For this news to make any sort of sense to you, you’d (probably) have to ask, “What’s Phantom Dust, anyway?”
Well, its one of the better games you never played. Short history: From the creator of Sega Saturn’s Panzer Dragoon series (of all things), it was an online tactical brawler released in 2004 on the original Xbox at the height of Halo 2 and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory popularity. Published through a 3rd party to limited release, and compounding the head-scratching timing of what would later become a cult classic among a small pool of gamers, it had its final nail driven into its coffin by next-gen Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 hype. A few took notice however, and it lived on until Microsoft finally cut the original XBL servers in 2010.
But what was it about? You were part of a band of amnesiac, subterranean people fighting to regain your memories after an unknown devastation ravaged the earth and turned it into a wasteland. Using card-based strategy along with world-leveling magic powers, you were basically fighting your way to the truth, teaming up with and taking out any survivors along the way.
If that sounds batshit crazy and/or really cool, it’s because well, it was. Get ready to feel bad for not playing it:
Now, this trademarking business has much more relevance. Take that concept, and extrapolate it towards the capabilities of consoles two generations down the line. Environments can get larger and more dynamic (imagine Frostbite 3 levels of destruction!), the amount of players at a time would increase, and potentially, a more vast, detailed array of cards and powers (to be updated as time goes on) are just the tip of the iceberg of what a next-gen coat of polish would bring to the forgotten franchise. After seeing the respect Microsoft has given to Killer Instinct as a franchise in reviving it, I have no doubt this would be a sure bet if they play it right. (given their track record with Rare, it could have gone oh so wrong..)
In fact, just last year, in an interview with US Gamer, the series creator said he would be interested in crowdfunding a sequel, but that there were “hurdles” to clear, chief among those being a Japanese developer, it would be difficult to go this grassroots route outside of the US and UK (where services like Kickstarter primarily operate).
Now, it seems that Microsoft has made the decision for him. Will he be on board for this potential sequel?
I for one am fully behind the idea of a next-gen Phantom Dust. The original came out when the Xbox was going out of style, to limited fanfare and an even more limited release. A 1080p shot in the arm would be just the thing to draw players back to XBL in a time where Playstation Plus is experiencing its own rennaissance.
Sounds like an E3 announcement would be a sure bet..but we’ll measure our hype. This is news nonetheless.
