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First official lightsaber accessories for Wii announced [update: no Motion Plus]

by Richard Mitchell { Jun 25th 2009 at 4:15PM }

There are a few weird, internal reactions a nerd has to deal with when a company -- Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, in this case -- announces that it's creating the first officially licensed Star Wars lightsaber and blaster accessories for the Wii. On one hand, Wii accessories are, by and large, completely pointless. On the other hand, they're lightsabers ... and they light up. On yet another hand (wait ... three hands?) the accessories, including the blaster, clearly don't have enough room to accommodate MotionPlus (as far as we can tell).

Granted, these are being released in conjunction with Star Wars - The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, which has no MotionPlus support that we're aware of, but come on! Any lightsaber accessory should have an extra slot for MotionPlus. We don't care if LucasArts ever makes another lightsaber game or not. Hell, we'll pick up Red Steel 2 and just pretend we're using a lightsaber. At least, we would, if these accessories supported MotionPlus.

Oh, the Clone Trooper blaster also comes with stickers.

Update: We've confirmed with BDA that neither Republic Heroes nor its accessories support MotionPlus.

Gallery: BDA Official Star Wars Lightsaber and Blaster

BioWare not worried about MMO competition, Jedi way cooler than orcs

by Griffin McElroy { Jun 19th 2009 at 3:30PM }

Most MMO players are already deeply entrenched within their virtual world of choice -- an irrefutable fact that makes it extremely difficult for developers to break into the online realm. Competition between MMO devs is as heated as you might expect -- though BioWare isn't too concerned about other massive titles as it continues to push its upcoming online debut, Star Wars: The Old Republic, through the development process.

BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk summarized the developer's feelings on its fellow denizens of the MMOscape with a simple comparison -- in a recent interview with Gamasutra, Zeschuk explained, "If you're betting on Jedi versus orcs, that's a good bet." From what we've seen of the game, we'd probably bet on its rich cutscenes and unprecedented capacity for MMORPG storytelling -- but, hey, Jedi are pretty great too, we guess.

This is the Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer you're looking for

by Mike Schramm { Jun 1st 2009 at 8:00PM }

Bioware released the first cinematic trailer for their Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, and it's so awesome you might just forget that Jar-Jar Binks ever existed. Bounty hunters, Jedis, lightsabers, blasters, dramatic orchestral soundtracks, and gravelly Sith voices making threatening statements -- if it's from a long time ago and a galaxy far away (and incredibly awesome), you'll find it in this trailer.

The trailer itself is called "Deceived," and apparently it's about the Sith Empire's sacking of Coruscant. And that's how it begins -- Sith baddies are invading a Jedi temple, and dispatching the meager forces they find there. But a Jedi temple has some strong defense of its own... and that's where the video gets really good. Bioware has also released information about something called The HoloNet, an ingame database of gameworld history, classes, planets and factions, and they've told us that the game is "fully voiced" -- every character you meet will have audio to share. Head on over to our sister site Massively for more.

Surprise: LucasArts announces Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron for DS/PSP

by JC Fletcher { May 26th 2009 at 1:41PM }

The ESRB may have totally spoiled the announcement of Star Wars: Battlefront: Elite Squadron for PSP and DS, but act surprised anyway, if only to be polite to LucasArts.

The new portable addition to the Battlefront series -- shipping on both platforms this fall -- stars X2, ~~the second X-Men movie~~ a Clone Trooper cloned from a Jedi Master, who decides to join the Rebellion. The game features "multi-level battlefronts" in which the player can travel from land into space and even onto spaceships in the same level.

The press release suggests that the DS and PSP are getting s ubtly different games, with the DS version promising a "class-based gameplay experience" with different weapons for each class, and the PSP version allowing players to "personalize and build their character with more weapons and items than ever before." The PSP game has 16-player multiplayer with "in-depth stat tracking," and the DS release has "intense 4-player skirmishes" in different multiplayer modes.

