Movie Gadget Friday: The Dejarik Holochess game from Star Wars
posted October 8th 2004 4:23PM
Last friday Josie Fraser checked out the Fluid Breathing System from The Abyss, for this week's Movie Gadget Friday she writes about the Dejarik Holochess game from Star Wars:
I know there are loads of cool gadgets in the Star Wars movies, and I'll get round to look at more of them in future
Movie Gadget Friday slots. Last week we had a reader request for the Dejarik Holochess game that's featured in the
original 1977 Star Wars (now known as Episode IV: A New Hope) and we thought we'd oblige.
In real life I have a strong aversion to overly hirsute men, but I've always had a soft spot for the 200 hundred year
old, 2-meter tall wookiee Chewbacca. Everything about him is cool, although I particularly liked his minimalist Che
Guevara/guerrilla chic look as a child. According to the mythology, Chewie is a champion Dejarik player who put the
Holochess table into the Millennium Falcon in order to keep his game up during the years of space piracy. The table has
subsequently become an essential and instantly recognisable feature of any model of the Falcon.
The table has a round, black and white checkered dartboard-like top,
made up of 25 segments, resting on a single cylindrical leg. It has blue and red fairy lights around the edge and
projects holographic figures onto its surface. Each player
has a selection of different figures.
Full game rules have subsequently been invented by fans, but
at the time the film was made the only rule seemed to be: let the wookiee win or endure his sulking. Frankly Chewbacca
could have been the worst player in the entire Star Wars universe. He still would have walked off with the gold cup at
the playoffs. The game scene was really just used to establish the following:
1. Chewbacca isn't just a weird yodelling bear-dog hybrid. He's actually the brains of the
outfit.
2. We're in the distant future/distant past! Where they play cool space games! & you can never
lose the pieces!
http://www.io2technology.com/dojo/178/v.jsp
We were given permission by them in early 2003 to showcase their work. This is so cool.
In the original 1977 Star Wars the warning was that wookies tend to tear the arms off of people who beat them. It was delivered elliptically, but it was clear that Chewie wasn't the sulky type.
I started watching a digitally remastered version of the original Star Wars movie and couldn't finish. They had edited out all the best lines! What happened to "Look sir, droids"?
I get the impression that the original movie just wasn't "kid friendly" enough for George Lucas, so he redid it. I will treasure my old VHS tapes!
"...no information, nothing new, and no insight. What do we get next week-- the holographic chess set from the Millenium Falcon?" - Oct 2, 2004, 5:31 AM ET (Jeff Saltzman)
since these posts are so useless, let's have some fun and guess what the idiotic observation about old movies will be next week!
"In Star Trek, they had this thing called the Holodeck. There may or may not be cool research that went into it--I'm not going to talk about that. Instead, I'll say that you could go kayaking in the Holodeck! Imagine that!"
It would actually be cool to know how this thing worked, and if there was any practical or fun application of the tech, or if there was a real-world prototype of a similar idea. Instead, we have another "They did this in a movie" post, no information.
I'd learn more reading rants from 14-year-olds on IMDB.
If Chewbacca is a champion player, why does he have to threaten tearing the arms of his opponent to win? Also, how do you tear the arms off a trashcan?
Yes, it would be better if they did that background stuff, and I do hope for it, but you guys are biting the hand that feeds us. Engadget is by far the best blog for this sorta stuff, so if once a week they decide to post pictures of pooping on different electronics, they are welcome to.
--Matt
www.LivingInSin.net
Speaking as someone who holds patents on not a few somewhat screwball UI concepts, I enjoy these Movie Gadget Friday posts. Sometimes they're inspirational. The Dejarik Holochess game has long been the "holy grail" of all 3D display hopefuls -- build one of these for *real* and the world will beat a path to your door.
'It would actually be cool to know how this thing worked...[ad nauseam]'
It was a piece of animated FX in a film made in the 1970s. That do you?
http://www.io2technology.com/dojo/178/v.jsp
This is definately cool !!!!! When I grow up after a year or two.....I am buying this stuff !!!!! Man its a kinda dream toy !
Charlie your a dickhead, anyway I think this is better:
http://www.actuality-systems.com/