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Disney acquires Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, LucasArts included
Disney has just announced its purchase of Lucasfilm Limited, the umbrella corporation responsible for all things Star Wars, Indiana Jones and pretty much anything else George Lucas has ever had his hand in. The purchase will set ol' Walt back $4.05 billion.Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound and LucasArts are all included in the purchase price, meaning that Disney has not only found a way to profit from the production of movies that it isn't making, but also how to get Jar-Jar Binks into a Kingdom Hearts game.The company also announced that Star Wars 7 exists and is aiming for a 2015 release date, which makes this the most insane thing ever. Lucasfilm co-chairman Kathleen Kennedy will become president of Lucasfilm under Disney, and will also act as executive producer on "new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant."
Star Wars 1313 offers a peek into our very pretty future
Star Wars 1313 may be our first look into the next generation of games – at least the next generation according to Microsoft and Sony. LucasArts' internally-developed third-person shooter slash Uncharted-esque third-person action game is the very definition of "early" for a game in development. "We're in pre-production," said Craig Derrick, LucasArts producer, ahead of a PC-based demo.Further pushing that point: the team isn't talking platforms just yet, nor engine, indicating to many that it could be headed to Microsoft and Sony's yet-to-be announced console successors. The demo runs on an Nvidia 680 graphics card, which I'm told is the fabled "Kepler" architecture of the next generation. And the game is gorgeous for it. Both in cutscenes and in gameplay, the graphical detail is near-equal to that of Naughty Dog's latest efforts. Again, the game is in pre-production.Credit's due here to LucasArts' Industrial Light & Magic, as well as Skywalker Sound and LucasFilm Animation, who are assisting on the project – no doubt – but few games look anywhere near this good at this point in production.
Wanna take a trip into space and back on a solid rocket booster? (video)
Ever reminisce about NASA's space shuttle launches by watching them on its Ascent iOS movie app? The footage was shot by cameras attached to the solid rocket boosters that pushed the craft heavenward and provides one of the best ways of experiencing what all that rocket thrust feels like. We're still getting over the intestine-tugging video and in awe of those who strapped themselves in for the trip, but soon there could be a high-def version to make those charred thermal tiles even more intimidating. Plans are afoot to put all of these clips out on a Blu-Ray, but only if NASA can find a partner willing to distribute it.
