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Panther has dug up an interesting Wing Commander 2 review from the October 1991 issue of Advanced Computer Entertainment. A curious element is that they title this "Revenge of the Kilrathi." This is just a mistake or stylistic rebranding. The game was publicly announced as Vengeance of the Kilrathi, so this isn't a case of early marketing change (like with ACE's August 1990 preview of Wing Leader). They give the game an "800" score, and I like all those character profiles!
Sep
Here's another Spanish retro review from Maxi de Sokar. We've seen several of these articles recently, but this time OKPC really liked Wing Commander Armada! It earned a whopping 93% to beat out other top scorers like WC2 and Privateer each at 90%. The game got a four page spread littered with screenshots. They credit Armada's replayability, option to play as the Kilrathi and the multiplayer - including split screen mode. These are all things I love about Armada, but I don't often see reviews agree so enthusiastically. "Excitement will be served!"
Apr
…Display MoreThe recent Heritage Auction of material from Planet Hollywood included several Wing Commander costumes! Which means there are some great high resolution photos to share. Here's Mark Hamill's flight suit from Wing Commander IV:
And here is Malcolm McDowell's Black Lance uniform from the same game! (Note that the rank insignia on the cuff is there incorrectly.)
Here are some photos of the event where these costumes were donated to the restaurant in 1996 just a few days before the game was released. They got some good press out of it!
On the other hand, I didn't even know Mark Hamill's Wing Commander Prophecy flight suit had been in Planet Hollywood's collection. Guess the same trick doesn't work twice! (Or three times, Planet Hollywood got a movie Rapier at one point too...)
There was also a great photo by of some loose rank insignias up close. Can you identify them?
Apr
Shot97 has uncovered a fantastic preview of early '90s Origin plans. It dates back to the April 1991 issue of The One in the UK. This puts it very early in the development of Wing Commander 2, and as such, a lot changes between this point and release. You can see right at the head of the article is the Confederation corvette design which actually the Sabre model! It's painted up in green capship colors prior to being deemed a fighter (a similar process occurred with the Crossbow). They also talk about a mid 1991 release for WC2 and 1992 for WC3, which were a ways off from that. Speaking of delays, Strike Commander is also heavily mentioned, but it's called Ground Commander at this point. There's also mention of ports for the Genesis are arcades, whew!
Dec
FrankyFiggs14 has posted a neat French throwback preview of Wing Commander on the Amiga. The original WC1 spent several years being ported to a variety of platforms, and this comes from the October 1992 issue of Tilt. Below LOAF notes how unfortunate it is that the Sivar features so prominently, since The Secret Missions were ultimate not made for the platform. The game still reached a huge number of fans and is fondly remembered my many Amiga Wingnuts! You can follow Franky's gaming adventures on Twitter and Twitch.
It's interesting that the earliest screenshots of Wing Commander's Amiga port show the Sivar dreadnaught... they never released Amiga versions of the mission disks!Like the PC version the original Amiga release includes an option to start the Secret Missions campaign… but it never materialized (and the button is dropped for the CD32 port).
Jun
…The UK-based Centre for Computing History recently tweeted about this really cool collectible phone card made as a promotion for Wing Commander 2. I realized I actually have a couple of these laying around, but somehow we've never shared them in the news before! You can find their profile page on this item here. I really like their website and mission!
Just added to the collection: A promotional Wing Commander II Mercury telephone kiosk card!-----------------------------------------
Card for use in a Mercury telephone kiosk, with Wing Commander II design.
Mercury Communications was a national UK telephone company formed in the early 1980s, and was an early competitor of BT. Mercury's payphone kiosks were in use in the UK from 1986-1995.
The card states on the back that Mercurycards are available in £2, £4, and £10 values, however the card itself is a £1 value, so was likely given away as a promotion.
