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Pick Up ‘Alan Wake’ Before It’s Gone!
Let’s just get this out of the way right now: Licensing issues suck for fans. They’ve prevented many beloved films from being put onto Blu-Ray by companies like Scream Factory and Arrow Films, prevented classic games from being released on to services like Steam or GOG.com, or in the case of expiring rights, means that soon fans will no longer be able to enjoy these films/games in the future.
Such is the case for Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake, which is now entering its final days of being available for purchase on both Steam and GOG.com. The game’s side story, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, is not affected, but is still being given a discount for fans. The issue stems from expiring music rights, which if you’ve played the game, know how integral the music is to the gameplay. Songs like David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, as well as songs from the in-game fictional band Old Gods of Asgard, performed by the real-life band Poets of the Fall, are the amongst the sticking points.
Other games that have licensed music have had problems in the past with expiring rights, such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. While it would be simple (in the case of Vice City) to simply patch out the music, Remedy instead is looking to renew those rights. But until then, the game will have to be sunsetted until the matter is sorted out. If you haven’t played the game, which is masterful in its storytelling, you can grab on Steam for $3 USD, or spring for the Collector’s Edition or get the whole series for under $5 USD. Over on GOG.com, you can grab the games for a simliar price, but with added goodies like making-of videos, developer diaries, supplementary comics and more.
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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