Macworld: Free Battlestar Galactica game hits the Mac:
"Beyond the Red Line rewinds the show’s timeline a little bit, taking players back to Battlestar Galactica’s second season. You arrive on board the Battlestar Pegasus, ready to help defend humanity against the Cylons. Actually, you’ve been given no choice: A civilian refugee, you’ve been press-ganged into service as a pilot, and you take the yokes of a Viper Mk II, Mk VII or Raptor spacecraft as you test your skills against wave after wave of Cylon craft."
Sounds interesting. But wait, there's more:
"The game is entirely fan-created — it’s neither made nor endorsed by Universal Studios, NBC nor anyone else officially associated with the hit reimagining of the 1970’s space opera, which has received massive acclaim since its introduction three seasons ago."
Is Beyond the Red Line infringing on the copyrights or trademarks of NBC Universal?
Does it make a difference that an official BSG game will be released out in the fall by Sierra Online. "We're huge fans of Battlestar Galactica and are thrilled to have the opportunity to create a game inspired by the TV series," said Ed Zobrist, president of Sierra Online. "NBC Universal is working closely with us so that players will be able immerse themselves in the Battlestar Galactica universe and re-live their favorite missions from the TV series."
Comments
There's kind of an irony to this story. Sierra was the same company that was developing - and later axed in 1999 due to company-wide financial problems - the game "Babylon 5: Into the Fire", based on the popular science fiction TV show. Sierra was owned by Havas at the time, which had been bought out by Vivendi the previous year.
The game was seen as the only possibility for an official game based on the Babylon 5 franchise, and though the developers at Sierra's Yosemite Entertainment studio were interested in continuing development of the game independently, Sierra mysteriously opted not to sell their Babylon 5 license to the developers, holding on to it until it expired, effectively ensuring the game's demise.
Vivendi purchased Universal Studios in 2000, becoming Vivendi Universal, and made a deal with GE four years after that to combine the Universal operations with GE's NBC unit, forming NBC Universal.
To top it all off, an international team of developers known as "Space Dream Factory" has been working on a freeware Babylon 5 game for the past several years. The game includes many of the features that B5:ITF would have included, such as space combat physics reminiscent of the visual effects sequences from the television show and many of the graphical models from the show. In addition, there have been several groups working on mods for other game engines to bring the Babylon 5 design motif to the computer desktop.
Sound familiar?
Posted by: Barry | April 10, 2007 8:11 AM