Star Wars: The Old Republic Flash Mob!
If you’ve noticed things on the site have been a bit quite recently, this is for 2 reasons. 1 – It’s was Christmas, and 2 – Star Wars: The Old Republic was released.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is a game we here at GeekTown have been waiting for since it was first announced Bioware were working on an MMORPG back in 2007, so it’s been a long time coming. We’ve been playing since beta, and it’s just got better and better with every update. The game already has some spectacular numbers under it’s belt, with over 5.5 million hours played by it’s 1 million and rising subscribers. One of the more interesting stats released was the fact the players have so far created 850,000 Sith Warriors and over 810,000 Jedi Knights, so it seems the draw of the dark side is just slightly stronger than the light.
The game itself is superb. Brilliantly constructed and deeply involving story lines, with every character fully voiced, it stands way above most other MMOs out there. Bioware have worked really hard to make sure SWTOR puts the RPG back into MMORPG.
As part of the promo for SWTORs release, Bioware/EA organised a genius ‘flash mob’ event in Times Square NYC. Wonder if it was a ‘bring your own lightsaber’ event, or if they were provided. ;)
Showcase Channel go on a Starhyke!
Tired of waiting for the Red Dwarf series X? This might be just the thing to help fill the long wait till Autumn 2012!
Starring Claudia Christian (Babylon 5), Jeremy Bulloch (Star Wars), Starhyke is a sci-fi comedy set in the year 3034, when the human race has suppressed all forms of emotion. So when the Reptids (the only unconquered alien race in our galaxy) threaten to release a weapon to reawaken human emotion, it’s up to Captain Blowhard (Christian) and her increasingly inept crew to travel back in time to stop them from changing the past and altering our future forever. Now plagued by uncontrollable emotions, the crew of the Nemesis find not-so practical ways of coping, whilst Dr Striker (Bulloch) looks for a cure in the most unusual places…
The show is also packed full of familiar sci-fi stars. Claudia Christian, best known as Commander Susan Ivanova in Babylon 5, said “Starhyke was an absolute joy to work on. The combination of a stellar cast, hilarious situations and the ability to play around in a comedy again was a joy for me… I love the combination of sci-fi and comedy and only the Brits can truly pull it off!” Jeremy Bulloch, the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett in the Star Wars trilogy said of his character, “Doctor Striker is a part I really enjoyed playing because he is completely insane! He a loveable rogue and quite daft, a lot like me!”.
Other stars include Suanne Braun (Stargate SG-1) and Rachel Grant (Die Another Day) and Brad Gorton (London’s Burning). The series also features guest appearances from Danny John-Jules (Cat in the aforementioned Red Dwarf), Mike Edmonds (Time Bandits) and even the legendary Sir Patrick Moore like you’ve never seen him before!
Starhyke has been a huge success on DVD for Bristol based Lightworx Media, and has built a steady fanbase through the sci-fi convention circuit, but this is the first time the anarchic mix of sci-fi, drama and humour has come to UK television. “It’s been difficult at times, but we were always spurred on by the reactions from sci-fi fans and the unwavering support they’ve given toward the series” says producer Jonathan G. Brown.
The series will premiere on Showcase TV on Sky 201 and Freesat 403 at 8pm from the 13th December, with repeats on Fridays at 2pm and Sundays at 4pm from the 1st January 2012.
For more info visit www.starhyke.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 3 DVD Review
George Lucas and the team at Lucasfilm are back to fill the gap between Episodes II & III with Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 3, coming to DVD and high-definition Blu-ray Disc on 17 October 2011 from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Warner Home Video.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 3, is very much a season of 2 halves. The series opens on the homeworld of the clone army – Kamino, where we follow the rather less than stellar performing ‘Domino Squad’ being pushed through their clone training paces. It’s an enjoyable starting point which delves further into the inner-workings of the clone army training regimen, and leads to an action packed 2nd episode with General Grievous and Ventress launching a full on assault on the cloning facility.
Episode 3 (‘Supply Lines’), sees things take a slight turn for the worse as Jar Jar Binks shows up… This starts a run of episodes focusing on the politics of the Republic, with various characters dealing with trade missions and other political matters which, whilst adding texture to the background of The Clone Wars, feel a little out-of-place in a Star Wars animated show.
Things start to pick up again with the R2-D2, C-3PO centred episode ‘Evil Plans’, where a simple shopping trip of the droid companions leads to the escape of Ziro The Hutt, and the introduction of fan favourite Jedi Master ‘Quinlan Vos’ (making his first appearance in animated form) to help Obi-Wan track Ziro down.
