I love the Dune universe, games and books. While doing both, however, I have noticed numerous discrepancies between the two. Even though the games aren't really supposed to be based on the books, and even though it rarely, if ever, affects gameplay, it just irks me that EAGames/Westwood didn't take the time to even research just a little. Here's what I've noticed.

SYMBOLS AND COLORS

• The Atreides Hawk is in both the games and the books. However, the Atreides House color is not blue. Its colors are green and black, and the Atreides crest is a red hawk. Exactly why the houses in the books have insignia colors different from the House colors is not mentioned, but thats how it is.
• The Harkonnen have a blue griffin for their symbol, not that weird bull thing (which is NOT, as some have speculated, a Salusan bull). Their house colors are red and black.
• House Corrino's symbol is a scarlet and gold lion. Its colors are those, not the purple in the games.
• The Ixians symbol is a purple and gold helix, not the weird circuit-thing. Also, Ix is the PLANET owned by House VERNIUS.
• The Guild symbol is a modified infinity symbol, not three circles in a line.
• The Sardaukar colors are gray and black.
• The Ordos are not mentioned in the books, but a game invention. They're thus circumstantially correct.
• I have no idea about the Tleilaxu symbol, but I'd guess thats wrong too.

MILITARY ERRORS

• The traditional weapon in the Dune books for soldiers are a dagger/sword, a shield, and possibly a lasgun or pistol. The only shielded weapons in the games are the Ordos units. The Ordos Laser tank should theoretically self-destruct every time it fires, because lasers and shields, in the Dune universe, react violently.
• Only the Sardaukar carry knives in the games, which is not accurate.
• The shield-laser reaction in the games is only mildly powerful. In the books, it is described as a small atomic explosion that occurs (which is probably why its not in the games).
• The Guild Makers (which are actually Navigators) in the game should not exist. A Guild Navigator, in the books, can never leave its melange (spice) tank, or it will die. The NIAB tanks are probably OK in this respect.
• The Death Hand missiles used by the Harkonnen are nuclear, and thus defy the Great Convention. This means the Guild would have to uphold this and not transport the Harkonnen. Other Convention violations in the game would bring about the same conclusion to that House. No house could ever risk that.
• The "invisible units" in the Dune games would not be there. The only invisibility field ever created was used by the House Harkonnen on their single "no-ship", which crashed on Wallach IX, the Bene Gesserit homeworld (read Dune: House Harkonnen)
• A kindjal is a knife, not the cannon seen in Emperor: Battle for Dune.
• The Guild does not possess a military force, nor does the Great Convention allow it one.

ECONOMIC ERRORS

• The spice in the game is not valuable enough. Numerous descriptions in Dune books note that a building or other cache filled with spice could probably buy a whole planet. This was obviously left out for game reasons, however.

OTHER ERRORS

• The Tleilaxu are not "House Tleilaxu", but the "Bene Tleilax" or simply "the Tleilaxu".
• The Guild would NEVER side with the Bene Tleilax (Emperor: Battle for Dune). The Tleilaxu are galactically despised.
• The Ordos would not create gholas. That's another Tleilaxu trait.
• The three houses each start with the same amount of territory at the start of Emperor. This would not occur. Arrakis is controlled by a "random" House for about a century at a time, in a cycle. Even after the collapse of the Corrino's, this would still be in effect, at least temporarily.
• The whole "War of Assassins" would never happen anyway. The leaders of the Houses are all in a theoretical line to the Golden Lion Throne (like the US government with its President-Vice President-etc.). I don't know who is "first". However, I do know that House Vernius is something like 87th in line. I also know that the Atreides are substantially higher than Vernius, although I do not know the specifics.
• The prisoners on Salusa Secundus are not kept in cells. They are essentially just dropped off and set loose onto the atomic-desolated planet. The Sister seen in Emperor might possibly have a cell, if only for holding purposes. But the cell blocks would be much smaller than those shown.
• The Harkonnen own the planet called Giedi Prime. This is misspelled as "Geidi Prime" in the opening Harkonnen cutscene in Emperor: Battle for Dune.
• The Guild, by law, have a monopoly on all space travel. Smugglers could never acquire the technology, ships, or foldspace techniques, no matter what. This is not so in the ending Emperor missions.
• Besides the fact that the War of Assassins would not happen, it is doubtful that the Atreides would be a competitor. While honorable and proud, the Atreides are a relatively poor house (they make money mostly through agriculture), and have a, while well-trained, a small military.
• If the Ordos are, as described by the treatise in the games, mercenaries,then why would they fight INDEPENDENTLY in a war?
• The Sardaukar are extremely loyal to their Emperor, and incredibly proud. They are the Imperial army. They probably would not hire themselves out as mercenaries, as seen in the game. They would join whoever WON, not whoever was WINNING. They might also simply dissolve and disseminate, or even attempt to seize the thrown back for themselves and the Corrino's.
• In Emperor: Battle for Dune, the Guild representative mentions the fact that the War Of Assassins is restricted to Arrakis. Later on, the Guild transports the player's house to other house's planets with no qualms whatsoever. Guess the storywriter was asleep...
• The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood's members are NOT bald, as seen in game cutscenes. In fact, the Bene Gesserit often use their great beauty (with hair) to acquire an objective.
• It is doubtful a Tleilaxu Face Dancer could ever fool the Bene Gesserit with a witch form. The Bene Gesserit are incredibly observant. Even a non-Truthsayer could find the deceit. The Bene Gesserit EVENTUALLY find out in the games, but they would have more likely figured it out about 27.5 seconds (random number) after meeting the Face Dancer.

NOTES

• The "Ixian" use of forbidden technologies is correctly shown with the Infiltrator. House Vernius often dabbles into thinking machines, which violates the Great Convention signed after the war against thinking machines known as the Butlerian Jihad.
• Gholas, while used by the wrong "house" in the games, are made from dead cells in flesh vats, which is seen in the games.
• Mentats do possess the purple lips seen in the games, which results from sapho juice. The Ordos Mentat, however, does not have these stains. This juice is necessary for a Mentat to function as human computers, since mechanical computers are banned by the Great Convention.
• The animosity between the Atreides and Harkonnen is seen in the games. It is, however, not dramatic enough. The hatred between the two runs all the way back to the Butlerian Jihad. During the Battle of Corrin, Abulurd Harkonnen grew cowardly and retreated from a crucial bridge. It was only through the Atreides that that bridge was held, and the thinking machines, whom had enslaved humans for centuries, were defeated. Atreides (who are, by the way, descended from the Greek hero Atreus. Check a mythology chart-its there! Agamemnon is, in fact, in the Atreides line. Anyway.) accused the Harkonnen of cowardice and almost causing more years of suffering, whilst the Harkonnen accused the Atreides of exaggerating and lying to gain more glory. And so it began...

STUFF I'D LIKE TO SEE IN FUTURE DUNE GAMES

• As many "corrections" as possible without ruining gameplay.
• More houses to play. The Imperium possesses over a million worlds, and only 3 can duke it out? Nooooooo.
• More allies, such as the Bene Gesserit, the Swordmasters of Ginaz, and CHOAM.
• More games!