Honorable mention goes to the other Quest series (Police Quest, Space Quest), which are both up to 6 titles now. Wing Commander has 5, 7 counting WC : Armada and WC : Academy. Wizardry has 7 games in its flock.
Ouch that hurt... I tried to smoothen the translation a bit:
Wing Commander Film To Be Killed Off?
WCNews reports that after the lousy cutting off in the states the release date of the Wing Commander Movie was postponed in Belgium for an indefinite time. In England it was deleted from the schedule by Fox. The movie should be available on video by 2004. Italy is currently playing the film, but whether it ever appears in Germany is still uncertain. The official date announced by 20th Century Fox Germany is 04 November.Oh, and I vote for D and E ;)
WCNews reports that after miserablen cutting off in the states, the release date of the Wing Commander of motion picture film was postponed in Belgium for indefinite time. Also in England it was deleted by Fox and should be available on video only 2004. In Italy is it outside, but whether it ever appears in Germany is still uncertainly. The official date with 20th Century Fox Germany is set for 04 November.What can we read in to this? Well here are the options:
Which is it? Who knows...
Of course, one of the big questions gamers will have is how closely related to the Wing Commander series these games will be--after all, Roberts created those games, too. "Starlancer is a space-combat simulator just as Wing Commander is," said Roberts. "What takes it beyond Wing Commander is the attention [to] and quality [of] detail. Missions are very detailed and are much more than just showing up at a nav point and fighting a dozen ships."OK, but what about Freelancer? "Freelancer is way beyond anything I've done in the Wing Commander universe. It's going to be a fully functioning, living, breathing universe with a whole ecosystem. You can see the promise in something like Privateer, but this is geometrically beyond that game," said Roberts. "It's like building a city. Compared to Privateer, the scope, the dynamic universe--it's all 3D--is much more interesting. There's much more intrigue the player can get involved in. Everything's rule-based vs. scripted. Commerce happens, trade happens, and piracy happens because of what's going on in the game universe and not because of scripted events."
I asked Roberts if there is any chance he will work on the Wing Commander franchise again. "Never say never...but working on Wing Commander seems pretty unlikely at the moment," replied Roberts. He did mention that he was a bit disappointed that Origin has no plans for any more single-player Wing Commander games.
Finally, I wanted to know if he has plans to direct any more movies. He replied, "Directing is on hold right now. I do have a small film I want to do about a guy who has to deliver a package on New Year's Eve and what happens to him. I cowrote it with a screenwriter friend. It's called The Package, and I may shoot it in Austin this winter." Hmmm...I guess there are no Kilrathi in it, eh Chris?
Origin Adds to Management TeamToday Origin Systems announced several new additions to its management team. Flush with the success of Ultima Online, Origin has decided to shift its focus to online-only games.
Perhaps the most prominent addition is that of Alan Pavlish, most recently the head of Interplay's Tantrum action division. Pavlish, a 17-year industry veteran responsible for such titles as Wasteland, Descent 1, 2, and 3, and Stonekeep, will serve as an executive producer at Origin. However, Origin did not disclose which projects Pavlish will oversee.
Jessica Mulligan, the founder and former executive of Engage Games Online and also the driving force behind AOL's first graphics-based online RPG, was named Origin's new director of external relations for online service.
Rounding out the new appointments is Jason Bell. Bell, soon to be a producer and lead for the Ultima Online Live development team, was previously an executive producer for Aliens Online at Kesmai. He has also worked on other titles such as Multiplayer Battletech, Air Warrior III, and Legends of Kesmai.
With these new additions, it appears Origin is intent on solidifying its hold on the online gaming market, and it's not hard to see why. The company claims more than 100,000 subscribers who each pay $9.95 a month to play Ultima Online, its flagship online-only product. And with the next Wing Commander, another Origin trademark, rumored to be in consideration for online-only play, these additions might just be the prelude to a new type of Kilrathi invasion.
Origin Taps Fresh Management Focused on Online TitlesOrigin Systems today announced several additions to its management team as the company moves forward with plans to solely create online-only games. Alan Pavlish will be joining the company as an executive producer. Pavlish is a 17-year industry veteran who comes from Interplay, where he helped create the Descent series and Die by the Sword, among other titles. He will begin his duties July 5.
Jessica Mulligan is Origin’s new director of external relations for online service. During her 12-year career, she was the driving force behind the industry's first graphics-based online role-playing game at America Online and became the first product manager for General Electric's GEnie online service. She is also a founder and former executive of Engage Games Online.
Jason Bell joins Origin from Kesmai Corporation, a leading developer and publisher of online multiplayer games. Bell will be stepping into the role of producer and will lead the Ultima Online Live development team. At Kesmai, Jason was the executive producer for Aliens Online and served as creative director for other successful titles, such as Air Warrior 3 and Legends of Kesmai.
