Happy Halloween! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's an especially Happy Halloween this year for CIC founder Bandit (LOAF) who finally found the Cinema Secrets Kilrathi mask after nearly 20 years of searching! When the WC Movie collectible was originally released back in early 1999, LOAF said, "...very cool, I can't wait to get mine" and now it's finally here! He's still looking for a set of shoulder armor, so if you have a lead, drop him a line!
LOOK WHO I FOUND! I have been searching for ‘Kilrathi mask’ on eBay for at least 15 years. A few weeks ago I decided to try and learn more about the company that made them. One eBay search for just the company name later and...

New Arrow Kit Available for Creative Builders Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Fantastic Plastic has listed an interesting 3D-printed model kit for sale. They offer a 7-inch 1:72 Arrow designed by Alfred Wong for $70. Wingnuts might recall that he made a 9.5-inch 1:48 kit last year. Aside from being a bit smaller and less detailed, the ship looks pretty good and comes in a fair bit bigger than a lot of miniatures or 3D prints out there. Their product page includes an Arrow from WC Arena as well as WC Saga, but those are slightly different designs than this model. You can check out the new Arrow for yourself here.
About the Design

"Wing Commander" from Origin Systems was one of the most successful space combat videogame franchises of the late 20th century. Combining "Star Wars"-like action with sophisticated story lines, the game spawned five full videogame versions between 1990 and 1997, plus novels, an animated TV series, a collectible card game and a 1999 feature film starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Matthew Lillard.

The "Arrow" light fighter was one of dozens of Terran and alien spacecraft created for the "Wing Commander" franchise. It first appeared in 1994's "Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger" as a point-defense fighter with enough fuel for long-range strike missions. Is carries a pair of ion cannon as well as eight missiles. The "Arrow" would be stripped down in later incarnations, finally used as a stealth fighter in "Wing Commander IV."

About the Model

Scale: 1:72
Material: Resin
Number of pieces: 19
Length: 7 inches (17.78 cm)v Pilot Figure Included
Pattern by Alfred Wong
Casting: Creative Cast Parts
Decals by JBOT

Last Day for WC Art Portfolio Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We're down to the final hours for Mike Winterbauer's Wing Commander art portfolio! The project has topped $3000 and dozens of dedicated contributors to the campaign will get an array of different art products based on the famous painting Mr. Winterbauer made for the SNES WC cover. The process he used to create the piece will also be catalogued in the associated art book. If you want to get in on the action, now's the final day to pledge here.
Thank you everybody for making this campaign an awesome success! 26 hours left and we are over 600% funded.

Wing Commander Fans are the best! Thank you!!

I look forward to getting all the awesome rewards out very soon!

Sincerely,

Mike

Build Your Own Cardboard Miniatures Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Adm_Maverick has posted further instructions on how to turn his simple WC fighter templates into small cardboard miniatures. He simply prints out the artwork below, affixes it to plain cereal box cardboard, cuts the outlines and glues the final product together. The results, as previously shared, are astounding for such a simple method. It's a neat art project anyone can try!
I just use cereal boxes for the cardboard. Just print out the templates on any half decent inkjet printer, use a glue stick to glue the template down to the cardboard. Let it dry... for like 12 hours. Then use an exacto-blade to cut out the parts. Any parts that are white with a black outline are just meant to build up body mass.

So if you look at this image, I've numbered the parts for reference, and then look at this image where I've laid out a mock-up of layers to show the order the parts should be built up in. The white layers are the parts that are white with black outlines, while the grey parts are the colored parts.

A Closer Look at Space Combat Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Spacedock has put together a neat short clip on the nature of fighter space combat. Daniel talks about the need to turn into your enemy, avoid jousting and aim for large targeting surfaces among other things. Wing Commander isn't the focus of the video, but it may as well be as most of the topic is relevant to fighting in the WC universe. A second video talks about how hard it would actually be to evade missiles in space. Tough times for fighter pilots!
Spacedock gives some handy day-to-day advice on Space Dogfighting.

