Sci-Fi Storm

Syfy Ventures, a relatively new division created during the rebranding of Syfy as part of breaking out of the cable channel constraints and become a true transmedia, tech savvy destination, announced jointly with actress Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars) during the Digital Press Tour on Monday that Syfy Ventures would join forces with Eckstein’s Her Universe brand of female genre merchandise, to produce Syfy branded merchandise under the Syfy Gear label.
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Who says its too late to revive an old franchise? To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 80s hit trilogy Back To The Future and the [asin=B00198X0UO]upcoming release of the anniversary edition trilogy on Blu-ray[/asin] and [asin=B003U6SJUY]DVD[/asin], Telltale Games will give it new life in the form of a series of new video games this winter, reuniting Marty McFly and Doc Brown all over again. The likenesses of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd will be used, and Lloyd will provide the voice of Doc Brown through all the installments. The games will be episodic, released in a series of 5 monthly installments.
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Anyone remember that MMORPG that was in development for years based on the Stargate franchise, Stargate Worlds? I wouldn’t be surprised if it slipped your mind since it has been 4 years. I believe it actually entered a closed beta phase at one point though…but now it is on hold per an email. The producer, Cheyenne Mountain, is restructuring in the hopes of finishing the game. This forum post however is a little more bleak, with zero developers, zero web site maintenance, everything on hold.

There is however a bright spot – an alternate project, Stargate Resistance, is a third person shooter developed as a “proof of market” vehicle, to show there is life in the franchise. There is an indication that if this game proves popular, development on Worlds might resume.

Unfortunately I think this falls in the bucket of “great projects that came too late”, with SG-1 done for several years, Atlantis gone, and Universe still seeking the audience of the previous efforts. But then again you can’t develop a tie-in too early without knowing the stability of the franchise…

The Roller Coaster Tycoon computer game franchise by Chris Sawyer could be the next game to become a movie. David Ronn and Jay Scherick (The Smurfs) are tagged for the script, with Harald Zwart (The Karate Kid) producing/directing. Other than it being planned for a mixed live-action/CGI, nothing else is known.

So it looks like there is a Battlestar Galactica massive-multiplayer game in development. There is little known about the studio supposedly doing it, but regardless,the track record on MMOs, or games in general, on SF titles that have left the TV already isn’t very high…I’m still waiting for Stargate Worlds, still listed as “Coming in 2009”…

Asteroids is already on its way. Missile Command is also an apparently possible Fox franchise. So what’s next? The venerable Space Invaders, leader of the modern video game movement, looks to get set up at Warner Bros.. So, what could be next? Monster movie Centipede? Dig Dug saved the world from an underground mega-quake?

The Thunder Child received a press release from Taverncraft, advertising their new line of “warsteins”, beer steins decorated with World of Warcraft themes. They attached photos of their whole line. The steins are scheduled to go on sale in April 2010.

If you’re interested in looking at the steins, http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2010/03/world-of-warcraft-decorative-steins.html

The Thunder Child is proud to present its interview with Matt Sanford, whose Call of Cthulu RPG book Arkham Now will be coming out shortly. Another Cthulu RPG, Haunted Salem, will be out next year. The busy Sanford is also busy writing articles on the Tom Baker season arc, The Key To Time, and a host of other projects. Please check out the interview at: http://thethunderchild.com/Interviews/Books/MattSanbornInterview.html

Some interesting tidbits were released yesterday at Comic-Con…Star Wars In Concert will begin touring October 1st (tickets on sale August 1st) and will be narrated in person by Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), although it looks like dates only through Oct. 21st are known so far, on the west coast and OK; lots of info at the Lucasfilm booth about the upcoming games Star Wars: The Old Republic (a new MMO where you can be on the Republic or Sith Empire sides), The Cone Wars: Republic Heroes, available for PC and all consoles on either September 15th or October 6th (information conflicts right now); and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – Ultimate Sith Edition out in time for the holidays. Also, Novermber 3rd should see the release of the Season 1 Box Set of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

It’s not cheap, but it looks like it could be fun for a few hours – the Star Wars Force Trainer is expected to retail for $120 starting in August, and uses a headset that measures brain waves to allow you to control a fall floating in a column. This is the toy you are looking for…