Friday update: Dev Blog Discusses Cinematic Design

For its final Friday update of the year, BioWare has posted a blog entry by Lead Cinematic Designer Paul Marino that explains how a scene is designed and directed in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Here's his explanation of what his team does for the game:

"To put it simply, Cinematic Design is using cinematic presentation to facilitate narrative and gameplay, and heighten emotional involvement. By the use of a directed camera, we’re able to make the story real to the player, allowing them to get involved with the characters and make meaningful choices."

Marino’s job as cinematic designer is to direct the game’s cutscenes, allowing the game’s writing and characters to shine. To see how well the developers have injected some humor and atmosphere into run-of-the-mill quests, have a look at these two videos, recently released on The Old Republic‘s blog:

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10.000 Nerf Herders!

To quote Lando "yeeee haaa". We are deeply honored that so many people have chosen to subscribe to our Facebook page. When I first started this blog two years ago, I had no idea that it will become so popular.

Back then 10 people stopping by was a huge thing. Today we get more than 130.000 hits a month - Not bad for a fan blog covering a game that is not even out yet.

When a simple blog like this grows so much, it gives some good ideas on how huge this game has the potential to become. It puts on an enormous pressure on the developers, but if anyone can live up to this, it's Bioware. No other gaming company has delivered quality in a way that Bioware have done. Mix that with the biggest IP in the world and the deep pockets of EA, and I am confident that Star Wars: The old republic will be one of the biggest games ever.

Once again I would like to thank all our readers and subscribers. I hope you all have an awesome new year, and we are looking forward to entertaining you with the latest in Star wars pop culture and the newest information about SWTOR in the future. 

Happy new year!

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While we wait for The Old Republic: Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III

We love “Robot Chicken!” The stop motion animated series always delivers clever pop culture commentary and does some of the best parodies this side of The Cartoon Network. Like “Family Guy,” they’re known for their amazing Star Wars homages and on Sunday night the latest installment in their parody series aired, aptly titled, “Robot Chicken: Star Wars: Episode III.” There were so many awesome moments to choose from, so instead of giving you a clip, we give you the whole movie:

Spoiler Alert: Jango Fett is Boba Fett's father.

For EU Viewers:



US viewers can see it here

Did anyone else notice that the man who suggested that Palpatine enter politics was going to kill himself with a classic style Star Trek phaser and that he was holding it backward.

Adult Swim must have some primo dirt on George Lucas for him to OK that thing. It didn't suck, but it was so spoofy.

I believe that you always know "What" you are doing, How to do it, on the other hand...

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Podcast of the year

 Now is the time for you guys to vote and to see who's podcast is the popular choice amongst our kind.

The two with the most votes are TorCast and DarthHater with TorCast taking a slight lead.

We can all appreciate the great importance and entertainment that TOR related podcasts have given us along the way. 

I would like to thank all of these dedicated people who have single handily kept me sane, in what seems a never ending run up to the release of SWTOR.

Now its you chance to vote for you favorite podcast of the year. 

It does not have to be the longest running, or the most informed. It just could boil down to which kept you most entertained over that past year. 

For those that are unaware of these sites, check below for links.

Darth Hater 

ToroCast 

The Galactic Holofeed

The Jedi Archive

The TOR Syndicate

Moseisley Radio

Corellian Run Radio

The Imperial Army

The Republic

TOR Wars

TOR Talk

Aartan Away

TORrent

For me they all should win, but its down to you, pick the Pod that for you stands above the rest.

So here's your chance, Cast your vote now

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How Stuff Works: The Star Forge

The Star Forge was a dark side artifact that was created by the Infinite Empire of the Rakata in 30,000 BBY, five thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Republic. A giant automated shipyard, the Star Forge drew energy, heat, and matter from a nearby star which, when combined with the power of the dark side, was capable of creating an endless supply of ships, droids, and other war material. It was constructed through the use of slaves from many subject worlds including, but not necessarily limited to, Corellia, Coruscant, Dantooine, Drall, Duro, Kashyyyk, Korriban, Manaan, Selonia, Sleheyron, Tatooine, and Ziost. It fed on the Force, drawing particularly from the cruel Rakata, corrupting it into an artifact of the dark side, and often times its user as well, which is why Darth Revan limited his contact with the Star Forge, lest it control him as it did the Rakata.

