StarCraft: Ghost
Encyclopedia
StarCraft: Ghost is a military science fiction
stealth-action
video game under suspended development by Blizzard Entertainment
. Part of Blizzard's StarCraft series
, the game was announced in 2002 and was to be developed by Nihilistic Software
for the Nintendo GameCube
, Xbox
, and PlayStation 2
video game console
s. Several delays in development caused Blizzard to move back the release date and the game has not yet materialized. Nihilistic Software ceded development to Swingin' Ape Studios
in 2004 before Blizzard bought the company, and plans for the GameCube version were canceled in 2005.
Blizzard announced in March 2006 that the game is on "indefinite hold" while the company investigated seventh generation video game console
possibilities. Subsequent public statements from company personnel have been contradictory about whether production will be renewed or planned story elements will be worked into other products. The continued delay of Ghost has caused it to be labeled as vaporware
, and it was ranked fifth in Wired News
annual Vaporware Awards in 2005. Although Blizzard Entertainment refuses to list it as such, video game journalism outlets including IGN
and GameSpot
list Ghost as canceled.
Unlike its real-time strategy
predecessor StarCraft
, Ghost is a third-person shooter
, and was intended to give players a closer and more personal view of the StarCraft universe. Following Nova, a Terran psychic espionage operative called a "ghost", the game is set four years after the conclusion of StarCraft: Brood War
and covers a conspiracy about a secretive military project conducted by Nova's superiors in the imperial Terran Dominion. Very little of the game's storyline has been released; however, in November 2006 after the game's postponement, a novel was published called StarCraft Ghost: Nova which covers the backstory of the central character.
.jpg)
During StarCraft: Ghosts gameplay, the player's character Nova must use stealth and darkness to reach objectives and remain undetected. Nova has a cloaking device
that allows for temporary concealment, but certain hostile non-player character
s can overcome this with special devices and abilities. Nova is also equipped with thermal imaging
goggles and a special EMP
device for disabling electronic devices and vehicles. In addition to the focus on stealth elements, StarCraft: Ghost includes a complex combat system. Blizzard planned to include a small arsenal of weaponry with assault
and sniper
rifles, grenade
s, shotgun
s, and flamethrower
s. Nova can engage in hand-to-hand combat and uses these skills to eliminate enemy threats quietly. If alerted, enemy characters will hunt for the player, set up traps, and fire blindly to nullify Nova's cloaking device.
Nova is highly agile, acrobatic, and able to perform maneuvers such as mantling and climbing ledges, hanging from pipes, and sliding down ziplines. The player has access to Nova's psionic powers honed through training as a ghost agent, such as the ability to improve her speed and reflexes drastically. StarCraft: Ghost includes many of the vehicle units featured in StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War. Some vehicles, such as space battlecruisers and starfighter
s, only play support roles, while others, such as hoverbikes, scout cars, and futuristic siege tanks, can be piloted by the player.
, capture the flag
, and king of the hill
, but also introduces two game modes specifically designed for the StarCraft universe. The first is "Mobile Conflict", which requires two teams to fight for control of a single Terran military factory with the ability of atmospheric flight. Using vehicles and team tactics, both teams must first board the structure and then capture its control room to fly it to the team's starting point. The structure must then land and be defended from capture by the opposing team for a set amount of time.
The second unique game mode is "Invasion", in which two teams fight for control of mineral resource nodes. Whenever teams capture a node they gain points that can be used to purchase classes and vehicles. In all of the team-based game modes, teams have access to four Terran unit classes: light infantry, marine
, firebat, and ghost. The light infantry class has minimal armor but a larger range of weapons, while the marine is a heavily armored soldier with an assault rifle and grenades. The firebat is a heavy marine armed with a flamethrower and napalm
rockets. Finally, the ghost is a variation of Nova's character in the single-player mode, equipped with a cloaking device
, thermal vision, EMP device, and sniper rifle, but lacks the speed ability. Due to the size of the armor worn by marines and firebats, only ghosts and light infantry can pilot vehicles.
