RipTen Videogame Blog » LucasArts

Darth Vader Goes to Bat in Latest Kinect Star Wars Commercial

Drake Hess — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:30:50 +0000

Obi-wan Kenobi, played by Chris Pratt, best known for his roll as Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation, puts Darth Vader on a strike count in this comical commercial conjured up to peek your interest in Kinect Star Wars as the title approaches its April 2012 release date. Check it out and let us know what you think of the two minute spot in our comments section below.

The Old Republic Finally Gets a Release Date

Dave Oshry — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:33:13 +0000

Something something Star Wars something video game something something release date!!

I could literally just type December 20th, 2011 in this pretty white box and call it an ‘article’, but since I’m a nice guy I’ll paste the entire press release from Lucas Arts and BioWare in here for ya ^__^

BioWare and LucasArts are pleased to announce that Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ will launch on December 20, 2011 in North America and on December 22, 2011 in the European Launch Territories! The announcement was first made by BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk during their keynote address at the 2011 Eurogamer Expo in London, England. Speaking to a packed room of press and fans alike, Dr. Muzyka acknowledged the weight of the moment and the patience of the fans.

“This is an incredible moment for everyone at BioWare and our partners at LucasArts who have dedicated their lives to build this extraordinary game. We appreciate the patience from the millions of fans who have been waiting for the game’s release.”Each copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic will come with 30 days of subscription time, after which you have the option to continue playing with one of the following monthly subscription fees:

1 Month Subscription: $14.99 (£8.99/€12.99)

3 Month Subscription: $13.99 per month (one-time charge of $41.97/£25.17/€35.97)

6 Month Subscription: $12.99 per month (one-time charge of $77.94/£46.14/€65.94)

Those who have pre-ordered the game and entered their pre-order code on StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com are eligible for Early Game Access. If you haven’t yet reserved your copy of the game, be sure to visit our Pre-Order page and secure your place in the Old Republic now!

We want to thank you for your continued passion, dedication and support. Though one part of this incredible journey is coming to an end, we are confident that you all share our excitement for this new beginning. Be sure to check back to StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com as well as our Twitter and Facebook pages for all the latest news and updates on Star Wars: The Old Republic.

If for some reason this news displeases you, feel free to push this button.

Much Ado About Nothing: Same Sex Relationships in The Old Republic

Jensen Walker — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:11:03 +0000

As reported earlier this week, BioWare Senior Online Community Manager Stephen Reid has confirmed that Star Wars: The Old Republic will launch without the option for same gender romances with companion characters. However, such relationships are an intended post-launch feature. I’d include a link to the official statement, but the thread on the SWTOR forums has ballooned to 326 pages at the time of this writing in just over four days. It ‘probably’ doesn’t need any more publicity.

Predictably, the announcement quickly made its way to gaming and fan sites, spawning a multitude of conversations regarding the decision. To some, relationships in any form are unnecessary in an MMO. To others, the companion romances are something they expect will influence their enjoyment of the game and its narrative.

In addition to these two conflicting viewpoints, the issue of same sex relationships a) not being available immediately and b) likely to be available in the future has resulted in further debate about whether relationships belong in SWTOR at all.

Sith Purebloods prefer to stab first and ask questions about relationships later

BioWare has a long history of including romance options in their RPG’s. I remember playing Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn and being quite intrigued by Viconia and the difficulty involved in keeping her happy. Well, happy isn’t the right word. Perhaps less inclined to leave the party would be more accurate. You can draw some parallels between her and Morrigan from Dragon Age: Origins, but she remains my first encounter with romance in a video game (unless you count Mario’s unending search for Princess Peach).

Personally, I consider BioWare’s romances to be an entertaining distraction, something that adds a little flair to the game (and subsequent playthroughs). Over the years, they’ve become a signature of BioWare’s games, appearing in Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. In fact, you could argue the romance sub-plots for companion characters have become part of the definitive BioWare experience. Sure, sometimes they’re corny and rarely do they have much depth, but these romances are generally idealized versions of relationships. Relationships are difficult, complicated and multi-faceted in real life. All of which would, if translated into a game, use up considerable resources and likely be a lot less fun.

