Skywalker Ranch Fire Truck
Sunday, September 22, 2002 2:09 PM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

The strangest Star Wars collectible until now has just been released; a truck of the Skywalker Ranch Fire Department. The trucks are the first collectibles from Skywalker Ranch. They are priced at $209,96 and come with a unique Skywalker Ranch Fire Dept. patch. You can find more information on the official site and you can immediately preorder the product at Code 3.
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George Lucas places no. 55 on Richest List
Saturday, September 14, 2002 1:23 PM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

On the Forbes Wealthiest Americans List of 2002 George Lucas takes the fifty-fifth place. The producer is worth $3.000 million, and he earned an estimated $200 million from Attack of the Clones only. You can find more information about Lucas here. The complete Wealthiest Americans List can be found here.
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Episode II on IMAX
Tuesday, September 10, 2002 8:04 AM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

LucasFilm has revealed that Attack of the Clones will be available on the IMAX screen on November 1st. And no, it's not just the same film on an IMAX screen. You can read all about it here.

This is not just the projection of the standard theatrical print on an IMAX screen -- the movie will undergo the revolutionary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) process, which enhances the quality of the image and soundtrack to the huge IMAX 15/70 format. This marks the first time IMAX DMR has been used to re-master a film that was digitally captured and created.

"Star Wars: Episode II The IMAX Experience will provide an entirely new way to experience the Star Wars universe," says Jim Ward, Vice President of Marketing for Lucasfilm. "For the first time, fans of Star Wars will be able to see all their favorite characters, environments, vehicles and droids in a setting that is up to eight stories high and over a hundred feet wide."

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New Sam & Max Game
Friday, August 30, 2002 2:41 PM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

LucasArts has begun the development of a new Sam & Max game. In the past, the talking dog and nervous rabbit were the stars in many humorous games from LucasArts. Here's the press release:

Sam & Max, interactive entertainment's most beloved canine and rabbit combo, hit the road again first quarter 2004 in a long awaited adventure comedy sequel for Windows PC from LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC. The follow up to the critically acclaimed 1993 adventure classic Sam & Max Hit the Road® will dispatch the Freelance Police into a wild world of screwy and vaguely quixotic missions. Each one will be jam packed with nerve-jangling action, brain-busting puzzles, and the kind of easygoing banter one might expect from a talking dog and a naked, hyperkinetic bunny.

Sam & Max are based upon the "Sam & Max Freelance Police" comic book series created by Steve Purcell. LucasArts' Michael Stemmle, co-director of the award-winning original game, will direct the sequel.

"Sam & Max Hit the Road is a classic and as close to being a signature game as any LucasArts has ever done," says Simon Jeffery, president of LucasArts. "The Sam & Max sequel, much like the recently announced Full Throttle® II, perfectly complements LucasArts' renowned adventure game legacy and lends further support to the company's commitment to investing in and developing more of our original properties."

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Happy Birthday to R2-D2 and Darth Maul
Saturday, August 24, 2002 4:24 PM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

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Master Replica's Delays Explained
Saturday, August 24, 2002 4:18 PM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

If you've ordered such a wonderful replica lightsaber from MasterReplicas.com and you're wondering why the shipping takes so long, here's your answer.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., August 23, 2002 - Master Replicas LLC announces the addition of Carol Morgan, Director of Customer Care to the company’s corporate management staff. Since joining Master Replicas, Morgan has taken the lead on improving the burgeoning company’s customer service operations. One of her first priorities is to improve communications with customers who have experienced delays in the delivery of their orders.

“The initial plan was to ship all orders within 4-6 weeks of the replica’s release date,” said Morgan. “Due to higher than expected demand, as well as unexpected manufacturing delays, we were unable to meet that commitment.” she explained.

Currently, Master Replicas has shipped all of the Han Solo Blasters and Luke Skywalker Lightsabers to customers who ordered on the Master Replicas web site, by phone, or at Celebration II. They have shipped 95% of the Yoda Lightsabers and anticipate completing shipment of the Yoda before the end of August.

