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Here's some old graphics card history: in 1996, 3Dfx developed a line of high end cards for the professional market. These Obsidian cards were the stuff of gamers' dreams at the time: for thousands of dollars you could get a 3dfx card with 24 megabytes of memory instead of the 4 to 6 retail cards were sporting! Would this actually make any difference to Wing Commander Prophecy or your 3dfx game of choice? It's not really clear, but you certainly imagined it would! The next year, 3Dfx spun off a consumer graphics card company called Quantum3D to take advantage of the gold rush they had started. They promoted high end consumer cards as "the affordable reality company", whatever that means.

Quantum3D retained the Obsidian trademark and put out a line of Voodoo 2 cards which largely focused on offering SLI configurations on a single card. But here's the cool part: they included the Wing Commander Prophecy

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"Hey, leader, why us?" someone called sarcastically. Hawkins chuckled sadly, "Because we're here, lads, because we're here."

Well, the Wing Commander movie club was there and we had to watch From Justin to Kelly. Which is not a good movie by any measure of the idea. But it was stupid fun that reminded us of our misspent youths, so we'll chalk it up as a good time. Did we mention that the climax of the movie is a hovercraft fight? A surprisingly boring hovercraft fight.

The only real Wing Commander connection going into this was lead actress Kelly Clarkson being the namesake for the Clarkson-class transports in Wing Commander Arena… so here's that:

Kelly Clarkson went on to great success as a singer and a talk show host and it's not at all surprising that she never acted again. But remember what a great song Since U Been Gone was? With a great video! Eh, I'm old now.

Also, the 2003 text messaging bits are

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This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that are referenced by Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is American Graffiti (1973) and you can find details on why we're watching it in the announcement post here. The movie will start at 7 PM PST/10 PM EST but feel free to drop by and hang any time!

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Micromanía was an esteemed Spanish gaming magazine that ran from 1996 to 2024. The scans below are from an insert they published in early 1998 which has walkthroughs for several different major games... including Wing Commander Prophecy! But this simple unofficial hint book hides a much greater secret: look closely at any of the screenshots that dot the article. Every single one is from a pre-release build! You can tell immediately by the ship VDUs which were completely reimagined before the game shipped. Seems like the folks at Micromania had access to an early build or a press kit when they were putting together this one...

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The original Claw Marks opens with a 'letter from the editor' written by Aaron Allston's fictionalized version of himself. In a few paragraphs, it establishes a massive amount about the Wing Commander universe with a story about how the Tiger's Claw recently lost two pilots and the impact of their deaths is having on everything else. It talks about how this sort of tragic stalemate is now the state of the war and it genuinely colors everything else we ever think about the Wing Commander universe. The movie's story about World War I style replacements and veterans who've taught themselves not to feel comes directly from this page!

Space is a near-vacuum, as all good Academy graduates and most two-year-old children know. And if you ask, "If I drop a pebble into space like I do into a pool of water, will it cause ripples?" you'll get some strange looks from everyone.

Nevertheless, someone dropped a pebble

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Brewer Corporation has confirmed that the Dodec Station has entered full production.
Previously available in limited numbers, the Dodec is the largest Tier 3 starport that can be constructed for use in colonisation efforts.
Brewer Corporation CEO Madelyn Teague issued the following statement to Vox Galactica:
"The Dodec is the pinnacle of modern station design. Available with three truss variations and immediate access to a Human Tech Broker, it's simply the best option available for those looking to colonise new systems and to offer services to all who visit."
The Dodec is now widely available for purchase through Colonisation contacts.