Lexington Ready to Quell Border Worlds Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

DefianceIndustries has finished up the gorgeous Lexington model that he first shared last month. The goal was to make it more visually distinct from the Yorktown class TCS Victory, and the results here show off the slightly beefier structure and exterior trussing that was more visible in Wing Commander 4. She's looking great now!
After a week of screwing around with hull panel patterns and trying to get something close to the original, I think it turned out nicely. There's also a Princeton (CV-48) skin as well.

WC Album Discs Going to Production, Digital Files Sent to Backers Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's been a big month for crowdfunded projects! On top of some exciting new campaigns, composer George Oldziey has continued to make good progress on his second major music album. The assets for the physical discs are finally wrapped up and ready to go out for production. Digital samples of the music on the album have also just been distributed. Backers can now check their Kickstarter accounts for download information if they didn't get an email notification to do so already. This package includes both digitally reorchestrated classical style tracks from Wing Commanders 3, 4 and Prophecy as well as his awesome Wing Commander jazz tracks that include live takes on popular WC bar music. George would still love to get more digital pieces recorded by a live orchestra again some day, and we'll share any new news on that front when it breaks!
Greetings all! Sorry to be so AWOL recently. I just wanted to let you know that all the assets for the physical CD version of the WC jazz music and MIDI mockups of the Volume 2 orchestral music are ready to be sent in for duplication (Phew! Finally!) My most sincere apologies for the delay, and my thanks to those who have written to keep me on my toes!

I'll be sending them out to those that pledged on the appropriate levels as soon as they arrive, most likely in a few weeks.

My best to you all!

George

T Minus Seven Days for WC Art Campaign Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

PSA: there are only seven days left in Mike Winterbauer's Wing Commander Art Portfolio crowd funding campaign. Mr. Winterbauer is the artist behind the iconic Wing Commander SNES cover painting and he's collected his sketches and images of his work in use in a special printed portfolio. It would make a great gift for any Wing Commander fan in your life! You can learn more and pledge here.

This Kickstarter is all about celebrating Wing Commander and it's cool fans! In 1992, I said, "I can't believe I get to paint Wing Commander"

I have put together this campaign to get Wing Commander fans a super cool collectible signed art book and awesome signed print rewards. This is a wonderful opportunity to pick up some fantastic Wing Commander collectibles all signed from the artist Mike Winterbauer.

The Wing Commander Art Portfolio is a beautiful 30 page hardback book, 11 x 9 inches, featuring the process of painting Wing Commander and all the cool print ads that used the painting. I have personally created the book and all rewards to ensure they reproduce my classic Wing Commander painting and logo as beautiful as possible!

The book is loaded with Wing Commander art and nostalgia!

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Visions Magazine Previews Wing Commander III Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

VISIONS was apparently "the Magazine of Fantasy TV, Home Video & New Media." You would be forgiven for not knowing that, though, as the periodical lasted only a single issue. But what an issue! Thanks to the Internet Archive a copy has been preserved including a very well done preview of Wing Commander III that interviews a number of people behind the cameras. Farewell, Visions, we barely knew you!

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Wing Commander 4 - Behind the Scenes Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We have a small treat for you today: a significantly higher quality version of the Wing Commander IV 'making of' featurette that was released on German magazine cover discs! It's also slightly longer, with an additional minute of behind-the-screens footage. Check it out!

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Wing 4 Trailer Plan Gets the Attention of Billboard Magazine Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Billboard is a trade magazine for the entertainment industry which reports on the production and marketing side of films, television shows, music and others. In 1996, that included the burgeoning CD-ROM industry. We've found an interesting story in the February 3rd, 1996 issue about the marketing plans for Wing Commander IV... which include some things we'd never heard of, like print ads in American Airlines' in-flight magazine! It's a fascinating look at how Origin was preparing to sell a game that, frankly, didn't need to be marketed to us at all!