In the non-canon dark side ending of KotOR, Darth Revan takes control of the Star Forge. However, Revan later abandoned his galactic conquest and ventured out into the Unknown Regions. Without a strong dark side user to protect it, the Star Forge went dormant and stopped all production or activity, and no other being was able to control its power the way Revan had.




The scale of the Star Forge was extraordinary for its time. Capital ships could easily move between the gaps of the three "fins" that radiated outwards from the central spherical structure. While having few apparent docks for capital ships, many fighter craft and smaller freighters were able to dock at bays located on each of the three "fins".

Externally, the Star Forge possessed little defensive weaponry save for several turbolasers near its hangar bays, instead relying entirely on its massive ship production capability as a means to defend itself. Internally, it was capable of manufacturing droids for defense, and possessed heavy blast doors that ran throughout the entire facility. It was also protected by a ship-disabling field projected from Rakata Prime's Temple of the Ancients. The field caused ships to be captured in the planet's gravity well, sending them spiralling to the world below.

Construction of the Star Forge.

History
As was the case with all apparent products of Rakatan engineering, the Star Forge managed to survive several tens of thousands of years idling and without an operational crew by relying on its built-in automated repair systems. This trait was replicated in certain artifacts, such as the Star Maps. The Rakatan Builders destroyed them after the completion of the Star Forge, but these slowly repaired themselves with the Star Forge's technology. Whilst the data in each one was incomplete by the time the reformed Revan discovered them, their combined information was enough to reveal the location of the Star Forge.






As an artifact of the dark side, the Star Forge corrupted those who used it, feeding its desire for death. Ajunta Pall hinted that it may have been known, and used by, the early Sith, something that can be justified when we think that Revan learned about it among the Sith knowledge in the Trayus Academy. After the Mandalorian Wars, it came into the service of Revan and Malak, who had been powerful and honorable Jedi Knights until discovering the Star Maps leading to the location of the ancient space station, resulting thus to the rebirth of the Sith.

Reprogrammed, Revan was ordered to rediscover the location of the Forge, while it was under Malak's control who used it to strengthen the Sith fleet with a massive number of ships.

It was destroyed at the end of the Jedi Civil War (3,956 BBY) by a Republic fleet bolstered by the Battle Meditation of Bastila Shan.
  


Source: The New Essential Chronology ISBN 0345490533; October 25, 2005, Del Rey, 238-page hardcover

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The Old Republic vs. Knights of the Old Republic 3

The first Knights of the Old Republic game in 2003 was, as a few people may already know, the first thing that really got me into Star Wars; to this day I still remember the amazed feeling of awe I had when I first set foot on Taris and looked at the beautiful city landscape, the shining sun in the game adding to the mood of the setting. The feeling was really cinched when I reached the ultimate twist in the game; that you are in fact Darth Revan, the apparently dead Sith Lord who was betrayed by his (or her) Apprentice, Darth Malak. There's never been anything that's really been able to replicate the epicness of this game - even the sequel, penned by game company Obsidian, wasn't quite as good. I'm one of the few people who thought that The Sith Lords was actually a great game; sure, parts of it were rushed, and reading all the cut content makes me want to cry a little. But despite that, it was still a very satisfying game with a cliffhanger that left me going, "DAMN IT! I NEED THE THIRD ONE!"

In light of that - a notion that was also the feeling of countless other KOTOR fans - it's understandable how a lot of people were upset and disappointed when, instead of the Knights of the Old Republic 3 many people had been wanting and waiting for (and even expecting) we got The Old Republic. I was among this crowd, and still am to a point, even if I've warmed up greatly to TOR and am now really looking forward to it. Let's see, though, the good and bad points of TOR being made, and whether or not making TOR instead of KOTOR 3 was a good move on Bioware's part.

