George Lucas
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Mii Spotlight: The Force edition
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, (or, last week in the Mii Spotlight) some pretenders rolled in here and tried to get everyone psyched about Star Trek. Please. We know what's better. We know that Star Wars is really where it's at -- especially when it comes to Miis. Does everyone have Spock on their Wii, ready to get his tennis on? We think not ... but there sure do seem to be a lot of Admiral Ackbars out there, ready to warn us of impending traps.
Star Wars game confirmed, lightsabers and all?
We'll call it "mostly confirmed," but according to this article on the Wii's financial success, George Lucas has said that a game that turns our trusty Wii remotes into lightsabers is on the horizon. Unfortunately, there's no quote to back up the assertion, so we remain partially skeptical, but it's one of those things that we just know is going to happen, whether we want it or not. Anyone else just as interested, if not more so, in using the Wiimote and nunchuk for Force abilities in a Star Wars game? The upcoming sandbox-style Harry Potter includes motion controls that simply make us drool for similar applications in a Star Wars title ....[Via NeoGAF]
Rumor: Star Wars Battlefront III only on the Xbox 360?
This one slipped into the Bothan couch cushions: Those rebels at Games Radar report that Star Wars Battlefront III is looking like an Xbox 360 exclusive, yet another salvo in the war for exclusives. Their source is PlayStation World magazine, which makes the info a bit harder to swallow. According to the article, LucasArts is moving the sequel from developer Pandemic to Free Radical, where it'll be made as a 360-only title, although it's unclear why. Maybe Pandemic crossed George Lucas, and once you cross him ... you never come back. Especially with that Jabba the Hutt-like neck of his. Now, if this post had vanished right after that was typed, that would be some comedy.Given the extreme success of the Lego Star Wars games, it seems highly unlikely that they'll confine Star Wars Battlefront III to just one console, especially given the fact that it's a sequel to a game that has appeared on just about every platform except your watch. More on this as it develops, unless Lucas squashes us.[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Ten Unsung Games
Everyone knows about the good Indiana Jones games (because there have only been a couple), but do you remember the unsung games of Indy's yesteryear? Gnomeslair has compiled a list of the ten best unsung Indiana Jones games, and there's a few on there that really bring back memories. Although we'd have to argue and say that the Atari 2600 Raiders of the Lost Ark game wasn't really unsung ... people loved that game. Mostly because it was about the best you could do in 1982, and thankfully it wasn't the E.T. game.Likewise with the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom arcade game that came out in 1985. That was a game that used a voice synthesizer ("Soon Kali Ma will rule the world!") and had that really fun mine cart sequence in it. Sure it got ridiculous, with Indy having to whip flaming hearts out of the air, but so what. It ate our quarters faster than anything.Check out the list and let us know if these should be sung or unsung. It's really made us want to boot up ScummVM and play Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine all over again. Plus we might have to start bugging Nintendo and asking if Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures will be coming over to the Wii via the Virtual Console. And Lucasarts, when is your Indiana Jones game coming out, eh?[Thanks, Konstantinos]
Star Wars HD marathon going on right about...now
Cinemax is bringing home all six Star Wars movies in high definition back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back, starting at midnight tonight. If you miss one don't worry, they will be repeating and also are available in many areas in HD on video-on-demand. Otherwise, this is the first time to catch all three original flicks formatted for your HDTV, if you'd like to avoid Jar-Jar Binks in 1080i, take a nap and catch Episode IV: A New Hope at 7:10 AM on Saturday.
Colbert's green screen gaming
Last night, Stephen Colbert announced the winner of his Green Screen Challenge. The champion entry was "Freedom Fighter," a video game where Colbert had to save patriotic eagles from the evil bullets of Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Continue reading for the winning video, as well as a runner-up that struck a chord in our hearts. While not on YouTube, we suggest you check out this video (.mov file) from "George L." It's a great idea, but pretty amateurish in execution, if you ask us.
Star Wars 30th anniversary game, TV shows update
The Force was strong at the Licensing 2006 International trade show in New York last week. Lucas Licensing is coming off a record year of $3 billion in worldwide retail sales of its Star Wars consumer products. And despite the end of the movies, the franchise appears stronger than ever.In addition to this year's launch of Lego Star Wars II and the DVD release of the unaltered original trilogy, fans of the Force will have a 30th anniversary game to look forward to in Fall 2007. Lucas reps also confirmed both the CG-animated and live-action Star Wars TV shows are scheduled to debut in 2008.Now, if only they could get Galaxies out of its galactic funk.See also: E3 euphoric over Indiana Jones 2007
E3 euphoric over Indiana Jones 2007
"Man...merman!" That's what Indy's been waiting 18 years for. The fourth installment in the big screen Indiana Jones series will find Harrison Ford on the hunt for the Opal of the Merman Prince (working movie title). Whether or not this will be the plot of the tentatively-titled Indiana Jones 2007 is anybody's guess. While at E3, LucasArts wasn't forthcoming about storylines for their next gen adventure, but they did take home a GameSpy Best Tech Demo award for showcasing the new Euphoria technology. Developed by Industrial Light and Magic, Pixelux, and NaturalMotion, Euphoria enables characters to react convincingly to their surrounding environments.Now, if only George Lucas and Steven Spielberg can convince us that the film will ever get made.
The Jar Jar effect: "games do sci-fi best"
Clive Thompson has an essay up at Wired called, "Forget Film, Games Do Sci-Fi Best." Thompson's argument is that LucasArts' Star Wars games are better realized works of science fiction than Lucas' Star Wars prequels, a not altogether controversial claim. Thompson writes, "In the last 20 years, Lucas' vision has arguably been far better expressed in video games than in movies."Citing games like Rogue Squadron, Knights of the Old Republic, and Battlefront, he identifies the similarities that allow gaming to do sci-fi best: "Part of the fun of watching a sci-fi movie is mentally inhabiting a new world and imagining what it feels like to be inside. But now there's a medium that actually puts you in."Thompson is quick to temper his claims, saying, "Even the best 'narrative' games can't replicate the emotional undertow of a good film," though his basic point remains valid: that Lucas, specifically, is being outdone by his games. Fellow sci-fi movie maker James Cameron plans on creating an MMO that introduces players to the universe before the film comes out, so you can mentally visit somewhere you've already been.
Old school HDTV commercials from Japan
Check these out! Two Panasonic commercials that were aired during the '92 Olympics. Best part though is they star George Lucas and his storm troopers! The Panasonic TVs are widescreen and look like current TVs. It is to bad that George's (we are on a first name basis) speech is dubbed Japanese 'cause it would be great to hear what he is saying about the HDTVs.Japan has been broadcasting HDTV signals since the early nineties when these commercials first aired. They were analog but still carried 1035 lines of resolution. (1035i)[via Digg]