"Wing Commander IV' Set To Take Flight

Movie Game To Get Theatrical -Film Promotion

BY DOUGLAS REECE

LOS ANGELES -

ORIGIN Systems is hoping to shrink the gap between film and game with its upcoming release, "Wing Commander IV: The Price Of Freedom." The interactive movie game, which will be shipped worldwide the first week of February, will be promoted much like a theatrical movie.

According to Galen Svanas, product marketing manager at ORIGIN, the company has made a nationwide buy in General Cinema theaters to run a one-minute movie trailer that pictures live-action sequences from the game. At the end of the "preview," the camera pulls back to a shot of a game player manipulating the characters at his computer.

"Motion pictures are a very comfortable medium for the general public, and now what we're trying to do is get them interested in the product where they see it as a movie," says Svanas. "Then we bridge into telling them that this is an interactive movie for your computer. It's not a [deceptive] marketing strategy. We are trying to position the product in a light that's very recognizable and amenable to the consumer."

As part of ORIGIN's effort to draw a wider, nongaming audience and position the product as a movie, the game player controls, 6 -foot standees of star Mark Hamill, and posters will be distributed to both theaters and stores.

General Cinema will be contributing to the theatrical effort by selling the game at concession stands in 13 of its locations.

Though ORIGIN only recently put the finishing touches on German and French versions of "Wing Commander IV" game designer /director Chris Roberts is already plotting to further involve the franchise with films. He is negotiating with studios for a film version of the game, which will be produced side by side with "Wing Commander V"

According to Roberts, this would economize the project's budget and simplify marketing and promotional efforts.

"It just seems to make sense for the kind of game it is to do a joint production where we film scenes for the movie and game at same time, then launch them simultaneously and have both feed off each other's marketing," says Roberts.

Another unusual aspect in the "Wing Commander IV" marketing campaign is the running of print ads in American Airlines' in-flight publication, American Way.

Svanas says the higher-income demographics of flight passengers are ideal for the wider audience ORIGIN is targeting.

"We are trying to expose people to something they might not know about. We could run twice as many ads in the computer gaming world, but what are you accomplishing ?" asks Svanas. "The 'Wing' franchise is so well known in the gaming industry that it really doesn't make sense to focus all of our marketing there."

In order to make "Wing Commander IV" more cinematic, ORIGIN has made a significant investment in the production quality of the game.

Says Roberts, "'For [the game's predecessor] 'Wing Commander III,' we had to build the engine from scratch. So for 'Wing Commander IV,' it was, 'OK, we have our engine; let's spend our time and effort on production value and game play value.'

"'Wing IV' is less about developing new technology and more about exploiting and using the system we built for 'Wing III' to its fullest."

Though ORIGIN was able to save some money on the multimillion-dollar production by incorporating some of the technology already developed for "Wing Commander III" into the game, increased production costs ultimately made "Wing Commander IV" more expensive to create.

Roberts says that "Wing Commander IV" cost approximately 2 1/2 times more than its predecessor, or as much as a "well-financed independent movie," mainly due to its 43 -day shoot on 37 different sets.

Hamill and Malcolm McDowell reprise their roles from "Wing Commander III" for the ambitious movie/game, which follows the duo in a new battle over the fate of the "Border Worlds."

"Wing Commander IV" which has taken 14 months to complete, was originally scheduled to ship in time for the Christmas buying season.

According to Roberts, the delay was not due to a lack of effort. "If you look at most software projects, to do one under 18 months is an exceptional task, so we all knew going into it that we would have to try and get this one out quickly.

"But when push came to shove, we decided we'd rather not squeeze it out for Christmas and [instead] take the extra time to polish things and get them just right."

Apparently, the glitch in ORIGIN's release schedule has not stifled anticipation at retail.

"It's definitly going to be one of the, if not the, hottest titles in 1996," says a buyer for a major retail software chain. "From what I've seen so far, it's going to offer a lot more to the player than earlier versions. The enhanced graphics, game play, and way it's put together is far superior to anything I've seen so far."

