EA says it plans to remaster classic Command and Conquer games

[midian182]

Why it matters: Remember the disappointment you felt when EA revealed that the new Command and Conquer game—Rivals—was a mobile title filled with microtransactions? But here's some good news for those longing to experience remastered versions of the original C&C games: Electronic Arts has revealed it is exploring the idea.

Posting on the C&C subreddit, EA producer Jim Vessella, who worked on several games from the franchise, including Command and Conquer 3 and Red Alert 3, said the company has heard fans’ pleas and was planning to remaster the brilliant originals.

"Following the reveal of Rivals, we heard you loud and clear: the Command & Conquer community also wants to see the franchise return to PC. And as a fan of C&C for over 20 years, I couldn’t agree more," Vessella wrote. "With that in mind we’ve been exploring some exciting ideas regarding remastering the classic PC games, and already have the ball rolling on our first effort to celebrate the upcoming 25th Year Anniversary."

Vassella said he was eager to hear fans’ feedback, and that it would influence EA’s thoughts “for PC and what comes next.” He said the company will be talking to fans in a variety of ways over the next few weeks and asked people to share their opinions on the subreddit in the meantime.

The 25^th anniversary of the first Command and Conquer isn’t until 2020, so we may have a while to wait before seeing any remastered versions. But as someone who lost countless hours to the beloved RTS game in the mid-90s, I’d be happy to wait that long for a top-quality remaster. Best of all, Vassella has confirmed that any remasters won’t follow in Rivals’ footsteps and include microtransactions.

Other than at E3, the last time Command and Conquer made headlines was when the Russian embassy tweeted screenshots from C&C: Generals to warn of Syrian extremists back in 2016.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/76898-ea-plans-remaster-classic-command-conquer-games.html

 

[Panda218]

Generals is the only remaster I want to see.

 

[VitalyT]

Looks like another shot at agitating North Korea.

 

[TomSEA]

Must be a lot of $$ in the remastering of old games. Seems like not a day goes by without another one being announced by developers. Lots of folks looking for that nostalgia fix!

Won't be long before we see a remastered version of Zork.

 

[Ravey]

I also Want remastered versions of Zool, The Settlers, Lemmings, F18 Interceptor, Life and Death.... So many to choose from

 

[stewi0001]

Must be a lot of $$ in the remastering of old games. Seems like not a day goes by without another one being announced by developers. Lots of folks looking for that nostalgia fix!

Won't be long before we see a remastered version of Zork.

Capcom especially keeps cashing in on remaking their same games.

My theory as to the remastering games is that they target games that people played as a kid and now that they are all grown up, they have jobs and can buy it again! XD

 

[amghwk]

Exploring the idea just doesn't cut it.

Anyway, yes, but .... will it have loot boxes?

 

[ShagnWagn]

Will it have DLC to pay to unlock every thing in the game, or will you actually have to earn it like the great games do?

 

[GreenNova343]

Must be a lot of $$ in the remastering of old games. Seems like not a day goes by without another one being announced by developers. Lots of folks looking for that nostalgia fix!

Won't be long before we see a remastered version of Zork.

Not necessarily a bad thing. On the one hand, aren't a lot of the existing franchises -- CoD, BF, etc. -- just repackaging the same gameplay & modes with "updated" graphics (& adding on the "feature" of always requiring a connection to the company's servers -- or worse, only allowing multiplayer gameplay on the company's servers)? And on the other hand...speaking as someone who's first forays into PC gaming go way, way back -- the original SimCity 2000, X-Wing/TIE Fighter, & other DOS-based games -- I can honestly say that the reason some of those games are still fun to play (even with the very dated graphics) is because of the gameplay. Whether it's involved & complex (or at least non-simplistic) single-player campaigns, the ability to create custom missions & maps for your own use, multiplayer capability that isn't dependent on the developer having servers available, I feel like game developers don't work to include those in their games anymore.

It's not like I'm some old geezer constantly yelling, "get off my lawn!" at game developers. There have been some newer games that I enjoy (like Diablo III & Starcraft 2), & there have been some games on Steam that have been fun (especially HBS's Battletech game). But they're becoming few & far between.

 

[madboyv1]

I played the heck out of C&C Red Alert (and it's expansions). Played with and against my brothers, dad, friends, etc over null modem, it was a grand time.

 

[TomSEA]

Must be a lot of $$ in the remastering of old games. Seems like not a day goes by without another one being announced by developers. Lots of folks looking for that nostalgia fix!

