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The Digital Continuum: Five PvP MMOs with potential pt. 2
This'll be the first superhero MMO with both superheroes and villains playable on launch day, which is a key distinction from games with opposing factions. On a very basic level, DC Universe Online's PvP is going to be about villains committing crimes and superheroes will be preventing or stopping them. SOE has mentioned arenas, which sound a lot like instanced PvP scenarios with a superhero twist.
Old Republic's Bounty Hunter class detailed with screens, art and video clips
With the first class page for Star Wars: The Old Republic, the fact that this game is really happening seems to have further solidified in our brains. It certainly helps that the first class profile also happens to be for the glorious Bounty Hunter -- a class for the player looking to strike fear into the hearts of anyone with a mark on their head.The class page is full of screens and concept art, which we've put into our galleries. There are also three short clips showing off an advanced blaster, a twin-jumppack attack and that classic wrist flamethrower we all know and love. We're definitely looking forward to future class reveals, if this is the standard to which BioWare is going to hold themselves to.%Gallery-35033%%Gallery-35034%
Issue #2 of Star Wars: The Old Republic webcomic gets physical
As self-proclaimed nerds for all things involving story and lore, we're thrilled to see the second issue of the Star Wars: The Old Republic webcomic, Threat of Peace. Things are beginning to heat up in the story, and we have a feeling that some all-out brawling is just around the corner.We'd like to take this moment to point out that art-wise, Threat of Peace is quite pleasing. Anyone who reads the KOTOR comic series is probably seeing a little visual similarity here, and that's because the colorist (Michael Atiyeh) and letterer (Michael Heisler) are the very same fellows who've been working on KOTOR. We hope they can keep it up, because living life without this much awesome Old Republic era storytelling would be cruel and unusual.
Bounty Hunter class revealed in second The Old Republic video documentary
The second video documentary from BioWare focuses heavily on how Star Wars: The Old Republic is approaching story. While that may sound like retreading old ground -- and a little of it is -- there's actually some very new information held within the video.The biggest of which is the official acknowledgment of the Bounty Hunter class who, according to BioWare, will have "his own movie trilogy" story told to players in the shape of enormous quest lines. And this is in addition to the game's overall story, which puts the amount of story in this game well over a metric ton.Additionally, we learn that the so-called peace treaty between the Republic and Sith Empire is really more of an agreement to avoid all out war. Or in other words, players of light and dark side will be facing off against each other in plenty of skirmishes throughout the entire game. The news isn't that surprising, especially considering an MMO's got to have its conflict play -- or PvP play, if you like.Check out the video after the cut.
Creating Hutta out of thin air for The Old Republic
What's a developer to do when tasked with the creation of a never-before-seen planet in the Star Wars universe?The answer to that question is easy: a lot of hard work. When it comes to places previously featured in movies or games, the creation of a planet -- while not a walk in the park -- isn't too tough. These are places like Korriban or Coruscant where visualization has taken place many times in the past. Then you've got the purposefully polluted Nal Hutta, or Hutta if you like -- home world to those giant slugs with a thing for crime, the Hutts.And because this is such a different task, the most recent dev diary at the Star Wars: The Old Republic official site a very interesting read. We, for one, can't wait to trudge through the grime and muck on a quest for ancient Sith artifacts. BioWare has finally unveiled Star Wars: The Old Republic, their new MMO! Massively's got you covered on all the details. Check out our comprehensive guide on everything we know so far about the game, or just peruse our screenshot/concept art galleries. Join us in the Galaxy far, far away!
More Star Wars: The Old Republic Hutta concepts plus additional avatars
BioWare's latest media dump for Star Wars: The Old Republic may not be the most exciting batch so far, but not every week can a shiny new video all about the Jedi training planet and complete with in-game footage. And at least we're getting some more sneak peeks at the Hutt world via new concept art and avatars.Probably the most interesting piece of concept is the one pictured above, which actually goes into a surprisingly level of detail on the interior of this little abode. It makes us wonder how much effort is being put into the more epic and arguably more important places within the game.%Gallery-35034%%Gallery-35033% BioWare has finally unveiled Star Wars: The Old Republic, their new MMO! Massively's got you covered on all the details. Check out our comprehensive guide on everything we know so far about the game, or just peruse our screenshot/concept art galleries. Join us in the Galaxy far, far away!
The Digital Continuum: Is the force strong with The Old Republic?