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PC Games Reviews Wing Commander Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

German gaming magazine PC Games began covering the Wing Commander series when it launched in 1992, publishing a variety of articles and reviews. Today we've collected the latter, their detailed reviews of nine games running from Origin FX in 1993 to Wing Commander Prophecy in 1998.

May 1993 - Origin FX (nr)

October 1993 - Wing Commander Academy (76)

November 1993 - Wing Commander Privateer (92)

May 1994 - Righteous Fire (80)

September 1994 - Wing Commander Armada (75)

February 1995 - Wing Commander III (96)

April 1996 - Wing Commander IV (93)

December 1996 - Privateer 2: The Darkening (84)

February 19998 - Wing Commander Prophecy (90)

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DefianceIndustries Breeds Raptors Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

DefianceIndustries is still doing what he does best: creating and updating high quality models of clasic Wing Commander ship designs! Today he shares his Vindicator and Raptor...

I started looking over some of my older stuff and found a few issues with my original Vindicator model. There were some scaling issues and a few misses from a modeling perspective (not tapering the fuselage into the cockpit section being the most egregious) So I set about making a new one. This version is closer to the FMV model, has a more accurate texture and paint scheme, and is alot lighter on the polygons.\
Next I started on a WC1 favorite of mine - the good ol' A-14 Raptor. Of all the WC1 ships this one gets the least love I suppose. but who doesn't love a X-wing/Gunstar hybrid? Besides, the combination of neutron and mass drivers makes it especially lethal in my book. I know most of you are Rapier fans, which is cool, but I love me some Raptor, of course, I also like the Scimitar, Iceman would be so disappointed in me.
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Wing Commander Civics 101 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The Templin Institute is a YouTube presentation with a neat gimmick: they offer documentaries about different fictional realities! This week they've premiered a new show called 'Audio Log' that presents the history of a fictional institution with a dramatic audio recording. And for the pilot episode they've chosen to talk about Wing Commander's Terran Confederation! It's a neat ten-minute look at Wing Commander's fictional history which you can find here.

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Get Ready, Get Net Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The American release of Wing Commander IV for the Playstation included two manuals: a 'Battle Book' which includes detailed controls for the flying portion of the game and a 'New Officer's Handbook' which shows new players how to navigate the game and lists specifications for several flyable ships (the European releases of the game had a single combined manual.) For today's update, we're looking at the cover of the latter booklet which is a little more interesting than it might seem!

The single most fascinating aspect of the New Officer's Handbook is that it introduces a small amount of lore in the form of the 'login text' which shows a new officer (not Blair as they are apparently an Ensign) logging into a Terran Confederation computer system. What is ReadyNet? Who knows - the conceit isn't followed up again... but it gives a little bit of additional flavor to the Wing Commander universe.

You have entered
CONFED READYNET

Unauthorized access
strictly prohibited

Password: XXXXXXXX
Welcome ENSIGN
This is your 1st
visit to READYNET

The rest of the cover is interesting for a different reason: a careful study reveals that both the front and the back are a paste-up of existing Wing Commander IV artwork. The cover uses a set photograph of Blair sneaking around Axius (previously released through Origin's website to promote the PC CD release of the game) and then several ship concept sketches are hidden in the background! Included are the Avenger and the Intrepid on the front and the Bearcat and the Banshee on the back.

You can read both Playstation manuals here.

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Wing Commander Sprite Refresh Looks Promising Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The original Wing Commander has never looked better! The fantastic work that UnnamedCharacter has been doing on the WC Toolbox is paying off in a big way. Goliath has begun adapting his work to increase the resolution of ship sprites in the game and the results, which use Howard Day's beautiful models, are looking very promising! So far, Goliath has created patches that update the Bengal, Exeter and Hornet and also utilize the fan-designed Tolmacs cruiser. Check 'em out:

Bengal (download)

Exeter (download)

Tolmacs (download)

Hornet (download)

Awesome stuff! A full update to the game in this style would be amazing; lets cross our fingers and hope these fan modders have the bandwidth to do just that!

