KOTOR
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Classic Star Wars RPG 'KOTOR II' comes to mobile on December 18th
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, better known as KOTOR, is one of the best Star Wars games ever made. Its sequel, KOTOR II, isn't held in quite the same regard, but still boasts an impressive 85-rating on Metacritic. Now, that second instalment -- first released for the Xbox in 2004, but later ported to Windows, MacOS and Linux -- is getting a mobile version.
'Knights of the Old Republic' could become a Star Wars movie
While the Star Wars franchise will take a new direction after the Skywalker arc ends with Episode 9, the next movie might still tell a familiar story. According to BuzzFeed News, a Star Wars film based on the classic LucasArts RPG Knights of the Old Republic is in the works. Further, Laeta Kalogridis, whose credits include Altered Carbon, Avatar and Shutter Island, is reportedly almost done writing the first script of what could become the KOTOR trilogy.
Play 'Star Wars: KotOR 2' in 5K, on your Mac
So this whole year of Star Wars thing apparently includes dormant video games too, who knew? Despite the fact that the lesser of the two Knights of the Old Republic role-playing games released all the way back in 2004, it recently got a pretty huge update. Now KotOR 2: The Sith Lords is playable on Mac and Linux, available in the Mac App Store, has achievements, widescreen support and will even run in 4K and 5K resolution. If it's a console-like experience you're chasing, the game supports controllers too, including PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One gamepads. The title's Steam page teases mod support via Steam Workshop and even a "Force special effects" option in the game's menu. To find out exactly what the latter entails, you'll likely have to download it for yourself. [Image credit: theglobalpanorama/Flickr]
KOTOR finds the Androids you've been looking for
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, BioWare's beloved RPG, is now available on Android devices. To mark the occasion, developer Aspyr Media has slashed the usual $10 price in half (with a lightsaber, presumably). You can snag it from Google Play right now, so long as your device is up to snuff, of course.
The best 'Star Wars' role-playing game is finally on Android
Attention, meatbags: If you somehow missed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic the first three times it was released, now might be your chance to finally fix that. How so? Well, BioWare's excellent role-playing game set in a galaxy far, far away is now available for Android devices. What's more, it's $5 on Google Play at the moment and, like the game's iOS counterpart, controller compatible as well. Given its complexities, you'll likely want to play it on a device with a sizable bit of screen real-estate. Regardless of just how big the Galaxy Note 4 is, however, things still might get a little cramped. Maybe living out your Light (or Dark) side fantasies on an NVIDIA Shield gizmo might be a bit more comfortable instead. Early Play Store reviews note that it's running pretty well on a variety of 'droids (including the two year-old Nexus 4), so maybe now is the time to find out what having a wookie life-debt is like.
Credit-stealing space cows and other Mass Effect series facts
A new video from the folks over at Did You Know Gaming will take you on a space odyssey, as guest host Really Freakin Clever narrates little-known bits of trivia related to the Mass Effect series. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes information here that explores the series' origins, as well as why the iconic races look the way they do. The Krogan, for example, were created by combining attributes of bugs and bats, while Salarian scientist Mordin's grizzled look was inspired by Clint Eastwood. Oh, and then there's that shifty space cow out to steal your money. Yes, that is a real thing in the original Mass Effect. Want to see it in action and learn some more interesting facts? Check out the video after the break.
Perfect Ten: Game franchises that became MMOs
Popular franchises have been known to jump between various entertainment media, from games to television to movies to comic books and even to pogs. We should not gasp in utter amazement that this is also the case with many of our beloved MMOs; we should nod sagely and accept the terrible truth. There are several video game franchises that have culminated in -- or at least have taken a detour through -- the land of MMOs. For gamers who wanted more and especially did not want to see their journey end, an MMO continuation is a welcome answer that's usually hiding its own problems. But nevermind that; let's march down the halls of history and see the yearbook photos of these franchises when they were young!
