Star Wars, Geek Culture, and Power Converters
Hit it, Star Wars Books.
DATE CHANGE: #STARWARS EMPIRE AND REBELLION: RAZOR’S EDGE by @marthawells1 will now go on sale October 1. #SWEU randomhouse.com/book/225871/ra…
— StarWarsBooks (@DelReyStarWars) May 10, 2013
Great news all around. I’m personally looking forward to this book. Pair this with Kenobi and the last half of 2013 is shaping up to be a great period for Expanded Universe releases.
Another week, another fantastic cover release. This time around, it’s John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi.
And a synopsis!
Tatooine—a harsh desert world where farmers toil in the heat of two suns while trying to protect themselves and their loved ones from the marauding Tusken Raiders. A backwater planet on the edge of civilized space. And an unlikely place to find a Jedi Master in hiding, or an orphaned infant boy on whose tiny shoulders rests the future of a galaxy.
Known to locals only as “Ben,” the bearded and robed offworlder is an enigmatic stranger who keeps to himself, shares nothing of his past, and goes to great pains to remain an outsider. But as tensions escalate between the farmers and a tribe of Sand People led by a ruthless war chief, Ben finds himself drawn into the fight, endangering the very mission that brought him to Tatooine.
Ben—Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, hero of the Clone Wars, traitor to the Empire, and protector of the galaxy’s last hope—can no more turn his back on evil than he can reject his Jedi training. And when blood is unjustly spilled, innocent lives threatened, and a ruthless opponent unmasked, Ben has no choice but to call on the wisdom of the Jedi—and the formidable power of the Force—in his never-ending fight for justice.
Kenobi hits bookshelves on August 27th.
This week on Tosche Station Radio, the hosts celebrate the beginning of Star Wars Month by talking about some of their favorite things from the franchise!
Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight what’s New on the Blog. Bria finished up the NJO and suffered through the Dark Nest Trilogy. Somewhere in there she also found time to do an Awesome Con cosplay roundup and write up a review of Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void. She liked it! Meanwhile, Brian gave his thoughts about the Lucasfilm/EA game deal.
In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s was over at Disney’s May the 4th Be With You celebration at Hollywood Studios. Brian’s been reading through Crucible. Both the hosts watched the Abrams Star Trek 2009 to prepare for a guest appearance on WOAM’s Star Trek Into Madness series this weekend.
There’s a whole bunch of news on Deak’s Dirt this week, so get comfortable! Her Universe teased the Rogue Squadron dress and released new merchandise through Hot Topic. The Clone Wars bonus content will feature Plo Koon and the mystery of Sifo-Dyas. In EU news, The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge got covers. Meanwhile, there’s a new synopsis for Kenobi by John Jackson Miller.Pablo Hidalgo’s conducted a Facebook chat (link to Club Jade article). In Episode VII news, Kathleen Kennedy says they won’t be as secretive as JJ Abrams was during Into Darkness. JJ Abrams says he expects John Williams to score Episode VII. Bad Robot’s producer said that Episode VII is targeting an early 2014 filming start. Mark Hamill crashed RotJ screening on May 4, but still is not confirmed for Episode VII. In other Star Wars related news, a full guest list for Star Wars Weekends was released. On the gaming side of things, Lucasfilm selected EA for multi-year licensing deal. In other franchise news, the Ender’s Game trailer dropped! Finally, legendary special effects and creature artist Ray Harryhausen passed away.
On Camie’s Concerns the hosts have some fun and pull out the grab bag to discuss their favorite things in Star Wars. From films to music to books, there’s a whole lot in this universe to enjoy.
Wrapping up the show, the host field questions from listeners in Ask Us Anything and give away a copy of Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by Tim Lebbon.
Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.
Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.
This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.
Yesterday, Universal announced that their incredibly popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter would be extending into both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios with the launch of Diagon Alley in 2014. Does Disney have a response for their own parks? Bob Iger had a few things to say at an earnings meeting yesterday.
“In addition to the Star Wars feature films that we’ve already talked about, we’re also working on opportunities for television and our parks. It’s still very early in the process. We’ll announce details as these developments evolve.”
So, they’re looking into things but nothing is definitive yet. Come on Disney, give me Star Wars Land. Preferably in Florida.
After the obligatory Wars versus Trek discussion, Abrams says that the new Star Wars installments need to be able to stand up on their own rather than ride on pre-existing love for the franchise. In his words, it needs to “work on its own terms.”
What are you up to tomorrow at 5PM PDT? Nothing? Fantastic! You could win yourself a copy of Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by Tim Lebbon. What do you have to do? Listen to the livestream and join the chat as we record a new episode of Tosche Station Radio!
While we’re streaming the podcast recording, all you need to do is head over to livestream.com/toschestationradio and comment in the chat. Near the end of the show we’ll throw the names into a hat* and draw one lucky winner. Be sure to stick around until that point!
*Randomizer application
No trailer is complete without Harrison Ford glaring at something, I say.
I don’t even have words. Nimoy drops the f-bomb, Star Trek references everywhere. Incredible.
Reaction to yesterday’s news that Lucasfilm will be licensing the Star Wars IP exclusively to publisher Electronic Arts was, to put it mildly, a mixed bag. First off were people happy that there were going to be new Star Wars games at all. Then there was the anti-EA crowd upset that Disney was licensing to the least popular company in the gaming industry. So what is it? Good news for fans, or Disney making a mistake and hurting fans?
Some assorted thoughts…
Boil it down and I just can’t find much to be upset about. There is way more good news than there is bad news involved in this announcement. As of right now, three top-notch studios are going to get to work on the Star Wars IP and I, for one, can’t wait to see what they do with it.
When LucasArts was closed down, Disney and Lucasfilm said that the Star Wars IP would move towards a licensing model with out-of-house talent handling development duties. Fans were skeptical that anything would come out of this, naturally. Today Lucasfilm put those concerns to bed with the announcement that publisher Electronic Arts has been selected for an exclusive multi-year game deal.
Today it was announced that Lucasfilm Ltd. and Disney Interactive are entering into a multi-year, multi-title exclusive licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) for the creation of new high quality Star Wars games spanning multiple genres for console, PC, mobile, and tablets.
Industry leaders and creators of best-in-class blockbuster games, the development and publishing teams at EA will collaborate with the creative teams at Lucasfilm to provide audiences with all-new gaming experiences set in the ever-expanding Star Wars galaxy. As part of the agreement, EA studio teams DICE (Battlefield series) and Visceral (Dead Space series) will join BioWare (Mass Effect series, Star Wars: The Old Republic) in the development of new Star Wars games.
“Our number one objective was to find a developer who could consistently deliver our fans great Star Wars games for years to come,” said Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm. “When we looked at the talent of the teams that EA was committing to our games and the quality of their vision for Star Wars, the choice was clear.”
While EA studios will develop for the core Star Wars gaming audience, Disney Interactive will focus on delivering new Star Wars games for casual audiences on mobile, social, tablet, and online gaming platforms.
“This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come,” said John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive. “Collaborating with one of the world’s premier game developers will allow us to bring an amazing portfolio of new Star Wars titles to fans around the world.”
“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. “Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay.”
More information, including titles in development, will be announced in the coming months. Continue to check StarWars.com for updates on the future of Star Wars gaming.
Take a moment to look at the studios that are going to be involved. DICE, Visceral Studios, and Bioware. These are three big-name players that command a lot of respect in the gaming community and have produced some incredible game portfolios. Lucasarts may be gone, but the Star Wars gaming IP is perhaps in better shape than it has been in years.