Julius

No, it hasn't been. EA didn't get the rights to the SW licenses until 2013; I think there maybe some confusion with Star Wars 1313 here. I have to wonder how much Lucasfilm had a hand in this, and why they're willing to let EA kill a game that's been in development since 2013/2014 that was due for release in late 2019? Seems an odd move. A Destiny-like will be fun, sure, but it's nearly impossible to make players feel like they're having an impact in the Galaxy Far, Far Away when nothing but the basic outline of whatever story they come up with is accepted as canon. A linear, story-driven game lends itself to stuff like this. I'm having a tough time seeing EA still have their exclusive rights when 2023 comes around. At best they will have produced 2 - possibly 3 - Battlefront games, which have proved very divisive amongst players thus far; a game from Respawn, which we still no nothing about; and whatever their replacement is for Visceral's game. They need to change the ways things are done fundamentally: have Lucasfilm hand out the licenses only after a studio has pitched the game to them, and worked with the Story Group for vetting. There are so many other studios/companies deserving of producing a Star Wars game than EA.

The comedic expectation you had was probably down to Lourd and Miller's prior involvement with the film, which didn't end so well. Whilst I love their other works, I always thought that this would have been a bit of a strange fit - especially with it supposedly being Lawrence Kasdan's final screenplay, which he wrote with his son. No confirmation yet that Kenobi is the one arriving in 2020, but it's the only other spin-off film we've heard about getting off the ground in the last 18 months or so, so it seems likely to be the one we get after IX, and will be directed by Stephen Daldry. I think it's still in the early stages of pre-production: Ewan McGregor hasn't been announced as reprising his role as of yet, but everything seems to be pointing towards his return.

In summary: Trust me to not check the General Game Discussion thread for this This certainly sounds like a Destiny-like game, which, ahem, IS NOT WHAT WE WANT EA. Call me Anakin Skywalker and cut off my right arm, replace it with a mechanical one, then cut off my other arm and both of my legs, and leave me to burn by the side of a river of lava before giving me an uncomfortable black leather makeover and a voice-changer, can it be 2023 already so EA can wave goodbye to this franchise's license please?

Solo: A Star Wars Story stars Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo and is directed by Ron Howard. The film is themed as a Space Western centered on a young Han Solo, the roguish smuggler who later meets Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in the Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars: A New Hope, and his adventures with his Wookiee partner Chewbacca, including their encounter with Lando Calrissian. The film is set for release May 25th 2018.

I think that this trailer was much smarter, but have to agree that TFA's was clearly better in terms of hyping things up; ultimately, I feel that that boils down to the dependence on Original Trilogy motifs and music in the TFA trailer, whereas as TLJ's includes a lot of the new stuff we first heard in TFA. Gosh darn, this film really can't come soon enough!

That was...extremely cinematic, to say the least. I'm still on the fence and will probably be playing Battlefront II the week that this drops, but I might end up getting it. The way that I've interpreted it so far is that the main story will be slightly altered and not too different to that of SM, but then this game will follow through with some great post-game content. I hope. Just need a trailer like that great SM one we got last year at this point to get me over the fence.

So, in the unlikely case that anyone thought that the most recent trailer for The Last Jedi revealed anything that shouldn't have been revealed...we've seen nothing yet. Rian certainly knows how to drive a hype train. ¡59 days to go!

Probably something to do with Dooku; @bob love the SW Blu-Rays, but it's a real shame that TFA doesn't come with much in the way of bonus features like - awkwardly - the prequels did :/

I thought that this was the more obvious option...

Ripping off != callbacks. Plus, even if it does (which I find highly unlikely) is there really that much wrong with "ripping off" what many would argue is one of the greatest sequels in film history? It's a trailer; if we're really going to go deep into TESB callbacks, we could talk about the not-so-obvious inclusion of part of the Imperial March, or perhaps the harp playing at the start being isolated from the beginning of The Rebel Fleet. Unlike TFA, which didn't mirror ANH stop much in its promotional footage, TLJ is very clearly leaning into it, which is a very smart move for marketing, and let's not forget that it is extremely rare for the studio producing the film to have much of a hand in the trailer; its more than likely that the trailer company (which did a fantastic job, imo) used footage which harked back to TESB intentionally, as it's an easy marketing tool to use, and couple that with unclear and vague musical callbacks that are originally from TESB being in the trailer? It's marketing genius at work, if you ask me.

