In this modern age of infinitely available culture, Twitter and Tumblr have formed important arenas for artists and general creative heads to post their work for wider consumption, and thank God for that. Not only has the advent of social media opened the world to the collected rantings of too many unstable people to mention, it has also served a hugely valuable service for geniuses like Mr Whaite a pop artist who occasionally produces Neon Sign style works. And even better than that, Mr Whaite usually turns his attention to geeky films when looking for reference points, leading to the three awesome pieces below. Each is dedicated to one of the three original films and prove the perfect balance between simplicity, beauty and a major geeky punch. Make sure you check them out on his site, as they are animated, and it adds a whole new level of awesome. You…
More E3 SWTOR Previews/Impressions
As E3 information continued into a new week, more preview and impressions were out for us to digest. There is just so much info out there that one could spend many hours dissecting it all and determining what is really useful and what is the same old thing we’ve already heard before. Lucky for you, I did the dirty work and reviewed them all for you. Here is a recap of what you can expect from each set of impressions: Tecca Hands-on- Too much WoW-referencing in this preview for my taste. It’s a really dumbed-down write-up that reads like it was written for people who have never played an MMORPG before. (It has a section titled “an introduction to online role playing games). It doesn’t say a lot about the game itself but keeps making references to WoW and how popular it is and the Star Wars franchise and…
Scary stuff right here
I’m a firm believer that BioWare can pull the weight of this game. Electronic Arts is “just” the publisher, The quality of SWTOR comes down to BioWare assuming EA let’s them have enough time to finish it up, however the quality of the on-going service with the servers is EA, content patches BioWare again. It really comes down to hopefully enough people buy it that they won’t have an excuse of not having enough money or something for decent server/bandwith. The point of the image is to illustrate that EA has a track record of being incapable of building, maintaining and supporting their MMORPG projects and every time close them down or throw them into stasis within a year or two.
Self-Rez in SWTOR: The Great Debate
Ever since the topic of self-rez was introduced for SWTOR, there has been debate over how it will impact the game. Georg Zoeller popped into several posts on the official forums to talk about the concept, answer questions and clear up confusions. He says: “Let’s give you some details, since it’s E3 and we’re being generous The reason we added this system is that the worlds in The Old Republic are huge and a travel death penalty turned out to be much more punishing than initially planned. Our testers were quite vocal about that. Our testers also commented that they liked the more challenging content compared to other MMOs (no, Daniel’s demo wasn’t showing that, since running harder content and talking and answering interview questions is a bit much to ask of a writer).” He goes on to describe that the system was added to…
SWTOR in Australia and NZ: Delay Rumors
While it’s been discussed before, there are new facts in the equation regarding a possible launch delay for SWTOR in Australia and New Zealand. The original source of the most recent rumor? Hex from Good Game. She tweeted: “Unfortunately we missed out on Star Wars: The Old Republic- but the game’s been delayed for Australia- probs another E3 before release.” This one simple tweet would cause quite an uproar as fans wanted to know where the information was obtained from and what it meant. Hex later said the info was via their Australian PR agent when her team was trying to get a dev interview. She adds, “Only US and Europe this year I was told” TOROZ contacted David Bass at Bioware to get some clarification on this rumor nad were told the expected- Bioware doesn’t comment on rumors and “launch regions” have not been announced yet. So with that,…
New Shots From Star Wars XXX: A Porn Parody
Thanks to Bleeding Cool, we now have eight new, frankly brilliant-looking stills from hotly-anticipated (come on, admit it!) rudey reimagining Star Wars XXX: A Porn Parody. And I have to say, I am astonished at the quality. I already knew director Axel Braun was committed to making better-than-usual porn parodies, thanks to his already released work, but this is next-level work personified. Look on, Star Wars fans and be blown away… And not a penis-shaped light-saber in sight! In addition to these excellent stills, Head of Production Design on the sci-fi skin-flick Kylie Ireland – who by the way is hot enough to melt all of Hoth herself – has posted the following slideshow of images, charting the whole production of the film, on her blog: (Warning – there is a few NSFW pics near the ending of the slide) Miss Ireland goes on to offer an insight into the…