As everyone who has played the two KOTOR games knows, those games are very story and character-driven, dragging you in and not letting you go until the ending. We became attached to the characters - Revan, the Exile and all of our crew on the Ebon Hawk. Because of this, we want to see where they end up; who becomes a Jedi, who maybe even turns to the dark side, etc. Sure, we got a little bit of information at the end of KOTOR 2 - Disciple becoming a great Jedi was the most specific thing, however. The rest of it was just Kreia being vague. "Atton is a fool, and the Force looks out for ones such as him." Ah, that really gives us some solid info. Thanks, Kreia. Thanks alot.

My point being, considering how attached we did get to the characters and how great the story was, I still feel like we needed one last installment to wrap things up and conclude those specific story lines. For example, what happened to Revan when he went to find the True Sith? I know they're going to devote a whole part of TOR to this, but in a way, that's disappointing. I don't want that story to be told by exposition, but unfortunately, it seems that that will be the fate of that great plot line. We aren't going to get direct answers to many things, if anything at all - this game will be a couple of hundred years (if my memory is correct, at least) after the KOTOR games, so a great majority of the characters from those games will be dead and the galaxy will be in a total different state.

TOR is also going to be a vastly different gameplay experience than the KOTOR games - no, this time around we don't have a simple RPG like before. We have a World of Warcraft-type game now, but just - well, Star Wars. So it's like Empire at War. Except good this time.

Despite the fact that I do wish we had instead gotten KOTOR 3 rather than TOR, with so much of the latter being shown, I can't help but get excited and eager for the release. Let's face it, the game looks freakin' awesome - as I said above, it's WoW, but in SW form with an almost Mass Effect-type format, most notably with the fully voiced character and dialogue circle-type thing. The graphics look pretty fantastic, too, and this will definitely be the first MMO I play (well, I HAVE played World of Warcraft before, but that was only a trial. So... that doesn't count!).

The story also seems pretty intriguing. The Jedi and Sith at war with each other certainly isn't a new story, but in MMO format, and with the neat little tidbits we've been given, it certainly has the potential for epicness.

The fact that we can also play as a whole great variety of factions and species is awesome - I'm SO going to be a bounty hunter. Maybe a Chiss one. Hell yeah. It's rare when you can play something like a Miraluka or Rattataki in a video game, if only because those species are so much less known than something like a Twi'lek. Now if only they would add in Arkanians - after all, Jarael is a main character in the KOTOR comic series, so that would be perfect! Please Bioware? Please...??

There's also a whole great variation of planets to pick from to travel on - Nar Shaddaa, Ord Mantell, Ilum, Alderaan, Balmorra, just to name a few. I actually hope more planets are revealed, because with how big the game apparently is, there's certainly room for a few more really good ones - I mean, what, no Kashyyyk? Really? Boo!

To wrap this up, I would've loved more than anything had they chosen to instead make Knights of the Old Republic 3 rather than The Old Republic - something they want to be a sort of third installment, but we all know it really isn't. Despite that, however, I actually am looking forward to TOR - it should be a great playing experience, hopefully with a story that's just as good as the KOTOR games, and I plan on picking it up as soon as it comes out.

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Know your Lore: Ajunta Pall

Ajunta Pall was a Dark Jedi, and later one of the first Sith Lords following the Hundred Year Darkness. His spirit was redeemed by the Jedi Knight Revan during the Jedi Civil War.

Ajunta Pall's tomb is one of the side-quests available in the Korriban segment of the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In the game, he recognizes the player character's true identity. The main character can either help him become one with the Force (for "light-side points"), fight him and destroy his spirit (for "dark-side points"), or fail to take him to the light and let his spirit fade away.

