EA Talks Command & Conquer's "New Digital Model"

[Ironman273]

EA Talks Command & Conquer's "New Digital Model," Medal of Honor "Re-invention"

In a memo to employees today, Nick Earl, EA Games Label senior VP, confirmed the closure of Pandemic Studios LA. He also touched on a new direction for two of its key franchises, Command & Conquer and Medal of Honor.

Last week, we reported that the core Command & Conquer team would be let go following the release of Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight. While Earl didn't touch on those rumored changes, he confirms that Jon Van Caneghem, formerly of Trion World Network "has recently joined EA to transform Command and Conquer with a new digital model that is going to re-ignite the fan base for this franchise."

Earl also calls EA's planned revitalization of the Medal of Honor franchise "simply stunning," writing that "[EALA studio head] Sean Decker and Greg Goodrich have been leading a re-invention" of the first-person shooter series,

"We couldn't be happier with the focus and progress these teams have shown," Earl writes.

In the internal communication obtained by Kotaku, Earl assured employees that the "new team at EALA has turned this studio into a showcase for the 'fewer things better' initiative." If that sounds familiar, EA Games label president Frank Gibeau said something similar in an investor call, saying that EA plans to focus on more of its "core IP" and proven "blockbusters."

Source: Kotaku

:/ Hmmm... not sure how to feel about them messing with C&C.

[Ayepecks]

Meh at them messing with C&C. The last few games have been very good.

Good on the CoD front, though... they've needed to try something new there for a while now.

[Spysix]

I'm still disappointed with Red Alert 3.

Fact their next game is called "twilight" doesn't give me any notion to buy the next CnC3 either.

[Raa]

I loved RA1 & 2, but RA3 just didn't do it for me. CnC3 was fanastic though. Hope they dont screw up CnC4...

[Ayepecks]

I'm still disappointed with Red Alert 3.

Fact their next game is called "twilight" doesn't give me any notion to buy the next CnC3 either.

Tiberian Twilight was the rumored name of C&C 2 instead of Tiberian Sun (the original is Tiberian Dawn... Dawn... Twilight... get it?). The name is obviously for the fans.

[Shibby]

I'm looking forward to the MOH series. The only MOH series that was worth playing online was MOHAA, I wish I could play that game again on windows 64bit. There was a fantastic UK server I always played on.

[Athernar]

Tiberian Twilight was the rumored name of C&C 2 instead of Tiberian Sun (the original is Tiberian Dawn... Dawn... Twilight... get it?). The name is obviously for the fans.

No, I'm pretty sure C&C3 would've been Twilight if Westwood had retained control. The Tiberian trilogy would start with Dawn, continue with Sun and end with Twilight.

I'm still annoyed that EA screwed the story up with Tiberium Wars, which seemingly wresting humanity back from the brink of extinction at the end of Firestorm only to go back there plus a little extra in Twilight. It would be much better if 3 simply hadn't existed.

[Ayepecks]

No, I'm pretty sure C&C3 would've been Twilight if Westwood had retained control. The Tiberian trilogy would start with Dawn, continue with Sun and end with Twilight.

I'm still annoyed that EA screwed the story up with Tiberium Wars, which seemingly wresting humanity back from the brink of extinction at the end of Firestorm only to go back there plus a little extra in Twilight. It would be much better if 3 simply hadn't existed.

Erm, the staff that did Tiberium Wars had the remaining Westwood staff left at EA. Westwood and EA Pacific (formerly Westwood Pacific) were merged into EALA... and most of the staff had the option of moving. Some left to go form Petroglyph. It's not like it was all big bad EA trying to ruin things. They consolidated to save money -- have one big development studio instead of 3 or 4 medium-sized studios.