"Awful" cried our armerican flunkeys on seeing Chris Roberts Game adaptation. Could be right we figured. It was made in Luxembourg after all and the what the hell do they make of note in Luxembourg? Would it be worthless overly CGI-heavy sco-fi frippery desperately trying to mount the Star Wars wave and thus safely coast to the beach on a badly pixelated surfboard? Would it outrun the humongous white horses of star wars hype before they smacled into patches of digital matchwood?Sheathe your pens critics. Rather than the expected hamfest, what you actually get is a competent though not inspiring space adventure with a huge international cast of familiar faces.
A cunning opening sequence gives a potted history of the future, played out in newcast soundbites and political speeches. Human colonists are in conflict with the Kilrathi, a bunch of feline ne'er do wells who are not predisposed towards peaceful co-existence.
Things have reached a crisis point as the film opens. Humans use AI's to number crunch accurate jumps in space. The Kilrathi lack this technology but an overwhelming attack delivers an AI into their paws, opening the way to earth. Only one ship can delay the invasion force long enough for the Earth fleet to assemble. Interest is added by a subplot concerning the pilgrims: genetically enhanced humans who turned on their own kind a couple of decades ago.
Effectively a World War II naval movie thrust into the space age, there are torpedoes, destroyers, depth charges, cruiser, broadsides and boarding actions. Even the command structure is the same and it works really well, alkthough sometimes it's a little too anachronisitic and unreal battering the films credibility. Silent running? In space? Come on!
The production design is excellent and the effects are consistently good too. Only the cheap looking Kilrathi let the side down a bit, but at least there are no duff CGI sequences as seems to be obligatory in bigger budget films.
Salted with the ood wince-worthy line and thesping moment, Wing Commander is not great, but its good unpretentious fun. It's also completely refreshing to see truly international crews on starships for once. Even the casting of two fresh faced US stars seems quite natural and the whole affair has a distinctly European feel. Perhaps thats why our yankee pals found it so unpalatable.
The film scores four out of a possible five stars.
"I'll never forget meeting Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell on the Wing Commander IV set (the fact that it was on the same sound stage where the 'Dick Van Dyke Show' was once filmed just made it that much cooler)."
Lots and lots of people have helped in regard to Seether's Knife. We've reached the conclusion that it is indeed the knife featured in Crusade and that it is called the Double Shadow. The Double Shadow, from United Cutlery, is no longer in production, but was available in Silver (UC453) and Gold (UC453G). Here's a picture... if you can find somewhere that still sells them, let me know!
Then there is Andy Hollis, who is leaving the hardcore Jane's sim line to manage the creation of a persistant-world Wing Commander online game, which is still a couple of years from fruition. As Andy said "It's the next big frontier in computer gaming. The last time I was this excited about the future potential for computer games was back in the old days (Commadore 64, Atari 800). Building products in the online space is more about growing player communities than just building the product itself."
I'm teaching a class on War in literature. What I need are as many war story concepts as you can think of.For example:
The rescue of POWs story.
The escape from a POW camp story.
The taking of a location story.
A demolition story, etc. etc.
If you have time, would you mind emailing me a few or posting this somewhere so people can email me as many as they can think of? I need to put together a huge list for my students!
Thanks so much!
Peter
The BlackLance HeadQuarters is now officially taking applications. We are working on getting the RPG setup. We are sending out a call for anyone to join this RPG. We need at least 15 players in a room at the same time before anyone will make a program to help with the RPG. If you are interested you should contact the Personnel Director at belenus@strategyplanet.com. We are also done with the Black Lance Patches and lightening bolt pins. This has been the one incentive that you have to join the Black Lance HeadQuarters. Apply now for the Level One Membership. The Black Lance HeadQuarters now has two levels of membership. Level One gets you a BL patch and lightening bolt pin but you must provide your real life address. Level Two is for those who do not want to provide that information. They just want to participate in the RPG. All they need to join is to fill out ALL the RPG character profile information.
I thought I might add a comment as to why so many US people commented on how dark the effects were in the film.this came to light recently when I visited a film SFX house at shepperton studios two weeks ago, they are working on the new Bond film BTW.
anyway, they had done the SFX start for Lost in Space last year and they told me they had to re-render a lighter lit version of the opening ten minute sequence for the US as the original version was playing too dark on US screens.
it played fine on the UK screens they tested it on and couldn't figure out why.
the explanation is actually quite simple once they looked into it.
Projectors can run at varying light intensities. and they have set light hours they are supposed to run between maintenance.
British Projectors in Cinemas are run at full intensity and stick to the schedule for maintenance.
As it turned out a lot of US cinemas intentionally choose to run their projectors at about 75% output light power, giving them longer gaps between maintenance and down time. economic sense but something that plays havoc with film companies. the effects work and shots are mixed and printed on the premise that projectors run at 100% intensity like their supposed to, so when run at 75% intensity like a lot of them are in the US, the film comes out darker than it is supposed to. it probably explains why watching it on DVD is a lot clearer.
I think Wing fans might find that of interest, particularly after the film got heavily criticised for dark effects work by the so-called critics.
