EA Reviving Several Old Franchises: Wing Commander Next?

Spong has a very interesting article announcing that Electronic Arts plans to announce a return to their classic Syndicate and Desert Strike with cross platform releases to be shown at this years E3. The article goes on to claim that EA has begun a "drive to rekindle some of its unused and much-loved intellectual property" and that "several other as yet undisclosed franchises will be dusted off and receive full home console and PC revivals."

What does this mean for us? It's a hope, however slim, that a new Wing Commander game could be in the works. Wing Commander was, for a time, EA's most profitable (and certainly most beloved) franchise. If this new policy is true, it could mean that a new Wing Commander game is even now in development or could be developed based on the success of a 'first wave' of retro titles. What's more, we can say that roughly a year ago EA held discussions with several former Wing Commander developers regarding just such a plan. Hopefully, we'll know more when titles and business plans are formally announced next month at the E3 convention. We'll be there to beam back instant reports if something exciting happens.

You Foolish Fools!

In case you haven't already guessed, all of the updates yesterday were jokes. No, you shouldn't need to be told that - but keep in mind that I received at least one angry instant message from someone trying to find the diamond manta ray on eBay. If you enjoyed yesterday's updates, consult a physician... and then check out the April 1st updates from 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000 and 1999. So, to recap: no FreeLancer, no helium, no Credit Cards, no toothpaste and no watermarks. Lillard was on Last Call and Akkbar is still pretty ugly, though.