Viconia didn't care much for romantic ideals... Or my character

However, and this is often overlooked, the romances are entirely optional. You don’t ‘have’ to romance anyone at all if that’s a part of these games you’d rather avoid. I’d agree that in past BioWare titles it has been fairly easy to accidentally stumble into a romance, often by treating companions kindly, but it’s also generally easy to put an end to their unwelcome advances.

The chief complaints for the SWTOR companion romances seem to come in three varieties:

The Star Wars Universe is not inclined towards romance/relationships/sexuality.

While the Star Wars Universe has never been particularly interested in exploring certain themes, it’s a little dubious to claim they don’t belong there at all. The three prequel movies chronicle the rise and fall of the (often cringe worthy) romance between Anakin and Padme, while the originals dealt with the sexual tension between Han Solo and Princess Leia. Even if you discount all ancillary media, you already have two strong examples of romance from the series canon. Never mind that romances were available in BioWare’s previous LucasArts licensed Knights of the Old Republic. In addition, BioWare has confirmed that explicit sex scenes will not be part of the SWTOR experience.

Darth Revan 'will' be part of the SWTOR experience. Darth Malak wasn't invited.

Same gender romances are offensive to a portion of the potential player base.

This second objection is not as easily dismissed as the first. Everyone has a right to their own moral beliefs. I would question, however, if the option for players to conduct their own private romance (which BioWare has explicitly stated will be visible only to them) actually infringes on those beliefs within the context of the game world. You’ll never know how your guildmates and fellow players developed their character’s story unless they specifically tell you. Just as in real life, most people will be disinclined to share personal details with strangers. BioWare’s romances are a personal choice, and so long as they remain so, they’re not affecting anyone’s enjoyment of the game. Nor will unwanted romances be forced upon any player. All romance dialogue options are clearly labelled with a tag.

Zevran probably should have been permanently labelled {Flirt}

Romances (same gender or otherwise) will be accessible by younger players.

An understandable concern for parents, this last objection seems to me to be the responsibility of the parents of younger players. SWTOR has recently been rated Teen by the ESRB, meaning the title is suitable for ages 13 and older and may contain “violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.”

As with any game, it is the responsibility of the parent or caregiver to determine whether they believe their child should have access to it. Admittedly, this can be difficult to police at times, with games lent by friends, or played outside the parental home, but SWTOR requires a monthly subscription fee, which is kind of difficult to slip past the parentals. Further, it’s not hard to do a little research on the games your children want to play, or even to sit down and watch them play for every now and then. It may be completely mortifying for a teenager to have mom hovering over their shoulder asking questions, but monitoring a child’s gaming activities will generally give you a fairly good idea of a game’s content.

Liara is no stranger to uninformed and overblown reactions

What concerns me most about the furor over BioWare’s recent announcement (and the debate that raged on prior to it) is that it generated and continues to generate such an immense response. A feature which is such a tiny part of SWTOR as a whole shouldn’t become and remain the hot-button topic it has. Perhaps that’s naïve thinking (who am I kidding, of course it is), but I continue to live in hope that the issue of relationships and same gender romances in video games dwindles into insignificance as it becomes less of a taboo, much in the same way it has via the televised medium over the past decade.

It could be worse. If the gaming industry catered to sensationalist media and uninformed commentary, we’d have no violence in our video games. Just think: Modern Warfare 3 without the warfare part. It might be fairly boring, but at least it wouldn’t be offensive!

Modern Warfare 3 - Scenic Wanderings Edition

What say you? Is this much ado about nothing? Or have we something to be worried about after all?

Kinect Star Wars and Theme Based Bundle Delayed

Chris Carlson — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:09:44 +0000

Microsoft has confirmed that Kinect Star Wars, along with its limited-edition theme based console bundle have been delayed.

The game was originally slated for holiday 2011 release, but instead will now hit store shelves in 2012. Speaking with OXM, Microsoft stated that the delay was to achieve the game’s “full potential”:

“Microsoft and LucasArts have elected to move the launch of Kinect Star Wars beyond holiday 2011 to ensure the full potential of this title is realized. This move applies to both the Kinect Star Wars stand-alone game and the Kinect Star Wars Limited Edition Console. We will communicate additional timing information at a later date.”