A
Feb
Here's a fantastic gem from the February 1995 issue of PC Gamer in the UK. The cover is all about Wing Commander 3 with a stellar piece of Kilrathi art. We haven't been able to track down the big four page review inside, so if you have a copy of this buried away, let us know! This time capsule was surfaced by none other than the official PC Gamer Twitter itself with the caption, "It's time to bring back Wing Commander with Mark Hamill. We deserve it."
Apr
Today we have a nice assortment of Spanish magazine scans from Maxi de Sokar. I frequently just post these as they are since they are often visually engaging and interesting on their own, but in this case I provided rough English translations so you can read the articles as well. The first few pages come from Micromania and are a profile of Origin, Richard Garriott and the development of Wing Commander 3. There's also an Armada review from Issue 78 of the magazine, plus a pretty striking WC3 ad. Finally, there's an Armada add from PCMania. Enjoy!
Nov
A profile of Digital Anvil's swanky downtown office from... ugh... the March 2000 issue of PC Accelerator. Complete with full sized Kilrathi!
...ngl this double-page StarLancer ad is also fire.
You can see pics from our own March 1999 visit to the office here!
Jun
AD found a neat Wing Commander 3 television spot that aired in Germany in May of 1995. It was dug up by magermunson. Things like this were still pretty rare to see on TV in the early to mid '90s, but WC3 was definitely one of the most profiled games around. They cover the scope and technology with a heavy emphasis on the full motion video. A common Mark Hamill interview is interspersed in the middle, but the brief conversation with Chris Roberts at the end may be new to us. You can turn captions and auto-translate on to get an English translation to play along the bottom. Enjoy this tiny time capsule!
Interviews and behind the scenes with Mark Hamill and Chris Roberts from this very rare german TV report on May 1995.Enjoy!
Sep
Today we have several new pages from EmuMusicFan's slick retelling of the Hobbes interrogation scene in Freedom Flight. Now that Prince Thrakhath has ended the imminent threat, Lord Ralgha nar Hhallas turns his attention to dealing with Jahkai!
Mar
…Here's a really cool video of WC4 Remastered running at an impressive ultrawide 32:9 aspect ratio. We've known for a few years that the game would at least support 21:9, but this is a nice confirmation that the even wider 5120x1440 resolution will work. The example clip below might not scale up in the embedded version, so I'd recommend popping it out to a full YouTube screen for the entire effect. Also be sure it's running at at least 1440p so you can enjoy the game's beautiful graphics. If you haven't gotten a chance to give the updated WC4 Fan Remake for a spin yet, grab the demo here (900 meg exe).
Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom is probably the greatest example of the medium, with Hollywood budgets, real sets and an outstanding cast including Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, John Rhys-Davies and Tom Wilson; and unlike many other FMV titles, each benefits from outstanding direction; which
May
…ODVS has another fantastic video sample to show off. After releasing his massive enhancement to WC4 and Prophecy video, he's continued to research and perfect the craft. This has produced some impressive results from the very low res WC3 footage, and even more advanced methods for manually improving video quality further have been discovered. The results from that testing have been amazing! Check out a new sample below. This one minute clip took several hours to produce, however, so ODVS is looking for feedback on how much an improvement fans think this is over the last release. Let him know what you think at the CIC Forums!
I've been experimenting with a new AI model and overall video workflow technique and I thought you all might like to see the results.This new process is far more time consuming than the previous one. As well as the new AI model, I'm actually upscaling to 4K (2160p) then
Oct
There's great news out of the Through the Moongate: the first stretch goal has been reached, which means that there will be an extra chapter looking at the developing of Wing Commander II! Here's the official word:
A million thank yous to all our backers who made another achievement possible! We will have the pleasure to work with Siobhan Beeman, Ellen Guon Beeman, and other Originites on the Wing Commander 2 chapter, which will be delivered as a digital download to all backers from Honesty tier and higher. We are excited to dig into and tell many yet unknown stories of another legendary game from Origin!The project has added a second strech goal which would add a rare Ultima print for backers at the Sacrifice (50 euro) level or higher. There are three days left, so if you want a copy for yourself you can pledge here! There are three days left on this one, so get in quick!