The statue of Ajunta Pall seen in his tomb is identical with the one seen in the destroyed Jedi Enclave on Dantooine in Knights of the Old Republic II, which could mean that Ajunta Pall was once a highly respected Jedi Master; however, this has never been confirmed and it is possible that the two statues are simply generic game models.

Originally, Pall's tomb was supposed to be that of Freedon Nadd, and the error is still present in a conversation option with Lashowe. Likewise, Pall is referred to as Nadd in the dialogue files and character *.utc file. Nadd, however, had been buried on Dxun.

Ajunta Pall's spirit after his physical death.

Biography
Ajunta Pall was one of the founding leaders of the old Sith during the time of the Old Sith Empire centered on Korriban, shortly after the Hundred-Year Darkness.

He was among the first group of Exiles that settled on Ziost. At the Battle of Corbos, which saw the defeat and exile of the Dark Jedi, he personally slew more than a dozen Jedi in battle.

He was a master of Sith Alchemy. After his death, Ajunta Pall's spirit continued to haunt his tomb. Over the centuries, he began to question his actions as a Sith Lord and the downfall the Lords experienced at each others' hands.

During the Jedi Civil War, Revan entered Ajunta Pall's tomb, to retrieve Ajunta Pall's blade so he could gain prestige from the Sith and ultimately be allowed to see the Star Map. Ajunta Pall appeared as a spirit and told Revan of his actions as a Sith, with dissapointment, telling him of how the Jedi weren't what drove the Sith to destruction after the Hundred-Year Darkness, telling Revan that the Siths themselves battled each other and led to their deaths. Revan the took his blade and turned the Sith Lord back to the light side almost three thousand years after his death, allowing him to become one with the Force and experience peace at last. It is not known what eventually became of the blade, but Shaardan asked Revan to give it to him so he could gain prestige.

Ajunta also hinted at a secret source of Sith power. He was unable to reconcile conflicted images of whether Revan had discovered this source of power, or would soon do so. It is likely that he was referring to the Star Forge, though its connection with the ancient Sith is currently unknown. He could also mean the True Sith, the threat Revan goes into the Unknown Regions to fight and is later joined at doing so by the Jedi Exile.

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Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode III - Force Unleashed Sketch

Starwars.com has posted a pretty funny Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III video promoting the release of The Force Unleashed II. The video has only been available at the official Star Wars site here, but doing xmas, it has found it's way to youtube.

As the shift change on the Death Star passes, Stormtroopers head back to the barracks and others head out to their posts. Their one stop in common is the Imperial Cafeteria. Here, one lone coffee maker sits. Empty. Used. Un-refilled. Destined to serve millions of cups of coffee a day across the space station, the promise of the device remains unfulfilled. And Vader is not a morning person.

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Friday update: Trooper's Unstoppable Force

 This friday sends love to the Trooper.

Ready as always the Troopers are willing to put the Sith on their @$$.  The Trooper's Advance Classes will allow you to cause massive damage as Vanguard or Commando.  

Play as the Defensive Vanguard, nothing will move these soldiers back, they will throw everything on the line to keep their position from the enemy.

Or as the Crazy Commando, The Sith will run from the very sight as this Tank will mow down their defenses.  Either way you can't go wrong.

See more details about the Explosive Ex-Military Tanno Vik, how Zabraks are known for their loyalty to the Republic, and how each Trooper are given a high-powered Rendili Hyperworks BT-7 Thunderclap, a heavily-armored starship powerhouse upgraded with state-of-the-art tech requisitioned by Republic Special Forces.

If you don't believe me, watch the Trooper video again.

You can now read all about the trooper at the holonet.

