1. I've always been one to call a spade a shovel, so I'll be the one to put this out there: Lucasfilm, and Lucas in particular, have no qualms about lying to hype up a product. "Never available," "not until," "last time," "always intended," "definitive," "original vision," ... when you hear these words, you know they are lying. (Or, to be charitable, telling the truth from a certain point of view.)

2. However, they may well be telling the truth this time. DVD, although not on its way out, is rapidly being complemented by potential successor technologies. Microsoft and Sony will be putting out their HD DVD and BD players by the end of the year, Amazon and Apple are both pushing downloadable content, and VOD is becoming ubiquitously available through cable providers. By the time Lucas runs out of 3D re-re-releases and TV shows to market, he'll put the O-OT on one of these formats.

3. I wouldn't put it past them to do a full restoration and release that claiming it's an altered version of the O-OT. That's just the kind of TF.N logic that fanboys seem to like.

4. If there is never again an official release of the O-OT, just download X0 or the GOUT and send a $45 check to Lucasfilm.