The newest issue of the Star Wars Insider has an article on the 10th anniversary of Knights of the Old Republic and the Star Wars and SWTOR community is buzzing about it this week. It’s actually a really good read and as always, it’s great to see some of our favorite games getting recognition that they deserve. Unless you purchase the digital download, there is no online copy of the article but someone did post some screenshots to an imgur album so you can read it and see the images so big thanks for that! If you look closely at the images, diehard KOTOR fans will notice a slight discrepancy with one of them. It’s on the last page- can you spot what it is? So in honor of this story and recognition of the anniversary of KOTOR, shout out in the comments and let us know what you love…
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Star Wars and Planetary Poker – A Perfect Home for Card Gamers and Star Wars Fans
Today’s television series has enjoyed much enthusiasm from fans of different backgrounds now that there are multiple genres which modern filmmakers, writers, and directors are exploring. One particularly interesting genre that sparks the imagination of its viewers is the sci-fi genre. Although it may not be new to the public, this type of television series dared to go beyond what is currently known and explored the possibilities of non-existent technologies. This kind of setting is well-embodied in the Star Wars series, be it technologies used in warfare like lightsabers or space vehicles like the Millennium Falcon. These gadgets may not exist yet but it cannot be denied that these films have inspired engineers and scientists to develop groundbreaking machinery and tools. Today, we have the likes of Google glass or holograms that back then were once only considered as figments of our playful imagination. With such success, the Star Wars…
How non-paying players can positively impact a game’s success
Since Star Wars The Old Republic (SWToR) changed its subscription model to Free-to-Play (F2P), a lot of opinions were raised about whether it was the right thing to do or not. Some quickly labeled SWToR as a failure that didn’t live up to the hype , while others saw this as a necesary change that helps the game’s long-term growth. Whether this change was successful or not remains to be seen, however first indications as reported by James Ohlen and the recent EA investor’s call are positive. Free-to-play might not be such a bad thing after all! A new article over at Gamasutra.com, argues that non-paying players, actually help the growth of such games. The author of the article cites three major reasons for opening up a game to freeloaders. Among other things F2P players help bring in other new players that eventually will turn into subscribers, they show their appreciation…
Electronic Arts launches new cross-game pet promotion!
In an effort to draw more attention to other Free-to-play (F2P) titles, Electronic Arts (EA) recently started a new cross-game pet promotion for Star Wars The Old Republic (SWToR). EA’s catalogue of free games is quite extensive and using a popular game like SWToR certainly makes sense. To get these pets, all you need to do is register with the games listed below by April 1st and you will receive an in-game pet. The mini-droid pet you get for Battlefield It’s worth noting that this listing is incomplete since only the following games have been confirmed. This doesn’t mean that other EA F2P titles aren’t eligible. (In parenthesis is the name of the pet) Command & Conquer Tiberium Alliances (2C-TA Commander) Battlefield Heroes (J9-BH Mercenary) Battlefield Play4Free (BF-4F Warrior) Need for Speed World (N4-SW Runner) Lord of Ultima (LU-20 Builder) Does this mean that SWToR’s conversion to F2P is yielding the expected for EA results? If…
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Movie?
Will there be a Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic movie? Many fans would be ecstatic to hear this is true but we can’t find any evidence that it’s valid. With Star Wars spinoff rumors in the mix, it’s easy to see how some could quickly believe this one might be true but Karpyshyn himself said on Twitter that he knows nothing about it. @agentjaspor @headgeek666 this would be awesome, but I haven’t heard anything about a #KOTOR movie. But I’m not at #bioware anymore so… — Drew Karpyshyn (@DrewKarpyshyn) February 23, 2013 Ain’t It Cool News, cited sources at BioWare and said that Karpyshyn was secretly working on a screenplay for a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic feature film being developed by Lucasfilm. It’s a nice thought but doesn’t seem to be true. However, this wouldn’t be the first time a rumor was denied when it was leaked too…
BioWare Doctors to Speak on Sex and Video Games at GDC
