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Kind of on a gaming kick around here...
Thanks to ps3mods (I don't think I've posted this yet) for the GT video of Vader gameplay in the upcoming Sould Calibur IV:
And Episode V of the Star Wars Gaming Retrospective at GT is now up:
For all the episodes of the retrospective so far, go to this GT page or here at 9ff4.
Not sure if I've posted this ever before here, but it's well worth posting again. A classic conversation between two beautiful minds; Charlie Rose talks to George Lucas (58 minutes).
Technabob posted this heads-up to the giant Pez dispensers now available at BulkCandyStore. The foot tall Pez dispensers don't just give you a single Pez, they spew out a whole pack at a time! I wanna see Palpatine puke one of these up.
This just blipped on my radar... Have you been getting itchy fingers with the eternal wait for The Force Unleashed release on September 16? Well, I have, and there will be some relief as we can expect a demo for the game sometime within the four month period before the release. Well, there are less than three months to go now! videogamer.com reports, and don't forget to check their interview with Cameron Suey, producer of the next-gen TFU versions (PS3 and Xbox 360).
And while we're at it, why not make the "Secret Apprentice" (not much of a secret anymore, eh?) part of the Lego universe? Done! Well, since it was done by legostarwarsblog.com, they have come out with Lego TFU, but I like the original homemade version much better!
Gratuitous posting of concept art below
Star Wars Clube Portugal has coverage and pictures of the awesome Star Wars sand sculptures featured at the International Festival of Sand Sculptures in Portugal. Check it out. Holy MF!
Well, not really, but they might as well have. A Louisiana dojo mixes martial arts and Jedi arts and the results are the ultimate in awesomeness. The only drawback is the part about getting kids "up and moving and away from video games". Oh wait, I'm not a kid. I'm safe. I think I'll go play Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy while I contemplate taking up martial arts again.
The under-4-foot multi-talented actor known as Warwick Davis blew off his very own red carpet Narnia premiere so he could appear at the Disney Star Wars Weekends events. Okay, so maybe he had a pre-scheduled contract, but still... he could have broken it if he really wanted to.
So he likes us fans better. Right? Well, in that case he likes Will Smith better too, because Will is a huge fan:
"You might think he has run out of ambitions, but Smith confesses he is harbouring a secret dream: "I can remember going to see one of the Star Wars movies when I was about 12, and I was the most amazed that I have ever been in a theatre in my life. If they ever want to cast me in another of the Star Wars films, well, I would be more than interested.''" Daily Telegraph
Many may have heard about the LucasArts job layoffs and surrounding media squabble in the past week or so. In a recent game critic press event, LucasArts not only shows off TFU and the coming Nintendo Clone Wars games, but it also assures us that development continues for the future, including the next-gen Indy game. Apparently, there was some press chatter about the leaked two threes (KOTOR3 and BF3 that is *winks*). LucasArts will keep relatively quiet this year at E3 as well. Venture Beat reports.
St. Paul and Minneapolis NBC station KARE 11 has joined up with a few of our Star Wars pals for an awesome promotional campaign for both the station and the Star Wars: Where Science Meets the Imagination exhibit. Click here for videos!
It feels like forever that we've been waiting for some real next-gen content, and of course LucasArts leads the way creating completely playable environments with Digital Molecular Matter and euphoria technology (GTA4 uses euphoria, but not DDM). First we'll get The Force Unleashed, but hopefully not too long after that we'll get more of an Indy fix. Some retailers are projecting a March-or-so 2009 release date. My Lego buzz is just starting to wear off too.
The more I think about it, the more this looks like it might be Grand Theft Auto: Indy Nights... or something to that effect. Notice the San Fransisco setting?
Keep an eye on the LA Indy game site:
"Indiana Jones debuts the revolutionary new euphoria technology from NaturalMotion, which delivers never-before-seen lifelike action and awareness to every character in real time -- so you'll never see the same thing twice. For the first time ever, euphoria enables interactive characters to move, act and even think like actual human beings, adapting their behavior on the fly and resulting in a different payoff every single time. This next-gen technology imbues Indy and his opponents with unparalleled environmental awareness and survival instincts. They'll stumble, then attempt to maintain their balance; brace themselves for falls, then get back up; and reach for nearby ledges when falling. Each action results in an authentic, varied performance every time.
Complementing euphoria will be Pixelux Entertainment's Digital Molecular Matter (DMM) technology, which brings a level of realism to next-gen games never seen before by making completely interactive environments that react as they would in real life. From crumbling walls to shattering glass and even swaying organic plant life, in-game objects have material properties that behave realistically all in real time.