Okay, things are finally falling into place. Right now, the release date is set for Friday June 25th in the UK. That means that Saturday would be the perfect day for the meeting.Again, if you'd like to participate, check out the European WC Movie Meeting mailing list accessable from the Conventions area.Patrick Hogan, a London resident, has been very contructive. He recommends we go to the Virgin Trocadero theatre at Picadilly Circus. I've always wanted to visit Picadilly circus, so I agree! It's easy to get there via the underground. Just take the Picadilly line and you'll be fine.
Assuming the release date won't change AGAIN, we need to set up a reasonable timetable. I'd like to get some input from you as to what's feasibly and what is not.
I'd suggest to get together at noon. Then we'd have time to get a bite to eat, perhaps even drop by Picadilly Circus and get all excited. This Tuesday I'm going on a mission. I'm going to get details about ferries, the trains, fees, etc. You too may want to do some research as well.
Everything is dicussable of course. So if you have any ideas or comments, by all means contact me. For now, everything should be set, except for:
- time and place (something big preferably, so everyone knows where the rest of us is)
- exact day (although I think we can be pretty sure about the June 25 date).
Starship Troopers meets Top Gun in this high-flying $12 million box office blast!Oh, and that yellow logo thing says "FOX EZ Lease Program Title!".Starring hot young stars Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard.
It's a no-holds-barred battle for the future of all mankind when a vicious alien race, the Kilrathi, discover the coordinates to Earth and hear our way with plans for total destruction. Now it's up to two young hotshot fighter pilots to blast their way through the Kilrathi's defenses and save humanity from this new breed of enemy.
Based on the best-selling, legendary Wing Commander computer game series.
Trailered on Waking Ned Devine, Office Space and 20 Dates.
Lots of people had lots of things to say about Seether's Knife! If you know where to get a knife like Seether's, let us know! Here's a few opinions comments...
The New Damage (keen name) reports that United Cutlery (he thinks) sells a smaller version of the knife (sans the middle cut) called "The Wasp".
Shades saw a similar knife at the mall in 1992 -- ironically titled "The Dragon".
Byydo reports that an old US Cavalry Magazine he has sells a knife called the "Double Shadow Dagger", designed by Gil Hibben. From the ad: "Clearly a design that leaves the beaten track of standard daggers. A split down the center creates an awesome double 420 stainless steel blade. Black leather sheath is specially designed. Overall 11 1/4", blade 6".". He also sent this picture, taken with a webcam...
Thank you for your letter. We have researched this due to your information and have found that the game was cancelled. We will not be doing a book for Privateer 3. Thank you for letting us know. Sorry for the confusion.
Release: 25 June (Cert 12)
Wing CommanderSci-Fi War Movie, USA, 1999
Director: Chris Roberts
Distributor: 20th Century FOX
Starring: Freddie PRinze Jr, Saffron Burrows, Matthew Lillard, Tcheky Karyo, Jurgen Prochnow, David Suchet, David Warner
Running Time: 103 mins.What's the story? Space, 2654: the Earth-defending Confederation is waging interstellar war against the nasty Kilrathi, who want death to all humans. The Kilrathi capture a super-special navigation thingy, which they're going to use to launch a direct attack on Plent Earth. But they don't reckon on the collective chutzpah of an elite team of young, pretty fighter pilots. Soon space is filled with computer-game inspired battle...
Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros and now Wing Commander. Will this game-to-movie madness ever end? Probably not - in fact, given the continuising popularity of pixellated action-babe Lara Croft, things are only going to get madder.
Still, at least Wing Commander is directed and written by the very man who developed the space-blasting original, which is good, right? Actually, no. Wing Commander looks like a computer game and everything about it is of computer game standard: the acting, the story, the dialogue...
To put it bluntly, creator Chris Roberts should have never given up the day job. He may have set out to turn his successful shoot-'em-up into a testosterone-fuelled sci-fi war flick, but the result is simply bland. The fight sequences are sporadic, and when they do occur, they hardly ignite the screen. Visually unsatisfying spaceships engage in pseudo-Star Wars dogfights while the pilots shout "Bogey!" at each other lots. The effects themselves are saggy and the 'scary' baddie aliens look like giant, lumbering fiberclass cats.
The rest of the, ahem, action takes place in dingy spaceship interiors where the troops shuffle about in tight sweaters and silly felt hats. The jargon-laden script squeezes in a few intriguing references to a godlike race called The Pilgrims, but this turns out to be just a cheap plot device: "Hey Blair - you're half-Pilgrim! The Pilgrims can navigate through space without supercomputers. I think I see a way out of this..."
Wing Commander does, of course, have a cult following, and its most devoted fans will probably forgive the Thunderbirds acting and plot simply because they've been given a chance to see their favourite PC game on a multiplex screen. Then again, most people tend to skip the demo and get on with the game.
Final Verdict
Can't wait 'til Star Wars to feed your insatiable sci-fi appetite? Then you could see Wing Commander, which does have space-fights and aliens. But unless you're a fan of the game, you'll regret your impatience when confronted with this dull, uninspired B-flight.Two Stars.
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