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Point of Origin: Vol. IV, No. 60
Warning - the October 7th, 1994 issue of The Point of Origin contains a photograph of a man kissing Wing Commander Armada... so download it quick! The drought of Wing Commander references is ending -- nearly every article mentions the series in some way!
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!
- Spotlight: Back on Top says Armada is a hit!:
It's been two weeks since Wing Commander Armada and System Shock shipped, however it's taken less time than that to realize we had two gigantic hits on our hands. Within hours after the games hit the store shelves, gamers from all over the country were talking about both products online.
'Gonna spend some time today and make some real raunchy taunts so I can finish this head to head game....My wife is gonna sue ORIGIN over this game,' wrote one Armada player. 'Wow, fantastic game!' wrote another. 'My brother and I love it! We've been kicking butt from dawn to dusk, and it's endless slaughter! The taunt files really add a lot to the game; a moment of hilarity is always added by an appropriately timed Clint Eastwood, 'Make my day,' or a Terminator, 'Hasta la vista!'
... We're back in a big way,' says ORIGIN sales vp Marten 'Bulldog' Davies. 'With Armada, we've listened to our customers and given them a sci-fi oriented, head-to-head, modem game that they can play at their leisure when they want to.'... Just look at what happened at local stores and you'll get an idea of the success for both of these games. 'Babbages was completely out of Armada on day one and they had something like 17 units in the store,' according to Marten. 'At Best Buy, they were already on their second order of System Shock on the day after the product shipped.' He said it was much the same story for Armada. Kind of a nice problem to have, eh Marten?
'It feels really good,' says Armada director Jeff Everett. 'I guess I'm kind of surprised that people were as excited about it as they are. I always liked it and the people in QA liked it, but you never know if a game is going to be perceived good or bad until it's out there on shelves. I just wasn't going to let myself get to the point where I thought everybody's going to love this game regardless of what happens. But now, everyone seems to like it.'
... 'Bottom line,' says Marten, 'more power to Jeff Everett and his team and Warren Spector and the guys at Looking Glass. Two great products.'
- In Ink has lots to say about Wing Commander III:
The Wing Commander III juggernaut is starting to roll, folks. The latest issue of Strategy Plus is out and features WCIII on its cover. Steve Bauman, who made a trip to Austin in late August to get a first-hand look at the game, obviously came away impressed. Listen to these comments, 'Origin may have actually accomplished their goal of creating the first truly interactive cinematic experience, an action movie where you get to be the hero and one where the long-promised marriage of Hollywood and Silicon produces something that both can be proud of. Of the numerous current 'interactive movies' that use live actors with computer rendered backgrounds, none come even close to Wing Commander III's level of integration.' And what about that music, Steve. 'The sound of a space opera is like this is of utmost importance, and once again Wing Commander III delivers in spades.'
Plan on seeing at least one more cover story on WC 3 in the December issue of PC Gamer (on the stands in mid-November). Bill Trotter, a self-avowed Wing Commander addict, travelled to Austin last month to see if all the hype on the game is true. Let's just say Bill's addiction won't be cured anytime soon. In addition, PC Gamer and its sister publication, CD-ROM Today, will be including the just-finished WC III demo on a CD that will come packaged with the magazines.
But wait, there's more. WC III has popped up in other publications across the country. Axcess magazine, kind of a new wave/movie/entertainment publication, wrote, 'Wing Commander III takes the concept of the interactive movie to new limits. It's Hollywood's biggest interactive experiment to date.'
There also were nice previews in the new Cinescape magazine from Sendai Publications and in Sci-Fi Universe. Closer to the release date expect stories on the Today Show and on VH-1. Watch for dates and times on your e-mail.
It's a little too early to see what most reviewers are going to say about ORIGIN's latest releases, System Shock and Wing Commander Armada. Gamestar magazine in Australia, though, has gotten a bit of a head start... Armada came in with even more kudos. 'The graphics are just totally mind blowing with the best bitmap graphics I'd ever - and I mean ever - seen in my life. A totally awesome game.'
- New Hires brings on a Wing Commander veteran: "Jeffrey 'JC' Combs is a new graphic designer. He comes to us from Italia/GAL Advertising and the Art Institute of Dallas. Jeffrey came to ORIGIN after doing some contract work on Wing Commander III. Obviously he impressed some folks here."
- Quality Entertainment Dept. says Wing Commander will be on TV!: "Tonight watch for outtakes from Wing Commander III on 'The Return of TV's Censored Bloopers' 9:00, NBC, KXAN-TV Channel 36 (4 on cable)"
Point of Origin
Vol. IV, No. 60 - October 7, 1994
Contents
Spotlight: Back on Top
In Ink
Off the Wire
Point Man
Ticker
"It's Time for a Focus Group"
EOM
New Hires
Quality Entertainment Dept.
The Future
[LOAF]
[# 8457]
[Discuss]
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Update published on January 29, 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.
