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Archived News-July 2005
Week 3
Friday
July 22, 2005 |
Homing
Beacon #141 |
The latest Homing Beacon has arrived and today we learn more about
Comic-Con. From July 13 to 17th, San Diego, California continued
its tradition as host of the biggest celebration of the popular
arts -- Comic-Con International. Starwars.com was there, providing
the most thorough online Star Wars coverage of the event.
With so much news coming out of Comic-Con, it's hard keeping up
with all the new developments; here's a round-up of some of the
bigger stories.
Members of Hyperspace: The Official Star Wars Fan Club
will want to check out exclusive content from the show including
images of future products, the full audio of several Star Wars
panels (including the Star Wars Spectacular) and exclusive
video, including the brand new two-part documentary "The
Journey".
Star Wars Animation Begins. The theme for this
year's Comic-Con was Star Wars is Forever. Lucasfilm's Head
of Fan Relations, Steve Sansweet, revealed that Lucas Animation
will be carrying on the spirit of adventure and excitement through
a new animated Star Wars series set to debut in the Fall of
2007. Production has begun, and Sansweet announced several of the
talented people behind the new endeavor, including Catherine
Winder, Dave Filoni, Chris Kubsch, and Henry Gilroy.
Lucasfilm is Hiring. With Lucas Animation and LucasArts
ramping up to produce new Star Wars and non-Star Wars
series, features and games, now is the time to prepare that resumé
and send it over. The next generation of talented digital artists
is needed, and fans that have the skills are invited to apply at
lucasfilm.com.
Episode III DVD On Its Way. The Summer of Sith is
not over yet, but already there's more Episode III to look forward
to at the end of '05. Though exact release dates and feature-specs
have yet to be revealed, Sansweet did preview some of what was to
come. Like the DVDs for Episodes I and II, the Episode III DVD
will contain completed deleted scenes -- with score, sound and
visual effects -- as bonus material. He even screened one of these
lost scenes exclusively to the Comic-Con audience: the first
clandestine meeting of concerned Senators Bail Organa, Mon Mothma,
Padmé Amidala and others to forge an Alliance to restore the
Republic.
Not a Decoy! Natalie Portman Drops By. For the first
time ever, Natalie Portman attended Comic-Con to help promote her
upcoming film, V for Vendetta. Not forgetting her Star
Wars roots, she paid a surprise visit to the massive Star
Wars pavilion on the exhibit floor. In the interests of
security, her appearance was kept to a whisper. Fans in line to
buy products from the StarWarsShop.com store were randomly
selected and asked to return at a specific time for a surprise.
When they did, they found themselves greeted by Portman and posed
for a keepsake Polaroid with the actress.
Dark Horse Comics. The 20th anniversary of Dark Horse
Comics is just around the corner, and to celebrate, they are
revamping their entire line of Star Wars comics. Several
long-running series are drawing to a close, to be replaced by
several new exciting titles. Dark Horse editors only revealed
upcoming developments that start the year 2006 -- there's much
more on the way. But to start, the biggest and most welcomed
surprise is a return to the ancient Star Wars-past with the
launch of an ongoing Knights of the Old Republic series.
And Much More... Editors and authors at LucasBooks
previewed upcoming titles, many of them amazingly detailed
high-end art books. Hasbro showed upcoming Saga packaging and
unveiled their smaller-scale Unleashed line. Sideshow Toys
announced that they're taking over production of the 12"
action figure line. Many other licensees showcased upcoming
products and convention exclusives. To catch up on all the news,
sights and sounds from Comic-Con, click
here for starwars.com's multi-page coverage of the event,
including a slideshow of over 100 images from the show.
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Thursday
July 21, 2005 |
Five
Reasons Star Wars Galaxies is not Worth Your Time |
TheForce.net has
an interesting article about why you might not want to waste your
time getting or playing Star Wars Galaxies. It has been 2 years
since Galaxies came out and there have been 2 expansion packs to
date. Is there a future for this game? Be sure to read
the full article! I don't currently own the game, but I am not
sure I want to at this point. |
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Monday
July 18, 2005 |
Triple
Zero |
Fans of hard-hitting specialty-clone military literary action have
reason to cheer as author Karen Traviss is set to continue the
Republic Commando adventures (inspired by LucasArts' Star Wars
Republic Commando video game) in a new mass market paperback due
for release in spring 2006.
Star Wars Republic Commando: Triple Zero - the sequel to Star Wars
Republic Commando: Hard Contact - is set a year after the battle
of Geonosis, and follows the continuing missions of Omega Squad.
As the Clone Wars casualties mount, the commandos find themselves
deployed on increasingly dangerous missions that take them beyond
the battlefield and further into sabotage and intelligence
operations in the heart of Separatist territory. Newly-promoted
Jedi Generals Etain Tur-Mukan and Bardan Jusik are also catapulted
into front line combat roles and find themselves identifying
strongly with the clone soldiers under their command, who turn out
to be anything but predictable cannon fodder.
