Tag Archives: Star Wars

The Fate of LucasArts was a Decade in the Making

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To say fan reaction to the closure of long-time game developer and publisher LucasArts was strong would be an understatement. Emotions ranged from sadness to outright anger at new parent company Disney for shuttering the studio responsible for critically acclaimed titles like TIE Fighter, The Dig, and Escape from Monkey Island. Through the years, this division of the Lucasfilm brand had been responsible for numerous well received games that became benchmarks for the industry as a whole. It’s understandable, then, that fans of the company are bewildered as to why Disney would close down such a prolific studio and monument to gaming history.

While a glance through their catalog reveals a studio that has had more success than the vast majority of their competitors, a deeper look reveals that LucasArts set themselves on a risky path nearly a decade ago.

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Lucasarts Shuttered, Employees Laid Off

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LucasartsKotaku is reporting that Disney has officially shut down Lucasarts and laid off all employees.

Given the lingering hard feelings over Lucasfilm Animation and the cancellation of The Clone Wars, it’s easy to get upset at Disney. I would caution against it, however. Lucasarts was a development studio that was in trouble years before Disney even came into the picture. The number of titles they released plummeted around 2006-2007 and the marquee titles they did release were not well received critically. The Force Unleashed and its sequel were regarded as middling titles and The Old Republic was a huge expenditure that failed to put a dent in the MMO market.

There’s also this to consider:

Lucasarts has been a development studio in trouble for years. This studio getting shut down doesn’t mean the end of Star Wars games. If anything, I view it as a hopeful thing. For whatever reason, they have been unable to produce quality products internally for a number of years and they probably could have and should have been closed down sooner to redistribute that valuable IP.

If Disney is licensing the Star Wars IP now to other studios, that could be great news for fans.

Edit: Official statement from Lucasfilm

GameInformer received a statement from Lucasfilm discussing the closure of the studio.

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”

In addition, Kotaku is now reporting that Star Wars 1313 and First Assault have been canceled

Staff were informed of the shutdown this morning, according to a reliable Kotaku source. Some 150 people were laid off, and both of the studio’s current projects—Star Wars: First Assault and Star Wars 1313—were cancelled. Disney will still use the LucasArts name to license games, but the studio is no more.

Geeky Clothing Item of the Day: Rogue Squadron Hockey Jersey

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We’ve all got geeky t-shirts. Maybe even geeky jackets. But do you have a geeky hockey jersey? I didn’t think so. Over on Twitter Nanci and I were alerted to this item that I need in my closet yesterday.

Yes that is a Rogue Squadron hockey jersey and good heavens I want it so much. It even features the Rogue Squadron insignia on the shoulders! If you head over to the product page and you have $95 on hand, you can order yourself up a custom jersey that lets you supply your own name and number. Maybe instead of a Skywalker 77 you want an Antilles 77?

Dark Horse Adapting Original Star Wars Concept

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At Wodnercon yesterday, Dark Horse revealed just what that Jonathan Rinzler-written project would be. According to BleedingCool.com, it’s going to be an adaptation of George Lucas’ original Star Wars concept.

At WonderCon, Dark Horse announces new eight issue Star Wars series for September – The Star Wars. Based on George Lucas‘ original concept that eventually became the Star Wars films.

Featuring Darth Vader not as a Sith/Jedi but just a General. Anakin Starkiller. An old General Luke Skywalker.  Jonathan Rinzler will write and Mike Mayhew will do the art.

Dark Horse also shared some concept artwork for the new series which you can see at the link above. For continuity purists, don’t even try to mesh this into canon and just enjoy it for what it is. A fun Infinities-style what-if.

Star Wars, Marvel, and the Multiverse

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In the Star Wars fandom, there’s always some war of words brewing between fans. We’ve seen the Ship Wars, the Prequel Trilogy consternation, the Clone Wars skirmishes. One that has been on slow simmer for years is cold war between Expanded Universe Completists and Film Purists. Countless words have been written defending the merits of one and tearing down another.

To say things have blown up since the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney and the announcement of the Sequel Trilogy would be an understatement. There seems to be a belief among the most ardent of Star Wars fans that the Expanded Universe and the Sequel Trilogy cannot exist simultaneously. One has to vanish in order for the other to thrive.

To borrow a phrase from Nanci earlier this week, I say bullshit.

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Tosche Station Radio #51: I Want That On My Body

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The hosts are joined by costumers Bria and Heather to talk costuming and cosplay on this episode of Tosche Station Radio!