Gallery: Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron (DS)

Gallery: Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron (PSP)

Mass Effect 2 is Empire Strikes Back: totally dark, broody

by Griffin McElroy { May 20th 2009 at 5:30PM }

You've probably already made this inference after viewing the demise-filled teaser trailer (or last week's E3 sneak peek), but BioWare's second space opera installment, Mass Effect 2, is going to be a downer. Much like The Empire Strikes Back (the angsty middle child in the Star Wars trilogy), ME 2 will be the series' "dark act," according to producer Casey Hudson, who sees the game as "an opportunity to really explore the tougher, more brutal parts of the universe."

Hudson went on to describe the themes of the Mass Effect trilogy's story arc, explaining, "In the first act you put a guy in the tree, in the second act you throw rocks at him, and in the third act you get him down." And how do you get the guy out of the tree? With a really slow elevator, of course!

Han Solo smuggles his way into Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

by Griffin McElroy { May 14th 2009 at 3:15PM }

Dear Mr. Lucas,

Despite certain ... differences we may have had in the past, we still remain amongst your loyal throng of followers. As such, we were hoping you could impart some of your potent wisdom unto us regarding the upcoming fedora-fitted Wii/DS/PS2/PSP title, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. See, a recent video from StarWars.com shows us a fairly sizable, though incomprehensible Easter egg -- intergalactic smuggler extraordinaire Han Solo will be playable in the game.

Yes, Mr. Lucas, it is neat -- but we need to know how it's possible. Don't feign ignorance. We know you don't let non-canonical events relating to your timeless empires slip into your licensed products. Seriously, give us something. The Millennium Falcon slipped into a time vortex? Mr. Solo is, in fact, an immortal Time-God? Harrison Ford is the Highlander? We know you know. Spill the beans, George. You owe us that much.

Regards,
Joystiq

[Via VideoGamer]

LucasArts details The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

by Jason Dobson { May 14th 2009 at 8:45AM }

It's true, last week's peek at Krome Studios' upcoming take on Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars left our midichlorian count at an all-time low. Now publisher LucasArts has made things official, laying out what we can expect from The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes.

The game, which will force grip retail shelves on September 15, will feature "run-and-gun" gameplay and 30 different missions, each plucked from "key" events in the animated series' debut run. Republic Heroes will also support two-player online and offline co-op, as well as the ability to drop in and out of multiplayer matches "seamlessly."

Lastly, LucasArts adds that its Singapore branch is handling on the DS version of the game, something we already suspected. Now, with our force powers slightly charged, we're going to see if we can lift our expectations out of the Dagobah swamp.

Gallery: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes (Wii)

Gallery: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes (360, PS3)
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Not cloned screens of Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

by Richard Mitchell { May 11th 2009 at 4:15PM }

LucasArts has released the first screens of The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes and we have them all for you to enjoy. The company has released screens for the Xbox 360 -- which we presume will be identical to the PS3 release -- Wii and DS versions, so pick your platform of choice from the galleries below and peruse. All of the versions look pretty decent, though we imagine the stylized look of the game helps in that regard.

We've also embedded the release trailer above for those of you who couldn't be bothered to click the link in the announcement post last week.

Gallery: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes (360, PS3)

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The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes confirmed, trailer released

by Ben Gilbert { May 9th 2009 at 5:30PM }

After rumors last week claimed Krome Studios to be working on an upcoming multiplatform Star Wars game, tentatively titled The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, Entertainment Weekly has since confirmed the game's existence.

In the same aesthetic vein as the Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the trailer focuses on a poorly voiced Yoda and -- big surprise! -- the possibility that failure means "all will be lost." Dare we say it? The graphics just aren't that impressive, especially compared with last year's The Force Unleashed. Still, the game's only out (on every system ever) by September 15th. Perhaps it'll catch our eye before then!

Star Wars: The Old Republic's 'Trooper' class detailed

by Randy Nelson { May 9th 2009 at 9:00AM }

BioWare has declassified data on the Trooper class that'll be fighting alongside the Jedi in its upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. Yes, as you can see on the class' data page, they do look surprisingly similar to the troopers who fought in the Clone Wars -- but hey, those were wicked cool, so we'll just be thankful for this tweaking of pre-film canon.