Precisely this! Upon first viewing it felt like way too much had been shown: wait, that happens, and that happens, and that happens? Subsequent viewings calmed my initial caution, and there are so many ways in which any one of those potentially-spoilery-but-not-spoilery events could go. Kudos to whomever cut the trailer, I think it's an absolute masterpiece (especially with how they got Rey's lightsaber-swinging sound effects to match up to the melody playing at that time). Got my midnight tickets booked too I remember being extremely excited for TFA, yet somehow I'm even more excited for TLJ! 65 days to go now...

The director of the film, Rian Johnson, on Twitter: Hard not to love this guy What are you implying?

I think that the best thing about this trailer is that, at first glance, it seems like it ruins a lot of things, but I actually think it's cut in such a way so that we can't tell what is where. Smart move LFL. Personally, I don't think they've spoiled it: this seems like a massive misdirect to me, and I think that after what happened with Rogue One's trailers that Rian Johnson might have had a stronger say in what was and wasn't shown. I actually think that the shot in question is from the end of the first act of the film, at a guess!

Finally, a poster that I can - somewhat - get behind! And a trailer to boot:

For sure, can't wait! Feel like getting up in the early hours of the morning is going to either wreck me or finally fix my messed up sleeping patterns; we shall see. Also, not quite sure how this slipped in under the radar...but it did: Guess who isn't getting any sleep after they wake up at 02:30? ...

Just in case the hype train hadn't already left the station...

A lot of convincing stuff going around that tickets will drop within days of, if not the same day as, the trailer, which is expected to drop on Monday evening/Tuesday morning (depending on your time zone). Less than 70 days to go now!

According to CineWorld, the film clocks in at 150 minutes, which would make The Last Jedi the longest Star Wars film to date (8 minutes longer than Attack of the Clones) and roughly the same length as movie classics such as Apocalypse Now or The Dark Knight. I have a great feeling about this...

Wow, this is the best start I feel that English football has had to the start of the UCL in a very long time. Extremely pleased with our performance away in Madrid; feels like our most dominant showing against a top European side in, well...a very long time. Great to see Morata scoring again, Hazard was great as always, but I'm still concerned about squad size. I think we seriously need a few more players come January if we're to keep this pace up (with or without major injuries). I can't help but feel sorry for Ancelotti: though I find Bayern's recruitment tactics extremely respectable in this day and age, I think it says something that Robben (33) and Ribery (34) are still considered to be in Bayern's current best XI; these players, as well as Xabi Alonso and Lahm, amongst others, should have had players signed to replace them a year ago at the very latest. Shaqiri and Costa brought in for the long-Term to replace Robben and have both left (Costa had an off-season last season, but if the problem was Carlo's tactics anyway...) and Coman hasn't shown off his spark in a while. Kimmich is a solid RB, but at the same time, if anyone in Bayern's starting XI got injured today, especially in such an important position for Ancelotti's system, it would have caused chaos. The team should be playing something like a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-1-1 given the available players (I'm still surprised we don't see Müller played just off Lewandowski more often; the former can run around the entire final third of the pitch whilst the latter can hold up the play and poach) but we're still seeing them trying to implement Guardiola's tactics with the counter-attacking mindset of Ancelotti's 4-3-3/4-2-1-3 and it simply does not work given the players at their disposal. Surprised he wasn't out sooner, because it seems a waste of a great manager - no offence to German football - to walk in to somewhere like Bayern and not be given the funds and respect to implement a new system. Both Bayern and Ancelotti are to blame for this, in my eyes: the former saw some of Jupp's managerial spark in the latter, I'm sure, whilst the latter expected a walk in the park.

Final trailer has more-or-less been confirmed to be dropping 21:00 - 22:00 ET (02:00 - 03:00 BST) on the 9th (10th) by SWNN's sources, depending on the events of the game (it's playing at half time during an NFL game). My calendar is marked, and it's great that it comes merely hours after BFII's beta closes. The countdown to the film is really starting to kick in 77 days to go!