- Wing Commander's Got This
- 2012-02-10 -- Matthew Khouzam found a video with a cute Wing Commander cameo. XCOM Lore in a Minute is a quick run through that series' backstory. When the clip reaches X-COM Interceptor and its genre shift over to space combat, the fighter pilot is clearly a tribute to Christopher Blair from WC2.
- RPG Finishes Background Timeline
- 2012-02-09 -- capi3101 has completed writing out the chronological setting for his new Wing Commander RPG. The universe takes elements from the Star*Soldier timeline and merges them with info from the unpublished Privateer Online. There's also a sprinkle of knowledge from the Movie's Confederation Handbook and Privateer 2 too.
- Saga Beta Expands to Full Game
- 2012-02-08 -- There's a new look inside WC Saga's beta test. The team reports that there have been many iterations of the beta and they are now starting to test missions in the later portions of the game. There have also been issues with capship positioning and audio recently, but these bugs are being worked through.
- LOAF Fixes an Amiga
- 2012-02-07 -- With the addition of some recent finishing touches, LOAF has essentially completed Karga the Wing Commander Computer, and he's looking for new challenges. Although there are a few opportunities for Karga expansion later, the next great frontier lies with the Amiga. These teaser shots provide a glimpse into the adventure ahead, and LOAF sets the stage below.
- Wallpaper Honors the Escort Carriers
- 2012-02-06 -- This wallpaper isn't Wing Commander-related, but it was made by a talented Wing Commander fan. "Sunset Over The Bay" is Klavs's take on WW2 carrier aviation, and it's a pretty sweet scene!Hi guys, it's not strictly Wing Commander, but since it's WW2 History related I figured I could squeak by.
- "The sport jumped right on schedule. You covered her well."
- 2012-02-06 -- Tim Peel has followed up his Venice Assault with another classic scene from Wing Commander 1. In "Convoy," a squadron of Draymen are shepherded through space by a determined Exeter and some Hornets. This is the kind of thing people imagined in the original game when the autopilot cinematic played during an escort mission.
- Amazon's Academy Price Increased
- 2012-02-05 -- Amazon.com has slightly raised the presale price of the upcoming Wing Commander Academy series on DVD. It's now going for $22.
- Wing Commander Airing in Brazil
- 2012-02-05 -- The Wing Commander Movie will be showing twice in the next few days in Brazil via the Telecine network. In Portuguese, the film's title is A Batalha Final, which translate into "The Final Battle." Check it out on the TC Action channel on Feb 6 at 8:05 pm or Feb 8 at 12:20 pm.
- Classic Style Ship Viewer Built for WC3
- 2012-02-04 -- Farbourne has put together a neat app that compares the stats of Wing Commander 3 fighters. The numbers themselves are readily available, but the charm comes from the ability to pit two ships against each other. Each attribute is compared, and the fighter with the advantage in each category is highlighted.
- Fighter Tokens See Battle on the Table
- 2012-02-03 -- Progress continues to be made on Wing Commander TacOps Online. Avacar has implemented numerous bug fixes in the last several weeks and has big plans about the next phase of the game's development. After an upcoming flurry of coding is complete, the idea is to launch another beta test game that involves capital ships and their escorts.
- "And the last Kilrathi planet in the sector falls!"
- 2012-02-02 -- Tim Peel has put together another gorgeous scene with Howard Day's models. In this new image, he's beautifully recreated the Venice Assault from the end of the original Wing Commander. Flights of Hornets play escort as the Claw advances.
- Mission Accomplished!
- 2012-02-01 -- Origin founder Richard Garriott's mission to space has been well documented in the CIC news archives, but a whole lot more people are learning about the story thanks to the premiere of the Man on a Mission documentary about the trip. Rather than just a vanity film to commemorate his space tourism, the story has been highly-rated as an excellent adventure about a man realizing his dream to become the first second-generation astronaut. There are a handful of streaming options for fans who'd like to check it out, and theatrical premieres across the country are taking place now.
- Garriott Wins Release of First Sci-Fi Movie Actually Made in Space
- 2012-02-01 -- Man on a Mission wasn't the only movie recording during Garriott's time in space! In addition to gathering footage for the documentary, Richard also taped a short horror flick - the first science fiction film made in space! After years of lobbying NASA, Garriott has finally gotten approval to release Apogee of Fear, and distribution details should surface soon.
- From the Beginning, You Know the End...
- 2012-01-31 -- It's time for the start of a new poll, and this one's all about endings. Which game had your favorite conclusion? Are you more into the traditional blast-a-starbase final missions from the early '90s?
- Catching Up With Saga - GamePlay Complete!
- 2012-01-30 -- WC Saga hit an important milestone recently - it went gameplay complete, meaning that it's completely playable - but not yet perfected. The team is going back now to revamp their Prologue demo and continue bug hunting. Here's some new screenshots and their announcement: We have reached an important milestone that has been a very long time in the making.
