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Archive for ‘LucasArts’

Lucasfilm Artifact: Defenders of Dynatron City

September 29, 2009

We’re now just a few short days away from the triumphant return of the The Clone Wars to television as Season Two launches this Friday on the Cartoon Network. But let’s turn the calendar back about 15 years and look at an animated venture that didn’t have the legs to last. We’re not talking Droids or Ewoks, which enjoyed a fair amount of success in the mid-1980s. We’re talking about an artifact largely forgotten from Lucas-lore: a tongue-in-cheek superhero show called The Defenders of Dynatron City.

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5 Comments » | LucasArts, TV | Permalink
Posted by Pabawan

Behind the Scenes on The Old Republic

July 24, 2009

At E3 this year, LucasArts and BioWare gave not only their first live demos of The Old Republic to press, but also released what has quickly become a fan-favorite trailer for the game. The reception has been fantastic. And as more information came out, fans got more excited. It should be no surprise – Knights of the Old Republic is one of the better loved Star Wars videogames, and it came out of this same partnership. Today, Jake Neri from LucasArts moderated a panel to give fans even more insight into exactly what goes into making a game that continually breaks boundaries.

On the panel were some of the senior people from the development team - Hall Hood (senior writer, BioWare), Alexander Freed (managing editor, BioWare), Dallas Dickinson (senior content producer, BioWare), and Jeff Dobson (art director, BioWare). Jake wasted no time jumping directly into the questions – starting with Dallas who didn’t shy away from a few jokes. “Star Wars: The Old Republic is a Story-Driven Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game – that’s SDMMORPG for those who are Twittering right now. It’s set 3,000 years before the movies and 300 years after the events of the original Knights of the Old Republic.”

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51 Comments » | Comic-Con, LucasArts | Permalink
Posted by Pabawan

Interview with Star Wars: The Old Republic Devs

June 19, 2009

Here’s a round-up of interviews about the upcoming video game that everyone is all a buzz about: Star Wars: The Old Republic.

From MMOgamer.com:

Daniel Erickson (Lead Writer on The Old Republic):

Because we did all class-specific stories for The Old Republic, we’ve allowed ourselves to basically make, Knights of the Old Republic: The Smuggler, its own game. Everything in there, when you’re playing a Smuggler, you feel like a Smuggler. The adventures are crazy, and madcap, and you’re flying by the seat of your pants, and there’s romantic stuff, and you’re spouting off crazy one-liners, etc., etc.

Then, when you’re playing as a Sith, it’s a completely different game. Everything is from that perspective, you come from a very dark world, you’re on Korriban, you’re dealing with Sith politics, you’re dealing with some very, very dark people who are allowed to do anything they want. It completely changes the way we do storytelling.

VIDEO: Giant Bomb Interviews Star Wars: The Old Republic Devs

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SOURCES: Slashdot, 1up.com

2 Comments » | LucasArts, gaming | Permalink
Posted by bonniegrrl

TFU Gets WGA Writing Nods; QFT, BRB, BBQ.

January 13, 2009

When people think of video games, they usually think of button-mashy, time-draining bits of visual flair. Usually, the writing does not live up the fun of the game. I mean, really, stomping turtles isn’t exactly a brilliant metaphor for world suffering or the trials of a hard life. It’s just stomping turtles, Freud.

But some video games can have those deep undertones. Gamers sat up and took notice with Bioshock in 2007, amazed at the story within the game. They weren’t alone. The Writers Guild of America were so moved that in 2008 they created an award for Best Writing within a Video Game. Dead Head Fred won for the 2007 span of releases – deservedly so, in my humble opinion. For the 2008 year, things hit a bit closer to home.

LucasArts is quite proud to have received praise from the Writer’s Guild. Regardless of what the critics said about The Force Unleashed, they all agreed the story is brilliant. And why not? Expanding the storyline of our beloved mythology, blazing ahead into previously unexplored dark times – who wouldn’t love that – gamers were hooked by the story as well as the brilliantly-crafted voicework and well-directed cinematics.

So, we extend congratulations to our friends Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford, and Cameron Suey. Give them some love – they worked incredibly hard on the game and deserve every bit of honor they are given.

25 Comments » | LucasArts, The Force Unleashed, gaming, in the media | Permalink
Posted by JediMudkip

Rogue Leaders is ‘Heaven’ for the Hardcore

December 3, 2008

As we here at LucasArts ramp up to the release of our history to the public in book form, our favorite fan sites are beginning to take notice. The much-beloved International House of Mojo has gone over the book itself with a fine-toothed comb and obviously fallen in love with it quite readily. To quote:

What will interest many people is the wonderful amount of previously unseen concept art, storyboards, puzzle flow-charts and other cool behind-the-scenes stuff for many of LEC’s games. There’s Steve Purcell’s alternate Monkey Island 2 covers, some of Peter Chan’s storyboards from Grim Fandango, the original Full Throttle logo and the notes for adjustment, designs for most of the creatures in The Dig, and even a letter from George Lucas praising the team after the success of Rebel Assault. For a lifelong Mojo reader, this is heaven.

I’m glad they enjoyed it as much as myself. Coffee table books are sadly rare for us gamers, and one as well-crafted as this deserves a place in any gamers home. To read the rest of their review, head over to MixNMojo.com and give it a read.

