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Krome Studios lays off 'undisclosed number' of staff
It's always sad when our layoffs tag claims another victim and, today, Australia-based Krome Studios is the latest. The developer responsible for the PS2, PSP, Wii and DS ports of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and who recently wrapped up development on Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes, has been forced to release an "undisclosed number" of its staff, Industry Gamers reports. Krome CEO Robert Walsh attributes the action to declining game sales industry-wide and says the company has "worked really hard to minimize the impact" on its staff. Walsh does give some of these ex-employees hope, stating that he's currently "pursuing several business opportunities which, if secured, will enable Krome to reemploy some of the staff given notice."
Star Wars Republic Heroes demo caters to disturbing lack of faith
Not to be confused with the infamous military standoff prompted by the worldwide shortage of Old Spice in the early 1950s, The Clone Wars were first mentioned by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope. The fictional saga has since been depicted in George Lucas' prequel trilogy, an animated TV series and several video games, including a new entry from Krome Studios. A demo for (here comes the full title) Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes is available on Xbox Live, roughly a month before the full version's October 6 release. Oh, right, we'd better work in another Star Wars reference over here. Umm, hey, why haven't you downloaded this Star Wars demo yet? What is Tarkin you so long?Add the Republic Heroes demo to your Xbox 360 download queue
The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes pushed back to October 6
While certainly not the most anticipated Star Wars title coming down the pipe, there's plenty of folks looking forward to the release of Krome Studios' Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes -- folks who are about to be somewhat disappointed. During yesterday's Star Wars panel at San Diego Comic Con, LucasArts Senior Marketing Manager Matt Shell talked about the game, and mentioned an October 6 release date for the title. That's a bit of a delay from the initial launch date of September 15.The crowd at the Comic Con panel didn't react unfavorably to the release bump, however. Perhaps they were placated by Olivia Munn, who was apparently cosplaying as "short-shorts Leia."[Via Big Download]
First official lightsaber accessories for Wii announced [update: no Motion Plus]
There are a few weird, internal reactions a nerd has to deal with when a company -- Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, in this case -- announces that it's creating the first officially licensed Star Wars lightsaber and blaster accessories for the Wii. On one hand, Wii accessories are, by and large, completely pointless. On the other hand, they're lightsabers ... and they light up. On yet another hand (wait ... three hands?) the accessories, including the blaster, clearly don't have enough room to accommodate MotionPlus (as far as we can tell).Granted, these are being released in conjunction with Star Wars - The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, which has no MotionPlus support that we're aware of, but come on! Any lightsaber accessory should have an extra slot for MotionPlus. We don't care if LucasArts ever makes another lightsaber game or not. Hell, we'll pick up Red Steel 2 and just pretend we're using a lightsaber. At least, we would, if these accessories supported MotionPlus.Oh, the Clone Trooper blaster also comes with stickers.Update: We've confirmed with BDA that neither Republic Heroes nor its accessories support MotionPlus.%Gallery-66808%
LucasArts details The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
It's true, last week's peek at Krome Studios' upcoming take on Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars left our midichlorian count at an all-time low. Now publisher LucasArts has made things official, laying out what we can expect from The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes.The game, which will force grip retail shelves on September 15, will feature "run-and-gun" gameplay and 30 different missions, each plucked from "key" events in the animated series' debut run. Republic Heroes will also support two-player online and offline co-op, as well as the ability to drop in and out of multiplayer matches "seamlessly."Lastly, LucasArts adds that its Singapore branch is handling on the DS version of the game, something we already suspected. Now, with our force powers slightly charged, we're going to see if we can lift our expectations out of the Dagobah swamp. %Gallery-63185%%Gallery-63184%
Not cloned screens of Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
LucasArts has released the first screens of The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes and we have them all for you to enjoy. The company has released screens for the Xbox 360 -- which we presume will be identical to the PS3 release -- Wii and DS versions, so pick your platform of choice from the galleries below and peruse. All of the versions look pretty decent, though we imagine the stylized look of the game helps in that regard.We've also embedded the release trailer above for those of you who couldn't be bothered to click the link in the announcement post last week.%Gallery-63184%
The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes confirmed, trailer released
After rumors last week claimed Krome Studios to be working on an upcoming multiplatform Star Wars game, tentatively titled The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, Entertainment Weekly has since confirmed the game's existence. In the same aesthetic vein as the Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the trailer focuses on a poorly voiced Yoda and -- big surprise! -- the possibility that failure means "all will be lost." Dare we say it? The graphics just aren't that impressive, especially compared with last year's The Force Unleashed. Still, the game's only out (on every system ever) by September 15th. Perhaps it'll catch our eye before then!
Rumor: Co-op Clone Wars game coming to Xbox 360, PS3
A rumor posted over at Destructoid points to a new Clone Wars game in the works for Xbox 360 and PS3. Titled Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, the game is described as a third-person action title featuring two-player co-op, with separate "Jedi" and "Clone" storylines featuring Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, respectively.The game's focus is supposedly on melee combat, with mention of some form of upgrades available throughout the game. Jedi characters will purportedly have some access to Force powers (gasp!), such as the ability to control droids (Dtoid's post mentions rolling Droideka).Krome Studios has had plenty of experience with the Star Wars franchise. The company handled porting Star Wars: The Force Unleashed to the Wii, PS2, and PSP, and was responsible for the Wii-exclusive Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels. Let's hope the third time's the charm here.