. The series is set in a distant part of the galaxy called the Koprulu Sector and begins in the year 2499. Terran exiles from Earth are governed by a totalitarian empire, the Terran Dominion, that is opposed by several smaller rebel groups. Two alien races discover humanity: the insectoid Zerg, who begin to invade planets controlled by the Terrans; and the Protoss, an enigmatic race with strong psionic power that attempt to eradicate the Zerg. Ghost takes place four years after the conclusion of StarCraft: Brood War
, in which the Zerg become the dominant power in the sector and leave both the Protoss and the Dominion in ruins. The game follows the story of Nova, a young ghost agent—a human espionage operative with psychic abilities—in the employ of the Dominion.
.jpg)
Although the game has been indefinitely postponed, the backstory for Nova was released in the novel StarCraft Ghost: Nova by Keith R. A. DeCandido
. It was meant to accompany the game's release, but was published in 2006 after development halted. In the novel, Nova is a fifteen-year-old girl and daughter to one of the ruling families of the Confederacy of Man, an oppressive government featured in StarCraft
. The Confederacy is overthrown by rebels, who go on to form the Dominion. Nova has significant psionic potential, but has been kept out of the Confederate ghost operative training program because of her father's influence. After her family is murdered by rebels, Nova loses control of her mental abilities and accidentally kills 300 people around her home. She flees from her home before she is caught, and is later forced to work for an organized crime boss
as an enforcer and executioner. She is rescued by a Confederate agent who is investigating her disappearance during a rebel attack on the Confederate capital that leads to the Confederacy's destruction. Nova is consequently acquired by the newly formed Terran Dominion, who erase her memory and train her as a ghost agent.
Few details have been revealed about Ghosts plot beyond Nova's backstory. Under emperor Arcturus Mengsk, the Terran Dominion has rebuilt much of its former strength and controls a new military formed to counter the Zerg. To further bolster the effectiveness of his military, Mengsk initiates a secret research operation codenamed Project: Shadow Blade and places it under the command of his right-hand man, General Horace Warfield. In the program, an experimental and potentially lethal gas called terrazine is used to enhance the genetic structure of the Dominion's psychic ghost agents. The process is described as changing the agents into "shadowy superhuman beings bent on executing the will of their true master". It is into the midst of this that Nova finishes her training and is dispatched in operations against the Koprulu Liberation Front, a rebel group that challenges Mengsk's empire. However, Nova's mission leads her to uncover a conspiracy that involves Shadow Blade. This revelation causes her to question her loyalty to the Dominion and could upset the balance of power within the galaxy.
began development on StarCraft: Ghost in 2001. Nihilistic aimed to release the game for the Xbox
, PlayStation 2
and Nintendo GameCube
video game console
s in late 2003, which elicited positive reactions from the press. The game was consistently delayed, and during the third quarter of 2004, Nihilistic discontinued their work on the project. Blizzard stated that Nihilistic had completed the tasks it had been contracted for, and the game would be delivered on time.
In July 2004, Blizzard Entertainment began collaboration with Swingin' Ape Studios
to work on the game, and bought the company in May 2005. Despite anticipation for the game by industry journalists, Ghost was delayed again and its release date was pushed back to September 2005. At Electronic Entertainment Expo 2005, Ghost was officially reannounced, but the GameCube version was canceled by Swingin' Ape Studios due to the platform's lack of online support. The game's release was again delayed until 2006. Despite the efforts of Swingin' Ape, Ghost failed to materialize as scheduled, and in March 2006 Blizzard Entertainment announced an indefinite postponement on development of Ghost while the company explored new options with the emerging seventh generation of video game consoles
. Despite its long development history, IGN
noted that the concept of Ghost still held promise. Although the game's development was suspended, Keith R. A. DeCandido's novel StarCraft Ghost: Nova was published several months later in November 2006.
