Oh wow, wasn't actually aware there were Community Wishlists... thanks for calling this to attention!

And here goes a +1 for the entire Dune videogame franchise (especially Dune 2000).

The Dune games are probably the first games I voted for in the wishlist.

Maybe with the new movie coming up they will get a release to take advantage of the buzz and hype from the film.

Frank Herbert's son HATES the games and the continuity they formed.

He will probably NEVER EVER allow them to be sold again. It is not a problem of money, it is not a problem of missing part-rights (programming code or other), it seems to be complete blocked by HIM alone.

And that WILL NOT change for the old games of the series. Unfortunately...

What I find very "funny" about Brian Herbert and his hatred for dune video games...

Is that the Westwood ones didn't invent anything as he recurrently claims: Westwood Studios took their inspiration from the books of course, but from the Dune Encyclopaedia which, surely invented many things, was approved by Frank Herbert himself.

So, to speak, I don't really think that Emperor Battle for Dune, for instance, was less truthful to the original material and the original "extended universe" made during the Frank's lifespan, that the books that Brian and Kevin Anderson made.

Emperor is really a love letter to the Dune Universe.


About the games, don't forget the unreleased Dune Generations, which was some kind of a game like Mankind.

I'd suspect Dune games are in a legal limbo similar to where Blade Runner game was. Like BR proved, those legal knots can be untangled, but it takes time and effort, not to mention some goodwill from the rights holders. But until that happens, Dune games are in the same place with Discworld games and No One Lives Forever.

Well, House Ordos is entirely made up, mostly to have the typical three-way war themed campaign.

Having say that, Dune 2000 is one of the better Westwood game(not that they've ever made a bad/weak game), and Dune 2 sprites are amazing. I'd love to own both of those games.

wow , thanks for link it working :)

Perhaps he's talking about house Ordos? Is there any basis for it in any of the Herbert works? I've read the first book, but I don't recall seeing anything that fit the house, so it's many years ago by now.

Not that it should matter in any case, any hatred towards the game with regard to its portrayal of the book's universe would be hopelessly misguided. For me at least it's precisely because I was so fascinated with Dune 2 that I wound up buying and reading the book in the first place, and I loved every page of it!

As far as I know, House Ordos is only mentioned as being a great house, like Atreides and Harkonen, but other than they play no part in the Dune canon.

A little off topic, but my only hope is that the release of the new Dune movie, will bring renewed interest in the games, and maybe some headway can be made in bringing them back.

Interesting, I'll have to look out for that next time I read the book.

I did some googling around, and apparently House Ordos is only mentioned in The Dune Encyclopedia, and not in any of the Frank Herbert books. So it's non-canon.

Oh that is very interesting, especially given that the first Dune Novel had its own small encyclopedia in the back. Makes you wonder where the idea for the House came from then, as it preceded the games by several years.

There's a new Dune movie coming out this year so I think if GOG wants to find the rights to the old games they'd be best to approach whoever is publishing the movie, they might be interested as a way to promote the film.

Here are very quick scans of my own personal Dune Encyclopedia copy (sorry about the poor quality), and yes indeed, the mentions of House Ordos are very light and even not in the direction Westwood chose.
But I added the first page note from Frank Herbert himself, as he was very interested in how fans can expand the Dune universe he created. Sure the Dune games and the Dune Encyclopedia have their own flaws, but none of them were poor quality fan fictions in their very own media, and especially considering the times they were released. I believe that Frank Herbert was compliant and relatively open minded (sure he despised Heavy Metal and refused the tribute Iron Maiden wanted to give him to, for instance), David Lynch's Dune was made after all...
But, hey Frank Herbert already took many inspirations from another Space Opera: the Instrumentality of Mankind from Cordwainer Smith (aka Paul Linebarger)...

As said Chateaubriand, "il ne faut pas être plus royaliste que le Roi" ("you needn't be a better royalist than the king").
A Dune "Extended Universe" could have been a thing... But just as Star Wars... *couch*.

Another funny thing, is the mentions of the Butlerian Jihad: the Dune Encyclopedia mentions Jehanne Butler, and Herbert & Anderson mention Serena Butler.
But in the end, it's a wink for Samuel Butler, the author of the books Erewhon...