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While we wait : What to do with a real Lightsaber

What to know if you and your friends were given real lightsabers? Think no more, from FANBOYSPRODUCTIONS.COM is:

Three in the Afternoon





Six In The Morning (Part 1)

Six in the Morning (Part 2)

To Be Continued...
Check out the site for the next installment By FANBOYSPRODUCTIONS.COM

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Troopers Got Game

 

Bioware  has released another fantastic trailer video, for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This time it's of the ultimate muscle class "The Republic Trooper."  Even though the Troopers as a character are soldiers of the Republic following orders from a higher authority and personally I can't follow the orders, but as I seen them throwing down in the fray of blaster fire as they reveal mini guns to sweep the entire group, man that was awesome. 

I have to say that the armor's special ability to push back their enemies after being surrounded is one sweet move.  I thought about favoring the Bounty Hunter or the Smuggler as my first choice, but this video makes me rethink my decision.  Even if you choose a force user as your first choice I'd rethink that plan to take on the Trooper head on.

May The Force Be With You All.

source

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The Star Wars Christmas Special

It's Christmas time, and while today that means people grinching about whether or not you should say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," there was a time when the biggest issue people had was which televised Christmas special they were going to watch. We've all seen the one with Rudolph and that one with the Heat Miser, and I'm sure the amount of hours spent watching the adventures of Frosty the Snowman would be shameful. Though those were all enjoyable when we were kids, we haven't had a real grown-up Christmas special in a long time. That's where this video comes in.

Because you guys have been so good to us all year, and because we know you all love Star Wars as much as we do, we just had to cut our own version of a Star Wars Christmas Special. So instead of getting a card in the mail, think of this as our holiday greeting for you. We had a good time cutting this togetther, and hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for a great 2010, and we hope you enjoy what we've got in store for you in 2011.

Written by: Dom Moschitti, Nick Murphy, Paul Ritchey, and Luke Brown
Directed and Produced by: Nick Murphy and Paul Ritchey
Voice Over by: The Staff of Gamervision.com

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Wednesday Review: Red Harvest

Red Harvest is Joe Schreiber’s prequel to last year’s Death Troopers – did it live up to its predecessor, or fall prey to the zombie plot cliches?

In essence, Red Harvest is, simply put, a zombie book. There isn’t an extremely good story to it, and it focuses so much on the zombies that it gets a bit tiring. The characters aren’t compelling, and with the rushed feeling of the entire book, I wish Schreiber would’ve added some extra content to the story, especially considering the short length of the novel itself. Red Harvest doesn’t reach its full potential, but hopefully future books of Joe Schreiber’s will, since his actual writing style is pretty satisfactory – maybe they won’t even focus on zombies anymore, something that, in this format, really isn’t scary or creepy.

This video was also posted at NJOE and Man in Black Reviews, written by MizzeeOH with the Spoiler Free series being the creation of Iurus (NJOE name)/Man in Black (MIBR name).

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The AT-AT Family Xmas

Oh the weather on Hoth is frightful,

Echo Base on fire is so delightful,

Shield generator is about to go,

Let it Blow! Let it Blow! Let it Blow!

AT-AT’s show no signs of stopping,

And the sounds of Rebel heads a’ popping,

Their will to fight is almost done,

Let ‘em Run! Let ‘em Run! Let ‘em Run!

When I finally get off this rock,

Leavin' a glorious blaster storm,

Slip on a sock made of Ewok,

All the way, home I'll be warm!

Oh the taun tauns are slowly dying,

And soon, Vader and I’ll be high-fiving,

An Admiral soon I’ll be,

Let ‘em Flee! Let ‘em Flee! Let ‘em Flee!

Via General Veers himself

Created by Kody Peters, Andy Van Leeuwen, and Brendan. at:

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SWTOR’s Lead PvP Designer talks about warzones and PvP

With every Star Wars fan eagerly awaiting the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic from BioWare, Ten Ton Hammer’s own Jeff “Ethec” Woleslagle traveled to BioWare’s favorite spaceport cantina to learn more about the PvP aspects of the game. Quaffing a few bottles of Tusken Banthan Sweat with Gabe Amatangelo, lead PvP designer, he learned some interesting tidbits about the Alderaan warzone and PvP in general.

