[X360] Battlestar Galactica targets Xbox Live

[.:|Physalis|:.]

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When it debuted in 2003, the new Battlestar Galactica was greeted with skepticism. After all, it was a remake of a 1970-'80s series with a strong cult following produced by the Sci-Fi Channel, a cable network then infamous for its low-budget TV movies of the week.


Galactica stars Grace Park, James Callis, and Tricia Helfer.

Surprisingly, Battlestar Galactica proved the naysayers wrong. Its innovative plotlines, which were created by ex-Star Trek: The Next Generation writer Ronald D. Moore, won it critical acclaim and solid ratings. The series has also garnered a major following for its unusually gritty atmosphere. Instead of the clean-cut, sober officers of the Star Trek shows, Galactica's crew is a unkempt, hard-drinking lot whose demoralized dialogue is peppered with the fictional expletive "frak."

In 2004, the show was picked up as a full-time series. It ended its most recent season, its second, in March with one of the more shocking cliffhangers in sci-fi television history. Such boldness helped the show win one of this year's Peabody Awards, the prestigious honor for excellence in broadcasting which it shared with CNN, NBC Nightly News, and South Park, amongst others.

The third season of Battlestar Galactica is premiering in October, and the Sci-Fi channel is pulling out all the stops to promote it. It has put together a television special, titled Battlestar Galactica: The Story So Far, summing up the key events of the Battlestar Galactica mini series and its first two seasons. The special will air on all the cable stations owned by Sci-Fi parent NBC Universal, which includes Bravo and USA, as well as the West Coast affiliates of the NBC broadcast TV network.

NBC Universal will also be targeting gamers with its PR offensive by releasing The Story So Far on Xbox Live Marketplace in its entirety. Though both seasons of Battlestar Galactica are already available on iTunes, the special will be the "first longform program ever to be offered" on Xbox Live.

While exciting for fans of the show with Xbox 360s, the announcement was short on information about the The Story So Far on Xbox Live. No date was given for the release of the program, nor was its size revealed. In addition, no price was mentioned for the program, though given its promotional nature, it is presumably free.

Unfortunately, the Xbox Live announcement had no information on the rumored Battlestar Galactica role-playing game which Moore mentioned when he spoke at the 2006 Game Developers Conference.