Wasteland 2 - Original Wasteland to be included

inXile has announced the original Wasteland game will be included with Wasteland 2, despite Brian Fargo previously saying the rights were tied up with EA. Here's the official announcement:

Wasteland 2 now to include the original game which started the post apocalyptic RPG genre

Newport Beach, CA – July 10, 2012 - InXile Entertainment today confirmed that Wasteland 2 will include the original Wasteland game that was released in 1987. The original RPG is considered the godfather of post apocalyptic games and went on to win numerous awards. Computer Gaming World inducted Wasteland into their Hall of Fame, and in 1996 they ranked it the #9 best game from a list of 150 games.
"The #1 request we had during our Kickstarter campaign was to have the ability to play the first game. Fortunately EA has continued to support us on this project and has granted us the ability to bring the original to the players," said Brian Fargo, of inXile Entertainment. "It is great to be able to make Wasteland available for those feeling nostalgic or who want to experience it for the first time. It certainly will not be a pre-requisite to understand Wasteland 2, but it adds some extra flavor if you did play the prequel."

Thanks to NMA for also sending this in.
More information.

Nice.. I've been wanting to give the original a try.

I wonder if they're going to update it to run on modern OSs without having to use DosBox, etc.

Yeah, it needs to be able to run without having to have a computer science degree to figure out how to do it. Loved the original, and would probably play that again before doing the new one, honestly. Good job on getting it included!


-Carn

Originally Posted by JDR13
Nice.. I've been wanting to give the original a try.

I wonder if they're going to update it to run on modern OSs without having to use DosBox, etc.

it would be even cooler if they could re-make Wasteland 1 with the engine they're making for Wasteland 2. Nostalgia is not enough to play Wasteland 1 as it is I'm afraid.

never new this was an issue but maybe with this success the possibilities of us seeing a system shock 3 are now somewhat better than zero.

so did they purchase the rights from ea to make wasteland 2 to start with?

The trademark lapsed many years ago and, ultimately, inXile re-established it as their own trademark.

But the original game was made and paid for by EA, so they rightfully own it, even if the trademark lapsed. inXile can't just bundle up someone's else's game with their new product - but it seems like inXile reached some sort of deal with EA.

EA seems to be staffed by more enlightened people these days. At least with regards to their old ip library.

I totally thought that Wasteland was on abandonware sites already for a number of years. Pretty sure it can be downloaded on hotud.org. I think I'd rather play the C64 version over the IBM version as I thought color scheme was done better but probably rose tinted glasses.

Also I had the strategy book and recall it as one of the best I've ever used but then that is a fairly small list. I dont suppose that is available online.

Great, I might give it a try.
I missed the original but remember battling killer clowns in the spin-off, Fountain of Dreams.

They have some money left to jump on that path.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
Yeah, it needs to be able to run without having to have a computer science degree to figure out how to do it. Loved the original, and would probably play that again before doing the new one, honestly. Good job on getting it included!

Wasteland is freely available as abandonware, and DosBox is a LOT friendlier than it used to be. I never used to use it at all, but got Wasteland running very easily.

That said, they're not going to include the game and tell players "Now go find DosBox to run it!" If GoG can release games from the 80's as standalones, so can inXile.