E3 2011: Star Wars Kinect Demoed (Video Included)

Garrett Hartman — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:26:29 +0000

During the E3 Microsoft press Event, Microsoft finally showed live gameplay from their much anticipated Star Wars Kinect.

How did it look? How did it play? In the video you see plenty of lightsaber battling and even the use of force powers.

Short answer is much better than last year because we saw actual gameplay. The good news is it the graphics are sharp, bad news is it seemed limited and not too responsive.

Watch the Video below. We all know every good Jedi says, “lightsaber on”.

Behold The Old Republic’s Sith Warrior Progression! (Trailer)

Dave Oshry — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:20:48 +0000

Behold young nerdawan. As you progress as a Sith Warrior in The Old Republic, you shall become more and more bad ass. You probably already knew this, but now you can see for yourself!

I’m the Sith Juggernaut, bitch!! Bwahahahaaaaaaa

Kinect’s Star Wars & Forza Titles Slated For Christmas 2011

Chad Lakkis — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:05:47 +0000

Microsoft Kinect’s Creative Director, Kudo Tsunoda, recently revealed to BBC News that both LucasArts’ Star Wars Kinect exclusive and Turn 10 Studios’ Forza Kinect compatible title will not be hitting store shelves until the 2011 holiday season.

“We have a Kinect Star Wars game coming out for next holiday [Christmas 2011] … I think you could just easily imagine being a Jedi and using Kinect to make you feel you’re part of a Star Wars experience, building yourself up into a Jedi.”

“And another one next year is Forza, which is the best racing game of this generation of consoles… Those are the two games I’m most excited about.”

Much to Kinect we have. Wait, we shall.

Source: BBC News

Save on Star Wars with LucasArts Week on Steam

Sam Naylor — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:01:01 +0000

Steam are running a ‘LucasArts Week’ promotion this week, with deals on a different LucasArts titles each day. The deals start with Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition at 75% off.

The Star Wars Collection package will be 50% off all week, which is great for Star Wars fans who don’t already own any Star Wars games. Remember, our recommendation is to wait until the last day of the promotion to buy the collection, since you might be able to get hold of the ones you want in the package at a discounted rate through the week anyway.

Let’s just hope that it’s not just Star Wars games that go on sale, though.

We Go On An Adventure With Clone Wars

Andrea Emmes — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:20:25 +0000

For Star Wars fans, the Clone Wars Adventures Online game will be a fun exploration into the world that they know and love. Based off of the hit TV show, CWA follows the show in real time and is an open, social game that all ages can enjoy. We had a chance to speak with Lead Artist, Matt Higby about the game.

MH: Clone Wars Adventures is a virtual world for kids of all ages, basically for the audience of the Clone Wars TV show. The idea of the game is to have a place where fans of the show go to our website, create a character, sign up for an account and downloading the game is seamless in the background while you’re doing that other stuff, and you can pop into the game and meet up with your friends and play, you can meet up with iconic Clone Wars characters, take part of these really exciting battles, play different mini games, and basically have your very own Clone Wars Adventure.

AE: So this game is parallel to the tv show?

MH:Ya, we are working super close with LucasFilm and have been since the inception(omg great movie) of the project, we met with directors of the show and we’ve shown them the game, they’ve shown us episodes of the show that are coming up. We’re really trying to create a holistic online place, the ultimate destination for fans of the show in the game.

AE: And every time the show spits out another episode or more information, then you get more information making your game go hand in hand with the show, right?

MH: Ya, the thing that is most exciting for me as a game developer about this is we really have a completely, unique opportunity to create a game, online games are obviously continuously updated, we have this unique opportunity to make a continuously updated game based on an IP that’s also producing content. If you look at some games like Lord of the Rings Online, Lord of the Rings was written 80 years ago, there’s not a tremendous amount of new stuff that’s being made. Clone Wars is creating new episodes every week when their seasons are live and we need to be totally in sync with their stuff. If a new space battle occurs in the show, BOOM, we can have that in the game, that day! I mean literally that day we can turn it on so players can have access to it.

AE: So the game never gets old!

MH: Right, and nobody’s ever had that closeness before to a really AAA, huge IP that’s creating new stuff and we have a game that’s based on it. It’s really exciting.

AE: With all of the characters in the game, people are going to want to play them, and they can!

