Author: Soeren Kamper

Rumor: Star Wars: Starfighter to be resurrected

Several video game news sites are reporting that the next installment of Starfighter could possibly be in the works and may even be revealed next week at E3. This is definitely a possibility, since LucasArts has not revisited any flight simulation games since Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, released on the GameCube in 2003. Since we only know of  four upcoming Star Wars games (The Force Unleashed 2, The Old Republic, Lego Star Wars III, and the newly announced Clone Wars Adventures), E3 is a mighty fine time to announce a game, but for now, file this one away as a rumor. We’ll keep you updated as E3 draws closer.

Read More

LucasArts Gets A New President

It looks like LucasArts will be at E3 2010 next week with their new president in place. ust a month after Darrell Rodriguez left his position as head of LucasArts, the gaming company has named Paul Meegan to fill the void at the helm. Meegan formerly helped found Epic Games China and worked at Ubisoft and Jaleco Entertainment. Meegan has had a long history in the game industry. He founded game developer Sinister Games in 1997 which was bought by Ubisoft a few years later. After serving as an executive at both Ubisoft and the now defunct Jaleco Entertainment, Meegan became the co-founder and CEO of Epic Games China. There’s no word yet if Meegan will be attending E3. IGN also reports that Meegan will get started at LucasArts in mid-June. Source: Kotaku

Read More

Star Wars Imperial Walker Loft Bed

We hope this kid really loves his father. Now, this is how you create a whole new generation of sci-fisci-fi geeks. This is a loft bed I made for my son that resembles a Star Wars AT-AT Imperial Walker. I searched the Internet and found scale models, cakes, legos, baby strollers and costumes resembling an AT-AT, but never found a bed that resembled an AT-AT. So I made one. It was made with materials available at any Home Depot or Lowe’s. This is a video/slideshow of some of the photos I took during the build process. Hopefully this will help someone who might consider building their own AT_AT. My son sure enjoys his! May the force be with you!

Read More

A favored SWG developer moves to SWTOR

Massively reports that a  one of Star Wars Galaxies’ developers, and apparently a fan-beloved one, has moved on to join the The Old Republic development team: Massively has learned some exciting news for Star Wars: The Old Republic and sad news for Star Wars Galaxies. According to his Linked-In profile, the fan-beloved developer, Matt Boudreaux, landed a new job at Bioware’s Austin studios working on SWTOR. Boudreaux, known as AdeptStrain on the SOE forums, implemented some of the most ground-breaking additions to the aging game Star Wars Galaxies, such as new Jedi and melee animations, the Appearance Tab, and the Chronicles System. His role on the SWG team was solidified by his role in creating some of the best instances like Hoth and Death Troopers. His wit and easygoing demeanor gained AdeptStrain quick rapport among fans. Roleplayers, in particular, have a vested interest in his work because of the added…

Read More

Dramatis Personae for The Old Republic: Decieved

As many Star Wars novel readers are no doubt aware, each novel contains a “Dramatis Personae”; a list of characters that readers are about to see in the novel and who they are. Author Paul S. Kemp (EUC’s interview) has given readers a first look at his upcoming novel The Old Republic: Deceived by posting the Dramatis Personae. It can be considered spoiler-filled, but if you’re so inclined, you can check it out here. Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived, a tie-in novel to The Old Republic game, is set to hit stores as a hardcover on December 28, 2010. I’m hoping to get approval in July to begin posting excerpts from Deceived, my Star Wars novel set in the The Old Republic.  But in the meantime, I thought I’d  post the Dramatis Personae for the novel.  There are four core characters (these four are either point of view characters,…

Read More

Friday Update: Blood of The Empire Issue 4

Today’s Friday Update is now online. It is a new issue of the webcomic Blood of the Empire – like announced earlier today. It deals with Teneb Kel’s search for the Emperor’s apprentice. In the fourth issue of Blood of the Empire, Teneb Kel begins his quest to find the Emperor’s apprentice and learn the reason she betrayed her master. But a war-torn galaxy isn’t always friendly toward Sith, and without a squad of Imperial soldiers to back him up, Teneb must rely on his wits and his lightsaber for protection. Also: what role does the Republic play in Exal Kressh’s machinations? Check out the latest issue of Blood of the Empire now! In reference to hints contained in webcomics, BioWare’s Sean Dahlberg had a statement: While we can understand some people may be frustrated, I want to say the vast majority of people will forgive us after E3 2010….

Read More

Leaked Play Guide?

MMORPG.com are reporting that now defunct fan site Ithorians.com has pictures of what seems to be a play guide for Star Wars: The Old republic (most likely for some test version of the game). Whether this is real or some hoax is hard to confirm, but you can see the images yourself here: There aren’t a lot of surprises in the guide, mostly confirming fairly standard play mechanics. The only things of note are that it mentions that players can fill in a surname and that on death players respawn at a med center.