Rob Smith, the author of the book, should be proud. Even the most hardcore fans loved it. That’s saying something!

No Comments » | Collecting, LucasArts, The Force Unleashed, fan fun, gaming, in the media | Permalink
Posted by JediMudkip

Create Your Own Geeky Avatar

November 26, 2008

With the latest update to our 360’s worldwide, one of the odder features is the inclusion of ‘Mii-Like’ avatars. Sure, some of us bounced through the process very fast since we’ve been through it a dozen times with family on the household Wii. But some creative people decided to take it a step further.

One of my favorite gaming sites of late, Games Radar, decided to collect their favorites and show them to us. The Pris (remember her from Blade Runner?) and the Neo from The Matrix are good. But I’m not here for them. As they note – the hairstyles included are minimal, yet somehow – some way – they found room for historic buns.

It is worth heading over to their site to see the rest of them. Spock, Mr. T, and even a really, really creepy Michael Jackson. That one might be going too far.

1 Comment » | Celebrities, LucasArts, fan fun, gaming, in the media | Permalink
Posted by JediMudkip

Ye Olde-Timey Arcade Machine

November 25, 2008

In my home town the ‘The Gold Mine’, an arcade that closed in the early 90’s, was a haven for the socially awkward. On a bad day you’d fly through your change in no time flat, on a good day, you’d feel like a hero and only have dropped a single token. Alas, the days of quarters, tournaments and dark rooms filled with bleeps and neon lights are long gone.

But when it comes to reminiscing on these great days, my mind always drifts to the great vector-based games that still – to this day – mesmerize me. I know I’m not the only person who gets weepy staring at a good rendering of Tempest, right?

The crown of vector gaming, however, goes to Star Wars. I cannot help but smile when I think about its incredible controller, bright graphics and pseudo 3-D rendering of the battle on the Death Star.

Apparently, neither can the guys at Screw Attack, who feel the same way I do. Luckily, they decided to put their love for the game on their latest episode, which I proudly present to you. Be careful not to overdose on nostalgia, okay?

3 Comments » | LucasArts, gaming, in the media | Permalink
Posted by JediMudkip

Popular Science Gives The Force its Due

November 10, 2008

One of my favorite newsstand mags to browse is Popular Science, leading the way for some of the better and more fascinating subjects you can read and digest in a short period of time. Every year they name their favorite new things we can spend our paychecks on – and the list is, quite often, a geeks dream.

This year is no different, with things from OLED Televisions to sub-woofers for your seat gracing the pages. A personal pick is the new Onkyo Receiver. The ability to adjust color and brightness before the video signal hits your television is any videophiles fantasy.

Not to be left out, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, thanks to the brilliant physics and AI engine within (DMM and Euphoria respectively), made this years list. As the award exclaims, videogame players finally get a tactile sensation they are effecting physical objects, and actually hurting Stormtroopers. We’re flattered for the award, and our thanks goes out to PopSci.

No Comments » | LucasArts, The Force Unleashed, gadgets, gaming, in the media, science | Permalink
Posted by JediMudkip

“Today is the (10th Anniversary of the) first day of the rest of your life”

November 4, 2008

Technically, shouldn’t updates on this game come in 4 year increments? Just for effect? No? Then I guess it’s time to celebrate the tenth anniversary of our first adventure in the world of Tim Schafer’s twisted travel agency.

Grim Fandango tells the story of a rather lazy – but well-intentioned – Grim Reaper named Manny who uncovers a sinister plot to sell eternal rest on the black market. Controlling Manny, players attempt to get to the bottom of it all – not simply solving the crime, but finally earning their spot in the underworld. (Get it? Bottom of it all? C’mon, people, work with me)

A critical success, the game marked the last shot to play a Schafer-penned adventure game, and due to this holds a warm spot in many gamers hearts. We congratulate the entire team on the anniversary and you can too. Head on over to doublefine.com and tell them yourself! Now where is Burning Legend?

1 Comment » | LucasArts, fan fun, gaming | Permalink
Posted by JediMudkip

Hey guys, look! It’s videogame news on the blog!

October 30, 2008

And it’s about time, isn’t it? To introduce myself, I go by Jedi Mudkip on here and around the forums. I’ll be keeping the blog up to date with the latest news around the web when it comes to Star Wars videogaming and any news related to that at all. Basically, you’ll be seeing a mish-mash of two types of info from me, and the two types I give you today!

First off, our beloved friends at io9.com decided to sing high praises of our soon to be released Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels for the Nintendo Wii. Apparently, they believe it’ll be a must have, since they title the article
“New Clone Wars Game Shows You What Your Wii Was Made For”. That is what I would call a bit of high praise. They even post the latest trailer up, so be sure to check it out!

Secondly, I’ve got more of a call-to-arms then any news. With the recent releases of LittleBigPlanet, Spore, and other titles that thrive on user-generated content, it’s fairly certain that Star Wars will get caught up in the mix. As the first levels appear around the web from LittleBigPlanet, I’d love to get ahold of more. If you see one, be sure to toss it onto the LucasArts Forums, and we will get them posted up here. After all, they deserve the recognition!

2 Comments » | Clone Wars, LucasArts, gaming, in the media | Permalink
Posted by JediMudkip