Homeworld： Emergence

Homeworld: Emergence takes place shortly after the events of the last game in the Homeworld series, Homeworld 2. For those who haven't played the first two Homeworld games, you'll probably know that there is a lot more going on in Emergence. The game was revealed in the first trailer of Homeworld: Emergence at this year's E3. We've also seen some screens of the game in action, as well as some footage of what appears to be a bunch of enemies in the game.

At E3, Sierra's Vice President of Marketing Greg Canessa and Art Director Jason Statham spoke about the concept of the game: "The idea that people don't get to play it is for them to do a very good game. That's just what we think is going to make it really fun and just play it and want to see it. The thing we're looking at, and so far, is this sort of a very personal challenge for us, but we're really excited about it." The world of Homeworld 3 will include a lot of different alien races. "In the last three Homeworld games, we really pushed the real-time strategy thing to the limits of what could be done with a console that you can play with your friends, where it really makes you feel like you're actually part of a bigger universe."

GS: What can you tell us about the graphics in the game?

MG: We really wanted to take full advantage of the technology we've developed to make sure the graphics were right. I think they will always look amazing when you're in a spaceship that can actually run up and down the walls of enemy vessels. That's a big part of the game. We're doing our best to make sure that we take it all to heart and let you experience it in a unique way.

GS: Will Homeworld 3 be a point-and-click adventure?

MG: In fact, we're going to be quite cautious with it. We're not going to give away any details on what kind of space combat you'll be exploring and how you'll interact with the universe in the game, but we're not going to shy away from the traditional turn-based games. Our game is going to be a fantastic experience in terms of visuals and gameplay.

GS: How far along is the game's development?

MG: We're aiming for a late fall release. It's an early title, but we're actually aiming to ship in Q1, which is a launch window that we're aiming for.

GS: Will Homeworld 3 be a part of the Xbox Live Arcade game?

MG: Yes, there's a number of places we're hoping to put Homeworld 3 onto Xbox Live.

GS: When did you decide to release the game on Xbox Live Arcade?

MG: We had a bit of an agreement with Xbox Live, and we decided to do it for the first time in a few weeks. The plan was pretty much the same, but that was pretty much set in stone. We're really just creating the console version of Homeworld 3. The main thing we're looking for now is to make the online component available to everyone.

GS: Is there anything else you would like to add to the Homeworld universe?

MG: We'd like to be able to bring Homeworld to the PC community. There is a lot of interest in that as well. We think that it would be really cool to bring Homeworld to the Xbox Live service.

GS: What has been the best strategy for you since you made the game?

MG: Well, I don't know much about strategy for us, but we think it's one of the best. It's been a very successful strategy for us. There are certainly some strategy games out there that are a lot easier to find--very few of them are massively multiplayer, and this one's kind of like a remake of Civilization, but it's a much simpler game for hardcore fans. It's an RTS. We like the way that the number of people playing it is shrinking every few months--the number of people playing it is growing so that the game is being played more and more than ever.

GS: Are you a hardcore fan of strategy games, or do you like the balance?

MG: No, I haven't played every strategy game, but I have played some of them on PC, but I would play most of them in short order. The strategic games on our side are probably the best strategy games out there. You don't really get to choose from all of the most popular factions, but there are a bunch of fun games that are definitely challenging. So it really is a matter of preference as to which one you get.

GS: Now, we know that Microsoft is putting a lot of effort into backward compatibility with the Xbox 360.