Jedi Outcast and Academy come to consoles

[Circa]

 Yes, we are alive. It's also my birthday, so send me cake and chocolate, please. Or don't. Don't let strangers on the internet tell you what to do. 

It's no secret that news around the Jedi Knight universe has been extremely sparse over the last few years. This should be no surprise to anyone, due to Jedi Academy turning sixteen this year. I know a lot of people expect us to do something every year for the anniversary of the release, but we haven't and probably won't continue to until the 20th, if we make it that far. I'll give a quick shout out and say Jedi Academy is turning 16 this month, on September 16. Happy birthday to me, and happy early birthday to JKA.

Moving on. Yesterday, Nintendo hosted a Nintendo Direct, which is their main method of announcing news about their hardware and games. Among the slew of games announced that were coming to Nintendo Switch, the beloved game we know and love Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast was a shocking addition to the lineup. 

Quote

 A Star Wars classic so fun, it's back for more! Kyle Katarn, agent of the New Republic, is our only hope to stop a rogue Jedi. Get your lightsaber at the ready, blaster in hand, and prepare to wield the full power of the Force. Courtesy of Aspyr, the full singleplayer experience of Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is coming to Nintendo Switch September 24th.

 Aspyr is the developer that was originally behind the port of Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy to Mac, so it's no surprise they are behind this port as well. The surprise though, is that there's a port at all. No doubt this was a move approved by Disney and Lucasfilm, which makes it a random one, other than acknowledging that their older games are desired by many still to this day. Later that day, it was confirmed by IGN that Jedi Academy would also be coming to Nintendo Switch at a later date in early 2020, as well as both games coming to PlayStation 4 as well. The push to get these games to consoles all of a sudden is very unexpected surprise, but a welcome one. Not only will they be on these systems, but Jedi Academy was made available on the Xbox One Marketplace earlier this year as well, via the Backwards Compatibility program. Perhaps we will see Jedi Outcast make it's way there as well. It's clear that these games are still beloved by many fans even to this day, and Lucasfilm and Disney are still acknowledging that they exist to the point of re-leasing them. The cynics among us would say it's just to make more money, which of course it is, but they could have released any old game but they chose these. What makes it more interesting is they do this so close to their new game's release, Jedi: Fallen Order. Getting the word "jedi" in as many digital marketplaces as possible may be their ultimate goal here, who knows. They also have the new physical collector's additions being released by Limited Run games soon, which was announced at E3 earlier this year, though those will be for PC only. What are your thoughts on this? Do you have a Switch or PS4 that you'll be trying out these games on?

View full article

[Droidy365]

[Maksman]

I cried. Jedi Outcast was my first REAL game and the only one i've ever own multiple times through out my life time.

[Hankerchief104]

happy birthday for you then and JK

[dg1995]

Jedi Outcast was the first Star Wars game that I've ever played. Happy that console players will be able to play it.

 

Funny that as a child when I played JK 2, I came into this conclusion that Star Wars games are great.(Even though that SW has both great and disappointing games.)

[OfficialRedNation]

i'm so excited for these games to come, but will the new console versions have multiplayer? I hope there's a multiplayer feature in there

[Aldro Koon]

i'm so excited for these games to come, but will the new console versions have multiplayer? I hope there's a multiplayer feature in there

Only Academy is confirmed to have it.

[GamerRedNeck]

I'll be picking it up a Switch for sure.  I've been dying to have a Star Wars game on there (that isn't pinball)!

[GamerRedNeck]

Jedi Outcast was the first Star Wars game that I've ever played. Happy that console players will be able to play it.

 

Funny that as a child when I played JK 2, I came into this conclusion that Star Wars games are great.(Even though that SW has both great and disappointing games.)

Fortunately, I find the good more than outweighs the bad.

[Asgarath83]

Happy birthday JK! nice news ! these porting can actract a lot of new players

[SuperMep]

Ive been scouring the internet trying to find out more about the multiplayer aspect of the new games. To no avail. Just generic "great things are coming" from Aspyr who's handling the multiplayer side of things I guess. I really really hope they allow for cross play with PC. Just bringing that many new players to the servers would be amazing.

I'm sure im wishing for a lot but maybe...

Another thought I had was I might pick this up for my Switch or PS4 (whichever) and try to get people to get it on PC. Long shot but hey..

But we do have a new movie coming out so a lot of people will be jumping back on JKA soon.

[syainkn]

It's a good thing JK series releases on console. But on the contrary, we cannot mod them if JKO and JKA are console game.

Rom files which can be mounted on emulator cannot be hacked unless you seek another means. It's a troublesome duty for you to do.

Well, we've already had PC version. So we don't have to do it on purpose.

[McGroose]

I recall seeing someone made progress with modding JK2 on the switch. Apparently the layout of the game's folders and files remains largely the same and untampered with.  The person was able to use a mod that replaces the Bryar pistol with the JK3 DL-44, a pretty old but popular mod from back in the day. So it's certainly possible on the Switch.

As for the PS4, probably still possible. Just likely not worth it. If I could get my JK2 mod configuration on PS4, I'd have a pretty fun time messing around with it.

EDIT:
Here's what I was talking about, btw

https://i.redd.it/03rwvorh8dq31.png

https://www.reddit.com/r/SwitchHacks/comments/dculys/jedi_outcast_is_easily_moddable_you_just_have_to/

I really was hoping for something more akin to the Gamecube/Xbox port, just with PC style graphics. I'm kind of disappointed they basically did a copy and paste of the PC version of the game, but that just means the game is easy AF to mod, which I guess is nice. They didn't even fix the crappy default 1080p 75-80 default FOV. Hopefully a mod can fix what should've been there from the start. The default FOV really is awful on 1080p resolution.

[Niborino]

From what I have heard they are bringing back the multiplayer for Jedi Academy and not Outcast so as to not spread the small player base out too much. But as for how it will actually work I have no idea. Nintendo themselves uses peer to peer for Smash Bros Ultimate and Mario Kart and such so I am not all that hopeful xD As for modding on the Switch the Skyrim modding scene for the Switch is quite good it seems. But you need to hack your Switch and might only be possible with the older model(i.e. the original Switch with bad battery). I have not done it myself as I do not want to destroy my Switch. Not really a need for it either since I have both Skyrim and Jedi Outcast and Academy on PC.

[Avoozl]

It's probably going to be closer to the PC version than the original console versions with their enhancements.