Gabe Amatangelo: The major thing is that it’s an immersive experience and that the Alderaan war zone has a visceral mechanic or it has a visceral coding to every MMOG mechanic. You’re seeing ships go down, you’re seeing damage to the ship, you’re retargeting guns. I’m holding that philosophy to PvP in general in The Old Republic.

Learn more about PvP in Star Wars: The Old Republic in TTH's interview with Gabe Amatangelo.

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Interview with Stephen Reid

SWTOR-ESP.com brings us an interview with Stephen Reid. Honestly Mr. Reid hasn't said anymore than what we (the fans) already know, other than the fact he likes playing as a debonair smuggler as he woes the ladies at one of the local cantinas shooting one of Greedo's ancestor right between the eyes than he does playing the celibate Jedi; although, wielding a lightsaber and the Force is super fun.  Mr. Reid is from Britain who is the Senior Community Manager for The Old Republic and has only just moved into the U.S. last year, but has worked for U.S.companies for the past 2.  He has had his hand in various game industries for the past 12 years but he's been working with MMORPG's for the last 6. To those that need TOR to be subtitled in another language other than English they're currently working on French and German. Answering questions were tough, since he doesn't want to start any rumors that are not true. He is very excited about the Tor's release this spring 2011 as well as he loves to meet the fans of this very popular game that no normal person (like myself) has played yet.

May the Force be with you all.

Here is an Excerpt:

Stephen Reid: "I actually like meeting players at events the most. It sounds like an obvious answer but there’s really nothing better than meeting someone who’s a huge fan of the game you’re working on and hearing their enthusiasm. It also helps that you’re usually meeting them at a big event that’s a lot of fun to work at, too."

Read the full interview here

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Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Launched for the Mac

The Force is Now With Mac Players

PC and Mac Players Can Now Team Up with the Republic Online

Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts, in collaboration with TransGaming announced that Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, a free-to-play family-friendly online virtual world, is now available for Macintosh Platform users at www.CloneWarsAdventures.com.Clone Wars Adventures is an action-packed browser-based virtual world where fans can live out the thrills and excitement of Star Wars®: The Clone Wars animated TV series on Cartoon Network.

“The demand for game content on the Mac platform has increased significantly, and we are excited to bring our games to this growing audience,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “Through our collaboration with TransGaming, Mac and PC players are able to play together seamlessly on both Free Realms and now Clone Wars Adventures, and we will continue to look for opportunities with future games to do the same.”

Clone Wars Adventures is the ultimate virtual destination for fans of the TV series where players go online to experience fun mini-games, daily activities, events, rewards, lively social environments, and competitions. Players can battle alongside their favorite Star Wars characters like Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. It is updated every week with new content pulled from that week’s new episode.

In addition to weekly updates in Clone Wars Adventures, Mac players who log in today will experience the Star Wars holiday season: the Orto Plutonia for Life Day, which brings a host of holiday decorations to the virtual world.  Players can collect Life Day Orbs from around the Jedi Temple for rewards or wear Life Day Robes and collect presents from the Gifting Tree.  Clone Trooper nutcrackers, Clone Snowtrooper outfits, Droid garland and many more festive items will also be available for purchase in the Marketplace.

Star Wars: Clone War Adventures offers a number of additional features, including:

