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Topic: Researching Star Control Board Game Interest (Read 10774 times)
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0xDEC0DE
*Many bubbles*
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Posts: 175
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Could it be that we are witnessing a renaissance in interest for this fine game? If this is the case, there are a number of parallels between Star Control and another icon of science fiction.
We have: a game that was not terribly popular in its day, that some decried as a cheap knock-off of another game, yet it managed to, through inventive storytelling, garner a fanatically loyal cult following. However, without proper studio support, It only lasted for three sequels (seasons), the third being laughably bad, before the plug was finally pulled. A few years later the studio that produced the games tried to make a sequel on their own, but it never got off the ground. The franchise then faded away, leaving the fans out in the cold, until many years later it achieved unexpected success by switching to a new medium.
Very interesting.
If we ride this parallel according to what has come before it, then we can look forward to seeing a number of Star Control board games on the shelves, with "the even numbered ones" being good, and "the odd numbered ones" being bad.
The relative success of the board games will then attract the attention of a game publisher, and we will then see "Star Control: The Next Generation" on the shelves, which despite slow initial sales will become an international phenomenon and a cultural touchstone. Die-hard fans will, of course, complain that Zelnick was a much better captain than the new guy, that the new game takes itself too seriously, but most people will prefer it by far to the original series, due to the better visuals and effects used. Suddenly, you'll see t-shirts, coffee mugs, model kits, people dressed as characters from the game at conventions; and Fred and Paul will build a giant Scrooge McDuck-style vault in which to hold all their cash, and swim in it daily.
Then, sure of themselves to the point of hubris, and their ranks of programmers/designers at Toys for Bob swelled by the success of SC:TNG, they will release "Star Control: Deep Space Franchise", which will center on an Alliance starbase, and will be a blatant rip-off of a much better game, made by a smaller production company for less money. Nonetheless, the game will sell well on the name recognition, and some fans will grow to like it, as its story will be darker than either the original series or the Next Generation.
When sales of SC:DSF start to lag, Toys for Bob will release "Star Control: Wanderer", which will center on a lone Alliance ship, flung to the far corner of the galaxy by an incredible plot contrivance, trying to make it back home while pissing off absolutely everyone they can in the process. The plot of the game will be reminiscent of playing a video game version of "Gilligan's Island", in that every time you discover a possible shortcut that would allow you to get home and win the game, some non-player character does something stupid that blows the whole deal. Most fans decry the game as boring, tedious, self-important and derivative, and people end up amazingly angry about the desicion to turn the Ur-Quan into complete sissies, but it still sells marginally well because of some gratuitous T&A that was obvuiously tacked on late in production. Because despite ourselves, plenty of guys really like looking at them boobies.
Then, worried about the trend of declining sales in their last few titles, Toys for Bob will release the ambiguously named "Vindicator", as an attempt to reach out to new fans who might be put off by the "Star Control" name. It will ostensibly be a game about the very early days of the Alliance of Free Stars, but its plot will be so amazingly, incompetently bad that it will contradict almost every single plot point established by the earlier games, and lead fans to wonder if Fred and Paul had suffered massive head trauma. Somehow, possibly through sheer inertia, the game will sell somewhat well, possibly due in part to the publisher repackaging the game as "Star Control: Vindicator" half-way through its production run.
We could be in for an interesting ride, indeed.
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"I’m not a robot like you. I don’t like having disks crammed into me… unless they’re Oreos, and then only in the mouth." --Fry
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Defender
Enlightened
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ah come on, this doesnt seem like sucha bad idea:
Star Control: Deep Space Franchise 
~DEFIANT
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« Last Edit: November 16, 2004, 04:32:55 am by DEFIANT »
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Death 999
Global Moderator
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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So, wait, Star Control: Wanderer is a board game in which you try to get home by ridiculous plot contrivances but random events thwart you at every turn?
Sounds like Save/Kill Dr. Lucky!
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