Reading Materials

I've been on vacation this whole week for Thanksgiving, which has been great! Towards the beginning of vacation, I finished Tatooine Ghost and read A Forest Apart (which is included in the paperback edition of TG), which I was quite pleased about -- after all, that let me return to my Clone Wars reading, which I am determined to finish before Episode III comes out. (I'm also determined to read Labyrinth of Evil, which takes place just before ROTS, before that fateful May 19, even though that book is technically a "prequel novel" and not "a Clone Wars novel.") Anyway, due to that wish I read MedStar II: Jedi Healer next. I finished that a day or two ago (extremely quickly, for me).

I especially liked the appearance of the Resolution at the end -- that really made it seem like something was happening in the Clone Wars (i.e. new ships types being developed), instead of endless battles that accomplish NOTHING, which is how I've felt about the CW novels I've read so far (Shatterpoint, The Cestus Deception, and the MedStar Duology). Hopefully, more things will start happening towards the end of the war -- I'm very much looking forward to reading Jedi Trial and Dark Rendezvous.

There's currently four comic strips running at StarWars.com for subscribers to Hyperspace, and one of them (the only one that's really of interest to me) takes place in the weeks before Revenge of the Sith. That makes it extremely interesting -- people are going places where they're seen at the beginning of ROTS, and we get a look of some of the warriors and battlefields we'll be seing in the final Star Wars movie.

Speaking of comics, I've read none, mainly because I have no idea where to start. I wish I was caught up on them, though, because from what little I know of them I do know that they make up more of the Clone Wars project than do books. It's in comics that Tarkin, AT-ATs, new clone troopers, new ships, new enemies, and new characters first appear. For example, I know nothing of what happened on Jabiim, I have virtually no idea who Alpha is, I can't figure out how Tarkin fits into it all (I'm very interested in him due to his importance later on), and I'm still wondering when this rumored first appearance of All Terrain Armored Transports occurs.

Oh well. Eventually, if ever there comes a lull in Star Wars publishing (which I sincerely hope there never will be, and fully expect there not to be -- not the slightest bit -- for at least another five years), I'll make sure to go back and read all those... somehow. Sadly, I hear it can be rather difficult to find all the past issues. It would be nice for thus-far-no-comics fans like me if they would compile them all in nice big books. (Who knows. Maybe they do!)

Speaking of the coming years for SW publishing, starwars.com has recently released a ton of information about the Episode III-related books coming this April. Needless to say, I'm really excited! :-)

Star Wars RTS coming?

In a recent interview, Jim Ward, preseident of LucasArts, said the following:

"...we will have new live-action and animated TV shows over the next few years, and I think there's a bright future there for games based on these new properties as well as original 'Star Wars' games like a new real-time strategy PC game that Petroglyph is developing for next year. This game will take the (real-time strategy) genre in a new direction and will balance gameplay between the hard-core gamers who buy these games and the broader audience that's familiar with the 'Star Wars' brand."

So, it seems there's a new RTS on the way. Will it be like the old Star Wars Battlegrounds, which was essentially Age of Empires with Star Wars buidings, locations, and troops in the place of medieval items? It'll probably be similar, but with material from all six movies. Although, Jim Ward did say "This game will take the (real-time strategy) genre in a new direction," which suggests that they're doing something radical this time.

Perhaps it'll have a taste of the old "Rebellion" game where you fought for each individual planet in the galaxy, which was itself resurrected somewhat for the mode in Battlefront, "Galactic Conquest."

Only time will tell. In the meantime, I can watch the Episode III trailer another trillion times!!!

The Incredibles & The Teaser

This past Saturday I went to see the Incredibles -- and just half an hour after I exited the theater, I went right back in the exact same theater, same screen, and watched the whole thing over again! Sure, the movie was great -- perhaps the best Pixar movie to date -- but the best part was the TEASER TRAILER!!!

I wore my Revenge of the Sith sweatshirt for the occasion. :-) The first time the trailer was shown, the theater was fairly full -- it was at 4:00 PM or so -- and, while my friend and I were the only ones to clap afterwards, people were definitely talking about it -- you could hear. The second time, the theater was almost TOTALLY full (we had to sit all the way in the very back row). Before the trailer started some people actually got up and stood behind the back row to get a better view, and after the trailer about 1/4 or more of the theater clapped! :-)

A minute later, when I left the theater to get straws, the two people collecting tickets were asking each other whether "the trailer" had played yet. I asked if they meant the Episode III trailer and they said yes. I informed them that, sadly, it had already gone -- but that they could see it online for free on Monday.

Sure enough, it's now at StarWars.com for all to see, so go check it out!

EPISODE III TRAILER!!!

Today was the big debut of the Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith Teaser Trailer! As soon as I got home from school I watched it on MTV's Total Request Live and taped it, and then watched it twice more. After doing some homework (silly school) I then watched it again on Access Hollywood (and taped that too!). Now my tapes and the online version will have to tide me over until we go see The Incredibles on Saturday -- the teaser is playing with it!

As for the trailer itself, it's amazing!!!

Adios.