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s New on the Blog. Bria reviewed Legacy #1 and visited more of the YJK books on the Waru Express. Meanwhile, Nanci explained how the Sequel Trilogy and the EU aren’t mutually exclusive.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s kept herself busy by visiting the Orlando Science Center to see the Star Wars: When Science Meets Imagination Exhibit. While there she attended a Q&A and Meet and Greet with Ashley Eckstein. She also started reading Wool by Hugh Howey and Night Train to Rigel by Timothy Zahn. Brian, meanwhile, kept himself busy with sports. Lots of sports. Bria’s been reading Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and has blogged at her other gig at the White Hot Room. Heather was over at PAX East and Brian is very jealous.

Deak’s Dirt kicks off with Harrison Ford talking Episode VII. In that other Star franchise, there’s a new Star Trek Into Darkness international trailer. Her Universe has a new Dalek dress available now and other stuff coming in May. Finally, it’s reported that the Clone Wars bonus content will be two arcs and layoffs at Lucasfilm animation have already taken place.

This week’s Camie’s Concerns is all about costuming and the hosts are joined by staff writer and White Hot Room blogger Bria as well as Zhobot’s Heather. Did you know they’re both also members of The Lady Rogues and the Outlander Club? The guests and hosts discuss the allure of cosplay and costuming, the cosplay they’ve done, and offer up advice for costuming rookies.

Wrapping up the show, the hosts field questions in our Ask Us Anything segment.

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.

Her Universe - Flaunt Your World - www.heruniverseshop.com Listen to a bestseller for $7.49 at audible.com!

Report: The Clone Wars bonus content to be two arcs, layoffs at Lucasfilm Animation

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tcw_s5logo_smFans are still reeling from the sudden winding-down of The Clone Wars. Over the weekend there was a Save The Clone Wars protest on Twitter that garnered nearly 7,000 tweets aimed at Disney to get them to reconsider their plans on ending the popular animated series. Fan sentiment is there for more TCW material, but the question is how much will fans get? Lucasfilm promised that bonus content would be released, so at the very least fans would get something more than the season five finale. According to TFN, it sounds like  there will be two additional arcs.

A source in the know tells me that Lucasfilm is only finishing two story arcs from the material that they had planned for The Clone Wars Season Six. Among the story arcs that will not emerge in this post-cancellation era is one that dealt with Boba Fett and the other bounty hunters who have menaced the heroes for several seasons. This story arc, which my source tells me was almost done, would have shown us the fates of Cad Bane and Aurra Sing.

Based on this report and the mere fact this material is being called “bonus content,” I doubt that there’s going to be much in the way of meaningful conclusions for lingering questions in this era. At least in an animated format, anyway. This could be an area where the Expanded Universe comes in to fill the void, either in comic or written form.

Additionally, it appears that layoffs occurred at Lucasfilm Animation last Friday. While it’s not unusual for an animation studio to experience layoffs after the conclusion of a project, it’s still a disappointment to fans and the employees involved. With any luck, they’ll be able to land work quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney proper comes calling for their services when it’s time to escalate work on the next Star Wars animated series.

New Her Universe Clothing Coming in May, Available for Star Wars Weekends

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Over the weekend, Ashley Eckstein was at the Orlando Science Center to talk Star Wars, The Clone Wars, and Her Universe. During the proceedings, she also had some details of new Her Universe releases to share. Luckily for us, Nanci was at the event to record the details.

She also debuted a new Padme tee featuring artwork by Tsuneo Sanda.

New Padme Shirt

Also of note from Nanci, the Rogue Squadron tank/dress and the new Padme tee will be available at Star Wars Weekends. The new Clone Wars shirt that had been shown off earlier won’t be ready quite yet.

EU Retrospective: Young Jedi Knights – Black Sun

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The Young Jedi Knights books draw to a close with one final trilogy that takes Jaina, Jacen, Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, and Zekk on a whole new adventure which, as we all know, means trouble.

Return to Ord Mantell
I’d forgotten that I dislike Anja Gallandro.  It’s not that I hate her or have some vendetta against her.  I just don’t like her and I’m okay with her not having appeared in the Expanded Universe otherwise.  On the other hand, I suppose these books can serve as another chapter in the ‘Don’t do spice, kids,’ grand story.

It’s always fun getting to see the twins get some serious page time with Han.  This book gets double fun points before it’s diving into Han’s smuggler past.  Watching Jaina fly the Falcon with her father never fails to make me smile.

Zekk’s journey towards becoming a proper Jedi Knight gets its start here.  The more I think about it, the more I appreciate that this plotline wasn’t rushed.  I also appreciate that he decided to combine his piloting skills with his Force abilities to win the Derby.

Oh.  And we get cameos from Kyp Durron and Streen which is always lovely.  I can’t help how much I love that jerk of a Jedi.

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