[Athernar]

Erm, the staff that did Tiberium Wars had the remaining Westwood staff left at EA. Westwood and EA Pacific (formerly Westwood Pacific) were merged into EALA... and most of the staff had the option of moving. Some left to go form Petroglyph. It's not like it was all big bad EA trying to ruin things. They consolidated to save money -- have one big development studio instead of 3 or 4 medium-sized studios.

Your point?

If Westwood had continued to exist as it had during the C&C and TibSun era (Or just left to their own devices), the series would have unfolded very differently. Regardless of what you think about EA, they screwed up the continuity of the supposed Dawn/Sun/Twilight trilogy when they released 3.

Tiberian Sun created a future setting that was ravaged by the growth of Tiberium. Tiberium Wars just took the hard work they put it to developing the universe and background, screwed it up into a ball, spat in it and promptly defenestrated it for a futuristic "Oh no things are fine and dandy we were just kidding" setting.

[Ayepecks]

My point was just stated -- let's not go through this 'you don't have a point' game. You think it would have unfolded differently had Westwood continued to exist. I disagree. I'm not sure how things were "fine and dandy" in Tiberium Wars given that the entire point of the story was that the earth was hardly inhabitable, continuing the story from Tiberian Sun.

[Athernar]

My point was just stated -- let's not go through this 'you don't have a point' game. You think it would have unfolded differently had Westwood continued to exist. I disagree. I'm not sure how things were "fine and dandy" in Tiberium Wars given that the entire point of the story was that the earth was hardly inhabitable, continuing the story from Tiberian Sun.

For a planet that is "hardly inhabitable", humanity seemed to be doing quite well for itself in the "Blue Zones".

Zones that I don't seem to remember existing in Tiberian Sun or Firestorm, which both portrayed human civilisation to be largely smashed beyond recognition. When did you ever see anything in TibSun that wasn't run-down or wartorn? Let's not forget the Ion Storms.

The reintroduction of walkers is almost a metaphor for the difference in states of civilisation between the two.

[Ci7]

i feel the storyline/gameplay is getting worse.

ever since RA3/CnC3

RA3 look kiddy ,unlike who it was portrayed before

CnC3 the graphic was great ,storyline you can say 'alright' ...but cant say the same about gameplay it is abit ****ed up

[Ayepecks]

For a planet that is "hardly inhabitable", humanity seemed to be doing quite well for itself in the "Blue Zones".

Zones that I don't seem to remember existing in Tiberian Sun or Firestorm, which both portrayed human civilisation to be largely smashed beyond recognition. When did you ever see anything in TibSun that wasn't run-down or wartorn? Let's not forget the Ion Storms.

The reintroduction of walkers is almost a metaphor for the difference in states of civilisation between the two.

I don't recall it ever saying anywhere in Tiberian Sun that the civilization was smashed beyond recognition. Yes, I remember the Ion storms and rundown environments. I also seem to recall, however, that most of the game was played in certain environments were events had occurred -- such as a GDI ship (I don't think it was the Philadelphia) crash landing in a bad environment, attacking Nod's base, etc.

Wikipedia even states in the Tiberian Sun entry: "The world's former individual nations have effectively ceased to exist due to the spread of the dangerous extraterrestrial substance, and now only pockets of areas remain which are monitored by the Global Defense Initiative, and are the hiding grounds of the regrouping Brotherhood of Nod. Plants and animals in these vast and worldwide wastelands are either dying or mutating into hideous monstrosities, displacing human civilization mostly toward the polar regions where Tiberium grows slowly, or to the ever scarcer growing areas of the world where Tiberium infestation has yet to begin to truly manifest itself."

Seems to me the idea of "zones" began in Tiberian Sun.

[Athernar]

I don't recall it ever saying anywhere in Tiberian Sun that the civilization was smashed beyond recognition. Yes, I remember the Ion storms and rundown environments. I also seem to recall, however, that most of the game was played in certain environments were events had occurred -- such as a GDI ship (I don't think it was the Philadelphia) crash landing in a bad environment, attacking Nod's base, etc.

