Recent Stargate news articles:

Greg Tarr posted on twice.com 4 months ago:

Latest 'Stargate' Movie Goes Direct To Blu-ray

Los Angeles — MGM Home Entertainment said it will release the next installment of the long-running Sci-Fi TV series “Stargate SG-1” day-and-date on DVD and high-def Blu-ray Disc on July 29, 2008.

“Stargate: Continuum” is the second made-for-DVD movie to be produced since the history-setting TV series was canceled last year. In this edition, members of SG-1 find themselves returning to a world where their history has been dramatically altered.

“Stargate: Continuum” reunites original series star Richard Dean Anderson as Jack O'Neill, with more recent additions Ben Browder, Beau Bridges and Claudia Black, and series regulars Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Michael Shanks.

MGM said the feature is “the most northerly filmed movie production in history, filmed partly in the Arctic.” The film will include unusual visual effects, battle sequences and scenes of the Arctic ice.

According to producer Brad Wright, “We've got nuclear submarines, F-15s and the bona fide Arctic Circle. Add our fabulous cast, including Beau Bridges, William Devane and Richard Dean Anderson, and you've got yourselves a movie.”

All-new bonus content on DVD and Blu-Ray will including feature-length audio commentary with producer/writer Brad Wright and director Martin Wood, as well as three featurettes that delve into how the U.S. military provided assistance, such as a Navy nuclear submarine and F-15 fighter jets from the Air Force, what it was like shooting in the Arctic, and how science and science fiction collide, MGM said.

The DVD of “Stargate: Continuum” will carry a $26.98 suggested retail, while the Blu-ray Disc will be $39.98. Pre-book is July 2.


Click here to go to the article at twice.com

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GameIndustry.com posted on gameindustry.com 4 months ago:

FIRESKY TO PUBLISH STARGATE WORLDS

FireSky, a new video game publisher dedicated to improving how gamers play and interact online, announced today that it would publish Stargate Worlds, a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) based on MGM’s award-winning Stargate franchise. FireSky will also publish other unannounced titles as it paves the way for SNAP games.

FireSky is pioneering the development and publishing of games for Social Networks At Play (SNAPs), a unified theory of online gaming that combines social interaction, economies and game play across a variety of titles. The FireSky team calls this evolution “Project: Ascension.” This project – currently under wraps – will bring gamers together in new and unprecedented ways.

“We don’t intend to be another garden-variety games publisher,” said FireSky CEO Tim Jenson. “We are focused on publishing high quality social gaming experiences online. As the industry moves online, more and more people will be turning to games as a way to spend time with friends. With a few notable exceptions, game developers and publishers haven’t done a great job of marrying quality games with social experiences. Project: Ascension and SNAP games will change that dynamic forever.”

FireSky Senior Vice President of Product Development, Rod Nakamoto, has launched more than 80 titles over his 25-year career in game development. Mr. Nakamoto leads FireSky’s four internal development studios and oversees the progress on Project: Ascension.

“There is a degree of pressure to play a title after the fun factor has gone, simply because the investment is too great,” explained Mr. Nakamoto. “Gamers who invest time building characters, making friends and gathering resources typically have no ability to transfer this investment to a new experience. We’re working on a new set of ideals that will push online gaming past these barriers and into an era of portability.”

Senior Vice President of Strategic Operations Joe Ybarra, a 25-year veteran of the video game industry and one of the founding members of Electronic Arts, is heading up FireSky’s publishing operations. Mr. Ybarra has extensive experience publishing products worldwide, handling licensed material and managing business development with third-party developers.

“From a business perspective, publishing is the logical next step for FireSky,” said Mr. Ybarra. “We’ve got the chops to do it and we’re assembling a great team here in the desert. I can’t wait to get our flagship up and running to show off our operation.”

FireSky, a subsidiary of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, currently has four studios working on a variety of interactive titles.

“It’s almost time for us to lift the veil and show the world some of the unique projects we’re working on in addition to Stargate Worlds,” said Mr. Jenson. “Our studios are filled with talented game designers, world builders and engineers and we’ll be announcing several products over the course of the summer and fall that will lay the foundation for SNAP games and Project: Ascension. We have projects that span a variety of game genres as well as proven and emerging business models.”

Click here to go to the article at gameindustry.com

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Scott Collura posted on uk.tv.ign.com 5 months ago:

Amanda Tapping Talks Stargate and Sanctuary

Amanda Tapping must have the biggest and best office in the SCI FI Channel building… or at least the nicest pension plan. For the Canadian actress has proven to be a huge asset to the network, anchoring not just the long-lived Stargate SG-1 series as Colonel Samantha Carter, but also jumping in as a regular cast member on that series' spin-off, Stargate: Atlantis, and now appearing in the direct-to-DVD movies that are based on the franchise as well. Additionally, she's got a new series coming to SCI FI in the fall called Sanctuary. IGN TV caught up with the actress at this week's SCI FI Channel upfront event in New York to discuss her current career path towards absolute SCI FI dominance.

