I'll agree with Anchorhead about Lucas' (futile) attempts to steer the impact. But to some degree I think he has been successful in the short term.

In the late 90s, the whole "vision" of the saga started being pushed, with the emphasis on the path of the hero, redemption, Joseph Campbell, etc. People bought into it, and it made us have hopes that the prequels would be better. The hype may have been why so many of us initially had trouble seeing the problems with the prequels.

Lately, I do feel like there's been a cultural shift in the other direction. Time is not being kind to the prequels and the vision of the saga, as opposed to the OT which only gets better with age. In the end, I think it'll all shake out, and Lucas' attempts to steer the cultural impact won't count for much.

ARTWORK:

About the cover art, it irritates the heck out of me that Luke is not wearing his boots. It just looks like some random blond dude in khakis. Am I the only one bothered by this?

Also, with Luke being a ghost going in the other direction: The cover clearly tells us that the OT is dead and the PT/Saga is coming straight down our throats.