Know your Lore: Yuthura Ban
Yuthura Ban was the Twi’lek apprentice of the Sith Master Uthar Wynn, the head of the Sith Academy on Korriban during the Jedi Civil War. Even though she herself was an apprentice, Yuthura was also a lead instructor and mentor at the Sith Academy. She respected initiative and cunning in her students and was not short of either herself. Like most of the Force-sensitives at the academy, she wore the uniform of a Sith officer as opposed to robes. Originally from Sleheyron, Yuthura was a slave to Omeesh the Hutt, a cruel Master who tortured his slaves regularly. Craving vengeance and determined not to simply be “nothing,” Yuthura maneuvered herself into a position to strike out at her master, slitting “the drunken worm”‘s throat while in his bedchamber. As she fled Sleheyron by stowing aboard a cargo ship, it was inevitable that she would be discovered by the crew. They…
Daniel Erickson SWTOR Interview Confirms No Open Beta
For all of you who have been hoping for an open beta release date at E3, it’s not going to happen. In fact, what we did get from E3 is the news that there will be no open beta. Honestly, I’m not that surprised. With so many people excited to play this game and so many beta testers signed up already, there’s no need to go to an open beta to test the game. Another reason for skipping the open beta option is that BioWare wants to preserve their storyline as much as possible. The story is really what separates this from any other MMO we’ve all seen before. The story is key to the success of the game and keeping as much info about it hidden until release will benefit BioWare. In this interview with BioWare’s Daniel Erickson, he states that an open beta is not…
E3 SWTOR Previews/Impressions
As E3 continues and more hands-on demos and reports go around, we find out more and more about the game we are all so eager to play for ourselves. Here are three very different impressions from the E3 hands-on experience worth checking out: PC Gamer Tim Edwards from PC Gamer jumps in with his own first impressions of the game. I love the PC Gamer guys. I have them on my Steam account and play on their servers when they have fun events. I was curious what they would have to say about SW:TOR. This preview begins: “The E3 presentation for Star Wars: The Old Republic is about two things: showing raids for the first time, and pulling together all the disparate threads from a PR campaign that’s lasted nearly three years.” Thank you PC Gamer, tell us more! They go on to give us info about raids in TOR…
Star Tours is Awesome – Just Ask LAWeekly
One thing that perpetually annoys me about living in the UK is that we don’t have a Disney theme park here. Perhaps it is because the typically grey skies, liberally dotted with even greyer clouds, pregnant with rain showers wouldn’t exactly provide the best backdrop to the magical kingdom? Who knows. But what I do know is that my geographical distance from the true home of the Disney theme park (and not that Euro-lite version in Paris), means it is unlikely I will get to see the revamped Star Tours attraction any time soon. Doesn’t help that I’m petrified of flying… Anyway, because of such circumstances, and also because I’m obviously a fully paid-up Star Wars fanatic I have been feverishly reading up on the attraction, as well as losing myself in some of the awesome videos and pictures circling around the web. What luck for me then, that we…
E3: Interview extravaganza
Another day of E3 has gone, and another round of interviews has hit the internet. Yesterday we posted 5 interviews with Daniel Erickson as it seemed like he was the only BioWare employee who was allowed to talk to the camera. I mean no disrespect to the good Mr. Erickson, but it becomes quite annoying here him answer the same questions over and over again. So it was nice to finally see an interview with some of the other top dogs at BioWare Here is a rundown of all the interviews we haven’t covered in other post’s today: CVG – Dr. Greg Zeschuk interview Bioware Greg Zeschuk Interview “Making a different game” GamerLiveTV – Daniel Erickson interview Newsarama – James Ohlen interview James Ohlen thinks you may not ever go back to any other MMORRPG once you play SW Old Republic. It’s epic combat wherein you can play both light…
E3: More gameplay footage
