@RogerRoger The 99 lives cheat isn't a code or anything. On one of the Tatooine stages (I think it's the one with Obi-Wan at the end) you can deliberately fall down in between some of the platforms and if you hold hard left then Luke will find himself in a cave with stacks of "1-UP" icons. And to think there's a "Jedi Knight" hard setting for the truly masochistic - Lord knows what that must entail. Save states are just a great QoL feature in these modern ports - I would've never have finished, "Castlevania" or "Ghost and Goblins" on.the Nintendo mini classic consoles without them.
I just noticed this thread. Great topic and of course started by @RogerRoger. For me, a huge Star wars fan for sure, but I'm less critical of the movies and enjoy them for what they are. The first trilogy was so good it is hard to follow up to be sure. I agree that besides those Rogue One was the best. I did enjoy them all though. Some are really good with proper use of the skip button. For example; try episode 2 and whenever there is an Anakin Padme alone scene hit skip. It makes for a great action movie. I'm afraid as good as George Lucas was at action he was equally bad at romantic scenes.
Super excited for Kenobi. I hope it's close to the book by John Jackson Miller. That was a great novel. I see the author often as he comes in to my book store. Nice guy.
Looking forward to the lego game, especially due to the free camera. That will be a game changer. I'm also looking forward to Jedi Fallen Order 2.
@LN78 Oh, cool; almost like the developers felt guilty about the game's difficulty, and put in a legitimate way to help folks progress past Tatooine! I'll have to remember to look for that, cheers!
Despite being a Sonic fan since my age was in single digits, I was never able to "properly" complete any of the classic MegaDrive games until I got Sonic Mega Collection Plus on PS2, specifically because it came with the ability to save anywhere, anytime. I do like the modern trend of having an instant rewind, as well. I recently played the Flashback remaster and being able to quickly undo my mistakes was a godsend, particularly because you're only allowed to save at certain terminals.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
It’s interesting to look back now, and evaluate the Disney acquisition of Star Wars, since later this year will mark the 10-year anniversary of the purchase.
From my standpoint, at $4 billion the purchase was an absolute steal for Disney. The Force Awakens brought it $2 billion alone, and The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker each earned $1 billion. Add in all the other sources of revenue like the other movies like Rogue One and Solo, the TV shows, the merchandising, added theme park attractions, video games,…. the profits from Star Wars have likely been astronomical. When you look at MS paying $68 billion for Acti-Blizz, the LucasArts acquisition seems like a pittance for what Disney gained access to.
From a fans perspective, I am probably in the minority here, but I think the Disney acquisition was a net positive. Yeah the sequel trilogy was underwhelming, and the direction they’ve taken the franchise has been questionable at times, but overall Disney has really pulled SW out of hibernation and made it relevant again. There is the constant concern now that they may drive it into the ground, so we’ll have to hold final judgment for now, but overall I’ve enjoyed the vast majority of what I’ve experienced in the new Star Wars universe for the last 10 years.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution "Underwhelming" is an extremely polite way of putting it! If I was a "the OT was lightning in a bottle" person in the aftermath of the prequels then I'm doubly convinced of that now - I'm really happy that people enjoy this stuff but (in a similar way to the MCU and "Star Trek") I'm just completely tuned out at this point - the whole debacle of "The Last Jedi" followed by "The Rise of Skywalker" finally turned off the life support of a franchise that was just barely holding on for me in the first place.
@LN78 Yeah, I lean more positive than most fans on the new movies. I have a hard time defending that, but I think there is a large cushion of nostalgia from which their shortcomings draw. I probably like the sequel trilogy more than the prequel trilogy, although episodes 4-6 are still my favorite.