May
…Greetings, First. This is Dukan’Rex, Elder First, reporting directly to our Founder, Odo. I have a special mission for you. During our last anniversary episode, Scylla and Charybdis, a fleet of Jem’Hadar ships show up with Odo to join the battle at DS9. Now see the events leading up to this battle from the perspective of an elite Jem’Hadar team. You will get a chance to outfit your ship(s), select your Bridge Officers, and prep yourself for an epic battle before heading out of the Gamma Quadrant. Turn the TIde is a Jem’Hadar only episode, required for all new Jem’Hadar characters to complete before joining a faction. It is designed for experienced players as you will start at level 60. Note: it is not a tutorial - it is not repeatable or skippable. However, you will get to conquer various enemies of the Dominion for the glory of the Founders. Remember: Victory is life! Tiffany
May
…Gather your allies, and meet us in the Gamma Quadrant. We’ll need all the help we can get. The forces of the Alliance and the Dominion need serious help dealing with the Hur’q in the Gamma Quadrant. Odo’s fleet is small and spread thin. Your assistance will help the Founders resist the Hur’q onslaught and bring hope to millions on worlds throughout the Dominion. Go with Odo, Kira, and Garak to temper this new threat, and while you’re at it, perhaps you can learn a thing or two about how to stop the Hur’q. .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(d7afaaa14e96d0d973f76157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%;
May
…The fight with the Hur’q isn’t an easy one. We need all the help we can get. In the second episode of Victory is Life, “Armistice,” Kira Nerys, Kai to the Bajoran People, will call on your Captain for aid. There’s been a break in the conflict with the Hur’q, and the Kai would like to use it to rescue an old friend – one she hasn’t seen in a very long time. Team up with Kai Kira and Dr. Julian Bashir on this brand-new mission! .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(d7afaaa14e96d0d973f76157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0
Jun
…Victory is Life is now live on PC, and we’re so excited that you all can join us in the Gamma Quadrant. We hope you have fun with your new Jem’Hadar Gamma Recruit, and show the Hur’q what the Dominion and the Alliance are made of! As a measure of improving moral in the battle against the Hur’q, we’re providing you with a Victory is Life Wallpaper for your desktop to spread the spirit and immerse yourselves even further in the world of Star Trek Online: Victory is Life! You can find the wallpapers here .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(d7afaaa14e96d0d973f76157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%; } .share-footer .YT {
May
…Victory is Life, the newest expansion to Star Trek Online, takes Captains beyond the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant, on an incredible adventure featuring 12 actors from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reprising their roles including Nana Visitor as Kira Nerys, Rene Auberjonois as Odo, and Armin Shimerman as Quark. For the first time, step into the shoes of a warrior of the Dominion and create a Jem’Hadar Captain to explore and battle in the Final Frontier. The entire Gamma Quadrant will become a battlefield in our new sector-wide Battlezone, and Captains will be able to raise their level to 65. We’re happy to announce that all of these amazing adventures and more will be coming to PC on June 5th, and later this summer on Xbox One and Playstation 4. Get ready to adventure in the Gamma Quadrant, Captains. Victory is Life. .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(
May
…The threat to us all is grave. Our response must be as one, or we will all be lost. In “Storm Clouds Gather,” the first mission of Victory is Life, your Captain is summoned to Deep Space Nine to participate in the one of the largest meetings of the galaxy’s powers in history. Odo has personally summoned representatives from the Alliance to the station where he once served as Security Chief to discuss the rising threat of the Hur’q. The threat is too great for anyone to face alone. Something must be done, even if it means joining forces with the Dominion. “Storm Clouds Gather” is an episode for Captains level 60 and above. It will launch with our newest expansion, Victory is Life. .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(d7afaaa14e96d0d973f76157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px;
