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  • 04

    Dec

    Today we've got a video about graphically impressive videos from the 1990s. It includes a pretty straightforwards clip from Wing Commander 3. While I never get tired of an opportunity to watch some WC footage, I think the interesting part here is seeing so many of its contemporaries side by side. There's some great and great looking games in this clip, but it also really makes you appreciate how Wing Commander was so ahead of its time! WC3 is the finale chapter at 15:30.

    I thought I would spoil you guys with something bigger than usual - an impressive list, if I don't say so myself. A lot of research went to this. The editing was a pain in the rear, but ultimately I think you will find it informative.

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    During the nineties pc gaming was king, pushing the boundaries of what we considered to be cutting-edge. MS-DOS was still the predominant operating system for gaming, only to be superseded by

  • 05

    Dec

    You’ve probably heard whispers that Ginger Lynn is famous for something other than Wing Commander, so here’s a wonderful interview about her paintings!

    gingerlynnallen5t.jpggingerlynnallen6t.jpgThe initial interview linked to from that one has a great Wing Commander reminiscence, though!

    Johnny: Speaking of sci-fi, you played Rachel Coriolis in several of the mid-90s "Wing Commander" games. What was yourfavorite part of those games?

    Ginger: I loved playing Rachel Coriolis in the "Wing Commander" series. I got to be the weapons load-out officer, so when you're playing the game, any time that you go into battle, you have to come to me. We shot a lot of it, not everything, but most of it was on green screen. My favorite memory was my grandmother came down to the set one day, and we were shooting something with green screen. My grandmother walked in front of the camera not knowing, and the entire cast and crew was laughing at my grandmother because

  • 05

    Dec

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  • 08

    Dec

    The popular Carnage Counts channel has done their thing with Wing Commander. The YouTube channel profiles various shows and movies and adds a real time counter with the number of kills depicted in each product. The rules are a little bit weird - a capship detonation counts the same as a fighter destruction or Rosie being pushed off the flight deck - but I suppose that's not much different than how most Wing Commander games do it! The official tally here is 64. Check them out below!

    Welcome to Carnage Counts, where we count and compare death in television shows and movies! Today we are covering Wing Commander!
  • 08

    Dec

  • 09

    Dec

    We've got another vintage magazine review of Wing Commander III today... but this time, with a twist! This 'technical review' was printed in the June/July 1995 issue of Game Developer magazine, an industry publication which ran from the dawn of the multimedia age in 1994 all the way until 2013! This review doesn't just tell you how good the game is, it tells you how it works under the hood. And as an added bonus, it's actually written by Wayne Sikes, the man responsible for the beloved PREDIT Privateer editing tool.

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    The article also mentions an earlier feature on Pacific Strike's related file structure that had been printed in the December 1994 issue. This information is also likely of use to Wing Commander III modders and so we've reproduced it below:

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  • 09

    Dec

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  • 12

    Dec

    Greg14 shared this French preview of Wingleader from a June 1990 issue of Génération 4. It appears to be based off previews from the Consumer Elections Show in Chicago. The name change to Wing Commander happened relatively close to launch, so a lot of the prime promotional materials from this summer emphasize the 'Leader' name. Can you imagine how amazing these huge screenshots would have looked at the time? Also check out that small in-game Wingleader logo!

    generation4_1990june1t.jpggeneration4_1990june2t.jpg

  • 13

    Dec

    Newsfeeds have published their reactions as the Thargoid Maelstroms launch fleets to overpower multiple inhabited systems.
    Sol Today: "Be in no doubt: we are in a war for survival! Dark days are upon us. No more ridiculous ideas of peace with the aliens. No more time for politics or debate. The Thargoids have come to wipe us out unless we stand up and fight."
    Old Worlds Gazette: "This is the most severe Thargoid attack ever recorded. Hundreds of thousands slaughtered. Millions more fleeing their homes. Stations and planetary ports bombarded, entire star systems conquered… all in a few days. Many fear that nowhere will be safe if these savage onslaughts cannot be halted."
    Citizens' Chronicle: "The speed with which our navy responded to defend Imperial citizens against the Thargoids must be applauded. However, it is becoming harder to ignore the screams from less fortunate systems. Might their

  • 14

    Dec

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  • 16

    Dec

    Aggressive Wing Commander pilots continue to shave minutes and seconds off their best Wing Commander times! When we first started reporting on the competitive sport of SNES speedrunning some five years ago, players were completing the game in the 41-46 minute range. Over the years, players perfected the route to Hubble's Star and Rostov. You can eject through the early part of the game, win a few key missions and then eject through Venice and still get the winning endgame. At the beginning of this year, the best runs were down to about 23 minutes, and now players are hitting times as low as 15:40, which is amazing! You can read about the specific choices that ShesChardcore made to accomplish the run below here:

    This submission is for the SNES version of Wing Commander, a space/flight sim about a war between the Terrans (humans) and Kilrathi (cats.) This showcases the fastest route through the SNES