I can see the “lightning in a bottle” sentiment you have if none of the other films floated your boat. I see how it would make it difficult to put any emotional investment into The Mandalorian, or any of these other offshoot series, despite my feelings that there has been significant progress made in recapturing the essence of the original films. For me the movies and TV shows have been a net positive. My only complaint about the Disneyification of the franchise is the massive merchandising of the brand, so that it has trivialized the uniqueness of having things like a Star Wars T-shirt or Lego set. You can’t walk through Wal-Mart and not run into a million Star Wars and Marvel paraphernalia for sale. Now I seem like a poser if I have a Star Wars sticker on my car or a lightsaber ink pen. Thank goodness I never got that Chewbacca tattoo.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution The nostalgia factor (and the contingent inability to move forwards) is another thing about these franchises that drives me mental. @RogerRoger and I had a good chat about it over in (I think) the "Star Trek" topic if you're interested.
@LN78 I think and has been stated in many other Star Wars forums is that after having an ultimate villain and ultimate weapon (death star), it is really hard to follow up. I would agree that creating a bigger and stronger version of the same thing might have been a mistake in the newer movies. I also think that the success of side stories like Rogue One, is due to not needing the biggest baddest villain, just have it known they are out there and a smaller villain can work in context. Hopefully the great writers in the world can come up with something great. As @colonalkilgore says, a Heir to the empire series could make a great new trilogy.
@Elodin I absolutely love the Timothy Zahn "Thrawn" trilogy but short of some seriously impressive and morally dubious deep fakery (and the fact that the actual sequels would have to be de-canonised) I doubt we'll ever see them brought to the big screen. The importance of those books in keeping "Star Wars" alive in the public consciousness before the anniversary "special" editions and the prequels should not be underestimated, though.
@LN78 I’m not a Trekkie (or is it “Trekker”? I forget which term is derogatory and which is worn with pride) at heart so I usually don’t keep up with the Star Trek thread, but I just read over the conversation and I understand where you’re coming from.
The constant need to tap into the nostalgia factor because it’s safe and will generate the revenue is a recurring theme among entertainment IP. The “galaxy far, far away” indeed has millions of possible non-Skywalker stories to explore. Outside of novels, this has also been done through video games, and I’m excited to see what Ubisoft and Quantic Dream can do with it.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution The only offensive "Trek" sobriquet that I'm aware of is "Discovery fan". Insofar as the games go I couldn't care less what Ubisoft or Quantic Dream do with the IP - or in general, honestly. I'm interested to see what happens with the "KOTOR" remake (more nostalgia milking!) though. The original game on the Xbox was a wonderful salve to me in the wake of the crushing disappointment of "The Phantom Menace" - it's one of those games with such a lofty reputation that Aspyr simply cannot afford to (and therefore probably will not) screw up. I (like most people) expect something in the vein of "FFVIIR" - a more action heavy game but with the key characters and story beats held over from the original - with a some (hopefully) exciting new twists!
@Th3solution Your post is well-timed, as I was having similar thoughts the other day and, regarding the last decade's output, I agree with you, I think it's been much more positive than not. I don't really read any of the books but otherwise, I'd break down Disney's multimedia output as follows:
The Great
1) Star Wars: The Bad Batch
2) The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett
3) Star Wars: Rebels
4) Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
5) Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Final Season
6) Rogue One
The Good
1) Star Wars: Squadrons
2) Star Wars: Battlefront II (eventually)
3) Solo
4) Star Wars: Visions
The Fine Enough
1) Star Wars: Battlefront
2) Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
3) Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
4) Star Wars: Resistance
5) Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
You'll notice there's no "bad" category. I think @Elodin was right to remind us that, when you really go back and think about it, no Star Wars has ever been perfect. Every aspect has had its detractors and its defenders, and each generation has defined Star Wars in its own way, much to the nervousness of legacy fans. It's also important to remember that, before Disney took over, every single movie, show, game or book was written, directed, produced, created, supervised, guided or, at the very least, approved by one man, George Lucas. Disney opened the floodgates to a bunch of self-professed fans who'd been dreaming of the opportunity to put their stamp on Star Wars, and upper management approved a lot of creative freedom, at least early on. Having the lunatics run the asylum, so to speak, was always gonna feel different, and be a bit of a bumpy road as a result.