E3 is almost over, but we still see tons of interviews, previews and gameplay videos coming in. Here is a list of today’s gameplay videos. jedivenn – Tatooine Gameplay (no audio) thekioskzone – Tatooine Gameplay MLG – Tatooine Gameplay [ Sith Warrior (Marauder)] TORWars – Tatooine Gameplay [ Sith Inquisitor (Assassin)]
E3: Tatooine Developer Walkthrough
So far E3 has been an explosion of new information where SWTOR is concerned, and it just doesn’t stop, thanks to this excellent walk-through video from SWTOR Director of Production Dallas Dickinson. The video takes us through the “blazing deserts of Tatooine“”, following a group of archeologists as they look for a lost research facility – and features gameplay from the level 25 point of the game. It’s exciting enough to get a glimpse of some of the story-arc, but even more so to see an early look at in-game footage of the Sith Sorceror character, as well as gameplay opportunities like personal vehicle use and the dynamics of the map. Additionally the video shows how in-mission co-op play will work in practice, as well as several of the ranged attacks available to the Sorceror and the awesome-looking ability to seeth and replenisg lost health from the Dark Side. All…
E3: James Ohlen Companions Walkthrough
Here is another little gem by Gametrailers. James Ohlen does a short Walkthrough on Tatooine, while talking about Companion, GUI and combat mechanics. Great watch with a few more answers we didn’t get in Daniel Erickson‘s walk through a few days back. Check it out below:
Fan Films: Ed Johnson Presents: THE CLONE CHRONICLES
Thanks to another creatively minded Star Wars fan with a compulsion to tell his own story from within the universe, it is our pleasure to bring a group of motion comics to your discerning attentions. The online serials – now numbering seven episodes – were created by Ed Johnson, and use Hasbro Star Wars figures to tell the story of a group of Clone troopers who learn of a secret weapon on-board the crashed ship from the Alien movies, and discover that Emperor Dooku is seeking to acquire the weapon for his own and the Separatists’ ends. The troopers, lead by Commander Cody and Captain Rex must head to the downed ship and beat Dooku to the weapon. We spoke to the comics’ creator to find out a bit more about his motivations, and why he chose to go with the action figure approach: I was inspired by both the…
First Look at Razer SWTOR Peripherals
We wrote yesterday about the announcement from Razer that they will have a full line of Star Wars: The Old Republic accessories to be released when the game is released. Lucky visitors to E3 were given the chance to see these peripherals up close, although they were not allowed to physically handle them at this time. One glaring difference between these and the photos that were released before is that they now look more white in color as opposed to silver when we first saw them. We have no real clarification at this time which color they will come in or if there is a choice. DarthHater released a video of the presentation the product managers gave on the Razer SWTOR items. Here’s an overview of the highlights of each piece: Keyboard- Has LCD buttons that are programmable for certain in-game functions. Can assign each key with an image and…
E3 2011 – EA Analyst Event
Today during E3, EA had an analyst event at Los Angeles. This event covered a large range of questions related to EA’s profile but as is no surprise, SWTOR had a large portion of the revenue stream for the company going forward. A lot of people have a lot of interest in the popularity and success of SWTOR, aside from just those of us who want to play. While there wasn’t really any new information released here that we don’t already know, it’s always great to know the plan is the same, and that they are on track for releasing SWTOR before the end of this year, as projected. In the analyst call, EA’s CFO, Eric Brown talked about how the financial performance of the company is expected to be higher at the end of 2012 when TOR has had a chance to peak in performance. He also confirmed that…
E3: Interview with Daniel Erickson x 5
Both Gametrailers and Derek Green from swtor-life have interview up with Daniel Erickson. Off all the 3 interviews, Swtor-life get the best answers, as Daniel Erickson gives us more inside on the size of raid (operation) sizes. So far it’s possible to do 8 man raids, but it’s not decided how many people will be able to do “big” raids together yet. Also we are starting to get the feeling that Daniel Erickson only got one shirt? Check them out below starting with the Swtor-life interview: Gametrailer interview from yesterday: Here is one more interview – this time from GamerLiveTV.: Machinima Extended Coverage Interview with Daniel Erickson:
E3 2011: Hands-on with SWTOR’s Imperial Agent Operative
