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Star Wars: The Old Republic Looking for Public Testers!

Nathan Grayson — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:17:30 -0500

You’ve waited and waited and waited, and you were prepared to wait even longer. Now, though, you can get an early hit of your next MMO addiction. Just head over to the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website, create an account, and – BOOM – you’ll… probably have to wait a bit longer, actually. But only a bit. And then maybe -- if the stars align in your favor – you’ll nab a spot in the game's testing phase.

Be quick about it, though. In case you hadn’t noticed, this game’s got everyone talking, and they’re mostly spouting one phrase: “I want to play this now.” LucasArts agrees with that assessment.

"Testing will be an ongoing process, and spots are limited, so people need to sign up early to give them the best possible chance of getting selected," wrote LucasArts.

So make like the Millennium Falcon and take a lightspeed leap over to the official sign-up page. Vominos!

SOE and LucasArts Working on Kid-Friendly Star Wars MMO?

Nathan Grayson — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 01:55:16 -0500

“You heard about them Wookies, right? They say those giant furballs will tear your [socks] off and [tickle] you until you’re [not dead from having your arms ripped off].”

Like that? Well then, you -might- be happy to hear that LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment -might- be working on a Star Wars MMO for this generation's impressively impressionable younglings. Citing an "inside source," TenTonHammer revved up the rumor mill:

“While we have not yet learned the title of the upcoming game, it sounds like SOE is planning to use the browser-based Free Realms engine to power the game, and the game’s setting will be the Clone Wars,” the site reported.

Obviously, then, this game wouldn’t be attempting to undercut Star Wars: The Old Republic – or even Star Wars Galaxies, for that matter. Rather, it would serve as another portion of Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ multimedia barrage.

That’s not to say that we entirely approve of this potential product, however. Maybe we’re old-fashioned, but we think the original trilogy’s the only way to go when kickstarting a child’s unhealthy obsession with Star Wars. Clone Wars, though? If we see any of that watered-down stuff in our house, you’re grounded like yesterday. And no more homework until you finish watching the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, got it?

LucasArts Hints at Porting Monkey Island to the iPhone

Paul Lilly — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:32:13 -0500

Old school adventure gamers who own an Apple iPhone may soon have reason to raise up a mug of grog, and those who have never matched wits with LeChuck might be in for a treat. In a not-so-subtle Twitter update, LucasArts stopped just short of saying it would release The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition on the iPhone.

"For our Monkey fans - an iPhone sized wallpaper. No reason. Wink wink nod nod," LucasArts tweeted.

LucasArts plans to release the remastered adventure game for the PC and Xbox 360 on July 15th, just two days from now, and the Twitter message is being seen as a (strong) hint that the game will also find its way to the iPhone, though it's anyone's guess as to when that might be.

The remastered title will feature high definition graphics, original cast member voice-overs, renewed music score, a new interface, an in-game hint system, and the ability to switch between Special Edition and Classic Modes at any time during gameplay, LucasArts says.

LucasArts Would Love to Revamp More Classic Adventure Games -- for a Price

Nathan Grayson — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:21:07 -0500

With The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition on the way, LucasArts is finally reopening its vault of classic adventure titles. However, Monkey Island -– great as it is -- is only one game in a storied lineage. We begged, groveled, and whined for more than a decade. Is more than a single game so much to ask? Fortunately, LucasArts wants its old school A-team back just as much as we do, but this time, the publisher would prefer we make our demands known through ka-chings instead of boohoos and puuuuhhhleeeases.

"If [Monkey Island] sells," said LucasArts community manager Brooks Brown, "there's no one at this company who doesn't want to do these games. It's a matter of showing that there's interest and this market is alive and (sic) get people as excited as possible about Monkey Island Special Edition to show that these things can make it.”

Monkey Island: Special Edition is set to pick away the pixels and give good ol’ Guybrush a current-gen makeover. This means new graphics, orchestrated music, an updated interface, and full voice acting. Presumably, revamps of other games would include similar feature sets.

So, you know, make with the buying when Monkey Island: Special Edition comes out this summer. Otherwise, future generations will probably never fall in love with Grim Fandango or feel Day of the Tentacle’s gentle caress. And let’s be honest here; a world run by people who’ve never been touched by the Tentacle is doomed to fail.

BioWare Enlists HeroEngine to Speed Up Old Republic's Development

Nathan Grayson — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:26:21 -0600

It may not be able to brag about escaping from the labs of Valve or Crytek, but that's no reason to discount Simutronics' HeroEngine. After all, BioWare, in its never-ending quest to unite as many seemingly made-up words as possible (Simutronics?), is using it for its Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. And, no offense, but we think they know better than you. Probably.