Aaaaaaand the editing is complete: the film is finished. Around 83 days to go

Yeah, Rian Johnson (the director) and Mark Hamill have been very verbal about how there shouldn't be much else shown from the film, so I'm planning on avoiding absolutely everything once the next trailer goes up. Despite what I just said about those involved, the film is premiering a week before its official American release date (the 15th), the largest gap between premiere and such a release under Disney's regime. @EEVILMURRAY at this point, I honestly think it's either that or she's a Skywalker in my eyes. Anything else requires way too much inorganic exposition (Skywalker could be explained through further Forceback visions). I'm also extremely interested in where they take Kylo after TFA: if he is going to turn, do we see the beginnings of this at the end of TLJ? Because if not...I think there's a valid argument for him going darker and killing Snoke in IX to take control of the Galaxy (only if X - XII are planned too).

Great idea @Nicktendo! Surprised we haven't done this before, but I agree with the others: I don't think the IGN method will work on a message board. If I'm understanding what @Ronnie and @Hero-of-Time are saying, the GAF way sounds like the best way to do it: set a deadline (i.e. the end of September) to allow for optimal participants, who will post their Top 10, with their top choice gaining 10 points, their next 9 points, etc. However, I'd suggest that we save 2017 Nintendo games - as there have been a lot of greats, but I feel that, as a result, it could take a while for us to fully process them - for the start of next year, and debate top games for the year, and then debate as to whether or not they make it into the list? I mean, BOTW is a 50-hour commitment at minimum, and Odyssey is likely to be critically acclaimed by many of us too. Just my two cents, but it gives everyone a chance to play them after we see some prices drop in a few weeks in preparation for Christmas

So, Mark Hamill tweeted this before deleting it: The question is: did he delete it because he was up to his usual fan-trolling, or because he wasn't supposed to reveal that? in any case, we'll be finding out soon enough: this would mean the trailer is likely to drop on October 9th at roughly 21:00 ET - half-time of Monday Night Football - or 02:00 BST. Confirmation will likely be provided during the weekend as GMA will likely release a teaser to the trailer. In other news, I'm starting to get seriously excited.

From the Direct last week featuring the new UBs (not too keen on their designs to be honest with you guys): The following image of USUM's Alola came a few weeks beforehand and, so someone who's into the lore moreso than the competitive side of battling, it was especially intriguing to see what looks like a familiar formation of dark/purple clouds... Alola in USUM You know, like the ones we saw in DPPt and ORAS when Dialga, Palkia and Giratina showed up? Sinnoh in Platinum Hoenn in ORAS And, finally, a special poster was revealed earlier today. Including what you might ask? First things first: it's a great looking poster. Not too sure how I feel about NPCs having virtually the same outfit designs as SM, but alas, it won't make or break the game. However, what about those shadowy figures obscuring our view of that familiar looking cloud? Upon first viewing, and a lot of zooming in, the one on the left seems to share a lot of similarities with some Pokémon, in the way that it's torso generally falls and it having a pretty weird arm and all. But the left one? Yep...that definitely looks like a person, who's body is facing the left side of the image, and seemingly has their arms crossed and is seemingly wearing a backpack of sorts. Zooming into the facial area shrouded in cloud reveal two faniliar Sugimori-styled eyes. Another look at the left one and that arm still looks dodgy, but a male face seems evident, as well as what looks to be some sort of eyewear, pretty short hair, and what seems to be a beard. Mechanic parts are seemingly evident down the sides of his torso. But, okay, who is it? Well...Lysandre did have a bit of an accident at the end of XY, so that could explain the extremely strange and seemingly cyborg-like design. However, could it also be Cyrus returning from the Distortion World? Well...it's possible. The general aesthetic down the side of the right figure's torso looks extremely familiar to the aesthetic found on many of Team Galactic's costumes, as shown here: But, likewise, the studs on the "female"'s elbows and the buttons on the "male"'s chest area look similar to those found on Aether's costumes: Whatever is going on...colour me intrigued. I'm absolutely ready to dive into this based on the possibilities this poster boasts alone!