BioWare writer David Gaider plans to tackle the issues of sex in video games at this year’s Games Developers Conference (GDC). He will be holding a talk called “Sex in Video Games”, which is explained below: Games have reached the point where realistic portrayals of sex and adult relationships are possible, but what does this mean to us as developers? How much responsibility do we have in addressing issues of sexism and sexuality, and are we inadvertently making statements about what is acceptable, even when we don’t mean to say anything at all? Our industry is struggling with a conflict between the desire to be taken seriously as an art form, and the desire to avoid addressing social issues because what we make are “just games.” These things have implications on our sales, and while they can be addressed, it can only happen if we are willing to acknowledge that…
Top 5 Star Wars Games for Holiday 2012
If you have a Star Wars fan in your life, the holiday season is a great time to show them you appreciate them and a great Star Wars game is a fantastic way to do that. The difficult part, however, is that there are so many Star Wars games to choose from. If you have not looked before, you might be surprised at how many titles actually come up. So how can you choose which games are best? Well, it’s a hard call since all fans tend to have their own opinions about what makes a great Star Wars game and which ones were flops and when ones were successes. But here is a pretty safe list that nearly all the Star Wars gamer community can agree upon. Star Wars: The Old Republic Of course, there’s SWTOR – and with the free to play option now that wasn’t available last…
The Official Daily Blink MMORPG Feedback Form
MMORPGs are all about the community- we don’t deny this. But when does the community get a little too demanding and difficult—to-please? Um, probably always… I was just talking about this with a friend the other day. Gamers today seem to be more spoiled than ever before. We want everything done our way, when we want it and how we want it- OR ELSE! Or else we riot, send hate mail, post multiple complaint threads in the official forums, submit in-game tickets or pretty much anything else we can come up with to let the world at large know that we are disgruntled. The Official Daily Blink MMORPG Feedback Form has you covered for all of your complaints, regardless of your particular MMORPG, all in one simple form. While it’s completely hilarious and meant in jest, it does make you do a little self-checking of your own behaviors. I’ll admit…
Ben Cousins Paying to Win Talks about F2P Game Model
In November 2009, EA hit the headlines when the BATTLEFIELD HEROES team made sweeping changes to their in-game economy and virtual item catalogue that many felt would completely destroy the game, as Ben Cousins explains in his “Paying to Win” talk that covers the free to play gaming model and if and how it works. While consumer press, forum users and players claimed that the new game model ruined BATTLEFIELD HEROES, economic statistics would show EA otherwise. Despite the predictions of destruction, over a year on, BATTLEFIELD HEROES continues to be a powerhouse in the free-to-play space, with nearly 7 million registered users, no declining trend in active users, and it long-term future assured. So, what happened? In this talk, Ben Cousins, General Manager of Easy (the EA studio behind BATTLEFIELD HEROES) takes us through the story of this controversy. Through the development of BATTLEFIELD HEROES and the early performance…
Unreleased Star Wars Video Games
Do you ever wonder what happens to all of those great video game ideas that never make it to production? Here are some Star Wars video games that never actually existed but it sure would be fun if they did! Star Wars The Empire Strikes Dak for Atari Pitfall! Sarlacc Edition for Atari Is it Operational? For NES Uncle Owen’s Moisture Farm Tycoon for Xbox And more! Now that we’ve had some laughs, here’s a real unreleased Star Wars video game: Super Star Wars is an unreleased platform game developed by Brain Bug that was originally supposed to be the PC port of LucasArts‘ SNES game of the same name. It all began in 1994 while most people of their team worked on another game, Lollypop. Since the SNES version of Super Star Wars was one of their favorite games and Softgold – the publisher of Lollypop – had a…
EverQuest Next’s Design Scrapped: SOE cites SWTOR, Rift, The Secret World as Reason
Sony Online Entertainment’s EverQuest Next was billed as “the largest sandbox MMO ever designed“ but sadly, it will never be seen by gamers- at least not in the way we first thought. SOE has now decided to scrap the original design for the 3rd installment of EverQuest. As a long time EQ fan, I was interested in hearing more about the reasons for this and how the game design would move forward. Massively talks to John Smedley about it: Massively: Let’s start with EQ Next. When did you make the call to scrap everything? What was it that made you choose to do so? John Smedley: A year and a half ago, we made that decision. I didn’t get to cover this in the keynote, so I should mention it here. The engine and underlying technology has not changed. A lot of the guts and infrastructure are staying the same. What we’re…
Are UI Mods Killing MMORPGS?