Complementing Nihilistic's and Swingin Ape Studio's work on the game, Blizzard's cinematics team—originally formed to develop StarCrafts cut scenes—created the cut scenes for Ghosts single-player campaign, which are integral to the game's storyline. The team, which originally consisted of six people, grew to 25, and used newer hardware, software, and cinematics techniques to create higher quality cut scenes than those featured in StarCraft and Brood War. The game's trailer, composed of the cinematics team's work, was released in August 2005.
Since Ghosts production halted, Blizzard Entertainment has sporadically released information about the title. The game's protagonist, Nova, shows up in one campaign mission of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, in which players are given the option to side with her or fight against her forces. She has been shown in previews of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
. Metzen further stated that he believed Ghost had an excellent storyline that may be told in future novels following from DeCandido's Nova. In June 2007, Rob Pardo
, one of the lead developers at Blizzard Entertainment, indicated that there still was interest in finishing Ghost. Later in an interview, Pardo stated that Blizzard had been "stubborn" in persevering with Ghost, but they "were not able to execute [the game] at the level we wanted to". Blizzard's president Mike Morhaime
and Pardo gave a presentation on the company's history at the D.I.C.E. Summit
in February 2008. During the presentation, they listed games canceled by Blizzard, which did not include Ghost. When questioned about this, Blizzard's co-founder Frank Pearce explained that the title was never "technically canceled" and that it was not in the company's focus at the time due to a finite amount of development resources. Morhaime later elaborated that it was the sudden success of World of Warcraft
and the concurrent development of StarCraft II that consumed Blizzard's resources, leading to Ghost being put on hold. Despite Blizzard's announcements, many of the video games industry's journalists now list Ghost as canceled and consider it vaporware
; the game was ranked fifth in the 2005 edition of Wired News
annual Vaporware Awards.
Military science fiction
Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on a planet other than Earth...
stealth-action
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
video game under suspended development by Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
. Part of Blizzard's StarCraft series
StarCraft (series)
StarCraft is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series centers on a galactic struggle for dominance between three species—the adaptable and mobile Terrans, the insectoid Zerg, and the enigmatic Protoss—in a...
, the game was announced in 2002 and was to be developed by Nihilistic Software
Nihilistic Software
-History:Nihilistic was founded in March 1998 by Ray Gresko, Robert Huebner, and Steve Tietze. Gresko and Huebner had formerly worked at LucasArts, and Tietze had worked at Rogue Entertainment...
for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, and PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s. Several delays in development caused Blizzard to move back the release date and the game has not yet materialized. Nihilistic Software ceded development to Swingin' Ape Studios
Swingin' Ape Studios
Swingin' Ape Studios is a video game development studio founded in July 2000 by Steve Ranck, Mike Starich and Scott Goffman after leaving Midway Home Entertainment. They had just completed the successful water-based arcade racer, Hydro Thunder....
in 2004 before Blizzard bought the company, and plans for the GameCube version were canceled in 2005.
Blizzard announced in March 2006 that the game is on "indefinite hold" while the company investigated seventh generation video game console
History of video game consoles (seventh generation)
In the history of video games, the seventh generation of consoles is the current generation , and includes consoles released since late by Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony...
possibilities. Subsequent public statements from company personnel have been contradictory about whether production will be renewed or planned story elements will be worked into other products. The continued delay of Ghost has caused it to be labeled as vaporware
Vaporware
Vaporware is a term in the computer industry that describes a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is never actually released nor officially canceled. Vaporware is also a term sometimes used to describe events that are announced or predicted,...
, and it was ranked fifth in Wired News
Wired News
Wired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Wired News was owned by Lycos not long after the split, until Condé Nast purchased Wired News on July 11, 2006...
annual Vaporware Awards in 2005. Although Blizzard Entertainment refuses to list it as such, video game journalism outlets including IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
and GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
list Ghost as canceled.
