From Ars Technica · · 2m
EA releases 25 classic games remastered on Steam and GOG
Twenty-five games from EA's 1990s catalogue, including Wing Commander and Ultima titles, have been remastered and are now available for purchase.
In brief
Twenty-five games from EA's 1990s catalogue, including Wing Commander and Ultima titles, have been remastered and are now available for purchase. EA has remastered and re-released twenty-five classic games from the nineteen nineties on Steam and GOG, including Wing Commander and Ultima series titles, priced at five…
Twenty-five EA classics return
EA has remastered and re-released twenty-five classic games from the nineteen nineties on Steam and GOG, including Wing Commander and nearly the entire Ultima series.
The full list of games
The collection includes Road Rash, five Wing Commander titles, Privateer games, Strike Commander, Theme Hospital, Crusader games, and nine Ultima titles plus two Ultima Underworld games.
How the remasters began
Jim Vessella, a senior producer at EA, led the effort after working on Command and Conquer: Remastered Collection in two thousand nineteen. He discovered an archive of physical media at EA's Redwood Shores campus.
Finding the original masters
Vessella's team discovered the archive contained virtually the entirety of the original masters of Wing Commander III and Wing Commander IV's full-motion-video cutscenes, previously thought lost.
The restoration process
Contractors worked seventeen hours a day on swing shifts to label and digitize footage. The team coordinated with community members, particularly Matt Wells, who had made enhancement patches for Wing Commander games.
What the remasters include
The remasters feature much higher-quality full-motion video sequences than ever before, sixty frames-per-second gameplay, newly available dot I N I tweaks, and full controller support.
Privateer two's special restoration
For Privateer two, the team contacted the game's original cinematics director, Steve Hilliker, who had the original tapes in his attic. Hilliker performed a new color-grading pass and remastered the cutscenes.
Pricing and availability
The collection is on sale on GOG and Steam now. Previous owners of old versions on GOG and the EA storefront get the remasters free. None of the games cost more than five dollars each.
What it means
EA has remastered and re-released twenty-five classic games from the nineteen nineties on Steam and GOG, including Wing Commander and Ultima series titles, priced at five dollars or less each.