- This Clawk Marks is Super
- 2012-01-29 -- One of the most fantastic websites on the entire Internet, Pix's Origin Adventures, has posted a nice high res scan of the game manual for the Super Famicom version of Wing Commander 1. This edition is more than simply Claw Marks translated into Japanese however, and the booklet gets tons of bonus art alongside reformatted text. Some drawings are brand new, and others are colorizations of art used in the English documentation.
- Prepare to Roll the Dice
- 2012-01-28 -- capi3101's been in the news lately for his tabletop tokens and Pen & Paper Armada, but the big project he's been working on for the last six months is an original Wing Commander RPG. Since last year, he's been steadily making progress on the game's character races, skills, equipment, ships, spaceflight and combat. capi estimates that the overall game is about two thirds written out, and more is completed each week.
- Orchestral Remix Strikes a Different Note
- 2012-01-27 -- Shiryu, who authored some hip Wing Commander Movie-themed techno tracks back in the day, has a new composition to share. Orchestral Wing Commander has a much more classical and decidedly mainstream tone than his first WC songs. He's synchronized the tunes to WC1's intro, briefing and launch below.
- 'Boxy, But Good' or 'Oh, Don't Mine Me'
- 2012-01-26 -- Cybot's back with another cool render of a Wing Commander Academy vessel. In addition to bringing back a fun variety of familiar designs, WCA also created a few of its own. This dedicated hospital ship is one of them, and it packs a lot of character for a rectangular box!
- LOAF on Sol: Exodus
- 2012-01-25 -- "Welcome to Sol Sector, Lieutenant!?" - Lieutenant Chris McCubbin, TCS ConcordiaSol: Exodus, the new space sim from Seamless Entertainment, will be available starting today on Steam for just $9.99.
- Contrasting Designs Added to Growing Fleet
- 2012-01-24 -- CMDBob has completed two new ships: the Dorkir transport and Arrow light fighter. Bob is using some new rendering techniques here, and the result delivers a great cross between animated and metallic texturing. You can check out more angles of these ships at the CIC Forums here.
- Congratulations Award Winners!
- 2012-01-23 -- The votes have been tallied, and we now have the winners of our 2011 Fan Project & Web Site of the Year awards! Many great nominees received a ton of votes, which speaks to how many great undertakings were pursued over the past year. Although only a few can win, we're still amazed at all the constant fan activity.
- Spacetime Studios Takes Time to Celebrate
- 2012-01-23 -- The good news continues for mobile developer Spacetime Studios. CEO Gary Gattis has posted a rollup that summarizes the company's accomplishments in 2011 and aspirations for the new year. Spacetime was founded in 2005 in Austin, Texas by a handful of game industry veterans, including several Wing Commander pros from Origin.
- This Gratha's Seen Some Action
- 2012-01-22 -- Zohrath has finished his Gratha model, ad the results are fantastic! The spaceframe had a very raptor-like feel to it, and the brown Kilrathi durasteel has some very fine wear and tear. Z's got more updates in the works, which we can't wait to see.
- BREAKING NEWS: Amazon Lists Wing Commander Academy!
- 2012-01-21 -- Amazon.com has finally posted a product page for Wing Commander Academy on DVD! This is a day we've been eagerly anticipating since the preliminary Canadian Amazon.
- Quick Awards Reminder
- 2012-01-21 -- If you still have not yet voted in the CIC's annual Fan Project & Web Site of the Year awards, today's your last chance! Hit the voting page to help pick the winners.
- Freddie Prinze Soldiers On
- 2012-01-20 -- Freddie Prinze Jr, who portrayed Christopher Blair in Chris Robert's Wing Commander feature film has lent his voice to the highly anticipated Mass Effect 3. Freddie plays a soldier character that coincidentaly bears the name of a classic Wing Commander locale: Jason Vega. He's not the first Wing Commander alumni to transition to the Mass Effect universe.
- Academy Comes to America
- 2012-01-19 -- There's good news and bad news tonight. The good news is that the Wing Commander Academy DVD set is now set for an American (rather than just Canadian) release. It should be available for preorder via Amazon and other retailers soon.
- Standoff Fan Patch Adds a Retro Touch
- 2012-01-18 -- danr put together a simple audio patch that takes the Prophecy/Secret Ops mass driver sound in Standoff and replaces it with the classic WC2 mass driver effect from the Kilrathi Saga. All of the original guns have a very distinctive sound and feel to them, so this little tweak adds a nice touch. Simply drop the contents of this file (35 k zip) into the Standoff folder and play.
- Massive Monolith Gets Modular Makeover
- 2012-01-17 -- Scooby Doo has put together a new Monolith concept. Aside from simply being a bigger sharper version of the design from Privateer 2, the ship has a new modular cargo system with a variety of customized transport sections. It can even carry fighters!
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