MH: Yeah. That leads pretty well into our wearable system. You’re able to wear basically anything you want. So, Mandalorians were in season two, so cool, I can have this Mandalorian armor. The day that Mandalorians show up, we can say hey hop into the game and see the brand new armor. Whatever new stuff that goes on in the show, we’re able to have it accessible for the fans online. It’s so cool.

AE: It makes you want to keep going back to the site.

MH: Absolutely, it works both ways too, because Clone Wars is a tv show and they have an off season, they skip weeks, so during that down time we’re going to be able to provide new Clone Wars content for fans of the show. So if you really miss hearing about what’s going on with Anakin and Rex and all of them because you can’t watch new episodes because it’s the summer time, we’re going to be continually adding new stuff for the game, so you don’t really have to be like, ‘Oh, it’s summer, so I have to forget about Clone Wars for now’, you can just keep being involved.

AE: (I’m now watching the game being played) So, how’s the game mechanics?

MH: This area here is our basic social hub, this is where you show off your wearables, chat with friends, show off your pets, you can add different attachments to your pet, I just attached a pogo stick so now instead of walking he now bounces on the pogo stick. He can also do many other animations. All of the pet stuff we’re trying to do, we just really want it to be funny. We want humor from the droids, especially when we use the dance card and everyone around will start dancing. If we can make people laugh, that’s exactly our goal.

(When he uses his Party card, every character on the screen busts into the same choreography—Beyonce’s, “Single Ladies”. It’s actually pretty funny.) Kanye West would approve.

So again, it’s all about humor. We really want things to be really fun and we’re taking a super light touch to some of the Clone Wars stuff specifically and working with LucasArts has been really great. They’ve been really open to us exploring things, like we have Han Solo equipment and that’s not really a part of the Clone Wars universe, but we’re just able to explore these things that people are going to be able to enjoy. You could have your Tuscan Raider in a pink palette and they normally don’t wear pink, so it’s pretty open and fun.

AE: It’s nice that you have a little bit of creative liberty.

MH: We want things to be fun and we want our players to be able to express themselves however they want.

In addition to all of the customization that’s available for your character, you can also customize your droid, you’re going to have a house that you can get furniture for, so we have a lot of that personalization and self expression game play and that’s a big filler of our game play.

But we also have our mini game gameplay. There are actually a tremendous number of mini games available to play. They vary from being really full featured 3D games to being sort of smaller 2D puzzley games. This game right here, Star Fighter, is one of our really big, full featured 3D games.

(Matt shows us the mini game. It’s very iconic from Star Wars, with tie fighters flying through space shooting at the enemies. The game shows a real cinematic style of gameplay, really explosive but yet really simple. Since the game is made mostly for kids, the controls are really simple and easy to use. The game is based more on an arcade style. The ship pretty much flies itself, with the exception of being able to do some barrel rolls or dives but basically all you have to do is move it left or right and shoot. You can play the game pretty much solely with the mouse. It’s simple enough for the 6 year olds but there are some complexities in how you pick up the power ups that makes it difficult and challenging for the teenagers. The replay value is high as you can try to top your last high score, and keep searching for power ups and better ratings. There are also challenge modes within the game, like Ace, where you have to kill every single enemy ship. There is also an accuracy bonus challenge. The mini games last about 3-4 minutes per stage and there are about 15 different stages. They are releasing new stages all the time, including all of the challenge modes. So there’s lots of gameplay.)

MH: This is a perfect example of something where if there’s a new battle in the tv show, right away we can make a stage based on it. A new big space battle happens in the Clone Wars show, great, we’ll create a space battle that’s based on it and put it in the game.

AE: How do you get the coding done so quickly?

MH: Well, we already know all of the season three plots, so we’re starting to work on season three content right now that we can release in the same time as the episodes. We’ve been working really close with the LucasArts guys and they’ve been so helpful with getting us all the information that we need.

AE: How far are you from launching the game?

MH: In Fall. We’re really close to approaching our alpha milestone.

AE: And it’s FREE!