As BioWare describes them, the Trooper is an elite special forces element of the Republic's military, a.k.a. a good guy. They're evidently highly effective at close-quaters combat, carry sticky grenades and have access to numerous enhancements for their standard "modern rifle." That and myriad armor variations that will boggle any fanboy's mind. Check out these bad boys (and girls, hopefully) in motion at the official site.

The Old Republic dev diary shows how to make a planet

by Griffin McElroy { May 3rd 2009 at 7:00PM }

Developers of licensed Star Wars products who decide to stray from the franchise's immutable canon often find themselves suffering the slings, arrows and extendible plastic weaponry of their target audience. Fortunately, it looks like the team behind BioWare's upcoming far-far-away MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, are keeping the Word of Lucas firmly in their minds as they build the title's virtual environments. Check out the video above to see BioWare's incredible attention to detail in action!

BioWare's Old Republic policy on homosexuality reconsidered

by Alexander Sliwinski { Apr 29th 2009 at 11:15AM }

Recently, Star Wars: The Old Republic's Community Manager, Sean Dahlberg, stated that he'd filtered out words like "gay" and "lesbian" from the game's forums because "these are terms that do not exist in Star Wars." ... And the internet gasped.

Turning things around faster than the Millennium Falcon making the Kessel Run, Dahlberg issued an apology to accompany BioWare's removal of the filters. Although Dahlberg likely had the best of intentions in forming the policy, it helps if MMO community managers learn from a time not so long ago nor far, far away -- World of Warcraft tripped over a similar drama three years ago. More recently, Microsoft's Xbox Live handled a less clear case of discrimination just this year.

Rumor: Co-op Clone Wars game coming to Xbox 360, PS3

by David Hinkle { Apr 23rd 2009 at 2:40PM }

A rumor posted over at Destructoid points to a new Clone Wars game in the works for Xbox 360 and PS3. Titled Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, the game is described as a third-person action title featuring two-player co-op, with separate "Jedi" and "Clone" storylines featuring Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, respectively.

The game's focus is supposedly on melee combat, with mention of some form of upgrades available throughout the game. Jedi characters will purportedly have some access to Force powers (gasp!), such as the ability to control droids (Dtoid's post mentions rolling Droideka).

Krome Studios has had plenty of experience with the Star Wars franchise. The company handled porting Star Wars: The Force Unleashed to the Wii, PS2, and PSP, and was responsible for the Wii-exclusive Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels. Let's hope the third time's the charm here.

Bioware profiles first Old Republic class: Bounty Hunter

by Griffin McElroy { Mar 21st 2009 at 11:30AM }

If your prospective career path in Bioware's upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic doesn't involve lightsabers or force powers, you might want to turn your attention to the game's official site, where the developer recently posted the first class profile page, giving details, screenshots and short videos about the cutthroat, money-wise Bounty Hunter.

It looks like Bioware is preserving the intricacies of the manhuntin' profession as detailed by the films -- those who roll a Bounty Hunter will find themselves with a sweet arsenal of handheld ordnances, Mandalorian armor, jetpacks, wrist-mounted flamethrowers, and the ability to get totally sad when you see your dad get decapitated right in front of you.

[Via Massively]

The Old Republic to give players their own 'personal Star Wars saga'

by Griffin McElroy { Mar 15th 2009 at 3:30PM }

The second installment in Bioware's series of video documentaries for its upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, reveals how the developer is planning on viciously and irrevocably hooking subscribers. Instead of tapping into whatever mystical, stat-driven formula World of Warcraft has divined, Bioware is focusing on getting players to become invested in the overarching stories of their characters, hoping that players will create "their own personal Star Wars saga."

The documentary gives a brief example of how this will work -- each class will apparently have their own hundreds-of-hours-long storyline to pursue, aided by cinematic pseudo-cutscenes and major, story-altering decisions the player will be forced to make. Check out the video after the break!

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