"Sam Carter, after [the DVD movie] The Ark of Truth goes to Stargate: Atlantis," explains Tapping. "So for all of season 4 I was the commander of the base. And then at the beginning of season 5… I can't tell you what happens! But I'm not going to be as regular on Atlantis, so I can do my new series Sanctuary."

Sanctuary, which began as a web-only series, was recently picked up by SCI FI for a 13-episode commitment for cable broadcast. She'll be recurring on Atlantis for a time while focusing mostly on the new show.

"We shot a pilot that went on the web for eight webisodes," says the actress, who adds that production on the proper series begins next month. Tapping stars as a character named Dr. Helen Magnus in the new show.

"She's awesome," says Tapping. "She's 157 years old, a doctor from Victorian England with a very interesting past. She's eccentric and very sexy and she runs a sanctuary for abnormals, which is what she calls them, all the disparate and strange creatures out there. She studies them for scientific purposes and is aided by her daughter, who is a kick-ass babe, and a young psychiatrist that she brings onboard."

Naturally, though, a character who is 157 years old is going to have at least a bit of baggage that they carry around with them…

"Her backstory is that she was engaged to Jack the Ripper, as you do," laughs Tapping. "He was actually one of her first patients. So there's a lot of mythology woven around her. She's been around for so long, so we'll dive into different decades."

The show will be shot almost entirely on greenscreen, ala 300, bringing a fantastical feel to the proceedings.

"It's not quite photo-real," she says. "It has a very gaming, Sin City quality to it. So it's got this cool sort of comic-book aspect. It's very dark, and it's unlike anything that's ever been done on television."

In fact, the new show represented a conflict for Tapping, despite the fact that it and Atlantis are both SCI FI properties now.

"I wanted to go back to Atlantis and they offered me a very nice contract," she says. "But I have to go with my new show. So I found myself in the unenviable position of having to turn down a contract!"

Anyway, Tapping says that the success of The Ark of Truth and the fact that the Stargate team has already shot their second direct-to-DVD movie means that Sam Carter isn't going away any time soon…

"Stargate: Continuum comes out in July, and we're hopeful [there will be more]," says Tapping. "I think in a perfect world we'll see more. I gotta love sci-fi fans, man! They went out and bought this one, God bless them."

Sanctuary begins airing in October and Stargate: The Ark of Truth is out on DVD now. Go pick up a copy -- for Amanda's sake!

Click here to go to the article at uk.tv.ign.com

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Broadcasting & Cable posted on broadcastingcable.com 6 months ago:

Sci Fi Channel Expands Web Offerings

Sci Fi Channel is expanding its Web offerings in gaming, technology and entertainment programming -- three areas it said its tech-savvy audience favors.


The network announced plans for stand-alone gaming and tech sites, original scripted and unscripted shows and a new social game at its upfront presentation to advertisers in New York Tuesday.

As it continues to position itself as the home of all things science-fiction, not just a linear cable network, SciFi.com is an increasingly important part of the channel’s portfolio. The site averaged about 3 million unique visitors each month in 2007, according to Sci Fi.

“Our growing network of sites -- starting with the incredibly successful launch of DVICE and continuing next with gaming -- is designed to tap into our audience’s insatiable appetite for technology, games and entertainment,” said Craig Engler, senior vice president of SciFi.com.

The game site will launch in mid-April as a blog-esque hub for news and information on games, players and strategy. Separately, SciFi.com will add a Game Center of casual games, also in mid-April, and launch “Cylon or Human,” a social game in which people pick identities and create pages for themselves and their network of friends.

On the programming side, SciFi.com redid its Sci Fi Rewind video player to stream full-length TV episodes with better technology.

The site will premiere Battlestar Galactica’s fourth and final season debut episode nine hours before it runs on the linear TV channel, and it will host complementary Webisodes, as it has for past seasons, throughout the show’s final run.

Also joining the site is Starcrossed, a Web-only series about the behind-the-scenes antics of a science-fiction space soap. The show is written by Stargate Atlantis’ David Hewlett and executive produced by Stargate Atlantis/SG-1’s Jane Loughman and John G. Lenic.
Click here to go to the article at broadcastingcable.com

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Tory Ireland Mell posted on tv.ign.com 6 months ago:

Stargate Atlantis: Season 4 Review

Reflecting back on a sub-par fourth season, I'm reminded that it wasn't all bad; in fact it started pretty perfect and then progressively got worse. With a slew of rehashed SG-1 storylines, boring filler episodes, and poor character arcs it's a wonder Stargate Atlantis got picked up for a fifth season at all.

