lance-henriksen
Latest
Star Citizen tops $45 million, releases Freelancer commercial
It's been a while since we've seen a new spaceship commercial for Star Citizen. Given that Cloud Imperium is pimping the Freelancer this weekend, though, it's no surprise that the space big-rig now has its own in-universe advertisement. Genre mainstay Lance Henriksen does the voiceover honors, and there's a distinctive Firefly vibe to the whole clip, right down to the twangy guitar underneath. See for yourself after the break, and don't blink or you'll miss the Mother Trucker bumper decal! You might also want to read Chris Roberts' latest thank-you letter penned in response to Star Citizen breaking the $45 million crowdfunding barrier.
The Soapbox: MMOs waste millions on voice-over
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. A-list voice actors are not new to the video game genre. Over the last 20 years, video games have pulled from the same pool of talent as cartoons and commercials. But it really wasn't until last year with DC Universe Online that we started to see MMOs advertise the voice talent they had in the games. DCUO filmed multiple documentary-style videos to impress us with the level of voice-over work the game had. Although DCUO was the first fully voiced MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic made a point to tell us that it had over 200 different voice actors (300 if you believe IMDB) with over a thousand recording sessions for over 200,000 lines of dialogue. In the end, what's the pay-off? Six months after launch, the majority of players will threaten to leave a SWTOR pick-up group if the other players don't skip over the dialogue. Although a large portion of players did watch all the dialogue shortly after the game launched, all the players I spoke to said that the cutscenes started to grate on them before they'd even reached level 50. And even though DCUO was the first MMO to be fully voiced, SWTOR got away with advertising that it was first mainly because voice-overs were considered so insignificant by the MMO community that almost no one noticed the fib. And dare we even talk about the expense of recording 200,000 lines of dialogue? Is fan excitement over, say, Mark Hamill's Joker worth the cost of bringing him in on the project in the first place?
Hyperspace Beacon: Wall of light
As promised, today I will finish the story of Nomi Sunrider. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote the Hyperspace Beacon: Unsung about a key figure left out of the Star Wars: The Old Republic timeline video about Exar Kun. I felt Nomi Sunrider was a great character and should not be left out of the story. So I have included her here. Nomi's story actually leads right up to Knights of the Old Republic, but part of it has not been written (I will explain that in a bit). Today, I intend to highlight the greatest accomplishments of Nomi in the Force and clue you into how this character's story may influence your character's story in SWTOR. Follow me after to break to complete the story of this unsung heroine.
BioWare teases new holorecord entry
It's Friday, so that must mean it's time for another incremental information leak from the folks over at BioWare. Today, the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website has updated with a new Timeline holorecord focusing on the Jedi Civil War and narrated by Jedi Master Gnost-Dural (the unmistakable Lance Henriksen). The video covers some familiar ground for Knights of the Old Republic fans, as it brings us up to speed concerning the search for the Star Forge, the exploits of Darths Revan and Malak, and the introduction of fan favorite Bastila Shan. The narrative also hints at upcoming exposition regarding the legendary Mandalorian Wars, as well as Revan's mysterious vanishing act. "Though Revan was ultimately redeemed and restored peace to the galaxy, he disappeared afterward in search of a great darkness in Deep Space. Through his investigation, Master Gnost-Dural now confirms that this great darkness is the Sith Empire the Jedi Order battles today," says the press release. You can view it here, or jump directly to the video.
TOR timeline update: Peace for the Republic
Ho hum, another Friday, another slick update for BioWare's forthcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic behemoth. Head on over to the official TOR site to view the latest video entry in the Galactic Timeline, narrated by Jedi Master Gnost-Dural (actor Lance Henriksen). This week's tale is a harrowing tragedy of two Jedi scholars and their brush with madness, Massassi warriors, and the dark spirit of Sith Lord Naga Sadow on Yavin IV. Gnost-Dural discovers that, even at the height of one of the Republic's most peaceful eras, sinister forces were hard at work sowing the seeds of chaos for the wars to come. Check out the summary or go directly to the video record.
Lance Henriksen reprises 'Bishop' role in Aliens vs. Predator
Lance Henriksen, who was most memorably cleaved asunder as android (ahem, "artificial lifeform") Bishop, will see another continuation of his Aliens film role in Rebellion's Alien vs. Predator game. Henriksen plays Karl Bishop Weyland, the descendant of Weyland-Yutani corporation founder Charles Bishop Weyland. The 69-year-old actor is happy with his virtual likeness (seen above) and is quoted as saying, "I might score from this game!" Joystiq is quoted as saying, "Maybe if it's from a facehugger, Lance." Considering Henriksen's appearance in one of the most gore-riffic scenes in film (at the time), we should reiterate that Aliens vs. Predator will release in February 2010 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC -- in countries that don't require toned-down violence. Rebellion has stated that it will not be "releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices." Sorry, Australia and Germany.
The Old Republic timeline video chronicles heroic last stand at The Battle of Bothawui
One of the things we like about the lead up to the Star Wars: The Old Republic launch is BioWare's series of timeline videos that explains the political and military background of the upcoming MMO. The fifth holorecord from the Jedi Archive is The Battle of Bothawui which recounts a major Republic victory against the Sith. It also chronicles the last stand of a heroic group of Jedi knights and Republic troopers, who became martyrs in the struggle against the Sith Empire. If you're following along with the lore of Star Wars: The Old Republic you'll want to watch "The Battle of Bothawui" on the game's official site.
Latest lore update for The Old Republic chronicles shadowy Imperial spies
A few of us on the Massively team are fans of the Lance Henriksen-narrated lore updates for Star Wars: The Old Republic that explain the MMO's timeline in video. The guy was Bishop, after all! So far these videos have given us a good idea of the game's backstory and have dropped some clues as to what we may see in the title. One of the more recent episodes was Return of the Mandalorians which focused on the independent warrior nomads who rose to challenge even the Jedi. While they aren't evil, war is their way of life and they thirst for conquest. According to the latest timeline update, "The Empire Changes Strategy", the Mandalorians had some help along the way from the Imperial spies who orchestrated their ascent to power. Henriksen narrates a tale of Imperial intelligence operatives pulling strings from the shadows for their Sith masters, and of the rise and fall of Mandalore himself. We think this continuation of the Star Wars: The Old Republic story is worth a look, and you can find it on the game's official site.