Lightsabers, Jedi and Sith; all things that come to mind the moment someone says Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare probably pops up into most of our minds as well. It hasn't even been a week yet, but I'm already starting to see the potential greatness lying within BioWare's Austin, Texax studio's walls.It's not surprising that Lucas Arts and Electronic Arts both think that this particular MMO could be bigger than World of Warcraft -- they've got invested interest in seeing that come true. My reasoning is a bit less financially induced ( In fact, I'll probably end up buying the super-limited edition and of course there's the monthly fees) and instead a matter of desire to see one of my favorite franchises both succeed in and expand upon one of my favorite genres.%Gallery-35033%
The Daily Grind: Will The Old Republic break new ground?
Yesterday evening, you may have noticed a disturbance in the MMO blogosphere. It was as if a million voices cried out "awesome" at once at the announcement of Bioware and Lucas Arts' new MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. It appears that Bioware and Lucas Arts are setting the standards fairly high in terms of development, too. From initial reports, players will be able to affect the world, not just in little "kill-ten-rats" fashion, but broad changes. Apparently NPC companions can turn on you and betray you, and so very much more that set heads spinning here at the Massively virtual offices. Of course, as time wore on, we started to see rumblings of "cartoony" equally met with "but it's Bioware - they do awesome storylines" then rebutted with "but they don't know about MMOs, having never put one out." The commentary has truly run the gamut since last night. As such, this morning we thought we'd ask -- are you excited about the confirmation of the long-suspected Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, or no? What are you intrigued by, or not so thrilled about after reading all the news? Bioware has finally unveiled Star Wars: The Old Republic, their new MMO! Massively's got you covered on all the details -- from liveblogging the announcement to screenshot galleries and more. Join us in the Galaxy far, far away!
Force Unleashed unleashes 1.5 million copies
For all the controversy, mixed reviews and internal firings, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a sales success! According to Lucas Arts, Force Unleashed moved 1.5 million units worldwide in its first week of sales, making it the fastest selling Star Wars game ever. EVER! Though, one has to be sure to note that the 1.5 million number takes into account the game's sales on all platforms. We guess a decent demo can help a game's sales after all.
Force Unleashed demo breaks Marketplace record
Harnessing its force-like powers, Lucas Arts is gloating that the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed demo that released to the XBLM last month, broke a prestigious Marketplace record. Specifically, Lucas Arts claims that the Force Unleashed demo was downloaded 1 million times off the Marketplace in an eight day period, which would be a day quicker than the previous demo record holder Too Human. With demo downloads like that, The Force Unleashed should easily eclipse 5 million copies at retail ... HA!
The Digital Continuum: Six planets KOTORO shouldn't be without
There are many worlds to explore in the Star Wars universe. Some are nothing but deserts, while others are covered completely by a single city. So how do you decide which planets to include in something like the upcoming KOTOR MMO? Well, you could just flippantly choose the ones that appeal to you the most, or spend way too much of your time researching planets to figure out which ones would suit both MMO gameplay and lore the best. I went with the latter choice for this week's Digital Continuum. Feel free to click the image above and read through the results.%Gallery-31316%
Lucas unleashes Force Unleashed demo to XBLM
Today is the day our Star Wars: The Force Unleashed demo hopes and dreams finally come true. Because today is the day the 904MB Force Unleashed demo releases to the Xbox Live Marketplace for all to enjoy, that is if you're packing enough HDD space and are connected to Live. If both conditions are true for you then you'll be unleashing the force in the TIE Fighter Construction Facility in no time. Give the demo a download and share with us what your gut gaming reaction is.
Force Unleashed demo attacks the XBLM this week
Just as Lucas Arts promised us back in July, a new Star Wars: The Force Unleashed demo will be released to the Xbox Live Marketplace this week. More specifically, on the morning of Thursday, August 21st. Also as promised, the Force Unleashed demo will include a tutorial mode to master the Force Grip power and a complete level of gameplay set in a TIE Fighter Construction Facility where we're guessing a bunch of objects explode real good. May the force be with you (and also with you).[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
LucasArts looking for PC and console MMO testers
If you somehow still weren't convinced -- or in denial -- about the reality of a KOTOR MMO, here's some further proof of the matter. It's very compelling evidence but what's most interesting about the job requirements is this bit, "Strong familiarity and experience with gaming consoles, and Windows based PC's." Should we be expecting to hear the eventual announcement of an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 KOTOR MMO? Seems like.The good side of this news is you could meet the criteria LucasArts has set for a tester and be one of the first people to play the game. The bad news is that a new single-player KOTOR seems unlikely to be in anyone's current future. So if you're not initially sold on a massively multiplayer KOTOR, hopefully BioWare will actually own up to their claim of trying something different and change your mind in the long-run.