Indiana Jones also features completely interactive Hot Set™ environments, where every setting is open-ended and completely destructible in a way that only next-generation consoles can deliver. Use your wits and daring to make each spring-loaded environment a weapon as you dispense of foes in clever and unexpected ways. Also, embark upon thrilling chase sequences that remain true to the spirit established in scenes such as Indy's pursuit of the motorcade in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the mine-cart scene in The Temple of Doom, and the free-for-all aboard the tank in The Last Crusade. Face Indy off against a devious longtime rival, reunite him with old friends, and meet more of his most trusted allies throughout the world."
*waves hand*
Remember last year when mean old Jim Ward taunted us with press releases saying they were developing a lightsaber game for the Wii, and he's played it? Well, after I did a little post-art school math, it seems that game is in fact the Clone Wars inspired game for the Wii. The lightsaber-centric game is tentatively titled simply Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels. IGN talks with game producer Ken Fox all about it. Now let's all grovel to the Star Wars gaming gods so they'll really come out with the fabled Wii-saber, even though Nintendo refuses to endorse such a dangerous add-on. Um, hello? It may be the only thing that makes this game really worthwhile peeps! Don't make me operate on my Force FX lightsabers :(
The DS Clone Wars exclusive will be a vastly different game than that for the Wii apparently (Kotaku), since the mobile platform doesn't have the same motion capabilities as Nintendo's Wii console and instead uses the touch pad and stylus. Read more about Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance for DS at IGN here.
George has been talking about this for a long time, and over at Yahoo News we get a little glimpse at what may be up and coming:
"Producer Rick McCallum said both elements are addressed in a script by John Ridley that "balances difficult and painful issues with what is, at its heart, the story of men with a dream to fly and serve their country."Lucas hopes to begin shooting by year's end or early 2009, McCallum said. The movie's title refers to the color of their fighter planes' tails, which were distinctive and allowed U.S. bomber crews to know they were being escorted by the aggressive Tuskegee Airmen.
"It is a story of incredible adventure and enormous courage," said the producer, who's scouting locations for "Red Tails" in Prague, Czech Republic, and Italy. "I think the story will speak to anyone who has ever wanted to succeed at something others told them was impossible.""
The American Film Institute has been pretty active lately, and they're churning out more lists. One of the latest is the top 10 sci-fi, of which our beloved original Star Wars "Episode IV A New Hope" comes in at #2 after 2001: A Space Odyssey. I just have to ask - Why, oh why did they have to choose that screen shot from Alien? *awful childhood memories*
Dang. I almost wish I didn't watch this but really, I'm glad I did (since it's taken so frakking long for TFU to get even close to a release date!). The newest Lucasarts TFU documentary gives away the very beginning of the story's plot, along with some other awesome clips from the game story. You could go to the official TFU site, but unless your broadband is working better than ever, the video will be more watchable at Gameriot's blog here. Found at i09
Another Pixar hit will be gracing theaters (USA) on June 27. In fact this looks to be the greatest Pixar feature yet, if the movie lives up to the talent behind it and what the trailers show us (although the 5 to 8 year old populous may continue to stand behind Ratatouille). Pixar's Andrew Stanton and our very own Star Wars sound master Ben Burtt team up to bring us a most epic robot story that is Wall.E. From Scotsman.com:"Burtt has spent much of the past two years holed up on his own in a concrete bunker at Pixar's studios, recording the sounds made by toothbrushes, household appliances, miniature jet planes, army tanks and his own voice. "I went to a newspaper printer overnight and recorded all the gigantic scanners and presses," he says. "There are sounds in the movie I recorded when I was a kid from my grandfather's shortwave radio. I would tune it between stations and tape the weird electronic noises. I've used something from those original recordings in every science-fiction movie I've worked on.""
Check out Disney's official Wall.E site for more robotic fun and games.
Nash Edgerton, stunt double to Ewan McGregor for Episode II and III, is much more than a fall guy. Even though his list of film stunt work is probably the longest, he's also an accomplished actor (his brother Joel, also an actor, played the young Owen Lars in the prequels) and now, a director to boot. His new film "The Square" made it's first screening recently at the Sydney Film Festival. Hopefully we'll get a glimpse in the USA sometime soon. Sydney Morning Herald
We now have the cover art (which, um, looks like the game cover ads thus far) and a date for The Force Unleashed TPB. Looks like we'll be seeing it just about a month before the game release date of September 16.
