I didn’t embed the Tython video from BioWare last week, but I meant to. I actually took a couple days to watch it because the end of my week was busy and hectic; when I did my jaw dropped. I mean, dropped open. Physically, with distance. To say that it’s impressive is an enormous understatement. It’s gripping, it’s compelling, it yanks you off your feet. I have a comparison for you to watch. Pay attention to everything in the Old Republic video, of course, but look at how much fun the actual in-game footage looks too.



Now look at this, a trailer for a little game that you might have seen or heard about once or twice in the last four years:

There’s this … frission to these trailers. There’s a sense of something deep and important about these trailers that reaches out and grabs me as a gamer. When I saw that World of Warcraft in that trailer, I think it was the first time I’d ever laid eyes on the MMO version of Azeroth. I knew then how special what I was looking at was, and I know now (in the BioWare videos) that I’m seeing something special. This game is coming to the table with a unique set of elements. The Old Republic has a fresh approach to a strong (if no longer beloved) IP, a strong pedigree in BioWare, a huge publishing backer in EA, and apparently a business staff with the balls to do something unexpected with the game’s pricing model.

Chris Matthews has been mocked mercilessly for talking about a ‘tingling feeling’ when he saw then-candidate Obama speak. What he was expressing was the sense, the deeply tactile sense, that what he was seeing was something special. Something unique.

When I consider The Old Republic the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. The corners of my mouth are tugged upwards, and I can’t help but think of the possibilities. I hope, beyond all measure, that the lads down in Austin don’t let me down.