Take That, 1994

There are hundreds of terrible science fiction video games, but to make it onto this list it takes an epic saga like Wing Commander and an epic mistake like Kilrathi defector Hobbes going traitor in Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger.

The lovable fur-suiter from Kilrah appeared in prior Wing Commander games and his defection to the Confederacy was a source of much drama during the story portions. Many of the human pilots hated him and assumed he was a traitor. Even in Wing Commander III you were given the option of becoming one of the few voices sticking up for Hobbes while everyone else warns that he's an untrustworthy monster.

Then Hobbes transmits the plans for the human's war-ending bomb to the Kilrathi, kills a human pilot, and escapes. Some fans of the series claim double-traitor Hobbes did what he did because of his conscience, but all signs in the game point towards a totally retarded sleeper agent plot. He was evil all along.

The moral of the story is...distrust outsiders and never stick up for the weird guy everybody hates. Was the "Hobbes is a traitor" plot a genius double fake-out? Was Chris Roberts an overrated doofus when it comes to stories?

I think Chris Roberts answered those questions with his Wing Commander movie.

Point of Origin: Vol. 1, No. 6

This is part seven of our series highlighting archived copies of Point of Origin, Origin Systems' internal newsletter (Hey, at least it's free.) Looks like they remembered how to count! It's now November 22, 1991 and everyone is getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving. The big projects which the company had hoped to finish by Christmas, Ultima VII and Stike Commander, have both been delayed into the next year - but more obscure releases like Special Operations, Wing Commander/Ultima 6 CD-ROM and Ultima 6 FM Towns are marching on!

A very special thanks to Joe Garrity of the Origin Museum for making this resource available and to Electronic Arts for sending them to him in the first place!

Here's the breakdown for Wing Commander:

• Dallas Does San Fran relays Dallas Snell's trip to a Fujitsu conference promoting the FM Towns. "After the conference, Dalls swung over to Software Toolworks for a sight-seeing/fact-finding tour and to talk about the CD-ROM projects they're doing, like Wing/U6."
• The Big Score reports on a new distribution deal with the Handleman Company, responsible for stocking stores like Sears and Target. That's good news for WC2: "Handleman's initial order is for about 1680 pieces of Wing 2 and about 630 pieces of U7, the majority of which will be going into Sears Brand Central stores. Future plans call for expansions into Handleman's other chains. Marten says Wing 2 is still holding its own, but Special Ops could spark it up. He thinks we could get a second round of sell-through activity before Christmas, even in a soft consumer spending market."
• Read All About It rounds up more press for WC2:

  OMNI Editor Keith Ferrell called to say that Wing 2 will be feature prominently in a 2-pager on 'hot' flight simulators in the December issue. Greg Keizer, the freelancer who wrote the article, calls it a 'Top Gun 2001.' Keith says 'congratulations to all on yet anothersensational product!'

  There's a new flight simulator newsletter out, appropriately called Simulations! It's published by Shay Addams of QuestBuster fame. In the premier issue, Bernie Yee's review of Wing 2 was positive but notglowing. Look for copies on the boards.

  PC Sources will be joining PC Consumer reviewing Mike Harrison's Wing Commander book. It's selling so well that it's gone into a second printing.

  In case you didn't hear at last week's Social Hour, Wing Commander lost its #1 spot on the Computer Gaming World Top-100 Chart--to Wing 2! Assistant Editor Alan Emrich says the Reader Survey rating of 10.91 (out of a possible 12) may be a new record. Kudos to both project teams.

• Charting the World follows suit for the rest of the world: "Tilt Magazine (France) gives Wing 2 19 outof a possible 20 points. On Generation 4's 'Hit Parade' in Germany, Wing 2 is #1 on the PC chart. ASM Magazine (German) rates Wing 2 'Prima'. On the German 'Hitline' for MS-DOS,Wing is #4 and Wing 2 is #6. Germany sends us two other awards via a users' group known as Deutsche Abenteuer Spiel Auszeichnung (DASA). It named Ultima VI 'Best Computer Role-Playing Game of 1990' and honored Wing Commander of 'Best Computer Strategy-Simulation Game of 1990.' Wow! First the Berlin Wall, and then all this..."
• Play It Again has good news from QA - Special Operations 1 has signed off! "First and foremost is the official signoff of Special Operations, which said through playtesting and out the door this week. It's slated to ship on Monday. 'I don't remember how many bugs there were, but there weren't many,' Sherry said. 'That really says a lot, not only for the Special Ops team, but for the Wing 2 team, too. It shows their game really holds together well.' The staff sends its heartfelt thanks to QA for doubling its efforts to keep Special Ops moving in time for Thanksgiving.
• Finally, Dear Point Man has a fascinating exchange about naming the main character in Wing Commander - I guess this is where Carl LaFong died:

  Dear Point Man,
  In your last newsletter, you said you're looking for names for the hero in the new Wing Commander book. HA! Fat chance! No way am I going to focus all my creative energies without some sort of reward. Catch my drift? What's in it for me?
  Signed,
  Name Withheld

  Dear No-Name,
  Okay, okay., here's the deal: each person who submits a winning name and/or call sign will get to name a character in the computer version of Wing 3. (What did you expect, royalties?)

Point of Origin
Vol. 1, No. 6 - November 22, 1991

Contents
Dallas Does San Fran
Priest Punctured at Pint Party
Talkin' Turkey
Xmas Xtra
Industry Standards
The Big Score
Charting the World
Go With the Flow
Read All About It
On the Payroll
Play It Again
Dear Point Man