Unlike its real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
predecessor StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
, Ghost is a third-person shooter
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
, and was intended to give players a closer and more personal view of the StarCraft universe. Following Nova, a Terran psychic espionage operative called a "ghost", the game is set four years after the conclusion of StarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War is the expansion pack for the award winning military science fiction, real-time strategy video game StarCraft. Released in 1998 for Windows and Mac OS, it was co-developed by Saffire and Blizzard Entertainment. The expansion pack introduced new campaigns, map tilesets, music,...
and covers a conspiracy about a secretive military project conducted by Nova's superiors in the imperial Terran Dominion. Very little of the game's storyline has been released; however, in November 2006 after the game's postponement, a novel was published called StarCraft Ghost: Nova which covers the backstory of the central character.
Campaign
Cloaking device
Cloaking devices are advanced stealth technologies still in development that will cause objects, such as spaceships or individuals, to be partially or wholly invisible to parts of the electromagnetic spectrum...
that allows for temporary concealment, but certain hostile non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s can overcome this with special devices and abilities. Nova is also equipped with thermal imaging
Thermography
Infrared thermography, thermal imaging, and thermal video are examples of infrared imaging science. Thermal imaging cameras detect radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum and produce images of that radiation, called thermograms...
goggles and a special EMP
Electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
device for disabling electronic devices and vehicles. In addition to the focus on stealth elements, StarCraft: Ghost includes a complex combat system. Blizzard planned to include a small arsenal of weaponry with assault
Assault rifle
An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...
and sniper
Sniper rifle
In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...
rifles, grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s, shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
s, and flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
s. Nova can engage in hand-to-hand combat and uses these skills to eliminate enemy threats quietly. If alerted, enemy characters will hunt for the player, set up traps, and fire blindly to nullify Nova's cloaking device.
Nova is highly agile, acrobatic, and able to perform maneuvers such as mantling and climbing ledges, hanging from pipes, and sliding down ziplines. The player has access to Nova's psionic powers honed through training as a ghost agent, such as the ability to improve her speed and reflexes drastically. StarCraft: Ghost includes many of the vehicle units featured in StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War. Some vehicles, such as space battlecruisers and starfighter
Starfighter
"Starfighter" is a science fiction term used to describe small, fast, usually one-manned craft designed for armed combat .The appearance and use of fictional starfighters is often modeled on fighter aircraft, with little regard for the actual physics of spaceflight...
s, only play support roles, while others, such as hoverbikes, scout cars, and futuristic siege tanks, can be piloted by the player.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer mode in StarCraft: Ghost differs from the stealth-based mechanics of the single-player portion. It aims to give players a personal view of the battles from the real-time strategy games of the series. Accordingly, Ghosts multiplayer is structured around class-based team gameplay and fighting in a variety of game modes. Ghost incorporates traditional game modes from multiplayer video games such as deathmatchDeathmatch (gaming)
Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
, capture the flag
Capture the flag
Capture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...
, and king of the hill
King of the Hill (game)
King of the Hill , is a children's game, the object of which is to stay on top of a large hill or pile as the "King of the Hill"...
, but also introduces two game modes specifically designed for the StarCraft universe. The first is "Mobile Conflict", which requires two teams to fight for control of a single Terran military factory with the ability of atmospheric flight. Using vehicles and team tactics, both teams must first board the structure and then capture its control room to fly it to the team's starting point. The structure must then land and be defended from capture by the opposing team for a set amount of time.
The second unique game mode is "Invasion", in which two teams fight for control of mineral resource nodes. Whenever teams capture a node they gain points that can be used to purchase classes and vehicles. In all of the team-based game modes, teams have access to four Terran unit classes: light infantry, marine
Space marine
The space marine, an archetype of science fiction, is a soldier that operates in outer space or on alien worlds. Historical marines fulfill amphibious roles: ship defence, landing parties, and general high-mobility deployments...
, firebat, and ghost. The light infantry class has minimal armor but a larger range of weapons, while the marine is a heavily armored soldier with an assault rifle and grenades. The firebat is a heavy marine armed with a flamethrower and napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
rockets. Finally, the ghost is a variation of Nova's character in the single-player mode, equipped with a cloaking device
Cloaking device
Cloaking devices are advanced stealth technologies still in development that will cause objects, such as spaceships or individuals, to be partially or wholly invisible to parts of the electromagnetic spectrum...