In the beginning there was Stargate: SG-1, a show spun off from a hit movie. A show that lasted 10 fun-filled years. It had a cast that looked like they belonged together, felt like they should be together, and in the end was perfect together. The next natural step for this successful franchise was a spin-off of its own. It wasn't a forced show; it blended perfectly from one to the other, like two rivers converging into one steady stream. and here we are four years later, with a show that doesn't quite resemble it's predecessor.

In Season 4 we saw a lack of "KAWHOOSH," and little actual gate travel - where the Stargate used to be a character in and of itself, it has become a special guest star. I think we saw the gate as much as we saw Teal'c this season.

To help the franchise along and to keep SG-1 fans happy after the cancellation of the show, on Atlantis we were treated with one semi-regular addition to the show from SG-1, along with one guest appearance. The semi-regular, Col. Samantha Carter, had a completely underused role on the show, and was quite frankly a slap in the face to her character that she built for the past 10 years. However, a great guest appearance this season was that of Teal'c, who in the episode "Midway" helped bring the show some life, and big ratings.



- SCI FI ChannelAmanda Tapping as CarterWithout a SG-1 lead-in, the ratings for this season were surprisingly steady, but with weak stories and some bad acting throughout, I'm shocked they weren't lower more often. It seemed as though the writers just got tired of writing solid episodes and we were left with boring story arcs (when they happened) and horrible filler episodes.

One story arc that was insufferable was Teyla's pregnancy. When someone gets pregnant in the real world, you can write her off the show until after the birth, attempt to hide it, or choose to write the pregnancy into the show. But if you are going to use the person, be smart about it. Teyla's pregnancy was mistreated, from the father of the soon to be born child, to the things she actively did while pregnant.

Another character that wasn't developed over the season was Col. John Sheppard. The first quarter of the season we saw some of the best acting and most interesting directions for this character since the inception of SGA. He starts off with this powerful emotion, and bizarre rage that is kind of from left field, but is a brilliant addition to the character. As time went on, all the drama and raw emotion left him. His character never pays off this season.

Some other characters with little to nothing to do were Ronon Dex, and Dr. Keller (Firefly's Jewel Staite). Ronon had a couple of solo episodes, including some get to know you time on screen, but overall, it was another drab and boring performance from Jason Momoa. There were small glimpses of possible growth with his character, but none of it ever pays off.

Dr. Keller started off Season 4 with nothing, no depth, bad acting and leaving us wishing she stayed with her Serenity crew, but towards the end, she began to, for lack of a better word, man-up and give us a little more to work with as viewers of the show. She started very green, not knowing much of anything and being a complete coward. I guess being fresh to the show and to that world is understandable, but I think a little too much. Later on towards the back half of the season, she came into her own, with some surprising possible relationship choices, some that never pan out, some that do. I hope in the fifth season we get a chance to build her character some more, and make her feel more like family.

The problem with having such a huge ensemble cast is that if it is not guided in the proper direction, you very quickly lose interest in all the characters. Most of this season seemed to follow the exploits of Sheppard and McKay, which is fine, but you either A: forgot about the other characters on the show, or B: were left wondering where the other cast members were, thus distracting you from the story in front of you.



- SCI FI ChannelJoe Flanigan as Lt. Col. John SheppardAll of the character problems this season coupled with all of the story problems made this a not so memorable 20 episodes. However, there were a handful of episodes that really stood out amongst a bunch of rubbish, which wasn't very hard to do this season. The second episode of Season 4 was "Lifeline," and to me it was a thing of perfection and what SGA is all about. The only thing the writers of the series had to do was follow this formula and they would have had a near perfect season - hell, they still could have even thrown in a few nothing filler episodes and all would have been well.

So to sum it all up, Season 4 of Stargate: Atlantis was a less than perfect season, with lots of story problems. If you are a die-hard Stargate fan you will enjoy it and pray that they do better in its fifth season, recognizing that there were lots of problems. If you are new to the show and haven't seen it yet, there are a few episodes that will leave you slack-jawed and goggle-eyed, and a bunch that will have you wondering why it has been on for four seasons.

Go back, watch the first three seasons, and suffer through this one in hopes for a fantastic fifth season. One thing we have learned over the years from this franchise, is NEVER count them out!
Click here to go to the article at tv.ign.com