KotOR III? KotOR HD? KotOR Online? WHAT IS IT?!?!

UPDATE 4/11 1338: Fuck my life. It's probably all a misunderstanding.

Original:
How funny that I've been running a weekly Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic stream/video series, and it looks like BioWare Austin might have something interesting to say about the series this weekend at Star Wars Celebration. This isn't a guarantee. They might make us wait all the way until E3, though that would really bum me out.



I've gone on and on about how much the Knights of the Old Republic games mean to me, and how they fundamentally changed gaming for me, so if this results in a new game ... holy shit, I will be in tears. Even if it's a reimagining of the original, so long as it's NEW, I'll be over the moon. If it's just a remake or a high-res version ... well, shit, watch the above video that I made. I can do that. I will not be excited about the same game, but prettier.

My understanding, though, is that this is, in fact, something new. Maybe a new version of KotOR that brings the game in line with what Disney wants for canon? That would be interesting. I can't imagine what they'd want to change, but whatever. I'm down.

Alongside this, for the last several months, we've been seeing KotOR creep into the canon anyway. From planets to ships to species, all unique to the Old Republic-era EU, they've been getting mentions or appearances in Rogue One, Rebels, and novels.

I think this might be real.

If it is, I actually heard about it last year, shortly before E3. I mistakenly assumed that it was going to show up at EA's presentation. When it didn't, I was VERY confused, as I had a pretty good source on it. We'll see, though. I hope it shows up this weekend. It's going to be so hard to restrain my enthusiasm, but this 'leak' is so well-timed. It might be a coincidence, but perhaps it's tehe Force ...

I've gotta temper my expectations, though. I need to be ready for nothing I care about to be announced at the gaming panel. Hey, at least I'll get to see stuff about The Last Jedi ...

... fuck, I just can't handle this. FUCK.

Anyway, it's movie lunch day, so I gotta split.

How about you? Do you want a new Knights of the Old Republic? Would you be OK with a remake? What do you want Disney to do with the Old Republic? Should they just make it all canon?

Also, if you wanna talk more about this live on my show, I'm streaming a KotOR playthrough on Thursdays and Fridays at 8PM central on my Twitch channel.

Lemme know! And may be the Force with you!

-Blaine

Is film inherently shallow?

So, I watched both Ant-Man (fun) and It Follows (pretty, but dumb) yesterday, and it took me back to a familiar internal argument I've been having for years.

Video games, novels, comics, and serial television all have the ability to take their time and tell full stories. Films do not.

Marvel has done a good job of designing and repeatedly executing on a formula for giving the sense of a 'full story' in their films, even if they're mostly just fun spectacles.

In the case of It Follows, I was pretty damn let down. I really enjoy the horror genre, and while this technically falls into the genre, and despite being beautifully shot and using sound and music really well, it was dumb. The characters and story were both excruciatingly shallow, even with a cool concept in play, and the ending was one of those that implies the filmmaker just gave up.

Man, I was really hyped for that one, too.

Games tell stories through immersion, player agency, and have a nearly infinite number of ways to approach the conveyance of story and the conveyance of the player through the story. It can be used really well.

Novels. Duh. This is probably still my favorite medium for storytelling.

Comics have come a long way, and they actually seem to somewhat be the model for modern serial television.

And on that note, serial television is at a high point right now, and I'm really enjoying it. This has really stolen a lot of film's thunder for me, since it's a much deeper experience, whereas film has become, for me, more about the spectacle than anything. Film is dumber than ever, but prettier than ever, and both films yesterday really hit that home. Funny enough, Ant-Man had more character development and actual story than It Follows, which is hilarious.

The problem is that film, by it's limited running time, and higher costs, is severely limited in both the kinds of stories it can tell, and how it can tell them.

What say you?