MH: Yes, it’s free, web launch and it’s safe. For parents, it’s really important that they feel comfortable letting their kids play the game so we have that socialization area but we have whiteless chat, we actually have a sophisticated back end that keeps track of stuff like characters asking other characters what your phone number they get flagged. CS will look at it and check to see if there is a pattern. We have all kinds of parental controls, disable chat and can set it to where your kids can’t see other people’s chat. All that sort of stuff is really important to us. We really want to create a place where parents can feel good about their kids go to play. It’s a lot of effort and work, but it’s so important.

Clone Wars Adventures is definitely a great game with many fun mini games to keep you busy and challenged and the social aspect is a lot of fun with many customization options that kids (and maybe even adults) will love.
Keep your eyes out for Clone Wars Adventures coming this fall!

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Like a “Tactical Puzzle” Thanks to Fan Feedback

Dylan Duarte — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:02:37 +0000

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was met with mixed reviews when it was released two years ago. Fortunately, the feedback received from the first game has helped LucasArts improve the second, and a big focus was put on enemy AI.

“Every game is a work in progress. There is tons of stuff I would have done differently in hindsight with TFU that we focus on in TFU 2. AI was one of them; we had over a hundred AI units in TFU and some of them ended up feeling very vanilla, there wasn’t enough differentiation between them and there wasn’t a lot of tactical differences between them.

That was a big focus for us, we said let’s do 20 or 25 units and make them very unique, give them special abilities and make you think about their tactical significance and how you take them out. A lot of the game now is like a tactical puzzle, so you do a scene and think ok there are three snipers there, a bunch of melee guys there and a big trooper there based on how I’ve ranked up my powers and my personal play style.”

The reason I highlighted the phrase “tactical puzzle” is because it gets me really excited about Star Wars: TFU II. Real, honest-to-god tactical combat is amazing when done right, so I’m crossing my fingers extra hard (with the power of the Force) in hopes that it all works out and The Force Unleashed II lives up to the potential the first game had.

New Old Republic Gameplay Trailer Released By LucasArts

Dave Oshry — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:46:40 +0000

The actual gameplay trailer we witnessed behind closed doors at E3 2010 has finally been released by LucasArts!! Watch as all the classic MMO gameplay elemtns you have come to love, are taken to a galaxy far far away for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Developer commentary is included for a nominal fee.

So as you can see, we have our classic Tank, Healer and DPS roles all in place for what looks to be one of the sure fire MMO hits of next year.

By the way, did anyone else notice how awesome the music is?

If you haven’t yet seen our in depth preview of The Old Republic, check it out HERE.

Making Star Wars Games Is Hard n’ Stuff, Even With The Force

Stephanie Gutowski — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:49:00 +0000

I don’t care if your midi-chlorian count is over 20,000. It still doesn’t make designing good Star Wars games any easier. With many more titles on the horizon, one has to wonder what the future holds for the Star Wars video game sagas to come. Can LucasArts deliver?

Thinking back on Star Wars games brings up a myriad of memories, and not all are pleasant. Shadows of the Empire and Knights of the Old Republic inspire feelings of oneness with the force, for they succeeded at delivering a quality Star Wars experience. But then names like Flight of the Falcon and Star Wars: Galaxies come to mind and that joy dissolves faster than Jawa in a an Ion drive.

With several more Star Wars games on the horizon, are fans as skeptical as they should be about these upcoming titles, like Force Unleashed 2 or the Star Wars for Kinect? Moreover, are developers even remotely concerned about the difficulty in such an undertaking? How does LucasArts expect to satisfy the hordes of fans who eagerly await the gospel of George? What does blue milk taste like?

What of The Force Unleashed 2? After all, it’s just a sequel. Surely, it’ll be far easier to deliver this one than its predecessor. TFU2′s executive producer, Haden Blackman, says that’s not so.

Blackman explained this in an interview with CVG.

“No, it hasn’t made it easier but it hasn’t made it harder…It’s a difficult business and we have to always be cognizant of cost and team size and whatnot so we have to be able to come in with a solid argument for it.”

Understandable, especially when you consider the magnitude of such an undertaking. You can’t make carbon copy of a game and call it a sequel. Something’s got to set it apart. What should this new game look like? How should it play? What do you change and what do you keep from the previous game?

“It wasn’t hard to argue for a sequel but what we we’re going to do, how we were going to approach it and the work we were going to do on the engine – those were definitely discussions we had to have.”

