system without a license, without calling themselves D&D, right?

Nope.

To put it simply, it's not open for computer games.

Thank God for small favours...

 

[Vandal]

What I do object to is when Bio announces a product and has a link to the official site "for more information" http://www.bioware.com/games/dragon_age/ that contains next to nothing:
[...]
This doesn't help "hype" your game - it just pisses people off. Next time when you announce your game at the very minimum we would like to see what Obsidian/Lucasarts did for KOTOR 2 - a bit of concept art, features, storyline details etc to give us something to get excited about (although I state again, what we saw for that title is the bare minimum). Now I understand you don't have a publisher yet so the marketing is normally up to them, but if that's really the case, then why bother announcing the game at all - aren't you just stealing thunder from the publisher?

It seems a bit suspect to me for a game studio to announce a title before it has a publisher, so I do wonder whether the "unsigned" part of the above "info" is strictly true.

In any case, it is my understanding that Bio are going back to the handcrafted backdrop art of their earlier titles which is a blessing after the chunky and repetitive look of the NWN engine/toolset backdrops, IMO.

We thought the time was right to announce Dragon Age. We want to be sure that our PC fans know we still care We'll have more info (some screens, previews, etc.) after E3. Give it time. But yeah... no publisher yet.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

I was thinking that it would of been better to announce it at E3 but then I thought about how getting all the Bio fans roughed up now will draw more attraction and hype towards what it is.

 

[Spazmo]

I'd say the "no publisher" thing is fairly irrelevant as BioWare isn't going to have any trouble finding one. I can't think of a single publisher that wouldn't want a sure-fire multi million seller.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I'm amazed BioWare hasn't started self-publishing. They have the money to do so.

 

[DemonKing]

As far as an "inspired" title goes, keep in mind that it all depends on what your plans are for that title. If you're planning on a shelf-life and sequels and such, you want a name that's simple, catchy and not story-specific.

Right. So the name Baldur's Gate was simple, catchy, and not story-specific? [HINT: THIS IS SARCASM] And yet its sequel was one of the most highly anticipated sequels of all times?

To be fair I seem to remember that the original title for BG was "Iron Throne" which sounds a little bit more like a generic marketing title doesn't it? Hell - you could insert "Dragon" instead of "Iron" and it would still sound pretty "cool"...

Not sure why the name was changed...perhaps one of the Bioware guys can enlighten us?

 

[taks]

I'm amazed BioWare hasn't started self-publishing. They have the money to do so.

i'd imagine it's kinda like insurance... hiring an external publisher helps to spread risk. particularly when your business is development, and you're not quite tuned to do marketing...

taks

 

[Ausir]

A new BioWare title will sell well enough anyway.

 

[Rosh]

You should all know that BioWare will hardly miss a chance to go even more trendy and mainstream. And think of how mainstream it is to use "Dragon" in the title. Even better, let's come up with something that screams "80's console title" right from the start. That's even more brilliant!

 

[Fireblade]

Has anyone noticed the similarity between the name of their next game, "Jade Empire", and this future game, "Dragon Age"?

"Jade Empire" as probably everyone knows has a Chinese theme...jade is the royal gemstone of China. Dragons, on the other hand, are the emblem of the Chinese emperor. And the similarities (given the right context) between "Empire" and "Age" are obvious. Maybe they are continuing with the same story/theme?

The "dragon" in the title might not refer to dragon monsters at all, but rather a Chinese theme... It would sound considerably less lame in that context, also.

 

[Sammael]

Nah.

 

[MrBrown]

Has anyone noticed the similarity between the name of their next game, "Jade Empire", and this future game, "Dragon Age"?

Bit too far fetched, me thinks. Also, it wouldn't make commercial sense to do 2 games with a similar theme at the same time, with no guarantees for commercial success.

 

[taks]

you know, the mythical dragon is probably one of the oldest critters in human history... the ancient chinese in particular. it's not like this is some sudden tolkein "knock off" or even close. dragons are popular in lterature because of their myth and appeal since recorded history began.

insulting a fantasy game because it has the term "dragon" in the title is... premature, maybe?

taks

 

[Jed]

insulting a fantasy game because it has the term "dragon" in the title is... premature, maybe?

On the other hand, a fantasy game that has the term "dragon" in the title is pretty typical.

 

[taks]

as i said... probably the most popular and certainly the oldest "baddy" there is... maybe typical, but typical because of it's legend. prejudging based on this is ridiculous and certainly reveals the anti-bioware prejudice so rampant in these fora.

taks

 

[Spazmo]

If Troika or any other developer announced something called "Elf Century", there would also be a fair amount of unhappiness.

 

[Volourn]

Yup; because Dragon Age - as typical fantasyish as it is - sounds a hell of a lot cooler than Elf Century.

Now, if Troika were to name a game Dragon Age; I'd say the sam exact things about it as I'd do with BIo naming a game Dragon Age.

Lesson for today = Dragons are cool; Elves are not.

Next.

 

[Monte Carlo]

Dwarven Millenia!

Hobbit Decade!

Sorcerer's Semester!

Orc Weekend!


I suspect I'd enjoy a CRPG called Orc Weekend, but that's just me.

 

[Avin]

if it's called THE DAY OF THE DROW would sell more than the sims...