Feature: 'The Art Of LucasArts - Michael Rubin On Droidmaker'

In today's main Gamasutra feature, we present an interview with former Lucasfilm Computer Division employee Michael Rubin, about his new book, Droidmaker. The piece discusses George Lucas' history of digital creation, the history and evolution of LucasArts, and presents an extract from the book dealing with LucasArts' genesis. In the interview, Rubin is asked whether he thinks that having to make Star Wars titles is mostly a positive or mostly a negative for LucasArts, and responds: "Personally, I think the best games to come from Lucasfilm were their original creations, like Maniac, Monkey Island, Zak, and so on... and it took them some time before HQ trusted the games guys enough even to let them create games based on the valuable assets of movie characters (the first test was Labyrinth, then an Indiana Jones game); but soon enough it made sense to have the Star Wars titles get generated internally. It sort of reminds me of an old adage about restaurants -- restaurants with a great view generally have lousy food. But people go for the view. People will buy a Star Wars game, or Indy game, at some level simply because they like the characters, theme, and environment, so that gameplay can suffer without killing the success. I don't think the Star Wars titles are a millstone to the company -- I think they are a cornerstone. It's possible Lucasfilm, in an effort to minimize risk, has cut down on the riskier idiosyncratic games, and instead has fallen back on the franchise titles -- but this is not my field of expertise. I'm an archeologist of the old days, not really an analyst of the current business there." You can now read the full Gamasutra feature on the subject, including more insight into the history and future of LucasArts. (no registration required, please feel free to link to the article from external websites).