Battlestar Galactica to frak up XBLA, PCs

  • By Colin Mahan, Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
  • Posted Feb 12, 2007 3:18 pm PT

Vivendi Games is prepping a slender space action game based on the hit Sci Fi Network series for PCs and Xbox 360s.

NBC Universal and its corporate sibling, publisher Vivendi Games, are teaming up to bring fans a multiplayer action game based on the popular Sci Fi Network series Battlestar Galactica. Developed by Australian studio Auran Games, the game will be available as a digital download in the fall for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade. No price was announced.

Released under Vivendi's subsidiary Sierra Entertainment, the online Battlestar game will focus on space dogfights, giving players the option to play as either the humans or the Cylons. The game will feature levels based on episodes from the show's first two seasons, and Sierra expects to offer updates after the game's release.

Unfortunately, the game is not the Battlestar role-playing game series creator Ronald D. Moore said he was pondering at the 2006 Game Developers Conference. NBC U is still shopping the idea of other Battlestar games to publishers, but full-fledged console games have an average two-year development cycle. Universal interactive licensing vice president Bill Kispert says a downloadable game works perfectly to immediately capture the excitement surrounding the series, which recently moved to Sunday nights.

"The show is really hot right now and the fans want content so we had a lot of discussion to figure out something we could do this year," Kispert explained. To help whip up enthusiasm, a new content pack of Battlestar-themed Xbox dashboard themes and gamer pics was released over the weekend. Xbox 360 owners can also still download Battlestar Galactica: The Story So Far, a two-hour condensation of the first two seasons of the show, for free via Xbox Live Marketplace.

38 Comments

  • largibbons

    Posted Jul 9, 2007 11:21 am PT

    Indeed. Beyond the red line (the freespace 2 mod) is cool game, even though it is still a demo it has multiplayer capabilities! Check out the 9th battlestar group if you want to meet people to fly with: http://www.majesticsites.net/BSG9

  • HYP3RD4SH_666

    Posted Apr 3, 2007 8:01 am PT

    Ya well I would rather have a XBL one insted.

  • sandvich

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 10:31 pm PT

    There's already a BSG space sim in the works as a MOD of the open-sourced Freespace 2 engine: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=freespace+bsg

    www.game-warden.com/bsg

  • soulessblade

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 3:21 pm PT

    The Galactica game on the original X-Box sucks unfortunately due to really poor mission structure. The missions are incredibly long and you lack the ablilty to instantly target mission critical items. You can play a mish for 45 minutes only to have a raider that you couldn't target take out a primary, then you have to do the whole thing all over again, no checkpoints. Apart from that though the flight mechanics mechanics and on the fly weapons managment were pretty good. The designs of the centurions in the cut scenes of the original game had been revised from the original 80's show, and looking at them now you can almost see the evolution of the original centurion to the game, and then to the new killing machines that they have in the current series. I wonder if there's a link?

    I absolutely love the new series. The old had a place in my heart having grown up with it and upon hearing of the new one, I had trepidations, I was expecting yet another of my childhood icons was about to be destroyed, (Yeah I'm looking at you George Lucas!). I'm please to say it's easily the best drama on TV at the mo.

    I'm keen to see what they do for this "lite" game.

  • ticalmc2k2

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 11:45 am PT

    That show is pretty damn good. My brother is addicted to it, and I used to think he was a dork. But its actually good. Hopefully the game will be too.

  • Kaizen4

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 11:39 am PT

    Farscape said "Frell," not "Frack,"

    I'm a nerd and proud!

  • anarchicgoth

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 10:49 am PT

    BSG is awesome- i just hope the game is as good as the show!

  • theKSMM

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 9:46 am PT

    Sweet. I like being able to download missed episodes of my favorite series on XBOX Live! It's cheaper than boxed DVD sets, and many of the shows are in high-definition. I wish more of them were HD, but it's a good start.

    I keep hearing how nice Battlestar Galactica is, so maybe it would be worth downloading and checking out...

  • MrLetty

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 6:36 am PT

    Holy crap bsg is such a good show, and starbuck is hot.

  • esplinmanor

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 6:32 am PT

    there is a battlestar galactica game for the orginal X-Box that is pretty good.

  • Mooshu92887

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 6:07 am PT

    Yeah.. while Ive been wanting a BSG Space Sim for quite a while, I'm pretty sure a downloadable game wont really be all that great.