The Clone Wars, Season 3
There are a few other significant story arcs this season. We see the planet of ‘Mortis’ for the first time, and it’s inhabitants ‘The Ones’ – Father, Daughter and Son. These 3 seem to have an enormous connection to The Force, although George is playing his cards close to his chest on exactly what their connection is.
Episode 18 – ‘The Citadel’ starts a 3 part story arc where Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent to rescue Jedi Master Even Piell from an impenetrable prison, along with a young Captain Tarkin. The 2 episode arc (starting with Episode 21 – ‘Padawan Lost’) sees Ahsoka kidnapped by Trandoshan slavers for their big hunt, which leads to the first Clone Wars for a certain favourite walking carpet…
The standout arc for me though goes to Katie Lucas (daughter of George), who turns in a great 3 parter (starting at episode 12 – Nightsisters). After Count Dooku is ordered by Darth Sidious to kill his apprentice Ventress, she escapes Dooku’s assassination attempt and returns to her Nightsister clan to plot revenge. This involves turning Dathomirian Zabrak Nightbrother ‘Savage Opress’ into a terrifying warrior to act as Dooku’s new apprentice, only to have him turn on his new master on Ventress’s command. It also leads to a reveal that someone we thought long dead may not be as deceased as being sliced in half would usually imply…
Overall Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 3, has some great stories in it, and even though the season is a little uneven, it’s well worth delving into for any Star Wars fan. The DVD extras also include some great detailed interviews with cast and crew about various key episodes in the run.
Star Wars™: The Clone Wars™ The Complete Season Three is out on Blu-Ray and DVD on 17 October 2011
8/10 – A bit uneven, but well worth it for any Star Wars fan!
STAR WARS: The Old Republic gets a launch date!
It’s been a long (long time…) in coming, but Bioware have finally given us a release date for STAR WARS: The Old Republic… And it’s the 22nd of December 2011 for Europe (20th of December if your over in North America)! Merry Christmas everyone! 
SWTOR is a game we’ve been desperate to play ever since it was announced back in 2008. Originally planned for early 2011, not unsurprisingly give Bioware’s usual ‘we’ll release it when it’s ready and not before’ attitude, it slipped, and we were beginning to wonder if we’d ever get to see SWTOR this side of the 2011 holiday season. Thankfully the lil Bioware Ewoks have been hard at work, and from all the footage and previews i’ve see, SWTOR is not only ready, it should be one of the most engrossing and detailed MMORPG game worlds ever created.
Like previous Bioware games, SWTOR has a heavy focus on story, way more so than any other MMORPG gone before. Bioware plan to firmly re-attached the RPG part of the acronym – something that has been sorely missing in many more recent MMO releases.
After your initial 30 days, the subscription costs are pretty much in line with the genre’s other major player ‘World of Warcraft’, with 1 month subs at £8.99, 3 months at £25.17, and 6 months at £46.14. No news on how early the ‘Early Game Access’ will be yet.
So there your are, you now know what to ask Santa to get you for Christmas… STAR WARS: The Old Republic – 22nd of December 2011.
Top 4 SciFi Shows We Want To See!
Over a chat with some fellow GeekTowners recently, we were mourning the loss (or long hiatus) of the Stargate franchise after the cruel cancellation of the actually rather good SGU, and it got us thinking… What scifi shows would we like to see – with the exception of the obligatory ‘bring back Firefly‘ obviously…
4. Star Wars – Live Action TV Show
We're waiting George!
Apart from from needing a decent title, and seemingly not having moved forward much since it was first announced a few years back, the Star Wars Live Action TV Show has been slowly bubbling along behind the scenes. Lucas says he has 50 hours written out of an initial run of 100. However, in a recent interview the big man himself has said it’s basically on hold until the technology manages to catch up with his vision of what he wants the show to be – i.e. we want it to be epic and we can’t afford to do it on a tv budget…
Really George?.. What the heck are you planning that you, the man that’s amassed a fortune selling everything from Star Wars lunchboxes to C3PO tape dispensers (yes, really), think it’s not cost effective to produce a Star Wars TV show?! Are you planning on blowing up an actual planet each episode? Genetically engineer real Ewoks maybe? I’m struggling to see how a Star Wars branded ‘anything‘ at this point won’t make you your money back, despite whatever fortune you spend on it! *Sigh* so while Lucas waits (presumably for someone to construct an actual Death Star so they can shoot it somewhere with that authentic ‘Death Stary feel’), we will get Robot Chicken’s Star Wars Sitcom which Lucas greenlit earlier this year. At least that’s something new (and I do expect it to be awesome!), but I’d still love to see the live action show move forward!