, thermal vision, EMP device, and sniper rifle, but lacks the speed ability. Due to the size of the armor worn by marines and firebats, only ghosts and light infantry can pilot vehicles.
Synopsis
Ghost takes place in the fictional universe of the StarCraft seriesStarCraft (series)
StarCraft is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series centers on a galactic struggle for dominance between three species—the adaptable and mobile Terrans, the insectoid Zerg, and the enigmatic Protoss—in a...
. The series is set in a distant part of the galaxy called the Koprulu Sector and begins in the year 2499. Terran exiles from Earth are governed by a totalitarian empire, the Terran Dominion, that is opposed by several smaller rebel groups. Two alien races discover humanity: the insectoid Zerg, who begin to invade planets controlled by the Terrans; and the Protoss, an enigmatic race with strong psionic power that attempt to eradicate the Zerg. Ghost takes place four years after the conclusion of StarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft: Brood War is the expansion pack for the award winning military science fiction, real-time strategy video game StarCraft. Released in 1998 for Windows and Mac OS, it was co-developed by Saffire and Blizzard Entertainment. The expansion pack introduced new campaigns, map tilesets, music,...
, in which the Zerg become the dominant power in the sector and leave both the Protoss and the Dominion in ruins. The game follows the story of Nova, a young ghost agent—a human espionage operative with psychic abilities—in the employ of the Dominion.
Keith R. A. DeCandido
Keith Robert Andreassi DeCandido is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and musician, who works on comic books, novels, role-playing games and video games, including numerous media tie-in books for properties such as Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Supernatural,...
. It was meant to accompany the game's release, but was published in 2006 after development halted. In the novel, Nova is a fifteen-year-old girl and daughter to one of the ruling families of the Confederacy of Man, an oppressive government featured in StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
. The Confederacy is overthrown by rebels, who go on to form the Dominion. Nova has significant psionic potential, but has been kept out of the Confederate ghost operative training program because of her father's influence. After her family is murdered by rebels, Nova loses control of her mental abilities and accidentally kills 300 people around her home. She flees from her home before she is caught, and is later forced to work for an organized crime boss
Crime boss
A crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...
as an enforcer and executioner. She is rescued by a Confederate agent who is investigating her disappearance during a rebel attack on the Confederate capital that leads to the Confederacy's destruction. Nova is consequently acquired by the newly formed Terran Dominion, who erase her memory and train her as a ghost agent.
Few details have been revealed about Ghosts plot beyond Nova's backstory. Under emperor Arcturus Mengsk, the Terran Dominion has rebuilt much of its former strength and controls a new military formed to counter the Zerg. To further bolster the effectiveness of his military, Mengsk initiates a secret research operation codenamed Project: Shadow Blade and places it under the command of his right-hand man, General Horace Warfield. In the program, an experimental and potentially lethal gas called terrazine is used to enhance the genetic structure of the Dominion's psychic ghost agents. The process is described as changing the agents into "shadowy superhuman beings bent on executing the will of their true master". It is into the midst of this that Nova finishes her training and is dispatched in operations against the Koprulu Liberation Front, a rebel group that challenges Mengsk's empire. However, Nova's mission leads her to uncover a conspiracy that involves Shadow Blade. This revelation causes her to question her loyalty to the Dominion and could upset the balance of power within the galaxy.
Development
Nihilistic SoftwareNihilistic Software
-History:Nihilistic was founded in March 1998 by Ray Gresko, Robert Huebner, and Steve Tietze. Gresko and Huebner had formerly worked at LucasArts, and Tietze had worked at Rogue Entertainment...
began development on StarCraft: Ghost in 2001. Nihilistic aimed to release the game for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s in late 2003, which elicited positive reactions from the press. The game was consistently delayed, and during the third quarter of 2004, Nihilistic discontinued their work on the project. Blizzard stated that Nihilistic had completed the tasks it had been contracted for, and the game would be delivered on time.
