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Point of Origin: Vol. V, No. 2
A computer virus hits Origin in this February, 1995 edition of The Point of Origin -- surely a sign of all that the newly charted information superhighway will eventually bring the company. Until that happens, though, there's lots of praise for Wing Commander III...
A very special thanks to Joe Garrity of the Origin Museum for making this resource available and to Electronic Arts for sending them to him in the first place!
- In Ink has the reactions we knew were coming!
Welcome to the Wing III stampede, folks. Yes, the reviews are popping up everywhere. We start with the latest edition of Entertainment Weekly. Bob Strauss gave WCIII a grade of "A." "Hollywood sci-fi stars soar in 'Wing Commander III,'" he wrote, "but it's the game's sophisticated technology that leaves other CD-ROMs eating its space dust." Strauss applauded ORIGIN for casting Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill in the lead role. "It may be just a computer game, but it boasts an early sequence worthy of Star Wars series."
The high grades continued with PC Gamer, which rated WCIII 96% in its March issue. Tom McDonald wrote, "Finally, what everybody has been waiting for, an 'interactive movie' that's both truly interactive and a good movie. ORIGIN has produced a title that succeeds so perfectly and on so many levels that it must be considered the new benchmark against which all interactive entertainment will be compared."
Hold it, don't turn that dial. There's more, much more. Russ Ceccola, who writes for Electronic Games, gave it an "A+" to Wing III in the March issue. Russ clearly was blown away by the graphics in WCIII. "The space combat scenes look like they were filmed, although it is certain that they are computer generated. It is very easy for players to focus on the screen and get lost in the game's world as they watch the dramatic scenes and action."
Strategy Plus is out with its assessment of Wing Commander III. "WCIII is a graphically stunning, entertaining action game featuring perhaps the finest integration of film and game seen to date," exclaimed Steve Bauman. "The multimedia gaming event of the year."
Overseas, they are also singing the praises of the latest installment of the Human-Kilrathi war. "The quality of a major movie!" gushed Frederic Marie in Generation 4 from France. He gave WCIII a score of 93%. Editors at another French publication, Joystick, gave WCIII a 92% score. "We have never seen a game so similar to a movie," they wrote.
Perhaps the best accolades came from the UK where Gary Whitta, with PC Gamer, gave WCIII a 95% score. "Believe the hype - the most cinematic game ever," he wrote. "Undoubtedly the most elaborate and ambitious PC game ever created, and the first to stake a legitimate claim to the holiest of grails, the term 'interactive move.'"
Other mentions for Wing Commander III have come from TV Guide, which referenced the game in an article about Mark Hamill and his guest role on NBC's Sea Quest. Also, WCIII was demonstrated a couple of weeks ago during the popular PBS program, Computer Chronicles. Doing the honors was none other than Wing IV co-producer Mark Day.
And while there's lots of hype surrounding the release of WCIII, System Shock continues to haul in its fair share of kick-butt reviews... PC Gamer is out with its year-end awards and System Shock walked away with Best Adventure Game honors for 1994... in case you're interested, Doom was chosen Game of the Year and TIE Fighter edged out WCIII for Best Action Game honors. Huh?!?!?
Next Generation, the new mag from GP Publications, is now on newsstands... In the same edition, Armada was given a grade of 3 out of 5.
- In Development is a fascinating article which discusses projects Origin is working on, including many which didn't make it out. The entry for Firehorse mentions WC: "A 100% Live-Action Interactive Movie in the tradition of John Woo, with 'a higher body count in the first five minutes than every Wing Commander and Ultima put together.'"
- Pulse Check has the latest from marketing: "According to the vast (and vocal) gaming audience, ORIGIN is on a roll... Next, it was a Wing 3 Christmas. (Wing 3 showed up on many lists as one of the top-selling CD titles of 1994, even though it was only on the shelves for two weeks of that year.)... Finally, if you liked the Wing 3 Interactive CD (and hey, who didn't?), look for even more of that kind of stuff in the future..."
- The EOM goes to... a Wing Commander veteran!: "This month's honors go to Brent Thale, who works in Eric Hyman's group, in recognition of the vast amount of work he has contributed toward the development of Wing Commander III 3DO. Brent has worked on the project in the capacity of Technical Director, and in the words of one of his colleagues, Brent has shown '...ceaseless devotion to Wing III 3DO, staying up all night to make new versions, writing new tools at the drop of a hat, following up with marketing [on] box design and strategies, and fearlessly pursuing a state-of-the-art game.' Brent has been with ORIGIN since 1991, and has worked on Wing Commander II, Wing Commander Academy, and Super Wing Commander 3DO among other projects."
