EA Files Trademarks For Populous, Wing Commander, And Other Classics


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Since its founding in 1982, Electronic Arts has been the source -- or at least the rights holder -- to many franchises that have reached "classic" status.

New trademark filings unearthed by Superannuation may hint that EA is reaching back into its catalog of classic games for a possible revival of aging brands. Just this month, EA filed trademarks for the Bullfrog Productions-originated properties Populous and Theme Park, and the EA action games Wing Commander and Road Rash.

1989's Populous was a "god game" designed by Peter Molyneux, the Bullfrog founder who's now lead man at Microsoft-owned Lionhead, developer of Fable. 1992's Theme Park another Bullfrog-developed game, was a management sim based around operating a theme park. EA acquired both properties when it purchased Bullfrog in 1995.

The motorcycle combat sim Road Rash debuted in 1991 and saw several iterations, while 1990's space sim Wing Commander saw sequels and even a film.

The filing of a trademark application isn't a 100 percent guarantee that a product launch will follow. For example, in 2007, Sega filed a new trademark application for "Dreamcast". That, of course, didn't lead to a revival of Sega's final console.

But sometimes, a filing is a precursor to a to-be-announced product. For instance, in late 2008, Sega filed a patent for Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram, a mech-based fighter that appeared on the Dreamcast. In 2009, Sega released the game as a download for Xbox 360.

The EA trademarks were also filed about the same time as Harvey Elliot, the head of EA Bright Light Studio who has roots with Bullfrog, said in a kikizo interview, "For me, I love the old Bullfrog IP, it got me really passionately into games, and I'm really proud that Bullfrog is part of the heritage of Bright Light".

"I'm personally a huge fan of Populous and Theme Park, they were some of my favorite games - many years ago, obviously - and I'd love to see both of those remade."

The last time Populous hit shelves was with Populous DS, developed by EA Japan and published by Xseed Games.

The US Patent Office requires trademark holders to renew their patents after a period of 10 years.

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Road rash, it would be interesting to see how they would make the game. Although I fear now days it would have to be on a limited budget to be a title that can make money.

As for theme park, I'd get the feeling it would be a bad game, we've got Rollercoaster tycoon and thats not a bad game.

They should have gone for theme hospital! We need some sims like that.

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Road rash, it would be interesting to see how they would make the game. Although I fear now days it would have to be on a limited budget to be a title that can make money.

As for theme park, I'd get the feeling it would be a bad game, we've got Rollercoaster tycoon and thats not a bad game.

They should have gone for theme hospital! We need some sims like that.

What I'd like to see them do with Road Rash is just make it a XBL/PSN game. Give it the old school gameplay and feel, but HD graphics. I'd pay $15 for that without hesitation. I don't know how well it would translate to a full, modern retail offering though. I think it's best they just retain the old style and give it a graphics update.

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At one point Molyneux himself said he would like to remake Populous again. I hope he does.

Another crack at Magic Carpet would also be nice :D

Magic Carpet would rock. It was great... Even the music. :)

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I remember seeing Wing Commander in game magazines and wanted a PC to play it so badly. Ultimately had to settle for the SNES version which was inferior but it was still fun. Would love to see a remake of 1 and 2 for XBL. Everything after 2 seemed to become more about cinimatics than gameplay.

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I'd love a new populous game, I really enjoyed the 3rd game (Ironically called Populous: The Beginning).

Screw all them, though, I'd take Syndicate over any of them.

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Road Rash was already ruined in the move to 3D on the PS1.

Theme Park was a good port/update though (Y)

I remember enjoying the 3DO version. Never played the PS1 version, but I assume they were the same?

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Never played the 3DO version, so I dunno :p

Is this what it looked like?

Mega Drive version ftw (Y)

Yeah, it looks the same. I dunno, I was only 16 when it came out, but I remember renting a 3DO and it and being like "ZOMG, this is AWESOME!!"

And yes, Genesis RR FTW!! In fact, I think I'm going to fire up an emulator and give it a play. I haven't played it in a good 10 years or so.

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