3. Mass Effect the TV Series
Mass Effect TV Show
BioWare have made a number of truly great computer games, but one of the strongest universes they’ve created was the one that Mass Effect resides in. There is a Mass Effect movie in development, but that’s no reason to not consider a TV series after that. Look at the success Stargate had (even though the the original writer seemingly hated the tv show!).
Mass Effect provides a vivid and interesting environment that could easily expand in TV. With so many varied races and characters to explore, I can’t help but think a tv show set in the Mass Effect universe would allow the story to expand far more than a film would every allow.
2. Fray the TV Series
Fray TV Show
Yes, I know we’re fanboys when it comes to Joss, but after he’s done sorting out Marvel’s men in tights, I’d really love to see him have something back on the small screen, and it’d be nice if it was something Slayer related. So how about a Fray tv series?
For those of you that don’t know about Fray, it was a series of comic book written by Joss about a new Slayer set in a hi tech future. In this timeline demons had though to have been banished from Earth, and the Watchers are a crazed cult. But when vampires (now know as lurks) start to re-appear in New York’s slums, a new Slayer is called in the form of thief Melaka Fray to battle the increasing threat… Vamps and Slayers in a futuristic scifi setting?.. What more could you want!
1. Slingers TV Show
Ever since the ‘sizzle reel‘ for Slingers popped up in 2009, we’ve been backing the show to get made! For those of you that have yet to catch the video – see above! Slingers is set set in 2263 A.D. An interplanetary war has left a section of humanity cut off from Earth by an impassible barrier. Some people are prepared to do as the military tell them, and make the best of a bad situation. Some have other plans… People such as Dominic ‘DM’ Monroe and his merry band of brothers decide to *ahem* borrow… the military’s experimental spaceship, which has the capability to ‘sling’ itself to any point in the universe. That means in theory, it is the only craft that side of the barrier has the capability of reaching Earth…
In terms of tone, it’s been described as “the action of Bullitt, the sophistication of Ocean’s 11 and the humour of M*A*S*H all wrapped in a futuristic package.” That description alone makes me want to see Slingers go into production! Things have been a bit quiet in terms of actual news on Slingers recently, other than the odd tweet from creator Mike Sizemore about “meetings in LA going well”, there’s not been much news recently. Looking at the stunning work the guys did on the the sizzle reel, I’m surprised it hasn’t been snapped up yet. Still, you know what they say… Good things come to those who wait… ;)
Pre-orders galore in the Star Wars Universe!
Couple of interesting little bits have been release recently for all the Star Wars fans out there.
STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA on Blu-ray!
STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY
First is the announcement that STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA will be released on Blu-ray on September 12th 2011, and if you pre-order it, you’ll get yourself a limited edition Star Wars Sentiype™, contains a unique 35mm film frame reproduced from the original film footage using state-of-the-art imaging and printing techniques. The film frame is mounted and features original artwork from the Star Wars Blu-ray collection. Each senitype™ is numbered for authenticity.
The comprehensive collection also features numerous deleted, extended and alternate scenes, new documentaries and a cross-section of the countless Star Wars spoofs that have appeared in pop culture over the past three decades. Marking the first time ever that the full Saga is available in one complete collection, STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY also features a coveted peek into the making of the Saga with vintage documentaries, audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes moments, interviews, prop and costume turnarounds, retrospectives and more.
The Limited Edition Star Wars® Sentiype™ is available whilst stocks last from: Amazon
Star Wars: The Old Republic Pre-order now Live!
Star Wars: The Old Republic Pre-Order
The second bit of news is the the long, long awaited Star Wars: The Old Republic is now available for pre-order from Amazon
The Star Wars: The Old Republic Digital Deluxe Edition is availible from EA’s Origin online store at £59.99, and gives you 7 Additional Digital Items including:
- Flare Gun
- Training Droid
- HoloDancer
- HoloCam
- STAP
- Exclusive Mouse Droid
- Exclusive Collector’s Edition Store
Game are selling the Star Wars: The Old Republic Collectors Edition (£129.99) which comes with:
- Exclusive Gentle Giant Darth Malgus statue
- Game disks collectible metal case
- The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural as annotated by Satele Shan
- The Old Republic galaxy map
- Custom Security Authentication Key
- Music of Star Wars: The Old Republic CD
- High-quality Collector’s Edition box
Amazon
Still no actual release date for Star Wars: The Old Republic, but given the hype that’s going to be around in Sept over the blu-ray releases, and the news of Star Wars Galaxies closing in December, it’s a pretty safe bet were going to be seeing SW:KotOR at some point between Sept and Dec this year!