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PC Games Previews Wing Commander IV Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

End your week with a nice blast from the past: a German PC Games magazine with an EXTENSIVE preview of Wing Commander IV! The cover features an awesome clear shot of the Kilrathi guard seen in the background of Wing Commander III and the exhaustive preview is full of rarely reproduced Wing Commander IV set photos and concept art.

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Familiar Fighters Found Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Eagle-eyed ship spotter Doug Lee has found a squadron of familiar Wing Commander designs in an unlikely place: a mobile game called Stellar Patrol: Galactic Conflict! The top-down space game features a host of familiar Wing Commander designs... and even uses a Rapier as its app icon! This is likely not a case of licensing the IP from Electronic Arts as Stellar Patrol also includes a number of other familiar science fiction ships like Battlestar Galactica's Viper, Star Wars' A-Wing and Firefly's... Firefly. It's a fun little phone shooter reminiscent of Subspace. If you'd like to check it out, you can download Stellar Patrol for free on Android or iOS. Better hurry and get to it before the lawyers!

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Victory! Moongate Kickstarter Hits WC Goal Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

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!

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Welcome Aboard Lillianna! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We'd like to congratulate Wing Commander CIC founder Chris Reid and his wife Lacey Reid on the birth of their second daughter Lillianna Jane. Since Wing Commander fans love specifications, Lillianna was born this morning at 5:07 am Seattle time, her length is 19.7 inches and her mass was 6 pounds 15 ounces. Her yaw, pitch and roll are 70, 75 and 70 degrees per second respectively and her matter/anti-matter engine is capable of converting spaceborne hydrogen into nearly unlimited afterburner fuel. Congratulations on number two, Chris and Lacey; everyone on the CIC team loves you both and is very happy to know you're raising our next generation of space heroes!

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Roberts Space Industries Celebrates Six Years with Dazzling S42 Trailer Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Can you believe it's been six years since Chris Roberts launched Star Citizen? The Cloud Imperium team returned to Austin today to hold an enormous Citizen Con bash for dedicated fans. A major highlight was a slick update to the current core game, but Wing Commander fans are also likely to have an interest in the story campaign game Squadron 42. The latest trailer for the game is heavy on the story and emphasizes the contributions of motion captured actors like Mark Hamill, John Rhys-Davies, Gillian Anderson and Gary Oldman. Looks pretty crazy! Check it out below.

Gotta Have it All! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We recently reported that Wing Commander SNES artist Mike Winterbauer had launched a Kickstarter to create a physical portfolio showing the creation and use of his cover painting. We're happy to report that the $500 funding goal has been reached... and then some! As of this writing, the project has already brought in pledges for over three times the original goal. Congratulations to Mr. Winterbauer and good work to the Wing Commander community.

One of the first questions about the campaign was: how can I get EVERYTHING? To that end, he has added a new "Ultimate Wing Commander" pledge level. For $230 you get the book, the metal sign, the magnet, the six prints, the art card, the canvas print and the giclee print! If you love the Wing Commander SNES painting as much as we do that's a heck of a deal. You can join the campaign or adjust your pledge here. There are still three weeks to go... so who knows, maybe we could hit that $6,000 stretch goal that gives an additional art card to every backer!

