Add another member of the Fett clan to the list. Temuera Morrison, known for playing the Fett that got decapitated, has been confirmed for Celebration VI.
According to the official CVI page, Morrison will be in attendance for the entire convention.
The Old Republic May Be Going Free-To-Play
Things have not been going well for The Old Republic. First there was the news dropped in some shareholders notes that the game had bled 400,000 users, a staggering 25% of the total subscriber base at its peak. Then there were the layoffs at BioWare Austin. All of this seems to be forcing Lucasarts and BioWare to make some tough decisions. Kotaku had a telling quote from the game’s lead designer, Emmanuel Lusinchi.
“The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well,” he says. “Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations. So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on.”
Going Free-to-Play would dramatically lower expectations for the game’s quality and content, which might be something that needs to happen. TOR simply wasn’t the World of Warcraft killer everyone hoped it would be. The model could also provide new revenue streams int he form of micro transactions.
Whether this happens or not, something needs to change if TOR is going to avoid the same fate as Galaxies.
Second ‘Mercy Kill’ Excerpt Features More Myri Antilles
Then she noticed that Trey had stopped talking. Instead, he was leaning forward, his forehead pressed against a heavy-duty, locking transparisteel cabinet.
Myri moved until she could see his face. “Four? You suddenly look like you want to cry.”
“I do.” He stepped back from the cabinet and shone his glow rod on its contents.The cabinet had two shelves, themselves transparisteel. On the top shelf were two silvery bowl-like stands, and in each rested a globe larger than a balled human fist—a globe with dials and a depressible button.
Myri stared at them for a moment, then clamped her hand over her mouth to suppress a gasp. “Thermal detonators.”
“Two of them.” Trey’s voice was almost rapturous. “I have to steal these.”
Expect more excerpts throughout the week.
Catch Nanci on the Star Wars Beyond The Films Podcast
A few weeks ago, our own Nanci and Kelly from Big Shiny Robot were guests on the SW:BTF podcast with Nathan P. Butler and Mark Hurliman. Check out the latest episode where the hosts, Nanci, and Kelly talk about gender issues in the Star Wars universe and fandom.
Tosche Station Radio #20: Purposeful Protest
On this week’s Tosche Station Radio, Brian and Nanci get on soapbox. Brace yourselves!
Kicking off the show, Nanci highlight’s what’s new on the blog this week. You can find a collection of tweets covering Dave Filoni’s Q&A at Star Wars Weekends, Shane’s look back on Wedge’s Gamble (part of our ongoing summer X-Wing retrospective series). Don’t forget, we’re holding a contest to replace Mara Jade’s catsuit. Send in your art and costume photos!
In Fixer’s Flash this week, Nanci went and saw Prometheus and greatly enjoyed it. She was also at Star Wars Weekends livetweeting the Clone Wars news from Dave FIloni. Don’t look now, but she’s also gotten herself into costuming! Meanwhile, Brian finally discusses the goings on at the Origins Game Fair where authors Mike Stackpole, Aaron Allston, and Timothy Zahn held numerous panels discussing writing and Star Wars. A lot of interesting tidbits were divulged during the convention, including perhaps a story idea the three authors are hoping to pitch?
Star Wars Books Begins ‘Mercy Kill’ Mini-Excerpts
He crawled southward, keeping well below the trench lip above.
Myri followed, occasionally peeking up above the rim to see her surroundings. “My father was on the Death Star Trench Run. You know, the famous one. Me, I get the General’s Basement Trench Crawl.”
X-Wing: Mercy Kill is due out August 7th and is the first novel in the series to be published in thirteen years.
Win A Copy of ‘Time Traveled Tales’
Good news: Authors like Janine Spendlove, Mike Stackpole, Aaron Allston, Tim Zahn, and Bryan Young teamed up to put together a nifty anthology of short stories centered around time travel!
Bad news: The anthology was limited to a 500 quantity run and was exclusive to the Origins Game Convention, so you can’t buy it.
Good news (for one lucky person): I went and bought an extra copy to give away!
How can you claim it? Simple! Follow our Twitter account and retweet this message. We’ll select a winner at random.
Win a copy of Time Traveled Tales featuring @MikeStackpole @aaronallston @swankmotron & @JanineSpendlove! Just follow us & RT this tweet
— Tosche Station(@Tosche_Station) June 14, 2012
The Kessel Run – One Prequel We Could All Get Behind
Spotted via Club Jade’s tumblr comes this magnificent fake movie poster by oldredjalopy.
Ten credits to the first person who turns this into a fan film.
Star Wars Night in Arizona
Apparently Saturday was Star Wars Night at the home field of the Arizona Diamondbacks and here’s the evidence. It’s really great to know that there is one piece of Sci-fi popular culture that extends so far into the popular consciousnesses that it even intersects our nation’s past-time. Follow the link for pictures and video from the event!
Tropes versus Women: Deconstructing Gender Stereotypes in Video Games
Nanci spotted something interesting this morning that I think is rather timely. Earlier this week, I was fuming to some friends over the Tomb Raider reboot. This was a game that I thought had a lot of potential to be both entertaining and (forgive the horrid play on words) game changing. Initial videos showed a Lara Croft that appeared to be a much more complete, deep character. Heaven knows there aren’t enough female characters in the video game universe that fits that description.
Unfortunately, it appears the developers have lost their way. Depicting gratuitous sexual assault and suggesting that Lara needs to be protected by the masculine player does not a deep character make. So, back to square one, another developer studio that doesn’t quite seem to understand what people mean when they ask for strong, female characters.
Maybe they should pay attention to a new project headed by Anita Sarkeesian: Tropes versus Women.
I love playing video games but I’m regularly disappointed in the limited and limiting ways women are represented. This video project will explore, analyze and deconstruct some of the most common tropes and stereotypes of female characters in games. The series will highlight the larger recurring patterns and conventions used within the gaming industry rather than just focusing on the worst offenders. I’m going to need your help to make it happen!
As a gamer, a pop culture critic and a fan, I’m always working to balance my enjoyment of media while simultaneously being critical of problematic gender representations. With my video web series Feminist Frequency, I look at the way women are portrayed in mass media and the impact they have on our culture and society.
They’ve already hit a number of funding goals to get high-quality episodes produced looking at various cliches and stereotypes regarding female characters in video games. Here’s some of the deconstructions they have lined up:
- Damsel in Distress – Video #1
- The Fighting F#@k Toy – Video #2
- The Sexy Sidekick – Video #3
- The Sexy Villainess – Video #4
- Background Decoration – Video #5
- Voodoo Priestess/Tribal Sorceress – Video #6
- Women as Reward – Video #7
- Mrs. Male Character – Video #8
- Unattractive Equals Evil – Video #9
- Man with Boobs – Video #10
- Positive Female Characters! – Video #11
- Video #12 – Top 10 Most Common Defenses of Sexism in Games
Combining TV Tropes with a topic that sorely needs discussion in this industry? Sounds look a good cause to me. Deconstruct away.