The company will begin shipping the Obi-Wan Kenobi Lightsaber and the Anakin Skywalker Force FX Lightsaber in September 2002. Customers who have already ordered one of these collectibles should receive their order no later than the end of October.

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DVD Release Date Confirmed!
Thursday, August 1, 2002 12:45 PM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

Finally the official site has confirmed the release date of the Attack of the Clones DVD and VHS. The film will be in stores at November 12th, 2002. The DVD version comes with lots of extra material such as deleted scenes and documentaries. The DVD version both has a normal and a widescreen version this time. No less than eight deleted scenes and three documentaries (about designing Computer Graphics, creating scenes and using sound) have been added to the two discs.
You can find all info about the DVD and VHS here.

Here's an excerpt of a Yahoo/Hollywood Reporter article about the release:

Disc 1, which will offer Dolby 5.1 Surround EX, will include feature-length commentary from writer-director George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, sound designer Ben Burtt, Industrial Light + Magic animation director Rob Coleman and ILM visual effects supervisors Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow.

The second disc is loaded with extras. As it did with the "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" disc, ILM went back and finished the special effects in eight deleted scenes and included them on the DVD. Additional content includes three featurettes, a 12-part Web documentary series, theatrical trailers, 12 TV spots, the Fox TV "R2-D2: Beneath the Dome" mockumentary, a visual effects breakdown montage, an exclusive production photo gallery and the "Across the Stars" music video featuring John Williams.

"We had such great response from the 'The Beginning' documentary on the 'Episode I' DVD that we've included three documentaries on 'Episode II,' " Ward said. " 'From Puppets to Pixels' follows the entire process of Yoda from puppet to full CGI character as well as showing fans how digital stunt doubles were incorporated into the film. 'State of the Art: The Previsualization of Episode II' explores how entire scenes can be created from scratch. George thought of the idea of the droid factory sequence a year after principal photography wrapped, then enlisted ILM to bring the scene to life out of virtually nothing. The third documentary, 'Films Are Not Released; They Escape,' delves into the sound process for the making of the film."

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Novel by Stephen Barnes
Friday, July 26, 2002 4:36 PM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

The African American author Stephen Barnes has signed a three book deal with DelRey. Two of the books will be about pre-historic life in Africa, but the third one will be a Star Wars novel. This was reported in an interview with Cinescape. Here's an excerpt:

The third book of Barnes three-book Del Rey deal will be a STAR WARS hardcover novel. It’s a boon to the STAR WARS novel franchise to have an author of such critical magnitude contributing.

“I have long admired the world that Lucas created, and I have some great ideas that I can’t wait to explore for this novel,” says Barnes.

Tight wraps are in place on all specific plot details.

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Cut Scene: Droid Control Ship Raid
Saturday, July 20, 2002 8:42 AM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

The official site answered a question about why the really cool Droid Control Ship Raid was ultimately cut from Attack of the Clones. Read Ben Burtt's (editor and sound designer) complete reply here.

The attack on the Droid Control Ship was filmed and edited together, but never completed with final special effects. A Jedi attack force battled its way up the ship's ramp, through doorways, down halls, and into the bridge of the ship. The scene was filled with much swordplay and stunts.

The sequence was dropped from the cut because it added another story to be intercut with what already was becoming too complicated and time consuming for the climax of the movie. Including the sequence also meant time needed to set it up and resolve it while the arena battle and the Clone War land battle proceeded simultaneously.

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The Clone Wars Screenshots
Saturday, July 20, 2002 8:34 AM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

LucasArts has recently published a lot of new screenshots of the upcoming game The Clone Wars. Check the official page at LucasArts.com to see the 24 screenshots. You can also take a look at the boxes of the PlayStation 2 and GameCube game.

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Free New Jedi Order Novel
Tuesday, July 16, 2002 7:21 AM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

Del Rey has confirmed that Walter Jon Williams is writing a new chapter in the NJO series (the eBook was mentioned in this article). It will play in the same period as Destiny's Way. When completed, it will be available free on-line.
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Computer Graphics World features Episode II
Saturday, July 13, 2002 3:40 PM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

Remember our post about the CG used in Attack of the Clones? Computer Graphics World has published part II of the feature. You can read a small part here. The (quite long) article can be found here.

