But Wait, There's More
Two days ago you read about Origin Museum curator Joe Garrity's exploration of Box 11... but there's even more to see! Joe has kindly added 64 more pictures from the unusual and amazing collection. You can see all the pictures, which include artifacts from a wide variety of Origin games ranging from Windwalker to Crusader, here. Below are some of the exciting Wing Commander related pictures and a short introduction.
These two sets of slides are box artwork to be used for marketing purposes. The first is noteworthy because it's the Windows 95 version of Wing Commander IV. This version, which included a blue-bordered box as shown, was released at the same time as Kilrathi Saga with the (freely available) Win9x pre-installed. The second set is Wing Commander II: Special Operations 1.
These two pictures are especially interesting. The slides are of the screenshots displayed on Wing Commander game boxes. These screenshots are fascinating because they often differ significantly from the finished game, as they are taken earlier in development so that boxes can be printed by the time the game itself is completed. These are the screenshots used to promote Wing Commander II: Deluxe Edition and Wing Commander: The Secret Missions. Especially noteworthy here are the 'cut scene' rendered Gothri and the 'young Blair in court' screenshots, both pieces of art which did not appear in Wing Commander II. Hopefully Joe will be able to provide full resolution scans of them soon! The larger picture is the box of Wing Commander II: Special Operations 2.
These are Wing Commander III 1995 calendars. They were included in the EA Direct Wing Commander III Premiere Edition tins. Don't throw these out -- you can actually use them again right now, since 2006 has the same set of days as 1995 did!
These are interesting promotional posters for Wing Commander III and Privateer 2. They seem to be in the same unusual style, with cast shots and names in small boxes at the bottom. The Privateer 2 poster uses the European 'eye' artwork rather than the American ship -- it's possible that these were British advertisements.
These are raw magazine ads for Origin games. Two are for Wing Commander III alone and two are for Origin games in general (look closely to find the Wing Commander titles). The fifth, with a dead fish, is extra cool - it's for Electronic Arts' 3DO lineup, and it includes a very strange early shot of Super Wing Commander!
Finally, these are elements used in various finished Wing Commander products! The front, back and manual cover artwork for the American Wing Commander IV release are in the first picture. The second is elements of advertising: for Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander III (the finished version - an earlier shot was included in the insert with Wing Commander III itself) and an independent shot of 'standing Blair', who was integrated into the WC4 teaser artwork and a series of cardboard promotional standups. The last picture, of Origin's offices during the development of Wing Commander III, was used in the official guide's "making of" section!
Good work, Joe!
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