• Extending the Fantasy: Kids no longer have to wait until the next episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated TV series to continue exploring and enjoying the Star Wars® universe.  With Clone Wars Adventures, kids can go online to experience exciting thrills as they duel iconic adversaries with their own custom Lightsaber, speed through the galaxy in a Starfighter, defeat enemies and take down starships.
• Free Play or Upgrades: Clone Wars Adventures is a free-to-play game, but players who want to take the galactic action to the next level can purchase a monthly Jedi Membership subscription for $5.99.  Players can also purchase cool Star Warsuniverse items from within the game through micro-transactions using Station Cash, SOE’s virtual currency.
• Minigames and More: From Droid Programming to Speeder Bike Racing,Clone Wars Adventures puts players in the driver’s seat as they experience epic action in immersive mini-games that take them to favorite locations in the Star Wars galaxy.  In the game, players can become the proud owner of a tricked-out Droid pet or even throw a party in their player house.
• Fun With Friends : Whether players are on adventures with old friends or competing for leaderboard status with new ones, Clone Wars Adventures is a lively virtual world that connects players in fun and safe ways.  Players can show off achievements in their Trophy Room, use safe chat and emoticons to express themselves and celebrate in-world events with the entire galaxy.
• Kid-Friendly : Parental controls allow for the customization of safety options, including pre-canned chat and playtime settings for younger players.
• Retail Package: The Clone Wars Adventures Galactic Passport is now available at retail locations in North America and will include a 90-day Jedi Membership subscription, 500 Station Cash, the ability to unlock the Togruta playable character, a Yoda monitor topper, and more.

Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and up, with content descriptors for Crude Humor and Fantasy Violence.

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Holiday Sale on KOTOR

Hey Star Wars Fans, do I got great news for you.  http://Store.steampowered.com/app/32370/ is selling Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for 4.99 that's 50% off.  That is a great deal for all of you that spent 20 to 30 dollars on the X-Box version recently or if you had to spend 40 bucks on the Star Wars Pak.  Except for the pak there is no hard copy of KOTOR for the PC anymore but I'm assuming it's a holiday special price.

I never really played the PC Version but I hear with the DC you get to were your old robes, probably not the best fighting wear but it is still awesome to run around the Jedi Academy looking like Darth Revan.

I love the KOTOR games always making difficult decisions on what to slay next, well unless you liked being on the light side, than good for you.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived Chapter 3 Excerpt

It looks like the guys over at Rebelscum.com has a nice treat for us:

As a special holiday gift to the readers of Rebelscum.com, you can now read a sample of the new title Star Wars: The Old Republic–Deceived months before it hits stores.

Thanks to all our friends at Del Rey for making this happen.

In conjunction with SWTOR.com (Chapter 1) and StarWars.com (Chapter 2), Rebelscum.com presents the third chapter of Deceived.

You can read the PDF right here! This book is due out on March 22, 2011.

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BioWare Doctors To Become AIAS Hall Of Famers

The Founders of Bio Ware, Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, are to be included in the AIAS Hall of Fame (The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences) which sounds like an awesome way to be praised. The two are worthy of this awesome achievement, for they accomplished so much in the past 14 years.  BioWare has shot out impressive game titles the equal the level of baddest @$$ RPG's.  They will be presented the award on the 10th of February, 2010 in one of the brightest city in the world or possibly the Brightest, Las Vegas. This will be held at the D.I.C.E. Summit (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) which basically translates to a gathering of gamers, a Convention, or An Emmy for the truly gifted. While a gamer is earning Achievements on his or her Xbox 360 while Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk and others like them continue to work their coding off creating true masterpieces.

"Conversely, Zeschuk is described as being interested in "gourmet food, music and fine beer (in no particular order of importance)." Both are also directors and co-chairmen at interface software company CodeBaby."

Read full article at Gamasutra.com here.

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Know your lore: Marka Ragnos

Marka Ragnos was a half-breed Dark Lord of the Sith who was immensely powerful, both physically and in the Force. He defeated Simus in combat, proving himself worthy of the mantle of Dark Lord.


The tomb of Ragnos on Korriban appears in the games Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. However, the tombs in each game are dissimilar to the other. This was likely for reasons of game structure, rather than a suggestion of the tombs being at different locations. The same phenomenon is seen with the Valley of the Dark Lords as a whole. Another theory is that his tomb underwent a renovation after being desecrated by Revan and his followers.

While a figure of importance in Sith history, Marka Ragnos has actually never appeared in a story in which he was alive, much like another influential Sith Lord, Freedon Nadd.