Read More

How a big budget can change the game for everyone

BioWare gets even more funding for what may very well turn out to be the most expensive game ever made. How can this change the industry forever? Electronic Arts, a company that’s been around since almost forever has just stated that they’re going to be putting even more financial backing behind BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic. Eric Brown, the chief fiancial officer, stated that the game is “the largest R&D project EA has ever undertaken in terms of dollars that we expect to spend bringing the title to market.” What’s the actual price tag then? That detail remains unknown. What is known is that EA isn’t poor. For this reason it is unlikely we’ll see the game launched in the incomplete state so many MMOGs suffer from. That point alone is reason enough to believe the game will be a strong contender for a top spot in today’s Western…

Read More

BioWare adds Irish customer service center

Electronic Arts has announced plans to open a European customer service and operations center for its BioWare studio, to be based in Galway, Ireland. The new facility will provide BioWare with greater proximity to European players. This investment is being supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland. The Prime Minister of Ireland, Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD, said, “EA is the global leader in interactive entertainment and a very important addition to the thriving games industry in Ireland.” Here’s the press release from EA. It also includes a link to apply for a position if you feel the need. Congratulations to Bioware and Galway:  EA TO OPEN CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER IN GALWAY, IRELAND Irish Government Welcomes Investment By Leading Interactive Entertainment Company Geneva, Switzerland, May 26, 2010 — Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced plans to open a European customer service and operations center for its BioWare™ studio, to be based…

Read More

Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures

Back in march we reported that Star Wars: The old republic wasn’t the only Star Wars mmorpg in development. Today Sony Online Entertainment announced new MMO universe, this one adopting the animated Star Wars: Clone Wars setting. It’s fully a browser-based experience, allowing players to choose to be either a Jedi, Padawan or a Clone Trooper and along-side their favorite heroes such as Anakin Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi. Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts are developing Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, a free-to-play virtual world based on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series airing on Cartoon Network, set to launch online and in retail stores this fall. While LucasArts published SOE’s last MMO based on the George Lucas franchise, Star Wars Galaxies, the San Diego-headquartered studio is both developing and publishing this title. The companies hope to introduce the Jedi, Padawan and Clone Troopers saga to a new generation of…

Read More

Know your lore: Naga Sadow

Naga Sadow was a male Sith Lord, and renowned dark side magician during the days of the first Sith Empire. Sadow had ancestors among both humans and the Sith species of the planet Ziost. He rose to prominence in the final days of the Sith Golden Age, when Marka Ragnos, the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, passed away, leaving the mantle of Dark Lord vacant. During Ragnos’ funeral, Sadow engaged in a duel with rival Sith Lord Ludo Kressh for Ragnos’ title, only to have their contest ended by the spectre of the deceased Dark Lord himself. After a brief admonition, the ghost departed while issuing a warning to both Sadow and Kressh, stating that the fate of the Sith Empire hung on the balance of their decision on how to proceed with leadership of the Sith people. However, the unexpected arrival of two Hyperspace-traveling siblings on Korriban, Gav…

Read More

Playable Species of SW:TOR – Twi’lek

Fridays Star Wars the old republic   ( back in 2010) update gave us an insight to the first companion  – the Twi’lek Vette. Therefor we will continue our Species of Starwars column with an inside to this colorful species. Twi’leks (pronounced /’twilɛk/) were an omnivorous humanoid species originating from the planet Ryloth. They tended to eat cultivated molds, fungi, and rycrit meat. Their distinctive features included colorful skin, which varied in pigment from individual to individual, and a pair of shapely prehensile tentacles that grew from the base of their skulls. The tentacles, called “brain-tails,” “lekku,” “tchun-tchin,” or “head-tails” are advanced organs used for communication and cognitive functions. Twi’leks possessed a fairly standard humanoid vocal structure and were capable of learning most alien languages; however, they usually preferred their native language of Ryl, which incorporated subtle movement of the lekku. When they wished, they could even communicate in complete secrecy…

Read More

R2-D2 Builders at Maker Faire

Every year robot builders, inventors, MythBusters and craftsters gather for a giant celebration of science geekery called Maker Faire. And you can’t have a robot gathering without our friends the Bay Area R2 Builders Group showing up to inspire Star Wars fans of all ages to make their own astromech sidekick. The astromechs were out in full force spinning, whirring and beeping at the crowd that constantly followed the R2 units or came to visit them in the robot area of the fair. Even amongst the other iconic robots from Lost in Space and The Forbidden Planet, and the impressive Tesla Coils, the R2 Builders were the real stars of the fair. Every time I follow around R2 and his makers around Comic-Con, WonderCon, Celebration, and Maker Faire, I love to see kids pose with, hug, kiss, pet and even have full conversations with R2-D2. He might just be the…