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Explore Strange Old Worlds Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Veteran Wing Commander artist Alan Gutierrez has updated his DeviantArt page with three of the astronomical paintings he created for the Wing Commander card game's nav points. One of them has even been repainted digitally for more detail! An in-depth look at Mr. Gutierrez's Wing Commander card paintings is available here. Check out his updated nav point paintings:

  • Alpha: From the card came Wing Commander, commissioned and published by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, 1995. One of the most striking cards of the 12 I did, it is one of the last astronomicals left in my archives. I had to recreate the art, as the scan brought up the printed pixels too much (very small image), so it is a digital version of the original trad. version. Part of a series that includes Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, and Epsilon.
  • Beta: From the card game Wing Commander, commissioned and published by Tracy Hickman & Margaret Weis, 1995. Part of a last offering of astronomical works in the archive, a simple rendering for mood in the game... Gouache on Masonite, photoshop finishing.
  • Gamma: From the card game Wing Commander, commissioned and published by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, 1995. Part of the 12 illustrated works, and one of two more I mustered up for the last astronomicals in my archive, for mood... Gouache on Masonite w/photoshop finishing.

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Through the Moongate Offers Wing Commander Stretch Goal Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The Through the Moongate Kickstarter campaign is funded which means we'll be getting a thoroughly researched book that tells the history of the development of Origin Systems' Ultima series. There's even better news, though: the first stretch goal is in sight and it will add a chapter with new details about the making of Wing Commander II! Here's the official word:

Once we reach 25,000 Euros, which is currently only 3,000 Euros away, every backer at the “Honesty” tier or above will receive an ebook containing an extra chapter from Through the Moongate Part 2. This chapter covers the development of Wing Commander 2, and includes in-depth interviews with the Director and Assistant Director of the project, Siobhan Beeman and Ellen Guon Beeman. Siobhan and other team members are interested in sharing their viewpoints of the Wing Commander story, and presenting some new insights that haven’t been published previously.

As of this posting there are nine days left in the campaign and the Wing Commander II stretch goal is just 850 euros away! Let's show everyone how much interest there is in hearing the Wing Commander story... you can pledge for a copy of Through the Moongate here.

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Flat Universe Tournament Reminder Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The Maslas Brothers posted this reminder and tantalizing teaser for tomorrow's tournament. There's already lots of awesome ships to fly in Flat Universe, but there might just be one more tomorrow! Hop on at 16:00 UTC to find out!
Saturday, 6th of October, 16:00 UTC

Two days are only left from the FlatUniverse: Tournament. And ONLY the lucky ones who will JOIN US will fly this BABY...

A Prinze Among Men Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The Internet Archive is an incredible tool providing access to countless terabytes of archived websites, scanned media, imaged disks, preserved video... and a whole bunch of printed biographies of Freddie Prinze Jr.! While exploring the Archive's collection I happened to find they had digitally preserved six biographies of Wing Commander star Freddie Prinze Jr.! Mr. Prinze was something of a teen heartthrob in the late 1990s and so was the subject of a stack of quick 'teen pop' biographies. These 'trashy' unauthorized books were put together quickly, mostly from published interviews and press photographs, and sold at newsstands and book fairs. They were aimed at teenage fans and usually padded out their very simple chapters with press photos and film credits. Naturally, we've pulled out the chapter on Wing Commander from each book and collated them here for your reading pleasure:

Freddie Prinze Jr.: He's All That: An Unauthorized Biography by Grace Catalano (May 1999)

Freddie Prinze Jr.: The Unofficial Biography by Marc Shapiro (September 1999)

Freddie Prinze Jr. by Alexandra E. Fischer (1999) - includes Wing Commander photos and a Freddie Prinze Jr. quiz!

Celebrity Bios: Freddie Prinze Jr. by Kristin McCracken (March 2001)

Freddie Prinze Jr.: A Biography by Victoria Jordan (February 2002) - with a color Wing Commander photo!

Freddie Prinze Jr.: From Shy Guy to Movie Star by Sally Lee (September 2008) - published surprisingly late... and with a citation for a 1999 CIC article!