Omega Squad survives a close brush with disaster to end up in the
most potentially dangerous hot spot in the galaxy - pursuing a
Separatist terror group in the skylanes and underworld of
Coruscant itself, known as Triple Zero in the Grand Army's slang
because its galactic chart co-ordinates are 000. And, as any
soldier knows, urban operations on your own turf can be the most
deadly of all. So it's just as well that Omega Squad find
themselves working with Delta Squad, and teamed up again with
Etain and Jusik - as well as their legendary training sergeant Kal
Skirata, and his secret military intelligence unit of
"Null" ARC troopers, the black ops team that even the
Kaminoans thought were too dangerous to unleash. It's a critical
mission unlike anything any of them have ever tackled - and it
tests their friendship and courage to the limit.
If you haven't read the first book, Hard Contact, you should...it
was really great and really gives you a look inside the minds of
what it is like to be a Clone Trooper, a Commando anyway, lol!
Karen is a very talented writer, and I for one look forward to
reading her work again- as well as the continued adventures of
Etain, who in the first novel was just comming into her own as a
Jedi. |
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Monday
July 18, 2005 |
May
the Burger King Be With You |
USATODAY reports that one day after a record-shattering weekend
for Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, an advocacy group
is asking Burger King to stop the tie-in of its Kids Meals with
the film because it is rated PG-13.
The same group, Dove Foundation, got McDonald's 13 years ago to
apologize for "confusion" from its promotion of PG-13
Batman Returns with Happy Meals. Now, it's going after BK's latest
Kids Meal promotion — targeted at kids ages 4 to 9. The meals
feature characters from Sith or other Star Wars films.
"When Burger King puts that in a Kids Meal, there's an
implicit endorsement of the movie," says Dick Rolfe, chairman
of Dove Foundation.
This is no small matter. Product licensing and promotion is a $100
million annual business. Since the first Star Wars was released in
1977, the six films have racked up almost $9 billion in
merchandise sales and product promotions.
For Burger King, the stakes are huge. The No. 2 burger chain is in
the 16th month of a major rebound. The Star Wars promotion, dubbed
"Choose Your Destiny," is the 50-year-old chain's first
global promotion.
Burger King officials insist the promotion isn't specific to the
latest film (the others are rated PG), but one that relates to the
chain's long-term relationship with the Star Wars franchise.
Executives point out that only four of the 31 Kids Meal toys are
specific to Sith.
The toys "clearly celebrate not just one film but the entire
Star Wars saga," says Edna Johnson, a Burger King
spokeswoman. "The reception at our restaurants and from our
customers has been overwhelmingly positive."
But Rolfe says "the tie-in is very specific to this
film." Wrappers around Kids Meal toys all promote Sith, he
notes.
Dove Foundation, a non-sectarian family advocacy group, sent an
overnight letter to Burger King last Thursday requesting the
promotion be stopped. It also conducted a national phone survey of
889 adults and says 83% felt the promotion was not appropriate for
kids.
Another critic says the fault isn't that of Burger King but Star
Wars creator George Lucas. "It's irresponsible of George
Lucas to OK the marketing around this PG-13 movie to young
children," says Susan Linn, a Harvard psychologist and author
of Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood.
"Star Wars is broader than a single movie," says Lynn
Fox, a LucasFilm spokeswoman. "Parents know that Star Wars
has been a positive influence."
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Monday
July 18, 2005 |
Fan
Fiction-SHADOW BOUNTY |
Today we have added a fan fiction story from Jeremy Shelton to the
Fan
Fiction section. Here are the facts:
Title: SHADOW
BOUNTY
Author: Jeremy Shelton E-mail: tbljks@yahoo.com
Category: Action
Timeline: Immediately After Episode 4: A New Hope
Rating: PG
Summary: The adventures of Bobba Fett are well known throughout
the galaxy but some of his exploits are left in the shadows.
Following the emergence of the son of Skywalker the Emperor knows
the Jedi have one last hope. With Obi Wan Kenobi falling to
Vader’s blade this leaves only one Jedi master to help
Skywalker. The Emperor sends the best bounty hunter in the known
galaxy to find and kill the only on who can oppose his will, the
Jedi master Yoda. Darth Vader feels betrayed by the Emperor’s
decision and sends his own agent to follow Fett and claim the
Jedi’s death as his own personal victory.
Status: More Chapters to come.
Read: Chapter
1, Chapter
2
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Monday
July 18, 2005 |
New
Fan Art |
Joel Christian, and Jade Jedi sent in some new fan art creations.
Thank you both for your contributions. These pieces and others can
be found over at the Fan
Art section. Enjoy!
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