Search
Latest News
Images
Features
Multimedia
Comlinks
Contact Us

"I've had a fantastic time working with the team at Lucasfilm and am really grateful for their ongoing support," Blackman said in a statement. 

"While the decision to leave LucasArts did not happen overnight or come easily, I really feel that now is the best time for me to move on and explore new creative challenges and I look forward to the next phase of my career."

A LucasArts rep told the site that Blackman's departure won't affect the development of upcoming Force Unleashed 2, set to launch this October. Specifically, Blackman had been serving as senior executive producer and franchise director at the studio, which means Force Unleashed 2 was one of multiple projects under his purview.

He was also the writer on both installments; Blackman and the rest of the Force Unleashed writers won the second annual video game writing award from the Writers Guild of America for their work.

Gamasutra spoke to Blackman recently, and he told us he has been responsible for "a lot" of the script of the next installment. He also spoke passionately about his focus on pushing the boundaries of gaming, and how his goal for the Star Wars games has been less about "the sense of a juvenile power fantasy and more of a sense of empowerment and being on this epic, mythic journey which is very true to Star Wars... we deal with issues of redemption and revenge and identity."

He also spoke about the importance of blurring the divide between "casual" and "core" gamers, and said that his focus with the Star Wars games had been more on the over-arching, broadly appealing themes of the Star Wars universe and less about "fan service".

Blackman hasn't revealed what his next project will be, but in our earlier conversation, he told us he maintains an interest in cross-media IP, an issue he called his "soapbox": "ln order for us to continue to grow gaming and to create franchises that become really kind of true transmedia franchises that can cross from to games to film and whatnot -- but starting in games, we need to be much more inclusive about the way we design our games," he said.

"And whether that is game designs that support multiple play styles, or things like co-op or what some of the MMOs are doing with sidekick systems... but the more we can be inclusive and invite everybody in and not make it feel like it’s a private club, I think the better off we’re gonna be, and I that’s definitely been one of our philosophies with Force Unleashed."

First President, Darrell Rodriguez resigns and now Executive Producer Haden Blackman? Something is going on at LucasArts that nobody seems to care for. At least that is how I perceive all of these departures.

The book titles are as follows:

The Rebel Alliance Source book 
The Imperial Source book 
The Truce at Bakura Source book 
The Dark Empire Source book (GOOD FOR COMIC FANS) 
The Han Solo and The Corporate Sector Source book 
The Jedi Academy Source book 
The Star Wars Source book 
Cracken's Threat Dossier

Be sure to check them out if you are interested. I have always really liked these West End Game books. Good luck!

This Week's Topics Include:

• Kyle Newman the director of Fanboys is back! Ryan and Eric talk with Kyle about Fanboys going Bluray, Skywalker Ranch, and much more!

E-mail the show at galaxyfanboy@yahoo.com or visit the Facebook Fanpage. You can now also download the podcast at iTunes. Enjoy!

"I wanted to share our new Star Wars Fan Film – A Light in the Darkness.   The official trailer has been released and we are finalists in the 2010 Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge on Atom.com with the full feature coming later this year. The trailer, along with the other finalists will be screened at Celebration V. The voting period for the contest is this week and we are trying to get the word out.

This film was the collaborative effort of many talented people from the Orlando, FL area.  For more information, please visit the website at www.alightinthedarknessfilm.com."

The trailer looks great and promises to be a good film. I can't wait to see more! Thanks Wendy!

"Yes, apparently a database has leaked this upcoming hardcover that will follow Palpatine’s rise to powerand his Master, Plagueis. “Not Yet Published” should have read: “Not Yet Announced.” 

However, this is not the IC#2 (Imperial Commando II) replacement book, but something that we’ve been working toward for some time now. No, I don’t have the manuscript yet.

Enjoy the anticipation!"

The listing sets the Plagueis novel for a February 28th, 2012 release.

The book includes blueprints of the X-wing fighter, Y-wing fighter, Rebel weaponry, Hoth base and the Tantive IV blockade runner. The last proved the most challenging given all the manner of rooms that have been depicted inside the blockade runner, spaces that could not conceivably fit in the ship of its supposed size.

"We tried to go back through and really be more definitive with things and fix a lot of the errors in continuity that have come up throughout the years and really make things more accurate than they've been, and be more sensitive to the subtleties of it all," said Reiff.

Trevas pushed for the inclusion of the Y-wing fighter. "We have The Clone Wars connection to tie it into current product. That really appealed to us as fans," he said. "In watching the cartoon, the ship is huge in The Clone Wars compared to how it was in the movies, so we had to work to determine the actual size of the ship." Be sure to read the entire article and see more pictures.