Point of Origin
Vol. V, No. 1 - February 10, 1995
Contents
Spotlight: ORIGIN catches the bug
In Ink
Descent of a Champion
In Development
Pulse Check
EOM
Special
The Gospel
New Hires
The Future
Ticker
[LOAF]
[# 8465]
[Discuss]
[Show comments]
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Update published on February 4, 2008. View all news from that day.
Wing Commander CIC - Visit the front page
Official news, fan projects and topics of particular interest to Wing Commander fans.
- Some Ship Viewer Sample Shots Shown
- 2012-05-24 -- BoH_Havoc is continuing to move forward with his online ship viewer based on feedback he's received so far. Here are some new prototype images with the TCS Concordia rendered in the program. Pretty neat!
- Destroyer Destined for Guard Duty
- 2012-05-23 -- Kevin Caccamo's Ralari has taken a huge leap since the last time we saw it. The model has been plated with nice metallic textures that don't overdo the look. Running lights, windows, powered engines and intake glow all add significantly to the presentation here too.
- GOG Talks Space Sims
- 2012-05-22 -- centaurianmudpig spotted a new PlaySF interview with the folks at GOG.com. They discuss the state of the space combat genre and the possibility of releasing expansion packs for Wing Commander games.
- Enigma Mod Measures Out Confed Fleet
- 2012-05-21 -- Here's a new Confed showcase of capships for the Enigma 2666 mod. Each ship's length and scale is still subject to some potential tweaking to sync better with fighters, but the current lineup is displayed below. The TCS Concordia is very far along the design path, as is the Gilgamesh.
- "Sir, if we spot this Fralthi, should we engage?"
- 2012-05-20 -- Now we go from Fralthra to Fralthi WIP images. CMDBob's latest design is a classic Kilrathi light carrier/cruiser. His model has real clean lines and an animated WC1-style set of textures.
- Fearsome Fralthra Filling In Fast
- 2012-05-19 -- Red Baron has started to texture Cybot's Fralthra, and it's quickly turning into quite a work of art. The color scheme already does a great job of evoking Wing Commander 2. He's also scaled a Jalkehi as a point of reference and imagined what the entire fighter complement of the ship might look like.
- Wing Commander Saga Download Reminder
- 2012-05-18 -- If you haven't yet downloaded the long-awaited fan game, now is as good a time as any to get your hands on a copy! The Windows installer weighs in at a hefty 3.4 gigabytes, so we recommend some kind of download manager that can resume paused or failed transfers.
- New RPG Kicks Off
- 2012-05-17 -- The TCS Phoenix has launched and the game has begun in the Wing Commander: From the Ashes forum-based RPG. Some of the first characters have already been defined, and action in the Pentonville System is now in motion. There is also an out-of-character area where new players can ask questions and get situated before they begin role playing.
- Vega Sector Reinforcements Inbound
- 2012-05-16 -- Here's a preview of new designs that Klavs is working to bring to the Shapeways model factory. If all goes according to plan, this foursome may be available in a future bundle pack together. It's an interesting assortment of ships - Rapier, Super Wing Commander Rapier, Scimitar and Dralthi - and they all look fantastic!
- Academy Just Two Weeks Away!
- 2012-05-15 -- Wingnuts now have less than 14 days to prepare for the release of Wing Commander Academy on DVD! All thirteen episodes of the television series will be available in this set starting on May 29, 2012. Barnes & Noble and Deep Discount have some of the lowest prices, and there's still time to order from Amazon.
- Scimitar Prepares to Slice Up a Dralthi
- 2012-05-15 -- And to further get you in the Academy mood, here's another beautiful NinjaLA sketch. The CF-105 Scimitar was the workhorse of the cadets flying off the Tiger's Claw, and soon you'll get to watch them again in the new high quality release!
- Exotic Designs Hit the Spacelanes
- 2012-05-14 -- ScoobyDoo has put together several more concept renders inspired by a variety of sources. The first is a medium size capship with fighter-carrying ability, and it's followed by a beefier looking take on the Bearcat. The last design is a more unique idea that mixes Wing Commander elements with a Freespace ship.
- Fleets Increase Presence in Enigma
- 2012-05-13 -- Here's a big update for the Enigma 2666 mod. A handful of new pictures show off where the game is at today. Four different capship classes are pictured near a large Confed base, and all the fighters sport updated textures.
- Echo Sector Reopens
- 2012-05-13 -- The world's biggest website dedicated to the Crusader series, Echo Sector, has gotten a big revamp. New features include a streamlined menu interface and increased security. Not all of the links work yet, but more features will come online soon.