Some have already passed judgment on the games, simply based on what they witnessed at E3. Star Wars is such an expansive fandom that you can’t just keep pumping out jedi-centric games and expect everyone to be happy. BioWare’s The Old Republic has shown the most promise (to me at least) as of late. After all, isn’t that what all Star Wars fans truly want? A chance to live out their own adventure in the galaxy that captured their imaginations a long, long time ago?

Perhaps not. Maybe you’d rather just be Vader’s secret apprentice and call it a day. Fine by me. I’ll just hop in my YT-1760, crack open a Gamorrean beer, and farm dewbacks until I level up.

Source: MTV

Monkey Island 2: Special Edition Drops One Day Early On PSN, July 7th For The Rest Of Ya Land Lubbers!

Dave Oshry — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:35:43 +0000

LucasArts award winning sequel to their award winning remake of their original award winning game is coming very soon. I think i said that right . . . holy shit, I did! Anyhow, this is big news for all of us old LucasArts adventure game fans who have been yelling at the top of our lungs for them to remake more of their classic games. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition was a huge success, and the sequel, LeChucks revenge, is not only regarded as the best game int he Monkey Island series, but is also getting lots of new features for it’s own special edition.

All versions of the game will cost $10, and if you ask us, you’re getting a lot for the money.

In this Special Edition, Monkey Island has once again been brought into the 21st century. This obviously includes high-def art, remastered music, a sweet hint system, streamlined interface, fully voiced dialogue and now, a developer’s commentary mode. However the coolest thing about these LucasArts remakes for me has been the ability to switch between the new version and the original 8-bit version at any time. Not sure what I mean? Check this out.

So ya see, it’s kind of like that . . . but better.

Oh alright, you twisted my arm! Watch a more in-depth look at the making of this remake below!

See you on Monkey Island July 6/7th!!

The Old Republic “Sure Thing” and TERA “Sleeper Hit” Leading New Wave of MMOs

Dave Oshry — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:50:10 +0000

In the coming weeks and months I will have much more to say about both of these games, but let me just say a couple of things right now. TERA is going to be a sleeper hit with a hardcore fanbase, and The Old Republic is going to be a Big Fucking Deal.

Let’s start off with TERA. Even at this point, you may have yet to hear about TERA. You may not know who or what TERA is, and you may not care. But you should, because we’ve played TERA, and TERA is the real deal. Before I say any more, watch the following trailers below, and prepare to be impressed and intrigued.

That’s right, a real action MMO. But we’ve heard that before, and we’ve been let down. Age of Conan and Hellgate: London are considered failures at this point by most of the gaming world. But where they failed, TERA shall succeed … and I’ll tell you why.

You may not have heard of the company behind TERA, En Masse Entertainment, and that is because the company was only formed last year. Fear not however, because this is no upstart gaming studio. En Masse is comprised of some of the industry’s most veteran developers including key people who have worked at Microsoft, Bungie, NCsoft, BioWare and Blizzard. People that helped launch titles like Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, DragonAge, Guild Wars, Halo 3, and Aion. People like Pat Wyatt, who I interviewed extensively at E3 2010. A man who was going to hang up his keyboard and step away from the gaming world, until he saw TERA.

And until I saw TERA, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that I’d been let down by beautiful MMO’s before. I’d been let down by action-MMO’s before. I’d simply become jaded. Rest assured, once I actually got my hands on TERA, I knew something was right. It seemed as if this was the MMO I’d been waiting for all these years — the game I wished I’d been playing when I was grinding away in Asheron’s Call, or wiping in the Sunwell while addicted to WoW. Yet I never knew such a game could ever exist, until TERA. It just felt like home. But enough of my ramblings. Here’s the rundown:

TERA looks great, I’ve seen it.

TERA plays great, I’ve played it.

TERA will not be released until En Masse knows they can support the community 100% at launch, and for the foreseeable future.

Still not convinced? Keep it here at RipTen for my upcoming exclusive interview with En Masse COO Pat Wyatt as well as all things TERA and MMO related. We’re gonna be following this one closely.

Also, since there aren’t many suitable gameplay trailers yet available, I decided to make my own.