Won't be long before we see a remastered version of Zork.

Not necessarily a bad thing. On the one hand, aren't a lot of the existing franchises -- CoD, BF, etc. -- just repackaging the same gameplay & modes with "updated" graphics (& adding on the "feature" of always requiring a connection to the company's servers -- or worse, only allowing multiplayer gameplay on the company's servers)? And on the other hand...speaking as someone who's first forays into PC gaming go way, way back -- the original SimCity 2000, X-Wing/TIE Fighter, & other DOS-based games -- I can honestly say that the reason some of those games are still fun to play (even with the very dated graphics) is because of the gameplay. Whether it's involved & complex (or at least non-simplistic) single-player campaigns, the ability to create custom missions & maps for your own use, multiplayer capability that isn't dependent on the developer having servers available, I feel like game developers don't work to include those in their games anymore.

It's not like I'm some old geezer constantly yelling, "get off my lawn!" at game developers. There have been some newer games that I enjoy (like Diablo III & Starcraft 2), & there have been some games on Steam that have been fun (especially HBS's Battletech game). But they're becoming few & far between.

Good comments and I agree. A good game is a good game because of the play, not necessarily because of the pretty pictures and should stand the test of time.

However I have discovered though on playing a couple of these remasters (Baldur's Gate and Age of Empires as example) that they simply weren't that engaging anymore. At their initial release, they were state of the art and I sunk who knows how many hours playing those two games. But if released today, would be considered indie games at best. After years of playing games that get more and more sophisticated - and that's where my expectations are - it's tough to go back and play checkers for any real length of time.

 

[ZackL04]

Red Alert 2 was the best, and Yuri’s revenge

 

[bas416]

If they do this I buy a gaming pc, period.

 

[mr5elfd3struct]

Red Alert 2 and Generals please! Lovely!

 

[J2018]

This news makes me very happy!

Please prioritize as follows:
1.) Generals & Zero Hour (the pinnacle of the franchise IMHO).
2.) Red Alert 2 & packs
3.) Original C&C
4.) all the rest.

As a day-one purchaser of Burnout Paradise remastered, I strongly encourage more remastered games. Many old games are better than newer ones anyways.

Need for Speed III next please....

 

[psycros]

Must be a lot of $$ in the remastering of old games. Seems like not a day goes by without another one being announced by developers. Lots of folks looking for that nostalgia fix!

Won't be long before we see a remastered version of Zork.

Nostalgia? Most people under 30 have never played these games..they've grown up with either inferior representations of genres like RTS, adventure game, etc. or have never experienced those types of games at all. There's no downside to studio updating the classics - the potential audience is HUGE.

 

[PcePce]

This isn't good news. The old CnC games were great, and EA ruined that, shutting down servers and offering no support for a fan-base eager and willing to expand the market, add free content and balance the game. They've also made multiple CnC games recently which were little more than micro-transaction filled cash-grabs. I have no confidence that they'd do the old series any justice.

EA killed Westwood long ago, and the CnC series died with them.

 

[ForgottenLegion]

Yes please.
I'm ready for this long awaited remaster although I won't hold my breath after how proud they were of that mobile game abomination. That thing makes C&C 4 look like a AAA masterpiece.

EA killed C&C and now they want to resurrect it.
Good luck to you and I really hope it works out but I certainly won't be hyping myself up.

 

[Nobina]

EA: We think CnC is one of our best games so we wanted to remaster it because we want to give players choice to skip the grind so we are adding loot boxes, skins and other microtransactions. It's all about player choice guys!

 

[alabama man]

I already have the games, just put the servers back on so I can play. Unless they add something like 64 player ultra huge map mode or something fun it wont sell, especially on origin.

 

[Sausagemeat]

I still play red alert 2 and tiberian sun! But I would like to see a remaster that was more akin to Age of Empires HD rather than some overhaul that uses new graphics. These old C&C games were great because of their sprites!

 

[PcePce]

I still play red alert 2 and tiberian sun! But I would like to see a remaster that was more akin to Age of Empires HD rather than some overhaul that uses new graphics. These old C&C games were great because of their sprites!

Old CnC games were great cos they were created by Westwood, which EA bought in 1998. The last employee of Westwood left EA in 2003.

 

[gamerk2]

Generals is the only remaster I want to see.

Generals was very underappreciated, though you can tell that EA (because it was EA by that point) was desperately trying to copy Starcraft as much as possible.