“Our goal was to partner with a platform developer that knows online gaming and virtual world development, and the team at Simutronics has an excellent track record in that respect,” said Gordon Walton, Co-Studio Director at BioWare. “Their HeroEngine was specifically created for building MMOGs and it allows for a great amount of flexibility in the way our entire team collaborates.”

The HeroEngine allows developers to construct a game while playing on a server, meaning that a swing of the nerf bat will no longer take a couple weeks. Additionally, the engine eliminates "the need for nightly builds and code crunching, which significantly reduces the notoriously long MMOG development cycle." In short, this means that The Old Republic may actually escape from BioWare's tractor beam before the LHC comes back online and destroys us all.

Yeah, we're pretty determined to see this game end the world. What of it?

Hate Subscription Fees? EA Says Star Wars MMO Will Use Microtransactions Instead

Nathan Grayson — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:34:09 -0600

Update: *Waves hand in front of your face* This is apparently just a big misunderstanding. EA told Shacknews that "no statements have been made about the Star Wars business model," and that Ricitiello's statement was misunderstood. Thus, we can't really know how EA will sink its hooks into your wallet until February rolls around. So yeah, these droids? Totally not the one's you've been searching for.

Subscription fees, as we've discussed at length, are the beginning of a slippery slope down ~~Blizzard's~~ single, mega-games' throats, but microtransactions might be a different a story. Most titles that take up the little big label offer their services for free (or a small nominal fee), hoping that you'll drop a few coins into their cup at some point in the future. And if EA has its way, Star Wars: The Old Republic will be one such game.

"We are continuing to stick to the plan relative to building out our direct-to-consumer models which include microtransactions and subscriptions," said EA CEO John Riccitiello in a recent conference call. "The recent launch of Warhammer [Online] is a great example of that."

"Other initiatives we've announced, for example [the] Star Wars online MMO, are mid-session games which are microtransaction-based," he continued. "You'll be hearing more about those in the February [conference] call."

This announcement certainly seems to suggest that BioWare's galaxy far, far away won't take subscription fees as a viable method of payment, though Riccitiello didn't go so far as to completely rule them out.

Regardless, the potential accessibility of a "free" MMO combined with the production values and gameplay of a Scrooge McDuck-level big-budget game could very well melt the Lich King right off his frozen (and likely very uncomfortable) throne -- probably ending all productivity as we know it.

tl;dr: Looks like the Mayan Apocalypse might be coming early this existence. Neat!

Star Wars: The Old Republic Gunning For WoW's Throne

Nathan Grayson — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 01:43:05 -0500

Well, kinda. Make no mistake, BioWare, EA, and LucasArts hope to four-legged race right past WoW's 11 million subscriber record, but even if WoW's legions commit to Blizzard's ludicrously popular MMO, marry the game, have adorable children, and then sell them to buy more WoW gold, the Old Republic team won't lose any sleep over the lost customers.

“Just look at the base of Star Wars fans, plus what BioWare can do," EA Games president Frank Gibeau told Videogaming247. "Trust me: we want to win. EA’s reputation is for wanting to win."

“This is going to be a powerful category and there’s lots of ways to compete in this category. [Blizzard] created a much larger opportunity for everybody else, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way.”

LucasArts online boss Tom Nichols elaborated, and also downplayed Blizzard's userbase as the be-all, end-all of the MMO market.

“When World of Warcraft came out, everybody thought, ‘No, the market is only this big, because that’s as big as EverQuest was.’ Blizzard showed that it could be much larger,” he said.

“Our goal is to show that by bringing storytelling to the genre that we can attract an even wider audience. Plus, we have the benefit of this huge brand, which has done very, very well for nearly 30 years.”

We think The Old Republic has a better chance of seizing WoW's spot on the winner's podium than any other MMO. How about you?

Star Wars Galaxies Unaffected by Star Wars: The Old Republic, Will Run "Indefinitely"

Nathan Grayson — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:44:21 -0500

We don't claim to be businessmen, but even we have to say LucasArts' rationale behind Star Wars Galaxies' continued existence seems a little off. When asked whether the troubled Star Wars MMO would step down gracefully or take a lightsaber to the gut, LucasArts senior online exec Tom Nichols replied:

“We’re still committed to Star Wars Galaxies. A couple of things: a demonstration of that commitment includes a recent trading card game that we launched in August. It’s doing very well for us and we have a new expansion pack being planned for that."

“I think the market will definitely support [both Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Wars Galaxies]."

He also noted that the two games feature different mechanics, which he believes will attract different audiences.

But if you've never played either game, what can Galaxies throw your way to entice you to its shriveled up side of the force?

“Shortly we’re going to release a new Hoth encounter that recreates that classic battle in the Empire Strikes Back, and that’s exciting content for our Galaxies community, so we’re definitely committed to the product.”

A Hoth level. Added to one of the few Star Wars games in history that didn't already have one.

Galaxies fans, feel free to tell us why we're wrong/why we should die in a fire.