In case you were wondering, yes, that is brand new Iron Maiden you’re hearing. :-)

If you’d like to see actual leveling footage, check out this random Korean player’s YouTube channel.

Mark my words, TERA is going to have a strong following.

Let's just say this is me, waiting for the proverbial floodgates to open

But now we must take you to a galaxy far far away, for an MMO that is going to be a big, big, big deal.

Star Wars: The Old Republic has been a long time coming. MMO fans want it, Star Wars fans want it, heck even I want it, and I’m not a fan of either of those things anymore. However, after spending time with The Old Republic at E3 2010 and getting some hands-on gameplay, one word describes this game to me: Polished.

Maybe it’s the cinematic approach to every part of the game, maybe its the fact that entire game down to the simplest quest is perfectly voice acted. Maybe it’s the fact that there’s nothing revolutionary here except the fact that LucasArts and BioWare have taken the typical MMO formula, thrown on a shiny coat of polish, and set it in the Star Wars universe. They haven’t re-invented the wheel by any means, but what they have done is get set to deliver one seriously well built and addictive experience to MMO fans and Star Wards nerds alike.

Now when I say this is a typical MMO, I don’t mean that in a bad way. If if told you that The Old Republic was basically World of Warcraft with lightsabers and storm troopers, would you say that’s a bad thing? I surely wouldn’t.

This is your typical get a quest, form a party, press buttons, wait for cooldowns, tank and spank MMO. And there’s nothing wrong with that! In my opinion, if it ain’t broke, give it to LucasArts and BioWare and have them make it better than ever anyway.

And when I say better than ever I mean a few things. Do you love games like WoW but hate the repetitive quests which you don’t ever read and/or don’t care about? Quests that seem to have no tie ins to the greater scheme of things whatsoever? Well that’s gone! In The Old Republic each quest places you in a Mass Effect like cutscene with whomever you are talking to and you will have different options of how to respond. And as I said, all of this is voice acted, including your responses. Once you have chosen a course of action, only then will you go do your mindless quest and return later to said questgiver. Watch here how quests will play out in The Old Republic.

That right there takes the tried and true questing formula and jacks it up a level, while engaging the player deeper in the game world by adding real time story and dialogue. Can you skip to the end of these conversations as you would skip to the end of your quest text in WoW? Sure you can, but you won’t want to.

Another thing different about The Old Republic is the way they’ve approached player housing in the form of ships. That’s right, in The Old Republic you’ll get your own effing ship … sweet.

Now some of the things apparent in other MMO’s that aren’t revolutionary here, are still very necessary, and The Old Republic is doing them right as well. Things like gear progression are critical to getting gamers into an MMO. Forget about being a Tier 6 Paladin, how about being a Tier 6 Bounty Hunter!

So as you an see, The Old Republic is changing the MMO game without really changing MMO’s. They’ve taken a time tested formula and simply added a layer of polish that only companies like LucasArts and BioWare can provide. When you add this up, you’ve got a recipe for a sure fire smash hit MMO and you can quote me on that.

My prediction: 2 million subscribers at launch, 5 million by next years end, 10 million in two years time if they maintain their commitment to community and content progression. Don’t forget, you heard it here first.

So, what do we have here? One MMO that is trying to change the way we think about MMO’s by pushing the limits of graphics and gameplay, and another that is taking the tried and true MMO formula and simply kicking all aspects up a notch.

While TERA is definitely at a bigger risk of failure, I have no reason to believe that it will not succeed greatly, and while The Old Republic has almost no chance of being anything less than a huge success, if it is not managed and maintained properly, it will fall by the wayside and join the ranks of so many other MMO’s that had limitless potential.

All in all, what we have here are two very good games. Games that should provide hours upon hours of addictive MMO enjoyment for years to come.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Closed Beta Friends, Family, & Cool Kids Weekend?

Dave Oshry — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 01:24:25 +0000

Rumors abound that LucasArts and BioWare’s upcoming seriously big mother effing MMO is having a closed Beta this weekend for friends, family. and other people that are cooler than you.

Good luck getting an early crack at this one. According to a thread on the The Old Republic offficial forum, there may be a closed beta for the game from today until Sunday. Apparently there are only 100-200 going out. So chances are, you didn’t get one.