Philadelphia was the spacestation introduced in TibSun and destroyed in 3, you're thinking of the Kodiak.

Wikipedia even states in the Tiberian Sun entry: "The world's former individual nations have effectively ceased to exist due to the spread of the dangerous extraterrestrial substance, and now only pockets of areas remain which are monitored by the Global Defense Initiative, and are the hiding grounds of the regrouping Brotherhood of Nod. Plants and animals in these vast and worldwide wastelands are either dying or mutating into hideous monstrosities, displacing human civilization mostly toward the polar regions where Tiberium grows slowly, or to the ever scarcer growing areas of the world where Tiberium infestation has yet to begin to truly manifest itself."

Seems to me the idea of "zones" began in Tiberian Sun.

"Pockets" of humanity != Large highly-developed futuristic cities.

From the C&C Wikia page on blue zones:

The blue zones were areas of relative prosperity and wealth, and were GDI's home territories. By the Third Tiberium War, 20% of the Earth's surface was considered part of blue zones. GDI's dominance of the wealthy blue zones was a target of Nod propaganda. The Brotherhood demonized GDI for abandoning the the majority of the world's population in the yellow zones.

The relief provided by blue zones ultimately proved fleeting. Global Tiberium contamination reached critical levels by 2062, and the prospect of human extinction once more became an imminent possibility.

Sounds pretty clear cut to me.

[Xerxes]

Tiberian Twilight was the rumored name of C&C 2 instead of Tiberian Sun (the original is Tiberian Dawn... Dawn... Twilight... get it?). The name is obviously for the fans.

Not quite, Tiberian Sun was always going to be called that. Tiberian Twilight was the name of the next game to follow Tiberian Sun, as it was always intended as a trilogy of games (Dawn > Sun > Twilight). EA in their infinite wisdom canned the project and we got Generals instead (it got a fair way in before EA pulled the pin of it too). Not sure how C&C3 fits it the grand scheme (I liked it though) I'm guessing they wanted to extend the story arc (as Twilight was suppose to be the end) and now (hopefully) they will end this story line with C&C4 (I doubt it though). I loved RA3, I don't know why so many people hated it so much? I didn't want it to just be a clone of C&C3 with different units, I'm glad with what they did..guess I'm one of the minority :laugh:

[Ironman273]

I also liked RA3. I loved RA2 and I do think it's better but I quite enjoyed the campiness of RA3.

[Ayepecks]

Philadelphia was the spacestation introduced in TibSun and destroyed in 3, you're thinking of the Kodiak.

"Pockets" of humanity != Large highly-developed futuristic cities.

From the C&C Wikia page on blue zones:

Sounds pretty clear cut to me.

I'm sorry, what is clear cut? I'm not even following your train of thought here. Where has the "pockets" of humanity thing come up? Or is that your own phrasing of how Tiberian Sun was?

@ Xerxes: Yeah, my fault, you've got that right.

[Athernar]

I'm sorry, what is clear cut? I'm not even following your train of thought here. Where has the "pockets" of humanity thing come up? Or is that your own phrasing of how Tiberian Sun was?

@ Xerxes: Yeah, my fault, you've got that right.

Are you being intentionally obtuse?

The setting and missions of Tiberian Sun clearly show and develop a world where the large cities and capitals no longer exist. To put it in terms C&C3 would use, there are no Blue Zones, sure it doesn't go and shove this fact in your face, but it's pretty obvious this is the case.

This isn't some sort of subtle change here, C&C3 was a complete U-Turn in terms of the setting and storyline. That may not be all that bad by itself, but for them to then go and do a second U-Turn and go right back to where they were/were going in Tiberian Sun (Walkers and all) is irritating as it exemplifies EA's lack of care for the series, at least at the time of C&C3 development.

The line I quoted from the C&C Wikia article only serves to prove this: "and the prospect of human extinction once more became an imminent possibility"

[Ayepecks]

Um, no, I'm honestly asking what you're saying.