In the interests of completeness, we've identified three additional fluff biographies of Freddie Prinze Jr. which are not yet available in the Internet Archive. We'll try and track down copies to make available here! (Unseen: Freddie Prinze, Jr. by Michael-Anne Johns (November, 1999), Real Lfe Reader Biography: Freddie Prinze, Jr. by Wayne Wilson (October 2000) and Freddie Prinze Jr. by Lea Abrams (December 2001))

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Auction Alert: Billy Cain's Collection Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Origin veteran Billy Cain produced both Wing Commander Prophecy and the long lost SNES port of Wing Commander II. He's been a good friend to our team and to the Wing Commander community for many years. Now he's selling some of the extremely rare Origin material he gathered while working for the company including team shirts and part of a screen used Wing Commander Prophecy costume! Team shirts are one of the rarest and most sought-after types of Origin ephemera. Internal development teams typically produced their own team 'shirt' that was distributed in honor of their hard work. Artists would design their own shirts and they often feature extremely cool designs not seen anywhere else. Development teams in the 1990s were extremely small and so runs of shirts were limited. Other internal shirts were also produced to celebrate major events and general camaraderie. Very few continue to survive today! If you're a hardcore Origin collector, this is both a rare opportunity and a way to give back to someone who has always given to our community. Wing Commander listings currently include:

TCS Midway: this one should be familiar to anyone! These TCS Midway tees were part of the on screen costumes in Wing Commander Prophecy. The label indicates this one belonged to Spyder, the Black Widows pilot who speaks to Casey after Hawk is killed (and who appears in the background throughout most of the game.)

Come Play With Us: This is a promotional shirt intended to be distributed at promotional events like E3 or Comdex. The image, which was designed by artist Micael Priest, shows characters from all of Origin's active projects at the time. Wing Commander is referenced by Ralgha "Hobbes" nar Hhallas and the group includes at least two games that were never released (Silverheart and Prowler.)

Wing Commander Prophecy Team: for Wing Commander Prophecy, the development team sported a Vampire space superiority fighter on a blue tie-tye shirt intended to resemble the game's jump point effect.

Other Origin-related highlights include an extremely cool Strike Commander team shirt (see if you can find the hidden message!), an Ultima VIII: Pagan team shirt, a Wings of Glory team shirt and a shirt given to volunteers at Richard Garriott's 1992 Britannia Manor haunted house. You can find all of Billy's auctions listed here.

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Flat Universe Tournament This Saturday! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The Maslas Brothers has been hard at work all summer to fine tune the online code for Wing Commander Flat Universe, and now they're ready to share it with you! The team will hold a dogfighting tournament this Saturday to have some fun and run the new version through its paces. They've also put together a really awesome trailer. If you're on the fence, check it out - it'll make you want to hop in the cockpit! Download the game (in either Windows, Mac and Linux variants!) and sign up at Daedalus Station here.
Saturday, 6th of October, 16:00 UTC

To All Wing Commander Fans out there...

You have been recalled to active military service. Flat Universe: Tournament is Back!

Deserter or not you are going to be shot anyway. BE THERE!

WC Art Portfolio Campaign Launches! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Mike Winterbauer's Wing Commander Art Portfolio Kickstarter has officially launched! Mr. Winterbauer was the artist that painted the famous variant of the WC1 art that was used for the Super Nintendo box cover and various promotional materials. I spent a ton of time playing the SNES edition of WC1 during the early '90s, so this is very exciting to me! The campaign seeks to publish a book that catalogues the process that led to the creation of these items. For various supporter levels, there are some super cool rewards including art cards, magnets, canvas prints and even a metal portrait. Check out the details here.
This Kickstarter is all about celebrating Wing Commander and it's cool fans! In 1992, I said, "I can't believe I get to paint Wing Commander"

I have put together this campaign to get Wing Commander fans a super cool collectible signed art book and awesome signed print rewards. This is a wonderful opportunity to pick up some fantastic Wing Commander collectibles all signed from the artist Mike Winterbauer.

The Wing Commander Art Portfolio is a beautiful 30 page hardback book, 11 x 9 inches, featuring the process of painting Wing Commander and all the cool print ads that used the painting. I have personally created the book and all rewards to ensure they reproduce my classic Wing Commander painting and logo as beautiful as possible!

The book is loaded with Wing Commander art and nostalgia!

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