Biography
Feared, obeyed, and admired among the Sith, he was considered to have been the greatest Dark Lord of the Sith of his time. The details of his century-long reign are few, although his death marked the end of the golden age of the Sith Empire, despite his reluctance to continue expansion. Before his death, he likely composed the epistle of Marka Ragnos. Immediately following his funeral, a schism erupted between the leaders of the Sith, and further events led to a major war with the Galactic Republic and ultimately, because the schism was never healed, the end of their interstellar empire.
His death resulted in the rise of another Sith Lord, Naga Sadow, shortly before the Great Hyperspace War. Ragnos lived on as a Force Ghost after his death, trapped within the confines of his tomb in the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban.

About one millennium after his death, Marka's spirit was summoned from the grave using a pair of Sith talismans and crowned Exar Kun as the new Dark Lord, and Ulic Qel-Droma as Kun's apprentice, all in an attempt to restore the lost empire of a thousand years prior. The Great Sith War devastated the galaxy once again, but the Sith Empire was not restored.



Ragnos's spirit dwelt in his tomb until once again returning from beyond the grave, this time summoned by a Sith cult known as the Disciples of Ragnos whose leader was Tavion Axmis, Desann's student.

Tavion used an ancient scepter made by Ragnos to drain residual Force energy and use it to empower her followers. She then planned to use the collected energy to resurrect Ragnos. When Jaden Korr entered the tomb, intending to stop Tavion, she managed to resurrect Ragnos by allowing his spirit to possess her body, but was nevertheless defeated by Jaden. Ragnos's ghost was forced back into his sarcophagus, screaming out a dark promise that he would return.



Marka Ragnos didn't wield a lightsaber, the common weapon of the Sith Lords and the Jedi Knights. He wielded a Sith sword, consisting of a metal blade enhanced by Sith sorcery, a weapon of the primitive Sith race. He could hide the sword inside his scepter. Apparently only he knew of its hiding place, as Tavion did not draw it until she was possessed, despite its power. He also owned a pair of dark gauntlets which increased skill with a melee weapon or lightsaber.

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The twisted mind of OneMinuteGalactica

Back in October we showed the hellerius fan movie "What to do on a space date" The movie was created by a user who calls himself OneMinuteGalactica. Now, If you are a Star Wars Fan like me, and like to surf around Youtube for funny movies, you must have come by OneMinuteGalactica quite often. He seems to be one of those hyper active producers that always put out new stuff. I had a quick chat with him the other day were he told me about him self:

I'm a huge fan of the original Battlestar Galactica and the original Star Wars trilogy. I started making videos about two years ago when I started watching YouTube videos regularly. Before that I never really watched much of them and thought the whole YouTube craze was kind of stupid. I think that video of "Darth Vader Being a Smartass" was one of my first inspirations for doing re-edits. Before that I didn't really realize you could alter a scene to comedic effect so easily with just a few edits here and there.

Check out OneMinuteGalactica youtube channel here And check out my favourite of his movies below:

Once stormtroopers start talking about BT-16s, they're oblivious to just about everything else:



Lasers are noisy. Thank you, Attack of the Show.


Obi Wan's feeling a bit talky:



Nothing gets past Luke's notice. Nothing:


Perhaps you could toss him a band-aid or some anti-bacterial cream:


A sports metaphor, or something. Madden's voice by Frank Caliendo:


Star Wars - Longest Crash Ever:


A totally stupid and unnecessary sequel to the totally stupid and unnecessary one above:


This will probably be compared to that classic video with Darth Vader, but I noticed there were a lot of good reaction shots in this one scene and Luke closing the door was the only thing to focus on. So consider this a tribute to "Darth Vader Being A Smartass" with hopefully something original about it too.



There were two Battles of Endor that fateful day. This one involved a man and his monkey vs. a woman and her monkey:



Just two good-looking guys sharing a cramped office running the galaxy together:


It's not just stormtroopers who can't shoot straight:

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