You keep saying what Tiberian Sun was, but you're just saying your own interpretation of what the game's storyline was. I fail to see how it was "obvious" given that the GDI was still essentially governing the world, and that there was still habitation on the earth. You're correct in that there were no more countries or capitals and what not, but how does that make it obvious that there aren't "zones"? I fail to see your reasoning. You're acting like EA took and completely changed the direction of the franchise. They didn't. The world was still crumbling. It was still going to hell. I don't see how anything in C&C3 points to the opposite of that.

[Athernar]

Um, no, I'm honestly asking what you're saying.

You keep saying what Tiberian Sun was, but you're just saying your own interpretation of what the game's storyline was. I fail to see how it was "obvious" given that the GDI was still essentially governing the world, and that there was still habitation on the earth. You're correct in that there were no more countries or capitals and what not, but how does that make it obvious that there aren't "zones"? I fail to see your reasoning. You're acting like EA took and completely changed the direction of the franchise. They didn't. The world was still crumbling. It was still going to hell. I don't see how anything in C&C3 points to the opposite of that.

I've explained to you why the change was a U-Turn, I've cited the C&C Wikia which corroborates my statement that this isn't some subtle change but something that's pretty much universally accepted. It would be akin to if HL2: Ep3 suddenly gave the all resistance members power armour and laser guns, and then took it back in the next game.

C&C3 is not a natural evolution in terms of storyline, if you seem to think it is then there isn't really anything I can say to you, it's like arguing the flat-earth theory.

[.KICK]

I love C&C but why do I get the feeling that this could be the last in the series! :(

[Ayepecks]

I've explained to you why the change was a U-Turn, I've cited the C&C Wikia which corroborates my statement that this isn't some subtle change but something that's pretty much universally accepted. It would be akin to if HL2: Ep3 suddenly gave the all resistance members power armour and laser guns, and then took it back in the next game.

C&C3 is not a natural evolution in terms of storyline, if you seem to think it is then there isn't really anything I can say to you, it's like arguing the flat-earth theory.

:rofl: OK, bud.

The problem is you keep extrapolating on the citations with your own opinions.

[Corris Veteran]

I love C&C but why do I get the feeling that this could be the last in the series! :(

I thought they had already said it would be the conclusion to the Tiberium games storyline?

[Shibby]

So just me for Medal of Honor then?

[Ironman273]

Uh-oh, an update... :cry:

You May Not Like Where Command & Conquer Is Headed

Jon Van Caneghem, EA's new head of all things Command & Conquer, has grand plans for the future direction of the series. Plans die-hard fans of C&C may be interested/horrified to hear.See, Van Caneghem is a big supporter of things like "games as service", and online delivery. Which makes him a good fit for EA, since that's exactly what EA are moving towards, with games like Battlefield Heroes and their acquisition of online gaming company Playfish.

So what does this mean for the future of Command & Conquer? Well, we knew he was going to "transform" the series, but didn't think it'd be this drastic. Chew over these quotes from an interview with Van Caneghem over on Gamasutra. The first regarding strategy games taking a leaf out of Battlefield Heroes' book.

"Look what online has done for RPGs over the last 10 years. All the other categories are following suit... we're looking forward to building something to be a leader in that space."

On where he sees C&C fitting in with this shift, he says ""It allows you to do everything you would have expected from a boxed game, but it adds a lot more to it... being connected and connected with players, and persistence, the social elements of playing against each other with other friends."

And, perhaps most distressingly, this:

"What you're seeing with all the social gamers on Facebook... they are actually already playing strategy games whether they know it or not. Taking a franchise like Command and Conquer and expanding it to a wider audience is part of the strategy."

Tiberiumville, coming to Facebook, 2010.

Interview: Van Caneghem Talks EALA's Vision, Command & Conquer [Gamasutra]

Source: Kotaku