Ironically, although they have the title role, the CG characters no one talks about in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones are the clones. "In all the critical reviews of Episode II, I have never heard any criticism of the clones," says Jeff Light, motion capture supervisor at ILM. "That was also true of the droids in Episode I. No one mentions them." He's right. Some reviewers note that the clones are based on Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison), and that's about it. They often comment on such CG characters as Yoda, Jar Jar, or the Kaminoans, but when it comes to the clones, the reviewers are silent.

[...]

In one scene, for example, a clone trooper runs after Padmé (Natalie Portman) who has tumbled out of a vehicle and rolled down a hill during the clone war. He kneels down to ask if she's OK; the interaction continues as she gets up. There's no clue that the trooper helping her is digital. "We worked and worked to come up with every footstep, every reaction," says Light. "We did more takes of that performance than any [motion-captured] scene in the film."

Light's crew started with rough blocking from an animatic created in Maya that showed what the clone was supposed to do; measurements from a camera match-move showed where Portman was on the bluescreen stage. Using those measurements, the crew put a volleyball on the mocap stage to represent Portman's head when she was lying down, and used a tripod with a marker so the performer would look in the correct direction when she stood up.

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David Prowse or Hayden Christensen?
Thursday, July 11, 2002 6:46 AM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

There seems to be a lot of consternation among you about whether Prowse or Christensen should play the role of Darth Vader in Episode III. Some of you think the original actor will do a great job, others really don't want to see a 66-year old behind the helmet. Here are a few quotes:

No one wants to see or hear a 66 Year old man as Darth Vader. Hayden will do an excellent job and I think they should keep him. He is a handsome man and should be given a chance.

They should both be in the movie. Like Hayden be the person that is without the mask and David the person that is in the mask.

I believe that young actors are getting better in acting and should be recognized for their talent and not just be replaced by the person who played the same role in the original movies.

As you can see, the opinions differ. Anyway, David Prowse hopes he will get the part of the Sithlord; that's all the rumors we have about this subject.

Well anyway, let the galaxy hear your voice about this or any other matter that's bugging you; keep mailing.
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Jedi Outcast Patch
Thursday, July 11, 2002 6:29 AM EST :: Email Author | Message Boards

There is already a new patch for the highly popular game Jedi Outcast. Today Raven releases Patch 1.04. You can download it at LucasArts' Jedi Outcast website. Here's the details:

LucasArts will be releasing the 1.04 update for Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Thursday evening on their website at http://www.lucasarts.com/products/outcast/html/default.htm. Feel free to download and mirror it once it is available.
The update includes all of the fixes from 1.03, so if you don't have that update yet, this is the only one you'll need. A list of the changes in 1.03 can be found here: http://support.lucasarts.com/patches/jedioutcast.htm

The primary focus of 1.04 is multiplayer balance.

Some of the features/fixes include:

Multiplayer
----------- * Corrected issue which caused servers to crash in rare instances.

* Corrected issue causing damage not to ramp up and down properly when using the backstab move in light saber stance.

* Corrected bug allowing players to pivot while executing backstab moves in all stances. Players may no longer pivot when executing these moves.

* Fixed bug causing force pull to be unblockable by people with equal or greater pull rank.

* Adjusted ammo usage of the Imperial repeater alt-fire.

* Fixed bug allowing inventory items to be used in FFA saber challenges.

* Corrected an exploit which allowed players to fall from large heights at a slow rate.

* Corrected issue which caused pain sounds not to play properly when hit by opponents. Pain sounds should now be relative to the amount of damage taken.

New dedicated servers will also be released tomorrow. We'll send those out to all of the gaming file sites so you'll be able to get new servers set up immediately.

A few other notes on 1.04:

- Saved games are unaffected from 1.03

- Demos recorded using 1.03 are not compatible with 1.04

- Mod makers will have to update their mods to reflect new the IP protocol introduced in 1.04. This will be a minor adjustment to your existing mod stuffs.

- Once you upgrade to 1.04, only servers running version 1.04 will be visible in your in game browser. There may be a short period of time where there are few 1.04 servers to play on as server admins update to the new version.

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