Force Unleashed demo unleashes to XBLM in Aug.
The possibility was discussed months ago and now forceunleashed.org has learned that Lucas Arts' own marketing manager Matt Shell has confirmed that a Star Wars: The Force Unleashed demo will be releasing to the Xbox Live Marketplace sometime next month. Interesting too is mention that the demo will feature a different experience than the game itself, with a remade Tie Fighter Construction Facility, extra force powers unlocked and a special conclusion to the level that isn't seen in the retail version. Force Unleashed, good or bad? We'll give you an answer next month.[Thanks, Mads Klitgaard]
The Digital Continuum: Five KOTOR MMO Jedi counter-measures
With the less-than-grandiose announcement that Electronic Arts, BioWare and Lucas Arts are working together on a KOTOR MMO, I've found myself pondering the game that until now was nothing but a rumor. Granted, I already thought about the game quite a lot even before it was the now more official affair.There are no two ways about it. Star Wars as an MMO presents developers with a tough issue: how to deal with the Jedi class. I still think that one of the many mistakes with Star Wars Galaxies was setting it during the original trilogy, where Jedi were almost non-existent. I got the draw of the setting, but for an MMO it really didn't cater to the fervent desire to roll a Obi-wanna be character. Yet I also feel like it's a mistake making Jedi readily available without presenting players with other options that are equally appealing. Neo-futuristic-magical-samurai with energy swords aren't a hard sale for most players choosing which class they want to play. Thankfully, BioWare seems to have chosen itself a wonderfully powerful loop-hole: Knights of the Old Republic.
Star Wars Battlefront III appears on Amazon
And, naturally, it was taken down. Thankfully, the internet is always there to catch the truth. However briefly, a listing for Star Wars Battlefront III was up on Amazon announcing that the game was coming to every platform under the sun including our beloved Xbox 360. Amazon was offering the game for pre-order with a release date of March 15, 2009. Something tells us that date is probably a placeholder.With Battlefront series creators Pandemic currently hard at work on Lord of the Rings: Conquest for their new bosses at EA, the question remains as to who will develop the third installment of the series. Joystiq surmises that it will be UK studio Rebellion, which was responsible for Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron for the PSP. Assuming the 2009 release date is even close to accurate, it looks like we'll have quite a while to find out.[Via Joystq]
Poke the Force with Lightsaber styli
We're often wooed by game-themed styli, but never has the Force been with a touchpen so much as with these mini Lightsabers. Releasing on July 31st, these official Nintendo and Lucas Arts styli are sure to sell like hotcakes (we can think of at least one game they'll go well with). Yet if you plan to buy them, you'll have a tough choice to make -- should you get the three small replicas for $7.99, or the two slightly bigger light-up sabers for $16.99? Choices, choices.So far we've only seen these beauties available on Amazon through seller BD&A, but we're sure they'll hit other retailers as time passes. If you're too cheap to make the purchase, though, be sure to check out our guide for stylus alternatives.[Thanks, Kimiko!]Source: Nintendo DS Star Wars Light Up Lightsaber Stylus 2 PackSource: Nintendo DS Star Wars Lightsaber Stylus 3 Pack
LEGO Indiana Jones demo now on XBLM
Heading into the weekend, you'll have plenty of demo fun to participate in as Lucas Arts just released a new LEGO Indiana Jones demo to the Xbox Live Marketplace. You'll be pleased to know that the demo is available to all Xbox Live regions and clocks in at a worthy 620MB. Indeed. Not much more can be said about LEGO Indy other than the fact that it's LEGO based, moderately entertaining and (sadly) doesn't include any mention of Harrison Ford or Shia LaBeouf. What a wasted opportunity.
LEGO Indiana Jones achievements swing online
Let's get the best part out of the way right now. Every single achievement in LEGO Indiana Jones is named after a line from the films. From the well-known "Why did it have to be snakes?" to "He chose... poorly," the lines run the gamut of all the films released thus far. There are a total of fifty achievements to earn, ranging in point values from 10 to 100 points. The single 100 point achievement is awarded for reaching a 100% completion level. If the LEGO Star Wars games were any indication, reaching 100% will take a significant time investment. Oh, and we hope you like secret achievements, because there are sixteen of them. Hit the "read" link to check out the list on 360Sync.