- Va ka Garga ka naru ha Garga
- 2012-05-12 -- NinjaLA has sketched a new fearsome Kilrathi. With his latest warrior, Ninja has done a good job of introducing menacing facial features, and this sinister look goes beyond just drawing a humanoid tiger. The armor is inspired by the classic WC2 style with a WC Movie headpiece.
- Kilrathi Destroyer Continues to Take Shape
- 2012-05-11 -- Kevin Caccamo is once again working on a Ralari model. Since we last saw the ship, additional detail has been added to the window areas and secondary structure. It appears to conform to the Claw Marks schematic quite well.
- Wing Commander Stories From The Fatman
- 2012-05-10 -- In recent weeks, Armchair Arcade has been conducting a series of interviews with famous videogame composer George Sanger. The newest issue talks about his and Dave Govett's work on the soundtrack for the original Wing Commander. Well worth a listen!
- Super Rapier Models Ready To Go
- 2012-05-09 -- Klavs has completed design and prototyping of another physical model. His Super Wing Commander Rapier is now available for fellow Wingnuts in 1/600 scale from Shapeways. The image below reveals that, although tiny, the ship packs some incredible detail - very distinctive hull markings and guns!
- WC Saga Soundtrack Released
- 2012-05-08 -- The WC Saga team has released the soundtrack to their Freespace mod. They are also working on a spinoff album based on George Oldziey's tunes from Wing Commander 3. You can grab the Darkest Dawn OST here (187 meg zip).
- Garriott DVD Drops May 15
- 2012-05-08 -- Richard Garriott's Man on a Mission documentary will be released on DVD next Tuesday! This charming film captures Lord British's successful dream to become the world's first second-generation astronaut. Most reviews have been quite positive and the documentary has come highly recommended.
- Paradigm Deployed to Enigma Sector
- 2012-05-07
- New WC Ship Viewer In Development
- 2012-05-06 -- BOC_Havoc has put together a very sharp 3D ship viewer. The program is still in the prototype stages, but you can try out the current build here. The unity web player plugin is needed to see the model.
- Still Worthy of an Honorable Mention
- 2012-05-05 -- There aren't as many gaming sites name dropping Wing Commander as there were a decade ago, but they still pop up all over if you look. Here's a couple from just this week: HotHardware ran a feature on gaming clichés. The story decries the linear nature of modern games that screech to a halt if any losing conditions are met.
- Warren Spector Revisits Origin Memories
- 2012-05-05 -- Yet another Wing Commander mention this week came from an interview with Warren Spector. Metro.co.
- A Trip to the WC Universe is Right
- 2012-05-04 -- PlaySF magazine has put together a wacky article on Wing Commander and Christopher Blair. From the perspective of an inter-dimensional time traveler, the author jumps back in time to the year AD 2700 within the Wing Commander universe. Once there, he encounters James Taggart and the TCS Midway.
- Everything's Ship Shape!
- 2012-05-03 -- In recent days WCPedia contributor Iceblade has worked on finalizing a layout for the ship articles on the project. After experimenting with the Broadsword article, and creating a great layout in the process, he's started to implement that layout across the Confederation fighters category. Currently, the F-36 Hornet article is the most complete.
- HUDdle Up and Check Out New Cockpit Displays
- 2012-05-02 -- Aginor is working on a new Wing Commander mod, and this game will be played from the Kilrathi perspective. Although there won't be full dashboard cockpit graphics, each ship will have a unique heads up display. Most games use the same targeting crosshairs and reticle for all ships, but here are some examples of how Wing Commander 4 differentiated its craft.
- Don't Miss an Infoburst!
- 2012-05-02 -- Are you linked up to get the latest Wing Commander news right as it happens? In addition to the main website and CIC Forums, dedicated Wingnuts can follow the CIC on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and with RSS to stay in the loop as news breaks. In addition to hot stories, followers also see occasional special features and behind-the-scenes updates.
- Glance at Mod's Gwynedd Mission
- 2012-05-01 -- Here's some new shots from the Enigma 2666 mod that show off a fighter launch, autopilot fly-by and ship size comparison. Sharp players will quickly recognize the familiar Broadsword/Ferret pairing from the Fralthra Strike at the beginning of WC2 - a very fun mission, if you can keep the Broadswords alive! Here I used the Confederation Class from Klavs and the converted Broadsword from Standoff.
- Rapier Prepped for Production
- 2012-04-30 -- Klavs has finished his Super Wing Commander Rapier, and the result is gorgeous. These ships are now off to a trial at Shapeways 'rapid prototyping' lab. If the design pans out, small physical resin copies may be available to order soon.
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