Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Breathe...Just Breathe

The holidays are over, my lovely lady has gone home to the Northern part of New York State, and I am now free to review what's been going on in the world of fandom. What has been going on you ask? Well for starters, Star Wars has celebrated its 40th Anniversary, and since that coincides with my own 40th Anniversary in the gaming hobby, I thought I'd focus on addressing the big Star Wars news, and revelations that came out last week.


It's time for the Jedi to end.


WHAT?!?

OK...Breathe...Just Breathe...




Holy Hammerheads on Hoth! This past week Orlando, Florida was the site of the 2017 Star Wars Celebration, and big news came out of that event like a flaming A-Wing through a Star Destroyer command tower. 

First, and foremost there was a panel on the upcoming film, Star Wars - The Last Jedi, that included this trailer! Take a look...




Now before I get started with my thoughts on Star Wars, the trailer, the other news, and whathaveyou, can I just say - 





There is usually one moment in each of the new teasers, and/or trailers that captures my imagination more than any other, and for some reason this one and the subsequent, related images are just it for me. Wow. Just...wow. So cool.




Anyway...the new Star Wars - The Last Jedi teaser trailer doesn't give us very much actual information, but in my humble opinion it does a fine job of doing what teaser trailers should do - it gets you excited for the film.

In addition to neat imagery, and classic Star Wars sounds, and music, it shows each of our heroes, new and old, engaged in activities that clearly press on from the previous film. Well, except maybe Finn. In the end of the last movie, The Force Awakens, he's pretty banged up and he seems to be taking his time healing his injuries here. My guess is that they don't want to show too much. Personally though, I can't wait to see John Boyega back in action. I like him, and I like Finn.

Rey is training with Luke Skywalker to be...wait...hold on a second...a Jedi right? Something else? Luke's ominous line at the end of the teaser makes my fanboy mind explode with possible meanings! Could this be alluding to a new type of Force wielder? I can hardly wait to find out!

As for Poe...poor Poe...he is the typical Star Wars RPG pilot character. The GM is always messing with him by taking out his ship. He isn't even in them when they get trashed! Damn, that's cold.

Oh, did I mention how freakin' cool those speeders racing over the ash, and red dust planet look? I did? Well they do. 




Other news out of the Star Wars Celebration was that Star Wars Rebels, the CGI animated series on Disney XD will be receiving a fourth and final season. That's right! Four seasons and done! What's up with that? I guess it makes sense. End while you are still hot. End on your own terms. OK, I like it.

Check out the trailer:





But what will the animation team do next, eh? Unclear is the future. Difficult to see. 

Finally, Star Wars Battlefront II, a sequel to the popular reboot of the Battlefront franchise is also coming soon, with a story mode focused on a heroic female character on the side of the Empire. Hold on. Did I read that right? I did. Wow. OK then. Nice.




I have to admit I was really excited about Battlefront, but gave up on it pretty quickly as I am not especially good at those kind of computer games, and found this one in particular to be frustrating and very difficult. I probably won't get Battlefront II, but I do like the idea behind it. I will probably check out some of the streaming videos of people playing it who, unlike myself, know what they're doing.

Does this rekindle my desire to run a Star Wars RPG? Yes.

Will I get around to doing so? No. Not anytime soon.

With too many other projects on my plate, and the new film still roughly 8 months away, I think I'll hold off any plans to start prepping for a game I could barely get off the ground even if I wanted to. My current crop of players just don't get jazzed about Star Wars the way my old groups did.

Still, pretty excited for all the upcoming material and to follow up on other rumors, and such that came out of the show (more on those when I have more solid information).


Until then...May The Force Be With You!

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Barking Alien









5 comments:

  1. I'm sure I read somewhere that Disney has a policy of setting hard limits to the length of its TV shows, so the Rebels announcement isn't too surprising in light of that.

    John Boyega is great. I hope he gets more screen time in this one.

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    1. I wasn't aware of the length issue, but it now makes perfect sense looking at their other projects.

      I can't wait to see what follows Rebels. The team that worked on it, and Clone Wars is just amazing.

      I am definitely hoping for more Finn, and more Poe. I want to see Poe and Rey interacting. I want some scenes with our three new heroes fighting together against the enemy forces.

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    2. Yeah, the new characters were the most interesting part of 7 for me, so I hope we'll see more of them going forward.

      It looks like Disney's 65-episode policy was abolished because of the popularity of Kim Possible, so that's not the reason behind Rebels ending, unless they've brought it back without telling anyone!

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  2. I am honestly under the impression they are trying to avoid what happened to Clone Wars.

    That show was fantastic, but cancelled somewhat abruptly due to Disney's acquistion of the Star Wars brand. The ending was therefore rushed. I think they are looking to end this one when, and how they want to.

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  3. I can't tell enough from the trailer to get too excited yet.

    Battlefront - the kids will get it for the Xbox and if it's good I'll give it a try.

    Rebels - REBELS! The creators are saying it was their choice. I think they could have gone one more season but there is really only so far you can go before you start bumping into Rogue One and New Hope. Lots of "what's going to happen to X" questions there to play out. The kids and I are thinking/hoping the next series will be somewhere in the new future era. Assuming Ezra survives it would let him show up and be a link to the old show which they do seem to like to do.

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