In the world of MMORPGs, there are many tools designed to help us advance in the game more quickly and enjoy the game more. Mods and addons allow us to do this and often take on a life of their own with the many things they allow you to do in the game. UI mods are especially popular, changing the look of the user interface and allowing you to personalize your game like never before. I have been playing WoW since beta and long before the days of mods that currently rule the game. GameSpy has a really interesting piece about World of Warcraft mods and how they are affecting the game which has me thinking about how they affect MMORPGs in general and how we see them. Have we become dependent on these addons to enjoy our games fully? While I’ve been one to enjoy my fair share of…
Star Wars Angry Birds Revealed
There have been a lot of rumors going around for a few weeks now about Star Wars Angry Birds but now they’re finally here with some official info and even some pictures. We’re finding details around the Web about the new Angry Birds line of products from Hasbro and Rovio featuring a Star Wars theme. Some of the items include: Star Wars Angry Birds Jenga Death Star – This one is supposed to have an exclusive Chewbacca figure! Star Wars Angry Birds At-At Attack Battle Game – Not much more to say about this other than it looks awesome. It looks like a Lightsaber bird launcher and an At-At with holes for pigs to hide in and a platform to build your collapsible construction. It comes with 12 figures: Birds featuring an X-Wing Pilot, Han Solo, Hoth Rebel, and exclusive Luke Hoth Rebel, and Pigs featuring Darth Piggy (not his name but…
Be a Gamer Wife; Not a Gamer Widow
A common problem amongst many who game (especially MMORPGs) is “wife agro” or that the spouse/girlfriend of the gamer doesn’t like them playing or how much time they spend gaming. As a wife and gamer myself, I was lucky enough to be married to a person who has also loved gaming since childhood but a common problem we see with friends and family (and co-guildies) is that when only one is a gamer, the other often feels left out. They actually have support groups for this sort of thing; “WoW widows” for those who feel they have lost their husbands to World of Warcraft and even SWTOR has some hate threads on the Internet from disgruntled women who feel they have lost their men to the game. But one blog post I stumbled across was a little different. This wife talks about how she worked through the struggles with her…
New Star Wars Game: First Assault Coming to XBLA?
There could be a new Star Wars game on the way and while it has not been officially released yet, there is some info going around the gaming communities about it. The mysterious LucasArts project that has had rumors flying for some time, appears to be an Xbox LIVE Arcade title. Back in August, it was discovered that LucasFilm had purchased a series of domain names related to something with Star Wars and this unknown title. Now, according to a listing on Xbox.com, via NeoGAF, Star Wars First Assault will be an XBLA game but it has not been officially confirmed by LucasArts yet. GameSpot provides some more information: A new Star Wars game is headed to Xbox Live Arcade, according to an eagle-eyed NeoGAF forum user. The game has not yet been announced by LucasArts, but it is not entirely a mystery. In August, the company filed a trademark application for Star Wars: First Assault for…
Coming Soon from BioWare: Dragon Age III
One of the most popular BioWare series is Dragon Age. There are those who love it and those who loved only one (the original but bit DA2, for example). The game series has a large following who are probably excited to hear about Dragon Age III: Inquisition. There is now more information coming out about this latest title from BioWare and what we can expect from the game. On the official site of DA3, we can find an open letter from Mark Darrah the executive producer. In this letter he confirms the game is coming (not completely news to all of us): I am pleased to confirm that we are, in fact, working on the next Dragon Age game. Not a big surprise to most of you, I know. We have been working on it in some way for about two years now with the bulk of our efforts ramping…
Guild Wars 2 Tops UK Sales but lags behind SWTOR, and Tera Merges Servers
Lots of ups and downs in the gaming world today as Guild Wars 2 tops UK sales but lags behind SWTOR and Tera is merging servers. What could these trends be showing us about the gaming niche in general or what we stand to see or not see from future games? Massively explains: Guild Wars 2 is the second largest non-World of Warcraft PC MMO launch in UK history according toChart-Track. The new fantasy title from ArenaNet topped sales charts this week but still sold less at retail than Star Wars: The Old Republic did at launch. This comes out at the same time as the news that the newly released (younger than SWTOR) game Tera is trimming down its servers list: The latest letter from TERA’s producer is out, and while it includes some interesting statistics, the most important bit of information is that the game will be trimming down its server list. On September 18th, the…
Star Wars 1313 Descent to the Underworld Trailer
Are you excited for Star Wars 1313 Descent to the Underworld? Want to learn more about the upcoming game title? Haven’t even heard of it before? Here’s a video you’re going to want to check out. Star Wars 1313 will feature epic action adventure game play including exotic weaponry and gadgets that bounty hunters depend on for survival. In addition, the game will feature a combination of agile cover-based combat, epic platforming and seamless playable cinematic game play. Players will experience awe-inspiring and action-packed cinematic sequences, constantly staying engaged through the threat, pressure and tension of this criminal underworld. Are you looking forward to it? Will you play or do you think LucasArts has another Star Wars title on their hands that isn’t going to make it big? Star Wars 1313 Descent to the Underworld Trailer [HD] Developer: LucasArts Release: TBA Genre: Action/Adventure Platform: PS3/X360/PC Publisher: LucasArts
Is Electronic Arts Up for Sale?
Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq:EA) is “quietly exploring” opportunities for it to be sold to private equity firms, according to a report by the New York Post. According to these reports, EA is talking to two different potential companies about a sale. Both are private equity companies- KKR & Co. L.P (NYSE: KKR) and Providence Equity Partners, a major shareholder in ZeniMax Media, an EA competitor. So what does this mean for EA? Honestly, it’s too early to tell. One source said “it’s early days” for any deliberation but then another source said that EA has “made it known they’d do a deal at $20 a share.” Either way, we’re basing all of this on rumor and not on any solid facts at this time. EA’s stock has struggled a bit lately, dropping 37% in the past year. However, they are still a leader in the industry and some might say that drop is just a…
Expert: MMORPG Players Better than MBA candidates?
According to learning guru John Seely Brown, expert World of Warcraft players make better job candidates than an MBA from Harvard. While that may sound a little bizarre, you can listen to his explanation on a youtube video below. While some employers still hang onto the old notion that job applicants who play video games are not the best candidates, perhaps because they believe they’ll spend their days playing online and are easily distracted, smart companies realize the value of the leadership skills as well as organization skills that are learned by WoW players, making them the better candidate for the job.YouTube video here. Seely Brown is just one among many who have come to the same conclusion, and he is certainly not a slacker by any means. He is currently an independent co-chair of the Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation and has degrees in physics and mathematics from Brown…
Star Wars 1313 Featured at this Year’s E3
At the 2012 E3 expo, one of the highlights was Star Wars 1313, reportedly a new and darker Star Wars game put together by many division of the Lucasfilm organization, according to a recent blog on GameNGuide.com by Juan G. Rodriguez. While Industrial Light & Magic’s visual effects supervisor Kim Libreri noted that he believes “in 10 years game graphics will have advanced to the point of being indistinguishable from reality,” adding, “one day it will be impossible to spot the differences between real-time rendering and live action.” The early footage of Star Wars 1313 reportedly showcases fluid animation and cinematic quality visuals but does not approach anything near photorealistic quality. With the leaps and bounds in advancing technology and the difference in what video games looked like just a decade ago compared to today, it is not surprising to hear Libreri’s opinion on where they’ll be another ten years…
World of Warcraft has 9.1 million subscribers, down by a million since May
With talks about SWTOR going free to play, we also hear a lot of talk about World of Warcraft, the popular MMO from Blizzard. Many people said SWTOR might be a WoW-killer and then it turned out to have less of an impact on WoW. We can compare WoW to SWTOR until the cows come home but it’s like comparing apples to oranges. While both might be fruits, an apple just doesn’t cut it when you want an orange. But what does this mean for the industry? Well, there is some interesting news about WoW release with the Q2 2012 earnings report from Activision Blizzard. This report says that World of Warcraft currently has 9.1 subscribers. This is down one million since May- pretty large numbers when you look at it. World of Warcraft remains the reigning titan in terms of subscription-based games… but the titan is looking just a little…
LucasArts president Paul Meegan steps down after two years
The high level turnovers with LucasArts continues as it was announced today that LA President, Paul Meegan, would step down after two years with the company. A statement was released today by parent company Lucasfilm that reveals the news. “”Development on all current LucasArts projects will proceed,” reads a line from Lucasfilm’s statement. “”Paul has been a valuable member of the Lucasfilm leadership team and we wish him the best in his future endeavors. We remain committed to our current projects and will be re-evaluating LucasArts’ leadership needs to ensure that we make the right decisions to keep the studio focused.” In his own statement, Meegan said LucasArts has “come a long away” and he is “extremely proud” of what the teams at the studio have accomplished. He said there are a number of projects that have yet to be announced, and that he wishes the company “all the best”…
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II Restored Content Mod
Many SWTOR players were fans of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and if you’re missing the game, there is now a new, fun option for you. One of the greatest Star Wars video games ever made is back, 8 years after its release. LucasArts is releasing a combo package called Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Collection, Now fans can experience the Jedi role playing game from BioWare along with the Obsidian-developed sequel, both of which set the stage for Star Wars: The Old Republic as we know it today. Obsidian’s sequel Knights of the Old Republic II—The Sith Lords was well known as being a disappointing letdown to excited fans who waited for it and then got a buggy, basically unplayable game. It had a rushed development and launched with far too many flaws in place. So players, fans and modders set out to fix it the way they…