5 Classic PC games begging for the iPad treatment
Yesterday, the fantastic iOS port of Knights of the Old Republic received full MFi controller support and cloud save functionality that lets you transfer progress from one device to another (like when you upgrade your iPad, for example). Combine those features with the revamped HD visuals and a few other tweaks the game has received since its iOS debut, and the iPad is now the premiere platform on which to experience one of the greatest western RPGs ever. The iPad, in all of its current incarnations, is a powerful tool for productivity, but what's becoming more and more apparent is that it's the perfect platform for yesterday's PC games to receive a second life. It's a big risk for a developer to put the resources into reviving a classic game, but there are a few sure bets out there that would undoubtedly thrive on the App Store. Grim Fandango It's a little bit absurd that this classic hasn't already been reborn on the iPad, especially given the soft spot many adult gamers have for this Tim Schafer epic. 3D models on top of static backgrounds might prove a little tricky to bump up into a Retina-friendly resolution, but the game was already pretty sharp looking and I don't think anyone would complain about a straight port. Give it to us now! Syndicate/Syndicate Wars Syndicate -- and its sequel, Syndicate Wars -- are still pointed to as inspiration for modern cyberpunk-themed games, and the isometric perspective of the original PC titles would be a perfect fit for the iPad. Controlling a team of mechanically enhanced assassins as you swipe and pan around a cityscape would be made much easier with the help of the iPad's touchscreen, and the modest weapon effects and other visual touches would be no problem for even the still-in-production iPad 2. Theme Hospital Theme Hospital has all the makings of a great iOS game: It's relatively easy to learn, deep enough that it can keep you busy for hours, and it's absolutely absurd. At its heart, it's a sim-style management game, but the hilarious patients and fast and frantic pace of the entire experience would be great on a tablet. Deus Ex Yes, a new Deus Ex spinoff recently launched on the App Store, and that game's solid controls and console-quality action just proves how easy it would be to port the original title to Apple's tablet. Everything from the hacking to inventory management would be made easier and more fun with the use of a touchscreen, and as KOTOR shows us, upping the resolution of these basic 3D models looks just fine on a Retina display. Black & White One of the most beloved "god games" of all time, Black & White on the iPad would finally let you touch your creations the way the game had always intended. In the PC version of the game your on-screen hand was responsible for manipulating various aspects of the game world, so a tablet version would translate wonderfully. You could cast lighting down onto your subjects from the heavens with a flick or discipline your "pet" with a tap on its head. Please make this happen.
Today's gaming deals from Steam, Square-Enix, Target [update]
Steam's Thin Wallets 2013 Campaign holiday sale continues today with a fresh batch of discounted games you surely have time to play. For the next 24 hours, the Darksiders series, season pass and all, is available for $9.99. Sleeping Dogs is down to $4.99, season passes for Telltale's The Wolf Among Us are $16.74, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 is $4.99. The current batch of Flash sales will expire at 9 pm EST, but until then you can snatch up The Binding of Isaac for $1.24, XCOM: Enemy Unkown for $9.99, or Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut for $4.99. If you're looking to play on consoles, Square-Enix's online store is offering 50 percent off select games with an ongoing holiday sale. 360 and PS3 copies of Sleeping Dogs are $14.99. If you're okay with passing up on features included in the more recent Director's Cut, 360 and PS3 copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution Augmented Edition are also $14.99. You can also get ready for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII with 360 or PS3 copies of Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2 for $10 apiece. Lastly, Target's recent credit card data breach has resulted in many of their in-store items being marked 10 percent off this weekend. Combined with their weeklong sale on 3DS XLs, that means you can pick up a 3DS XL today at Target for $135. If you don't have a 3DS yet, you might want to consider 2013's contributions to its lineup. Update: This article has been updated to reflect changes in pricing for the Steam holiday sale. Prices that were originally listed for the Darksiders series, The Wolf Among Us, KOTOR 2, The Binding of Isaac, XCOM: Enemy Unkown and Director's Cut have all been altered. Thankfully, they're now all cheaper than when the new batch of sales began!
Knights of the Old Republic falls to $5 on iOS
Like Darth Maul moments after angering Liam Neeson, the price attached to the iOS version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has been sliced in half. Originally $10, the surprisingly faithful remake of the classic BioWare roleplaying game will now set you back $5. The only caveat being that you must have an iPad 2 (or a later model) and at least 2.5GB of free storage space. Neither Apple nor publisher EA has offered a reason for the app's discount.
Knights of the Old Republic 3 was in pre-production at Obsidian
Another installment in the ever-popular Knights of the Old Republic series was in pre-production at Obsidian, creative director Chris Avellone told Eurogamer. Avellone said KOTOR 3 would have featured the character Revan more than KOTOR 2, from which the character was largely absent. "I always liked the idea that Revan, as smart and powerful as your player-character was, was actually even more of a brilliant strategist than became apparent in the first game," Avellone said of Revan's role in the first game. "The entire second game is littered with clues as to 'why didn't Revan destroy the infrastructure here? What was he trying to make sure was still intact? What did he/she see that no one else saw?'" The third game would have players tracking down Revan as a character deemed "The Exile." Allevone said, "it felt like we were pitching and pitching [to LucasArts] and it just wasn't going anywhere, and at some point people just drew a line and said 'it's just not going to happen,' which made us kind of sad, but, OK, if that's the business, that's the business." Obsidian's pitch to Disney in February 2013 for a new Star Wars game was different than KOTOR 3, according to Eurogamer. Obviously, this was before EA obtained the exclusive rights to develop and publish Star Wars games in May 2013.
