Wing Commander is a franchise consisting of space combat simulation video games from Origin Systems, an animated television series, a Wing Commander movie, a collectible card game, a series of novels, and action figures.
In 1987, Chris Roberts joined Origin Systems. With no Star Wars games on computer at the time. Chris Roberts wanted to create a game which would put him in a universe the same way as when he had seen Star Wars. Joe Haldeman book The Forever War was one of the inspirations for the idea of Wing Commander, a big ongoing war that never seems to end.[1] WW2 was also an inspiration with the Kilrati as the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Confederation as the US.[2][1] Another big influence was Traveller which was a pen and paper sci-fi game.[2]
In 1990, Roberts developed Wing Commander, which set a new standard in PC games and evolved into a franchise series of game titles, all developed and produced by Chris Roberts.
With its cinematic quality, clearly developed story lines and well-known actors, the Wing Commander series created a whole new genre within the gaming industry known as the "interactive movie."
In the early-'90s, game designers began to scale back the text and convey more through technology. The industry was both imitating and innovating during this period--taking sensibilities from the film world and riffing their own creations for what works well in interactive properties.[3]
While Wing Commander II wasn't the first game to have full speech have and Wing Commander I wasn't the first game to have VGA graphics or bitmapped enemy ships, the games were putting it all together and doing it best, as an amazing production were everything was coming together well.
By 1995, the Wing Commander series had generated well over $110 million in revenues, and from 1990 to 1995, it accounted for more than 60% of Origin Systems revenue. In addition to selling more than 3 million units worldwide by 1995, it won a record setting number of gaming awards. To date, the series has generated over $400 million in global retail revenue.
The modern way to make games like hollywood movies rather than by a couple of people in a garage can be traced back to Wing Commander.[4]
Wing Commander games went on to become an influence in games such as Starcraft II.[5]
Wing Commander games by Chris Roberts
Trivia
- Aaron Allston who worked on the Wing Commander printed booklet Claw Marks later became famous for his Star Wars X-Wing novels.[6]
- Star Citizen Comm-links are a reference to the Wing Commander Claw Marks' Comm Relay.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Around the Verse: Episode 1.62 (2015.09.24), YouTube
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The forgotten interview with Chris Roberts by Paul Dean, March 11, 2016
- ↑ AGDC 2008: Telling tales with BioWare, Gamespot, September 16, 2008
- ↑ Space Madness! The Resurgence of Space & Sci Fi Games, Trelane, YouTube, 27 oct. 2017
- ↑ First Details on StarCraft 2's Mercenaries, and How Wing Commander Influenced Blizzard, Shacknews, June 29, 2009
- ↑ Happy Hour Museum: Wing Commander Privateer, Star Citizen, YouTube, 31 march 2017
- ↑ "Claw Marks' Comm Relay is also what we were referencing with Star Citizen's now ubiquitous Comm Links!", @banditloaf, Twitter, September 25 2023
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