KnightsOfTheOldRepublic
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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]
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.
GaymerX panel reflects on LGBTQ themes in video games, overcoming public reaction
As video games continue to search for their voice and place in cultural relevancy, they tackle new subjects and issues facing contemporary society. Ten years ago, the world was an entirely different place, especially in terms of LGBTQ acceptance. Joystiq recently learned that in 2003's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the inclusion of a lesbian character had to be hidden from developer BioWare's other employees, including the marketing team. Why? There was fear surrounding the audience's reaction. "I think for a long time, it was just assumed that nobody would accept it," David Gaider, the lead writer for the Canadian developer's Dragon Age series said, speaking at San Francisco's GaymerX convention. In the decade since KotOR's release, the RPG-house hasn't shied away from such inclusions. In its blockbuster space opera Mass Effect 3, players have the option of pursuing same-sex romances; there are numerous openly gay characters, too. This could have caused some to avoid the multi-million selling series' conclusion, but Gaider said that he thinks there is equal evidence of some people buying the games because of their accepting nature. He posited that as a result, other publishers and developers will likely follow suit because they're "copycats." For the panel's full conversation, read Joystiq's report about the "hump of assumptions" associated with LGBTQ representation in games like The Sims and Jade Empire.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic now available on iPad for $10
The iPad is no stranger to nostalgia-filled gaming sessions, and today Apple's platform is welcoming yet another popular OG title into its hefty ranks. More specifically, we're referring to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, a game which will surely bring a great deal of excitement to those who were avid fans of the original BioWare RPG back in the day. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is up for grabs now, but be prepared to pay a slight premium for it, since the near-2GB App Store download costs a cool 10 bucks. But hey, not too bad if you'd like to use an iPad to show your custom-made character what life was like before the Galactic Empire even existed.
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.
Rumor: Further evidence of Star Wars: KOTOR MMO discovered
1UP recently added some fuel cells to the fire of the relatively aged rumor that the result of Bioware and LucasArts' recent collaboration is an MMORPG which takes place in the long-winded universe of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. While one could make a case for and against this claim, a script for the game, which apparently landed in the laps of 1UP's digital ink slingers, could prove conclusive evidence for the online epic -- if it's completely legit, that is.The script details the online game as a "role-playing game set in the historical past of the Star Wars universe," where "Jedi and Sith battle across the galaxy." While those two phrases could apply to many chapters of the Star Wars mythos, the tipster who submitted the script was convinced it carried Bioware's trademark verbosity. We're confused -- how will we be expected to spend hours mindlessly grinding and spawn camping with all of that dialog getting in our way? Hopefully they'll fix that in beta.[Via Massively]
Knights of the Old Republic (not necessarily) back in BioWare's hands
Update: EA has responded to this post, saying their report does not actually confirm the existence of a Bioware KOTOR MMO. Original post below: After a brief stint with Obsidian Entertainment in 2004, the Star Wars: Kuhniggets of the Old Republic franchise is set to return to the folks at BioWare. So says an EA investor report (yes, that one) which listed the game amongst BioWare's multiple ongoing projects. Mind you, it's listed simply as "KOTOR," so there's a small chance that the studio is actually working on Kleptomaniac on the Origami Recliner. That doesn't sound like something you'd collaborate with LucasArts on, though ...While it doesn't preclude the possibility of the company working on more than one online game (or more than one KOTOR title), the separate listing of "new MMO" in the same report does cast some doubt on earlier KOTOR rumors. We'd prefer a single-player adventure over online organic meatbaggery, but perhaps you feel otherwise.
Mass Murder 101: How to be a hero
It's a fact that the majority of what we do in World of Warcraft is kill things. Nearly all the supplementary activities we engage in, from shopping to crafting, are all basically to help us improve the effectiveness of our violent capabilities. Many players have noted that if WoW were at all real, then nearly every one of our characters would be considered a genocidal maniac for all the people and creatures we have killed, and yet we view ourselves as heroes.The idea is, of course, that most of the lives we take are really evil anyway, so we're actually doing the real good guys a favor. We kill tons of demons, ghosts, zombies, dragonkin, giants, and rabid beasts -- even most of the humanoids we kill are bandits or wicked cultists of one sort or another. This way we do lots of killing, but still feel as though we are heroes.There are some situations in the game, however, that turn things around for us, in which our character is not the hero. While there are some higher-level instances such as the Black Morass, or the new Caverns of Time: Stratholme, in which one could argue either way whether what we're doing is good or evil, most of situations in which you are clearly the bad guy, as far as I am aware, have to do with the undead, and to a lesser extent the blood elves as well. Of course, you can argue that in general, undead are just misunderstood, and the blood elves are just tragically misled, but as in the case of quests in Hillsbrad that ask you to go slaughter human farmers, or help develop a new plague, there's really no denying that your character is doing something "morally wrong."
Mass Effect combat video uses the force
If you sat down last night to watch ... The G-Hole (shudder), expecting to see the new Mass Effect trailer, you were sorely disappointed. We have received word that trailer had to be cut due to time constraints. If you feel slighted, then fear not, for the trailer is available on MTV's cavernous flash site. If you'd rather not traverse such fetid places -- even if it is the only place you'll find the trailer in hi-res -- you can watch the YouTubified version after the break.
Massively dark Mass Effect screens
CVG -- the folks that pseudo confirmed Assassin's Creed for the 360 -- has posted some screens of BioWare's Mass Effect. All of them appear to be taken from combat sections of the game, and all of them are pretty dark. Perhaps that's why the CVG article in question was down at the time of this writing. Luckily, QJ has done us all a favor and hosted the images themselves.While you may not be able to make out much detail, you can at least rest assured that Mass Effect will feature super trendy nighttime levels. Lest these screens leave you doubting Mass Effect's graphical prowess, be sure and check out the video on XBLM, or right here. So, who wants this? (Me.)
Get your Mass Effect here! [update 1]
If you haven't been able to grab the video on XBLM, or if your slavish devotion to X360F prevents you from checking it out on Joystiq, here is the recently released Mass Effect video. If I am not mistaken, it is rendered using something called "streaming" technology. Simply amazing.So, if you've got four minutes to spare, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.[Via Joystiq]Update 1: Replaced not working Gamevideos video with reliable Youtube. Sweet.
