Indy Jones to be 'reinvigorated'

LucasArts president Jim Ward has said that he'd like to "reinvigorate the Indiana Jones IP," arguing that the whip-cracking archaeologist could become as recurrent a character as James Bond.

Admitting that the Indy Jones IP "basically has been stagnant for years" in a recent interview with yank mag Game Informer, Ward said, "There's no reason that Indiana Jones can't be a James Bond and have a year-in, year-out great representation of that brand."

Of course, a likely catalyst for any videogame revival would be the much-heralded fourth Indiana Jones film, which could conceivably be released as early as next year if various factors come together in time. Ward said as much by adding that any new game could "take advantage of the fact that in the next couple of years there will be a new Indiana Jones movie".

Although the quality of Indy's gaming adventures has been somewhat inconsistent of late, - with an initial heavily Tomb Raider-inspired effort later diluted into more traditional third-person adventuring - the series' beginnings in the point-and-click adventure genre are widely revered, with Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis in particular considered one of the best film character spin-off games ever made.