BioWare talks KOTOR tenth anniversary, influence on SWTOR
If you haven't felt old yet this week, here's your punch in the gut: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, BioWare's beloved RPG, turns 10 today. The studio is celebrating KOTOR's birthday in a number of small ways, one of which being a loving blog post from studio creative director James Ohlen that talks about how KOTOR influenced the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic. According to Ohlen, BioWare put a premium on bringing several core components of KOTOR into SWTOR. He mentions epic narratives set in the Old Republic era, cinematic storytelling, being a Jedi, owning a starship, traveling to different worlds, an internal conflict between good and evil, and hanging out with companion characters that actually matter. Here's a clip from the post: All of these were key elements that we knew we wanted included from the very start of development. The good news is that all of these elements are featured prominently in SWTOR. These features also make SWTOR unique amongst MMORPGs, and helped forge what has become one of the strongest game communities in the history of online RPGs. Players of SWTOR can join in the celebration of KOTOR's birthday by purchasing the Revan's Heir title from the Cartel Market for 10 Cartel Coins. The title will be available only until 3 a.m. EDT, July 16th. So, tonight. Additionally, you can read through some of the memories offered by people who worked on KOTOR and score yourself a handful of wallpapers on this official BioWare post.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic arrives on the iPad, and the Force is with it
This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic is the kind of game that's almost too big to be playing on the iPad. It's easily 30 hours long, with extensive attribute, skill, and combat systems, and it has some of the best storytelling BioWare's ever done, all set in the epic pre-film Star Wars universe. This is a monster of a classic game, and like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Baldur's Gate before it, it seems like cheating to play this game on Apple's touchscreen tablet, like you're somehow breaking the laws of mobile gaming physics, if such a school even exists. And yet, it works. Aspyr Media is the company responsible here. It's been porting games to the Mac for a long time, and with Knights of the Old Republic has decided to start bringing what it calls "catalog Mac experiences" to iOS. Presumably, the rights were snagged from BioWare and LucasArts, and now there's a very well-made $9.99 port of one of the best Star Wars games ever assembled, running on the iPad.
Aspyr brings the Bioware classic Knights of the Old Republic to iPad
When I spoke with them at Macworld | iWorld earlier this year, Aspyr Media (a company that has brought a lot of games to the Mac platform) promised some interesting "catalog Mac experiences" would be released on iOS, and they've outdone themselves with the first title. Bioware's classic Knights of the Old Republic RPG, based in the Star Wars universe, is available for the iPad right now, at a premium price of $9.99. Aspyr has done an incredible job with this one, and it probably didn't hurt that Bioware's original was designed so well. The game works very well on a touchscreen, as most of the menus made very good use of buttons and easily accessible screen areas. Combat is essentially turn-based (it's real-time, but you can pause it to change your actions at any time) and works great on the iPad. You can fix any small mistakes you make in giving orders easily and quickly. Aspyr also wasn't afraid to step in when necessary. The game's dialog options are just too small to be navigated with fingers, so Aspyr added option buttons on the side of the screen that are easy to choose as you chat with the game's many, many characters. The game's graphics are showing their age, and optimizing them for the iPad probably didn't help the fidelity at all. But that's not a major concern, considering the game was first released in 2003. The real strength of this game is how it puts you smack dab in the middle of a great Star Wars story, and the graphics are good enough that they don't get in the way. The voice acting enhances the experience, too. Knights of the Old Republic's original voice acting was stellar, and it's back here in all of the great stories and dialog lines that Bioware originally put together. HK-47 is a fan-favorite character from Knights of the Old Republic, and while I haven't reached his part in the story on my iPad yet, I am sure that he's just as hilariously evil as always. In short, Aspyr has delivered a classic game in an expertly ported form. If you've never played Knights of the Old Republic, you're in for a treat, but realize that you're getting into a major RPG campaign. This title will likely have way more depth and story than your average Jetpack Joyride or Angry Birds games. And if you have played Knights of the Old Republic once or even twice in the past, you'll probably appreciate another playthrough even more on Apple's excellent touchscreen platform. I had no inkling at all that this was what Aspyr was thinking of when they mentioned earlier this year that they were planning on porting some classic titles to iOS, but I'm glad this is what they started with. I can't wait to see more classic and revered games make their way from the Mac platform over to the iOS App Store with Aspyr in the captain's seat.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic coming to iPad [Update]
Classic BioWare RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is coming to iPad, as revealed by a review that came seemingly out of nowhere on IGN. The site mentions the pause-and-play combat works great, while character movement is clunky. No price or release date is mentioned. We're awaiting more details from our bothan spy team, but we're afraid they've been lost. Our second option is details from publisher Electronic Arts. Update: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which weighs in a 1.98 GB, costs $9.99 through the App Store. Update 2: It's official – check out the press release for Knights of the Old Republic on iPad below.
