Six Years Ago Today

Six years ago today was the unveiling of Ultima X Odyssey, and as is tradition, I'm the only one in the world still remembering that game and honoring the anniversary of the event. I was there, it was amazing, and it shall be remembered, here at least.

I almost missed it. Really, the interview I did last year with some of the UXO team pretty much wrapped up the lingering mysteries of its cancellation. There's been no new developments, of course, over the last year.

Except one. Back in April, some promotional CD appeared on Ebay that had the musical score of Ultima X : Odyssey, as well as music from Medal of Honor : Frontlines and one other game. I foolishly thought I was the only one interested, didn't bid high enough, and got sniped. I was very much hoping to get my hands on that artifact and hear that fantastic music once again.

So here we are, six years later. Ultima X : Odyssey is just a memory, EA apparently has no plans to do anything with the Ultima franchise, other than churn out another Ultima Online expansion for their few remaining players, and all that's left of the hard work and dedication of the Ultima X : Odyssey team is one lone fan, raising a toast to them all and their unrealized vision.

What a game it would have been. Roll the movies:

We entered the hall at Yerba Buena and this is what they showed us to introduce the game:



Here's a short film about the game's music:



Here's one I hadn't seen before from Liquid Development, about world building. Some of these environments have never been seen before:



Here's EA's film of the event itself, which DID NOT happen at any E3, in spite of the title:



Finally, let's wrap it up with my own tribute film: