Celebration V: The madness begins

I spent much of the day at the StarWars.com booth. While they weren’t selling anything, there were several products on display. Including the small Mara Jade statue you see above! It’s a Star Wars Shop exclusive and will be on sale sometime next year, along with a Darth Bane. Stop by the booth to get a closer look, or I’ll have more pictures later. (Sorry. Conhaustion is kicking in.) Also coming? A friend for the Garden Jawa:

I only got to one panel today, and that may very well be the record for the attending Jaders. (Yes. Ouch. By which I mean, our feet.) The good news is it was the Essential Guides, and there was news: A third Essential Guide to Characters is coming, tentatively dated for 2012.

But the big news, if Twitter and my RSS feeder is to be believed, is that a clip shown at ‘The Clone Wars: Evolution’ panel featured Republic Commandos. Big Shiny Robot has a write-up of both Clone Wars panels, while EU Cantina found video.

I’m hearing that the Hoth Ice Bar is the place to be. Hoping to make it over tomorrow: And I will tweet if I can stay for a while, but it’s looking like another crazy day!

On Jossing, canon, and The Clone Wars

Can’t say I’m particularly broken up about the departure of Karen Traviss from Star Wars, as I wasn’t planning to read any of her forthcoming novels anyway. However, I’ve been following the threads on the fan boards and in-between the mourning/celebration some interesting points have been raised: How far is The Clone Wars going in railroading over existing canon, if it’s driven away an author who infamously loved to retcon? Continue reading “On Jossing, canon, and The Clone Wars

LucasArts opening up vault for direct download of ‘classic’ game titles

Something something BattlefrontLucasArts announced via Twitter that they are going to be releasing many of their older PC game titles for direct download. The first batch of ten classic games, including Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, LOOM, Star Wars: Battlefront II and The Dig will be re-released on July 8 via Steam, the online delivery system from Valve Entertainment. Steam will also be the download system for the PC version for the upcoming Monkey Island remake The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, coming out July 15.

The full list of games being released on July 8 contains some classic graphic adventures, and some more recent action titles:

  • Armed and Dangerous
  • Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
  • LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure
  • LOOM
  • Star Wars Battlefront II
  • Star Wars Republic Commando
  • Star Wars Starfighter
  • The Dig
  • Thrillville: Off the Rails

This is only the first batch of classic LucasArts games to be released – and noticeably some popular game franchises are absent, possibly to be re-released in future batches: Maniac Mansion, X-Wing, Dark Forces, and Grim Fandango. No pricing information is yet available.

Meanwhile, the new Monkey Island game from Telltale Games, has its first episode coming out tomorrow, Tales of Monkey Island – Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal for PC. The Wii version will be released in the coming weeks.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis was also included as a bonus game in the Wii version of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, released in June 2009.

Out this week: TFU, O66, KOTOR

Stuff is sure to blow up real good in Tuesday’s releases. First off is the much-hyped game that has been impossible to avoid lately, The Force Unleashed. You can even pick it up tonight if the mood strikes. For those who prefer their ass-kicking without the baggage of required hardware, tomorrow also sees the release of the fourth and final Republic Commando novel, Order 66.

Meanwhile, comic fans can expect Knights of the Old Republic #33 on Wednesday.

Upcoming releases: Fun with street dates

I’ve been doing a bit of work on our book release schedule over the last few days, adding all all the recently announced and (hopefully) soon-to-be announced-because-they’re-in-the-catalog books. But there’s always more going on…

  • Zee Zee noticed that the The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia has been pushed back a few weeks from November 18 to December 9. At least it’s still in time for Christmas?
  • And the (US?) paperback of Order 66 has been set for May 19, 2009; UK readers may note some funny business – the book isn’t coming out in hardcover there at all, and will be instead released as a paperback on October 2, 2008.

Karen Traviss hints at future work

With the odd-day The Clone Wars release out and up, Del Rey has an excerpt from the book and an interview with Traviss, where she talks about the new book, her writing process, and briefly touches on some of her upcoming Star Wars work…

I’m continuing the Republic Commando series in Imperial Commando books. There are a few other SW books in the pipeline too, including a Boba Fett one.

Comics are also mentioned, but not whether they’re Star Wars or something else.