EA scores exclusive rights to develop future Star Wars games
Electronic Arts and Disney announced a multi-year agreement today that will see future Star Wars video games exclusively developed and published by EA. This news comes a little over a month after the house of mouse made the decision to stop internal development at LucasArts. EA's developers scheduled to take on the Star Wars universe include DICE (Battlefield), Visceral (Dead Space) and BioWare, the latter of which will continue development of its already released Star Wars MMO (The Old Republic). The financial terms of the agreement have yet to be disclosed, but EA will create games for a "core gaming audience" while Disney will produce casual titles for mobile and social outlets. Now that the force is strong with EA, our fingers are crossed for a new installment in the KOTOR franchise.
Mac Game of the Week: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Odds are that you may have played Knights of the Old Republic once before, but even if so, you may want to pick it up and go through it again anyway. These days, it's a classic, but back when we first heard Bioware (the company behind legendary RPGs like Baldur's Gate) was going to try and make its mark on the Star Wars universe, gamers weren't sure what to expect. What they got when the game released in 2003, however, was a brilliant take on George Lucas' universe, a fascinating tale of the light and dark sides of the Force, and a tactical yet action-packed tour through the history of the world of lightsabers. Knights of the Old Republic cemented Bioware's reputation as a legendary RPG company, and not only did it push them on to make great titles like the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, but it spawned a universe of its own, including the Obsidian-developed sequel and eventually The Old Republic MMORPG. And yet, despite its age (almost ten years now!), Knights of the Old Republic still tells a great yarn of a story, with some brilliant dialogue, tough decisions to make, and plenty of lightsaber and blaster fighting. Plus, right now the game is only $4.99 on the Mac App Store, and at that price, the title is a must-have. You may have played through this once already, either on the original Xbox or the PC, but KotOR is a classic, and it's a great game addition to any Mac as well.
SWTOR uploads new companion HK-51's backstory
Coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic in Update 1.5 is the game's first additional post-launch companion: HK-51. BioWare's crafted an encyclopedia entry designed to get us familiar with the substance and style of this new character. Based off of Knights of the Old Republic's HK-47 (who is also in SWTOR), HK-51 is a more advanced droid assassin model that prizes "efficiency over brutality." While remarkably effective at killing, the HK-51s were all but destroyed. Only a single crashed ship carrying the remainder of their kind is reported missing on Belsavis. BioWare also mentions another starship that may have design blueprints for the droid, but it too is lost. The droid assassin will be obtainable in a new area on Belsavis that also comes with the update, although free players will need to purchase this content to gain access to the companion.
Steam Summer Sale, Day 5: Metro 2033, RAGE, Assassin's Creed: Revelations and more
If you made it this far into the Steam Summer Sale, plan on not buying that pizza you wanted for dinner tonight. Day five of the platform's annual deal-stravaganza features sales on Age of Empires III for $9.99, Metro 2033 for $4.99, RAGE for $9.99, and Assassin's Creed: Revelations for $13.59. Those four games add up to the cost of four large, one-topping pizzas alone.Today's sale includes both Dear Esther and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for a reasonable price of $2.49 each, around the cost of one of those personal pan pizzas. Let's be honest, those don't fill anyone up anyway.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Collection spotted for PC, launching July 17 [Update]
It appears an as-yet-unannounced Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Collection will launch on July 17, according to a GameStop listing. We called a store representative and confirmed that a KOTOR collection is in their system, and is listed as a PC-exclusive title for $20.The first game in the series (developed by BioWare) was released to critical acclaim in July 2003 for Xbox, and later for PC. KOTOR came to Mac via Steam just a few months ago. Obsidian developed the game's sequel, which launched on Xbox in December 2004.We've reached out to LucasArts for more details on the collection.Update: The game is listed on Amazon as Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic I and II PC Bundle Pack, and is available for preorder. We are still confirming details with LucasArts.Thanks for keeping those eagle eyes sharp![Thanks, Josh!]