However, everything we've gotten over the last decade has maintained a certain base line of quality and entertainment value, which means none of it has been objectively awful. This might contradict some of my own knee-jerk reactions to certain things, but that's because knee-jerk reactions are often proven to be wrong at worst, or rash at best. I watched The Last Jedi the other week, and y'know what? I enjoyed myself. Probably because I didn't have the recent echoes of a divided fanbase ringing in my ears. Don't get me wrong, it's not the movie I'd have made, but that doesn't mean I can't respect it for what it is.
Anyway, that's just me. I'm also somebody who likes a nice bit of merch, so I don't share your complaints in that regard (although I'd draw the line at a Chewbacca tattoo)!
A whole game that follows the Hutt sex slave industry.
...the worrying thing is, Disney would probably be fine with Quantic Dream making that game, but only if it was renamed as "the Hutt sex Firespray Gunship industry".
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@Elodin@LN78 I forgot to mention this when discussing Heir to the Empire with @colonelkilgore back on the first page, but it's entirely possible that we're heading towards a loose adaptation of those books anyway, given what we know. A very well-realised, Zahn-approved Thrawn has been part of Disney canon since 2016, and he's being established as the destination of the live-action shows. Given what can now be achieved with digital de-ageing and resurrection... heck, I'd almost put money on it.
Oh, and yeah, I completely agree about threat escalation being lazy writing, as well. That whole "This was the Death Star, but here is Starkiller Base!" scene from The Force Awakens is just embarrassing.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger It would have to be a very loose adaptation. I think digital de-aging is one thing but resurrecting a dead actor for an integral role in an entire trilogy of films (or whatever it ends up being) is something else entirely. I find it difficult to countenance that Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford would approve the use of their likenesses for a project like that. Unless of course their permission isn't required...
@LN78 Based on your comments about your interest in new Star Wars, I'm gonna risk telling you about a pretty big spoiler in order to continue the conversation, so please stop reading if you have any interest in watching the recent live-action shows on Disney+ but...
...Luke has been in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, played by a young stand-in with a CGI face and with lines spoken by an A.I. voice synthesiser. The first time they tried it, the results were okay enough, but then a deepfake YouTuber "fixed" the scene and, when his work gained traction, he was hired to help second time around, to the point where a frighteningly flawless thirty-something Luke had a starring role in an entire episode. Mark Hamill was credited both times, but only gave a reference performance for the first cameo, and reportedly had no involvement with the second appearance whatsoever.
The only, and I mean only, obstacle remains the permission of an actor, or their estate. Beyond that, if it'll serve the story or generate the right kind of headlines, anything's possible.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger I was aware of Hamill having participated in the new shows in some capacity (I haven't seen anything on your breakdown beyond the theatrical films and Season 1 of "The Mandalorian" - more than enough to convince me that I was done with Disney "Star Wars") but I think his (and Ford's) reluctance to give their permission for a project on the scale of the "Thrawn" trilogy woukd stem from their mutually expressed admiration and affection for Carrie Fisher. Or at least I would bloody well hope so. The only "Star Wars" projects I find myself anticipating with any sort of glee are the books that will emerge, once Kathleen Kennedy is no longer in charge at LucasFilm and the various contractual non disclosure/disparagment clauses are no longer threats to careers, about the sheer incompetence behind the making of the sequel trilogy. It still boggles my mind every time I think about the notion that there was no overall scheme or blueprint in place for the trilogy as a whole before they started shooting. You know my feelings on the prequels but at least Lucas had a beginning,middle and end in mind at the outset.
@LN78 Alas, I fear any and all moral objections will fade over time. Leia will feature in Star Wars again someday, somehow. That being said, it might not be in anything related to Thrawn because, given how he's been established and integrated thusfar, it could be that we get his story told with different protagonists, as he fights roughly the same fight, just against different heroes.
And you're right, those books are gonna be one heck of a read. No matter one's opinion of the products produced, there's no denying the fact that, internally, Lucasfilm has been in turmoil for the past decade. So hey, at least we've all got something to look forward to, right...?!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
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