Read More

Companions and Sith Advanced Class Details Revealed for SWTOR

It’s Friday again and that means its time for another BioWare update for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Most of what this Friday update brings has already been revealed over the last day by other sites (particularly IGN and GameSpot), but it’s nice the see on the official site regardless. And with a few new snippets here and there (such as a new biography page). This week’s update is all about those lovable little companions players will get symbolic of the Han and Chewie relationship. If you want to know how these companions will help your character develop there is a whole wealth of information now available on the Companions page. Every Star Wars™ hero needs a companion. Han has Chewie, Luke has R2-D2 — even Jabba has the cackling monkey lizard Salacious B. Crumb. These characters will complement your strengths or weaknesses, and provide company for the epic journey…

Read More

Star Wars: The Old Republic Sith Warrior Video

Bioware have leaked a recruitment video for the Sith Warrior. So far it has only been available in low quality at gamespot, but I manage to snitch a high quality version and uploaded it to youtube: As nail-biting as the trailer is, that is not all. Notice at 1:15 of this exciting video trailer, the Sith Warrior is driving a speeder bike. What does this mean? Are players going to have vehicles in SWTOR? We do not have the answer, but given the footage in this trailer, the answer looks positive.

Read More

IGN Interviews BioWare on Companions

IGN has an intresting interview with James Ohlen about the companions in Star Wars: The Old Republic:  IGNPC: Companions have been part of BioWare games from Mincs to Liara. How has the role or design of companions evolved over the years? How will The Old Republic improve on the existing companion systems? What have you learned about players’ expectations for the companions? James Ohlen: Companions have evolved a lot since the days of Minsc and Baldur’s Gate. In Baldur’s Gate the companion characters we created were limited to voice over barks and a little bit of story. In Baldur’s Gate 2 we expanded that significantly, adding the ability for players to get to know his companion through intricate conversation trees, companion centered quest lines and romances. Occasionally we wouldn’t have companions as part of our initial design (Neverwinter Nights and Jade Empire were examples of that), but we’d always add…

Read More

KOTOR the Movie part II : Veil of the Dark Side by Kaydon Sentry

Kaydon Sentry’s adaptation of the video game “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” continues in this second installment of the film franchise. The crew of the Ebon Hawk travel to Manaan and Tatooine in search of the next Star Maps – artifacts that will lead them to the Star Forge, the Sith Empire’s center of power. As Logan and Bastila trace the paths of Revan and Malak, they discover more about each other, and the bond that connects them… Director(s): Kaydon Sentry Writer(s): Kaydon Sentry and Vadakin Genre: Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Drama Runtime: 2h, 18min and 13 seconds Country, language: USA, English Website Veil of the Dark side follows where the prequel left off. Malak’s Sith forces continues to wage war against the peaceful, and fragile Republic. The crew of the Ebon Hawk are still on the hunt for the missing Star Maps on…

Read More

Planets of Star Wars: Hoth

Hoth was the sixth planet of the remote Hoth system. A desolate world covered with ice and snow, located in the Anoat sector, a rarely-traveled portion of the Outer Rim Territories, it became famous as the one-time location of the Alliance to Restore the Republic’s Echo Base during the Galactic Civil War. It was discovered in 3 ABY by the Empire, causing the Battle of Hoth, a major engagement that destroyed the Rebels’ base and gave them heavy casualties. Description Located on the fringe of the Ivax Nebula in the Anoat Sector of the Greater Javin along the Ison Corridor, Hoth orbited the blue-white star Hoth on a wide elliptical orbit. Beyond Hoth was a large asteroid belt, known as the Hoth Asteroid Field, from which small asteroids regularly broke off, crashing onto Hoth’s surface as meteorites. The planet consisted of a molten metallic core with dichotomous crust. Its surface…

Read More

Preventing knee-jerk ragequitting through marketing machinations? Sean “Dragons” Stalzer explains.

In D-Mail #1, The Syndicate Guildmaster and CEO Sean “Dragons” Stalzer explained his passion for building strong online communities and reasoned that these communities and the “business brains” behind online games have many of the same interests at heart. This week, in D-Mail #2: Knee Jerk Reactions, Sean looks at how game developers can slow down ragequit-prone guildmates before they do something rash, and do it through, of all things, clever marketing gimmicks? Sean explains: In the real world we weigh the pros and cons of a decision more carefully than many players do in the virtual world. So we can often see examples of ill-conceived decisions or solutions to a perceived issue that were not well thought-out. It is in those moments that communities can tear themselves apart and, once destroyed, the developer and the player suffers the results. So when I read the recent news from Bioware, it was…

Read More