Thanks TFU for the point to Dark Horse's page:
 |  | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed TPB Writer: Haden Blackman LucasArts' game The Force Unleashed, is poised to be the Star Wars event of the year. The game-play promises to be stunning, but we think it's the story that will blow you away. |
Gizmodo explains it best:
"These gigantic Japanese nerds just rigged up an R2-D2 DVD Projector into a server monitoring system that alerts them whenever a system is down. R2's got Nagios, a monitoring app, an IR controller, and the ability to project what's wrong for the people to see. The video illustrates how it works in a dramatically geeky manner. These should be standard issue in every server farm around the world. [Syun - Thanks Motohiro!]"
- I was a tad disappointed. If they went through that much trouble, they ought to have made R2 beep an alarm and wheel up to the closest intern dressed as Obi Wan Kenobi to display the failure report.
I've got to get myself to Star Wars Weekends one of these years. I hear people go there when they are enjoying something called a "vacation" whatever that is.
Anyhew - Check out the official Star Wars dot com blog for some recent pictures from Star Wars Weekends.
I think the Ashoka costume may be one of the very few that doesn't make me want to pass out from heat exhaustion just by looking at it.
I say yes! One must wonder if George Lucas, and perhaps Francis Ford Coppola, are embarrassed about Captain EO as George is about the Holiday Special. Over at i09 they go so far as to contemplate Michael Jackson starring in Star Wars. The horror!
Interestingly, the reverse doesn't have the same effect on me. There is something quite gratifying about seeing Vader and his troopers reenacting Michael Jackson's Thriller.
My interest is officially piqued. Bollywood makes it's first real leap into the world of sci fi with Love Story 2050 due to release in July (in the USA?). Of course being Bollywood, I don't think they were able to break from the love story theme just yet. The effects have some potential though:
The Star Wars: Where Science Meets the Imagination exhibit just opened at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul, and the Star Tribune has video clips of Anthony Daniels walking through the exhibit pieces, and a cute little opening day video!
Mr. Daniels was also featured on Minnesota Public Radio while in the area for the exhibit. Hear his interviews here.
Shia "Mutt" LaBeouf turns a ripe old 22 today. He are some clips from his night hosting SNL via Hulu (PG!):
It's all about the games, and if there's any franchise that trumps the gaming industry, it's Star Wars. This retrospective even goes beyond the Star Wars Universe of games and forays into a little Lucas Arts history to boot. Thanks to Joe2D2 for bringing the continuation of this series to my attention. Click here for all the episodes at Gametrailers.com or watch them all below.
Episode I
Episode II
Episode III
Episode IV
Steve Rose has cracked the Indy code over at his Cinematical blog, giving fans the ultimate comeback to Crystal Skull naysayers. It's hard to choose a favorite aspect out of this analysis, but I love the overall theme of the Indiana Jones movies as anti-neo-Hollywood, yet pro-early 20th century serial B-movie.
The Soul Calibur - Star Wars parallel universe just got a little bigger. We've all already heard that we'll be seeing Darth Vader and Yoda in Soul Calibur IV (the former on PS3 and the latter on Xbox 360), but it has now been revealed that we will also be getting a taste of Vader's "secret apprentice" from the highly anticipated upcoming Force Unleashed game.
Now waitaminnut! Soul Calibur IV will be released July 29th, but Force Unleashed isn't due out until September 16. That means the secret apprentice will make his debut in Soul Calibur IV?!
Just a reminder for BSG-RDM fans to be excited to see "Crashdown" Sam Witwer as the secret apprentice.
Screen shot via Wired
If anyone bought or peeked at the guide book for the new Lego Indiana Jones game, they would have caught a glimpse at the full page spread right on the inside of the cover for a Clone Wars game exclusively for Wii and NDS.
Rumor has it that the game, based on the upcoming Clone Wars animated series, will come out in the fall - soon after the series premieres in theaters on August 15. That's plenty of time to buckle down and finally get that Wii you've been thinking about getting!
Lucasarts sez "check back at the end of the month to find out more"
Okay, I just couldn't justify spending the $15 on the HUGE new men's fashion magazine Man About Town, which features Hayden Christensen in issue #2. Maybe I'll have a fangirl breakdown in the coming weeks. I did flip through and it's quite a hefty spread in quite a hefty magazine.
http://www.manabouttownonline.com/
Many of you have heard and seen the dream team's dream car that reared it's shining crystal skull hull at the recent Indianapolis 500 (read more). Well, I just happened to flip on the TV today and caught the very end of the Milwaukee 225 and saw Andretti and the beautifully emblazened Indiana Jones Indy car get totally jumped during a final lap crash. Sucky.
