Any sci-fi geek worth his or her salt will have heard of Orson Scott Card's magnificent Ender's Game series. (The original happens to be one of this blogger's favorite books.)For those of you unfamiliar with the story, let's catch up. Ender's Game tells the tale of the young prodigy, Ender Wiggin, who must prepare to save the word by training at Battle School. Ender's training consists of (what else?) playing games -- intense, simulated battles that involve a lot of strategy and tactics.
It was only a matter of time before a game about a book about playing games was made, and we couldn't think of a better way to do it than with Orson Scott Card's novel. Chair Entertainment (developer of XBLA 's Undertow) recently signed the rights to the series, and plan to (eventually) make the title for all consoles and handhelds.
While games based on licenses have a tendency to fall short of our expectations, we're somewhat comforted to know that Orson Scott Card is "working with [Chair Entertainment] to ensure the game is as authentically Enderish as possible," as he puts it.
We only hope that this title actually appears on our favorite handheld, and doesn't turn into DS vaporware like some others that we know. If it does come out on the DS, though, it probably won't be until after the game releases onto downloadable platforms first (which we assume will include Wii Ware, too).
[Via Games Industry]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-29-2008 @ 8:13PM
Stewart said...
This book was amazing, and a game based on it (if done well) could be just as amazing. I think it could be a great multiplayer, too. Flying around in a giant gravity-free arena with freeze guns? So much fun could be had with a wi-fi game, especially if it was on the Wii. Groups of somewhere between 5 and 10 people could even make their own platoons, and then they could have matches with other platoons! I will be fantasing about this until details come out squashing my hopes and dreams.
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1-29-2008 @ 8:44PM
The Theory said...
The book is fantastic. Not sure if a game can really recreate the sheer psychological power of the novel... but it is sure worth a shot, yeah?
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1-30-2008 @ 12:43AM
Deozaan said...
What part of the news article suggests the game will be made for DS?
That's like hearing that there's a game being made about Broken Saints and jumping to the conclusion that it might end up on DS.
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1-30-2008 @ 1:41AM
Candace Savino said...
"Under the terms of the agreement, Chair has obtained the exclusive rights to develop Ender’s Game "Battle Room" video games across all next-generation consoles, handheld platforms, and PC. In collaboration with Orson Scott Card, Chair will begin development later this year with the first offering expected for release via downloadable platforms."
The way it's worded implies the possibility of a handheld game, especially when using the term "first offering" (as in, there can be *second* offering). Of course, that only means it's *possible* and not *definite*, hence the use of the word "might" in the title of the post.
1-30-2008 @ 2:05AM
Deozaan said...
Aha! I read the article but I must have skimmed over that part.
The thing about the Battle Room is that it's a really cool idea, in context of the book, but since the Battle Room is a simulation of space combat (with space ships and stars and things) then does it really make sense to do a simulation of a simulation? That is, a videogame where you simulate humans in a room who are simulating spaceship fleets?
I love Ender's Game, I just hope they can pull it off well.
1-30-2008 @ 9:55AM
Candace Savino said...
Yeah, it's hard to think of how exactly they can make it work ... but if they can, it will surely rock ;)
Here's hoping!
1-30-2008 @ 2:42AM
RTJP said...
wow... i just finished reading this book for english class... the book is sooo cool!!!
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1-30-2008 @ 9:23AM
JKAntwon said...
Well this pretty cool!
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1-30-2008 @ 12:21PM
TurboFool said...
To be fair, and I hate to say this, but Mr. Card also trusted Majesco with his previous properties. Despite being one of the most brilliant sci-fi authors of our time (quite possibly my all-time favorite, but Robert Heinlein gives him stiff competition), his taste in game developers/publishers has left something to be desired. Hopefully Chair really is so enthralled with his property that their pitch and vision transcends any pitfalls that would usually come with such a translation. I'll be cautiously optimistic about this one.
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