In July 2004, Blizzard Entertainment began collaboration with Swingin' Ape Studios
Swingin' Ape Studios
Swingin' Ape Studios is a video game development studio founded in July 2000 by Steve Ranck, Mike Starich and Scott Goffman after leaving Midway Home Entertainment. They had just completed the successful water-based arcade racer, Hydro Thunder....
to work on the game, and bought the company in May 2005. Despite anticipation for the game by industry journalists, Ghost was delayed again and its release date was pushed back to September 2005. At Electronic Entertainment Expo 2005, Ghost was officially reannounced, but the GameCube version was canceled by Swingin' Ape Studios due to the platform's lack of online support. The game's release was again delayed until 2006. Despite the efforts of Swingin' Ape, Ghost failed to materialize as scheduled, and in March 2006 Blizzard Entertainment announced an indefinite postponement on development of Ghost while the company explored new options with the emerging seventh generation of video game consoles
History of video game consoles (seventh generation)
In the history of video games, the seventh generation of consoles is the current generation , and includes consoles released since late by Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony...
. Despite its long development history, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
noted that the concept of Ghost still held promise. Although the game's development was suspended, Keith R. A. DeCandido's novel StarCraft Ghost: Nova was published several months later in November 2006.
Complementing Nihilistic's and Swingin Ape Studio's work on the game, Blizzard's cinematics team—originally formed to develop StarCrafts cut scenes—created the cut scenes for Ghosts single-player campaign, which are integral to the game's storyline. The team, which originally consisted of six people, grew to 25, and used newer hardware, software, and cinematics techniques to create higher quality cut scenes than those featured in StarCraft and Brood War. The game's trailer, composed of the cinematics team's work, was released in August 2005.
Since Ghosts production halted, Blizzard Entertainment has sporadically released information about the title. The game's protagonist, Nova, shows up in one campaign mission of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, in which players are given the option to side with her or fight against her forces. She has been shown in previews of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is an upcoming sequel and expansion pack to the military science-fiction real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and part two of the planned StarCraft II trilogy...
. Metzen further stated that he believed Ghost had an excellent storyline that may be told in future novels following from DeCandido's Nova. In June 2007, Rob Pardo
Rob Pardo
Rob Pardo is Executive Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard Entertainment. Previously he was the lead designer of World of Warcraft...
, one of the lead developers at Blizzard Entertainment, indicated that there still was interest in finishing Ghost. Later in an interview, Pardo stated that Blizzard had been "stubborn" in persevering with Ghost, but they "were not able to execute [the game] at the level we wanted to". Blizzard's president Mike Morhaime
Michael Morhaime
Michael "Mike" Morhaime is the president and a co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment , a video game developer located in Irvine, California, currently owned by Activision Blizzard...
and Pardo gave a presentation on the company's history at the D.I.C.E. Summit
D.I.C.E. Summit
D.I.C.E. Summit is an annual multi-day gathering of video game executives held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Established in 2002 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the conference is host to the annual Entertainment Software Association's Interactive Achievement Awards...
in February 2008. During the presentation, they listed games canceled by Blizzard, which did not include Ghost. When questioned about this, Blizzard's co-founder Frank Pearce explained that the title was never "technically canceled" and that it was not in the company's focus at the time due to a finite amount of development resources. Morhaime later elaborated that it was the sudden success of World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
and the concurrent development of StarCraft II that consumed Blizzard's resources, leading to Ghost being put on hold. Despite Blizzard's announcements, many of the video games industry's journalists now list Ghost as canceled and consider it vaporware
Vaporware
Vaporware is a term in the computer industry that describes a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is never actually released nor officially canceled. Vaporware is also a term sometimes used to describe events that are announced or predicted,...
; the game was ranked fifth in the 2005 edition of Wired News
Wired News
Wired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Wired News was owned by Lycos not long after the split, until Condé Nast purchased Wired News on July 11, 2006...
annual Vaporware Awards.