Secrets of the Playstation Website (December 28, 2009)

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While the exciting rerelease of Wing Commander 4 for the Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable has many fans and newcomers enjoying this classic as of new, many either missed or weren't around to experience the game's original release on the Playstation console. Back in 1997 Origin actually created a separate website just for the Playstation port. Many wingnuts may not be familiar with just what exactly the Wing Commander 4 Playstation website added to the series or why it was so important.

Included on that website was a Java-based ship and weapons database, as seen in the screenshots below. Another, perhaps more important item from that site is the secret letter from Dr. Brody to Captain Eisen which you can read right here. Before this letter appeared on the website, Wing Commander fans didn't actually have a concrete idea of when the game took place, so the website was essential in establishing exactly where in the timeline Wing Commander 4 occurred. In its own way, this letter also served as a precursor to the amazing Secret Ops fiction which would be released online during that game's original online episodic release.

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Original update published on December 28, 2009

 

[Mekt-Hakkikt]

Neat. So here at least the Banshee is described as a light fighter.

 

[Farbourne]

The Banshee is a light fighter if you like light fighters. It's a medium fighter if you like medium fighters.

If you like speed and maneuverability, you're a light fighter enthusiast, and the Banshee certainly doesn't disappoint.

If you prefer a bit of firepower and protection without sacrificing too much speed and maneuverability, you're a medium fighter fan. And with a five-ion-cannon gun configuration, a pair of leech cannons, a bigger missile loadout than a Hellcat, and the same shield strength as a Hellcat, the Banshee certainly seems to qualify.

 

[Vinman]

Neat, I never knew that this site existed.

 

[JasonRocZ]

I miss the leech missile

I actually love using the Banshee instead of the Vindicator something about zippin around and the thrill of avoiding fire in a light fighter while rippin away at fighters that gets me goin...the Avenger was fun to fly with the Stormfire, it would basically rip craft apart like WhoA! Oddly enough I never liked to fly the Lance/Dragon....Although the Fission cannons were fun to toy with.

 

[ChrisReid]

I liked flying the Dragon well enough, but I never much liked the Fission Cannons. I never got the hang of using them well. The same goes for the Charging Mass Driver in Prophecy.

I love the "28.8 modem" note on the bottom of these. It doesn't seem very long ago that this site popped up, although it clearly has been. As part of the New Years stuff last night, I was thinking about how much faster our cell phone internet is today than what we had to access the original Origin website or CIC with in the 90s.