Yeah, I bought those too. It's better than nothing, but the quality of the transfers is terrible. The source material for the DVDs is a laserdisc transfer from 1993. The picture is not even anamorphic widescreen but 4:3 letterbox and looks like this on a modern TV screen:

http://savestarwars.com/images/nonanamorphic.jpg

There are many other problems which are very well explained in this article:

http://savestarwars.com/gout.html

I see we're technically both right, but you are somewhat more right than I was. I didn't realize that they had re-released the laserdisc version of the movies. I was envisioning the proper wide screen film, although technically I don't think any of the VHS copies ever were.

Now, if they could clean it up and remaster the original, that would be great. I've heard that the Star Trek OTS was spectacular and that TNG is going to be as well. I know the Prisoner looks better now than it did on original release.

I just read your links, I forgot that the unaltered versions were technically special features.
IIRC it took years for any DVD release of StarWars and then years later for the edition that I finally bought. We were stuck with VHS for years in the States. I don't know why but Lucas hasn't really been that considerate of his fanbase.

after checking out those links, my respect for lucas has dropped even more :/

I knew he was disrespectful towards the original series, but I never realized how much hatred he has towards his original work. Thanks for the link

I think he is going senile, especially when you take a look at his little speech against digital altering: http://savestarwars.com/lucasspeechagainstspecialedition.html

"People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society. The preservation of our cultural heritage may not seem to be as politically sensitive an issue as "when life begins" or "when it should be appropriately terminated," but it is important because it goes to the heart of what sets mankind apart. Creative expression is at the core of our humanness. Art is a distinctly human endeavor. We must have respect for it if we are to have any respect for the human race.
These current defacements are just the beginning. Today, engineers with their computers can add color to black-and-white movies, change the soundtrack, speed up the pace, and add or subtract material to the philosophical tastes of the copyright holder. Tommorrow, more advanced technology will be able to replace actors with "fresher faces," or alter dialogue and change the movement of the actor's lips to match. It will soon be possible to create a new "original" negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires. The copyright holders, so far, have not been completely diligent in preserving the original negatives of films they control. In order to reconstruct old negatives, many archivists have had to go to Eastern bloc countries where American films have been better preserved.
In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten."
Definitely senile

Check this site: http://forums.lucasarts.com/thread.jspa?threadID=143324
At the post # 2: Looks like LucasArts doesn't like the DRM-free
But maybe the post is wrong.

I could be Take 2 they were/are close with.
Unless that guy is a mod or someone with a little more access than the average joe I would think it is someone just guessing as to the reason, but maybe not. On the other hand it wouldn't necessarily surprise me if true.

There was a list of 5 right before EA was announced, I believe we've only gotten 2 of the 5. Which means that there should be two that they were close with and probably MS being the fifth.

But, as I said, until they sign the contract it doesn't really matter how close they are. It could always hit a snag.
What happened was unchecked ego. Normally artists need somebody else's money in order to complete their vision. George has something like a billion dollars with which to redo his earlier work.

The problem is that he fails to recognize that at this point the movies really do belong to the fans. There's a generation or two that grew up with the original and made him rich, and we're quite frankly kind of pissed about the way he's screwing with our childhood.

Thankfully he's gotten the message that we don't want any more movies if he's not going to take it seriously, but I suspect people would go to see more films if he managed to remember why people loved the original version of the original trilogy.

As much as I hate to admit to, but it seems like piracy will be the only way to preserve the origins theatrical versions if he is trying to destroy them. What he seems to be losing sight of is that you don't need to keep adding in fancy, special effects to have a good story. A good story is one that can stand the test of time on its own merits.

Take this scene for instance, it was so much more powerful without the "No" added: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27RVJJfny4I
Just his body language alone was enough to get the point across of what he was thinking. Sometimes it is sublety that is more powerful than fancy graphics or loudness. While the "NO" could be justified in episode 3, but this is supposed to be Anikan after years of being hardened and disciplined as a Sith. He is not supposed to be emotional, but a hardened machine. This is what made his rebellion and body language so much more powerful, he is starting to reconnect with his humanity after seeing his son suffer even if he couldn't express it verbally.

I think this might explain a lot of what's wrong with the old man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BMgegut3UM

Piracy wouldn't help since no publicly available high-quality source exists. The crappy laserdisc transfers from 1993 and old VHS tapes are literally the only existing sources of the theatrical versions of Star Wars. No DVD quality transfer has ever been released, let alone a high definition one.

EA, LucasArts, Microsoft, Square Enix, and Take 2. When they got EA, they said they were close with getting 2 others - so that would leave 2 of the 5 they weren't close to penning a deal with. Square Enix is now onboard, so my guess is the other is Take 2.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love for LucasArts to show up here soon, but even I am not that much of an optimist. :)

You miscounted. Of the 5 there was one signed deal and 3 deals that were getting close. Which means that there was only 1 deal that was quite unlikely at that point. Personally, I think MS is less likely than LA, but then again there are quite a few games that MS put out that I'd have to restrain myself not to empty my bank account buying.

EDIT: Was it only two of them? I thought it was 3 of of the others.

No, sadly I think it was only 2 - however, I'd love it if you were right and I was wrong. ;)

Unfortunately, you're probably right, it does make rather more sense for them to include two names rather than just one when trying to obscure who they're negotiating with.

It's a lot more complicated to get the mentality in LA's head that DRM is a deterrent and does nothing. We can crack these games, we all know we can, so do they. But when you just have a DRM-Free copy available and the dirty work is done for you then it makes your purchase more confident.

Lucas Arts needs to get up to date, messing with our old films was a bad idea. Thinking DRM is going to reduce piracy thus increasing profits is just showing how far you are in your own world.

DRM-Free sells more than DRM, unless there's achievements(then maybe), but otherwise it will always be that way. Period.