  • zsc4

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 4:05 am PT

    I haven't even seen the show, is it any good?

  • zsc4

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 4:05 am PT

    I haven't even seen the show, is it any good?

  • GreyFoxV1

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 1:27 am PT

    When is Canada going to get the video love from marketplace? I watch the series but I'd still like to see this condensed short film.

  • scrapking

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 12:09 am PT

    Frak was first from Farscape? Not hardly, Frak was spoken extensively in the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica as an expletive. If Farscape was referencing it, it might've been a coincidence or (more likely) an intentional homage to the classic Galactica series.

    Trivia note: There was a second expletive from the original Galactica, felgercarb, which was used in the place of the s-word.

  • Kfoss

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 11:09 pm PT

    LOL and to think that FRAK was first from Farscape..LOL who knows...i think its got awsome potential...question is can it be done..

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 10:23 pm PT

    360 and PC games are becoming very synomonous

  • smbius

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 10:12 pm PT

    I love the show, but I'm definitely not holding my breath on this game.

  • Dante565

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 9:22 pm PT

    This is some cool news.

  • SWGruler

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 9:13 pm PT

    I love BSG, one of my favorite (perhaps my favorite) tv show on TV, the suspense is great. Freerunner, I wont say anything about the 3rd season except that (as usual) is better than the 2nd, however there is a lot of stuff that is revealed so you should probably just watch it soon before someone accidently tells you what has happened. The schedule listing is on sci-fi.com I think. Back to the game, looks interesting, but I'm more interested in a BSG mmo hehe.

  • Riverwolf007

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 7:20 pm PT

    I keep hoping that since the new generation of television executives were raised on video games these guys will finally be able to tell the difference between a good game and a cheap attempt to co-brand their tv show. Time will tell.

  • xelloss88

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 6:44 pm PT

    HD episode day after of the showing please But this is sweet love BSG!

  • freerunner01

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 6:30 pm PT

    JLCrogue, teh reason they use frack instead of its actual counterpart is so that there will be no censoring, because even though we know what it means, in reality they are not saying anything, its just a made up word with a meaning we gave it...a kinf of a plausable deniability I guess....but anyway, I love Battlestar but have not been able to watch teh thrid season thats on right now because of work and school, I want a new 360 game (an actual game not an arcade) to be made!!!

  • dfd3657

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 6:04 pm PT

    I've recently started watching Battlestar Galactica (I saw the first couple episodes of season 1 when it first started, but I kept missing episodes), and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite shows. I'll definitely check this out when it gets released.

  • ElectrolightSH

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 6:01 pm PT

    Yes, I love Battlestar Galactica, Sci-Fi rules!

  • drgnstr13

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 5:46 pm PT

    I could understand the PC, but the 360? O_o

  • JLCrogue

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 5:35 pm PT

    Why the frak do they say frak in the show!? It's the greatest show on television, but it would be better if they actually used the f word.

  • Re_ensurer

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 5:09 pm PT

    I'm not too interested.

  • ookiig

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 4:41 pm PT

    Hmm....Sounds....very budget. That and I don't like buying games that I don't get a physical disk with. If they print it and sell it cheap at retail, then maybe. I am a big fan of the show.

  • HuxleyHobbes

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 4:19 pm PT

    Best article title ever, imo.

    Not holding out much hope that this'll be worth the time though.

  • mjwickstrom1

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 4:14 pm PT

    This game will be a bust!

  • PuffstaJones

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 4:04 pm PT

    cool, i love that show... too bad the game has a very good chance of sucking. Most tv/movie based games do. Maybe we'll be lucky.

  • not-e-n-e

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 3:52 pm PT

    love the show, dont like xbox, make it for PS3 please!

  • polsci1503

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 3:46 pm PT

    a Galatica rpg would be sweet... I'll take this one too! my favorite show...

  • BloodMist

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 3:46 pm PT

    It'd be nice to have another quality space sims, since it's been years.Hopefully this won't be the half assed product i'm thinking it will be.

  • dannyodwyer

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 3:34 pm PT

    frak ftw!

  • SpiritOf

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 3:30 pm PT

    If it isn't an RTS, sorry, not interested.

  • Kainx6

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 3:29 pm PT

    the name of this article is just plain awesome

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