Instead of staring hopelessly at your inbox, watch the “Hope” trailer we all saw at E3 2010. May the force be with you nerds!

Debut Trailer for Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

Demi Adejuyigbe — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:56:01 +0000

One of the moments that kind of got pushed into a corner at this year’s E3 was LucasArts announcing Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars for the Xbox 360, Wii, and DS. I’m not sure why it was largely ignored- the first two games, which chronicled the six films, were a hit. They were funny, charming, and entertaining for all ages, and this one looks to be the same way.

The good news is that this game seems to take on the story of the critically-acclaimed Clone Wars animated series, and not the film. The trailer is below, and the LEGO art style seems to fit almost perfectly with Clone Wars’s photo-realistic, but animated 3D. I’m excited, but I’m not sure I can wait until 2011, when the game lands.

E310 Star Wars: Force Unleashed 2 Trailer Demonstrates The Power Of Betrayal

Chad Lakkis — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 04:43:11 +0000

Darth Vader reminds me of myself when I was in my early twenties. Why? Well, because back then, I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I wanted to look into a girl eyes and say the words:

“You have served your purpose well … but I have no further use for you.”

It’s probably best that I never did though. Because after watching the freshly dissed apprentice take out his Vader hate on a mob of unsuspecting Stormtroopers in the brand new Star Wars: Force Unleashed 2 trailer below, it’s easy to see that I never would have lived to see my 25th birthday.

LucasArts President Resigns, Takes Force With Him

Dave Oshry — Tue, 11 May 2010 02:02:10 +0000

Darrell Rodriguez, president of LucasArts has resigned from his position, along with several other members of his team. The reasons for his resignation are still uncertain, but it seems that LucasFilm’s Jerry Bowerman will take his place until a full-time replacement can be found. LucasArts has said that this will not affect any games currently in development (hooray). They issued this statement:

“Darrell Rodriguez has resigned and we have initiated a search for a new leader. Jerry Bowerman – a member of the Lucasfilm Board of Directors and a games industry veteran – will be stepping in to lead the LucasArts executive team during this transition. Lucasfilm remains fully committed to making great games and we continue to invest in our business.”

<– Rodriguez, former COO of EA Los Angeles, was appointed in April 2008, just after then LA president Jim Ward had stepped down. During his time at LucasArts, the publisher launched its best-selling Star Wars: The Force Unleashed action adventure, the sequel to which is due later this year. Other releases during his tenure included Fracture, the remakes of the Monkey Island adventure series, and Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. LucasArts, Electronic Arts, and BioWare also announced their collaboration on the future MMO entitled, Star Wars: The Old Republic during the reign of Rodriguez.

As far as where he will go next or who will replace him on a permanent basis, there is no word as of yet. Stay tuned.

LucasArts re-releasing Jedi Knight series for digital download

Sam Naylor — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:55:42 +0000

Shacknews reports that LucasArts will be re-releasing their classic Jedi Knight/Dark Forces series on Steam and Direct2Drive on Wednesday. The release will include all of the games in the series, even the expansion pack Mysteries of the Sith. This follows from their recent re-release of Knights of the Old Republic on Steam, as well as the re-vamped Monkey Island franchise.

Direct2Drive are also having a celebration of 5 years of not-bad service by having a pretty good sale. Everything is $5/£5 in the sale, which includes Bioshock and Saints Row 2 at the time of writing. The games will change soon though, so keep checking back for the best deal.

LucasArts To Announce A New, Original Game on GametrailersTV

Demi Adejuyigbe — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:14:56 +0000

In an age where social networking and word economy reign supreme, it’s hard to find a rumor that didn’t originate or spread through Twitter. Geoff Keighley, host of Spike’s GameTrailers TV, knows this, and recently took to his Twitter to stir the rumor mill regarding a brand new LucasArts IP to be announced on GTTV this weekend.

“LucasArts will announce a brand-new original game on this week’s GTTV – with first footage. More details soon.” tweets Keighley. Keighley, you’re such a tease! Come on, give us more than that. A name, a genre, a platform- I’ll even accept a 32 x 18 screenshot! But until Thursday, when GTTV airs (at 12:30AM) I’ll just pray that you were lying about it being original. I just want a new Grim Fandango, LucasArts.