Want to know what it’s like to be an Imperial Agent Operative in SWTOR? Well, here’s your chance to get as close as possible before the game’s release. Dan O’Halloran from Massively was one of the first in line for the hands-on demo action at the EA booth. He explains that there were two demo stations available- one for newbies with featured level 1 Galactic Republic characters and one for MMO veterans, with a level 26 Sith Empire character. He opted for the mid-level character and began the 10 minute instructional video required before the demo. His notes from the video include tips and tidbits for each of the Advanced Classes such as: Imperial Agent Operative: Use Stealth for a big opening Backstab ability. Use poison-over-time ability and Shiv as often as that ability is up. Also use the self-heals available for this advanced class. And: Bounty Hunter Powertech: Flame…
E3: Gameplay Demo and Q&A with Daniel Erickson
This is what everyone has been waiting for from E3- at least all of us SWTOR fans anyway. Daniel Erickson hosted a live demo session using a level 26 Bounty Hunter questing on Tatooine from the E3 floor. Those there could experience it live with full graphics. As he was playing, community members were able to ask questions to Stephen Reid via Cover it Live. There is a live stream you can listen to for yourself. Here are some of the highlights covered in this Q&A session: Anchorhead is the main Republic outpost on Tatooine. Tatooine is a mid-20’s planet and is the first planet where Republic and Sith can openly clash. Bounty hunters will get a Jawa companion named Blizz. Speeders will be available as mounts. No Ewoks will appear in Star Wars: The Old Republic. When you die, you can either respawn at a med center or use…
E3: Frank Gibeau Interview
Frank Gibeau, The President of EA, sat down to talk Old Republic, Battlefield 3 and much more during GT.TV’s All Access Live Coverage of E3 2011. It’s Obvious that Mr. Gibeau doesn’t follow SWTOR that closely as he says the game has 6 classes etc. but I guess that’s ok when your CEO for a firm as big as EA. He does spill a few beans though as he mention the game already have thousands of beta testers already and they will be beta testing all summer long. He also confirms yet again that the game WILL come out this year. The part about SWTOR is in the beginning of the interview so knock your self out below:
BioWare Pulse ep2 – SWTOR & Mass Effect at E3
BioWare have it’s own online show named Pulse now. The show is available via EA’s new online service Origin.com and EA’s official Youtube channel, and is published each Monday. The second episode of the show was released this week, and has an interview with BioWare Co-Founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk. The interview was made immediately after the EA press conference held a last Monday, so it’s up to date stuff! In the interview the doctor talks about what we get to see at thus years E3, as well as his own personal faction preferences in the game. The SWTOR section of the movie starts around 3:40. Check it out below:
E3 Atmosphere Footage
Stephen Reid posted a few pics from the EA Booth on his twitter profile yesterday. Non of the pictures showed off that much of what attendance could expect. But it’s obvius that EA is marketing the game as one of the main products this year. Here they are: Luckily the guys over at TorWars.com did a short film about the booth which you can watch below: Jeff from TorWars also got the chance to interview a few hot chicks fans about their expectations of the game and to quote the left blond ooouuuhhh – or something like that: Finaly the guys at swtor-life.com did a short video showing the atmosphere at the EA Booth. Edit: TorWars just uploaded this one also. I don’t think any explanation is necessary:
E3: gameplay footage day 1
First day of E3 is long gone and it’s time to recap on all the gameplay videos that hit us yesterday. GameSpot has around seven minutes worth of footage to go over. These are raw, unedited gameplay clips and as such they don’t look as ‘pretty’ as the previous gameplay trailers we’ve seen, but they do give us a little more insight into how the gameplay, particularly with groups, will play out. Check out the background music in the clips, they are absolutely killer! Gamespot Tanks perspective: SWTOR Life – Tatooine Sith Inquisitor Gameplay Swtor-Life had some time to play the Sith Inquisitor on Tatooine, so naturally some Krayt dragon’s had to die 🙂 The video is captured by camera, but still nice watch. Ask A Jedi – Tatooine Gameplay The guys over at Ask A Jedi also got some video footage from Tattoine. This video showes some nice footage of player transportation and the player map, as well as some…
