These days, not much surfaces about the newest Star Wars game currently under production at DICE studios, but when it comes to the actual movie also in the works, Episode VII, producers find it much more difficult to keep everything under wraps. Apparently, the age of drones makes keeping large props out of the spotlight downright impossible, especially if the crew – like the Episode VII team – fails to even set up a more or less rudimentary drone shield. Indeed, fans operating drone aircraft have spotted a number of interesting props at the scene of the shoot, about 50 miles outside of London. The said props were a half-finished Millenium Falcon, as well as an X-wing fighter. Although these bits of information don’t exactly say a whole lot about the story so they can be hardly considered spoilers, the producers would obviously prefer to keep such things out of…
Author: Philip Thalberg
No Qui-Gon Jinn Appearances Planned for Episode VII
Although Liam Neeson would apparently be happy to reprise his Star Wars role as Qui-Gon Jinn, he has not been asked to appear in the upcoming Episode VII. In a recent interview, the actor said he would be happy to slip back into the iconic Star Wars character if needed, and that he certainly wouldn’t want someone else to pick up the role. He also admitted though that he knew nothing about the story to be featured by Episode VII, but he suspected it was built around a different generation of characters, one that his own came well before. Given the flexibility of the Star Wars universe however, and the way it can be expanded, there’s little the producers couldn’t pull off if they wanted to in a way that would fit perfectly into the lore. If they wanted Neeson back in the movie, they could bring him back as…
Small Guild Alliances to “fix” SWTOR Conquests?
The question is: do conquests need any sort of “fixing” at all? According to most players, they’re fine the way they are, but they’re a bit slanted towards favoring larger guilds, and that’s where some improvements could be done. Some smaller guilds have decried the conquest reward system, which they deemed unsatisfactory. This issue however has been shot down by others, who have come out against an altered reward system, saying that any alternatives would allow larger guilds to extend their conquest domination even further. The bottom line about the conquest “conundrum” is that for the most part, they’re great for everyone: they’re enjoyable and they offer a great common goal to work towards. Those in smaller guilds do find it more difficult to come out on top though. While this small glitch in the conquest mechanics may seem minute indeed, it can in fact be dangerous, because it may…
Should SWTOR be transitioned to Consoles?
A little more than a week ago, the company behind Star Wars: the Old Republic, BioWare, got around to making what seemed like a major announcement at the EA Gamescom Press Conference. Indeed, those who attended the conference could rightfully hope for something huge to be announced, like the porting of SWTOR to consoles…a console version of the 2-year of MMO…Alas, those who had their hopes up would be inevitably disappointed, as the announcement so carefully hyped and set up turned out to be nothing more than one concerning Galactic Strongholds, and it ended up delivering no relevant new information at all. Still, the idea of SWTOR making the jump to consoles is a pretty good one, especially from the point of view of fans of the 2012 MMO. Other Star Wars gamers may just shrug and say they’d be better off with KOTOR 3, but for those who actually…
No Clone Wars in Star Wars: Battlefront (for Now)
We’ve been keeping an eye on the development of DICE’s much-hyped Star Wars: Battlefront ever since the first few crumbs of information surfaced in this respect and it has been becoming increasingly clear that the game – which is indeed shaping up as a truly monumental and epic effort – will only cover a small part of the Star Wars universe, namely the original trilogy and its locations. While this is by no means bad news, it does mean that there will probably be no Clone Wars lore elements in the game. The Clone Wars era earned no mentioning in the impressive E3 trailer presented by the developer, the locations the team has scouted and the LucasFilm museum that the visited this summer are also indicative of an original trilogy-only focus. If anything, for the fans of the series, those awaiting the release of the title with bated breath, this…
Star Wars Battlefront: to Tie in or Not to Tie in With Episode VII?
Lately, there has been some speculation in regards to whether or not DICE’s much-hyped upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront – a title already sweating under the burden of the expectations of the community – will in any significant way be tied in to Episode VII, the upcoming movie of the Star Wars franchise, just as hotly expected, and probably even more pressured by outlandish fan expectations, and officials linked to the project have done a poor job at bringing any sort of clarity to the debate, to say the least. DICE’s Patrick Soderlund had the following to say about the release date of the game “Obviously there will be things in there that are somewhat tied to the new movie. I wouldn’t say that we have a particular tie to the movie. Now, obviously we would prefer to be close to the movie, but I wouldn’t say that we’re directly tied…
Star Wars Community Buzzing, Churning Out Wild Battlefront Ideas
The E3 trailer of Star Wars: Battlefront, presented by DICE – which we have referenced countless times on these pages – gave the populous Star Wars community but a minute taste of what could be achieved through the engine used by the developer, but it was more than enough to give wings to the imaginations of those who can hardly wait to get their hands on the working title. Indeed, from the handful of scenes released through the trailer, it was obvious that great things should be expected from the game, so in this piece, we’ll take a look at some of the ideas inspired by the first Battlefront performance of the Frostbite engine. A couple of the most popular such ideas are about the Death Star and the Super Star Destroyer being featured as locations in the game. The Death Star and its eventual destruction have thus far been…
Star Wars: Battlefront – Release Date Already Pushed Back?
Shortly after the E3 trailer of Star Wars: Battlefront was shown, people began speculating a possible release date for the title. A commonly floated time-frame was the first quarter of 2015, placing the game’s release within striking distance of Star Wars: Episode 7, something which – as I have said before – would indeed make perfect sense from a marketing angle. According to some very recent rumors however, it now looks like a more likely release time-frame for the much awaited title is late 2015/early 2016. While these are indeed just rumors and nothing has been confirmed by DICE in this respect, and while such a push-back of the release date definitely pains die-hard fans of the Star Wars universe, there may unfortunately be some solid reasoning behind it all. While development has indeed begun as evidenced by the above-said E3 trailer, it may already be running late, given how…
Star Wars: Battlefront – More Details Emerge from DICE
DICE’s 2014 E3 Star Wars: Battlefront trailer was definitely enlightening and promising if somewhat stingy detail-wise, but the way it ended, with the “Spring 2015” tag, was somewhat disheartening for true fans, because that didn’t just push the likely release date into the way-too-distant future, it also sort of closed the curtains on the deal, as if saying no other details concerning the much worked-on and hyped masterpiece would be released anytime soon. Since then though, the team has apparently delved into development and with that came a new willingness to share behind-the-scenes bits of information. DICE General Manager Karl Magnus Troedsson gave an interview recently, and needless to say, most of the back-and-forth was focused on Star Wars: Battlefront. The team is apparently enjoying full creative freedom on the title, the development of which they once called “scary” – in a good way of course. While the expectations of…
Star Wars Episode VII Rumors Swirling: Possible Plot Details
Star Wars Episode VII, first announced back in 2012, is currently the much-anticipated and hyped cinematic flagship of the Star Wars universe. The movie carries quite a bit of importance from the point of view of the recently announced Battlefront 3too, an under-development title, an early trailer of which elicited quite a bit of emotion at the 2014 E3. What is the connection between the game and the movie? While the E3 trailer only showed a handful of action sequences taking place on Endor and Hoth – both original trilogy locations – the developers have hinted at the fact that locations and other elements of lore to be introduced in Episode VII may also find their way into the game. The move would indeed make quite a bit of sense as it would essentially allow the game to ride the hype generated by the movie and vice-versa. Episode VII has…
Star Wars: Battlefront, DICE Increasingly Looking Like Match Made in Heaven
For a layman, the Star Wars: Battlefront trailer presented at the 2014 E3 may have been disappointing. After all, it contained precious little in-game footage and much more of the “people dramatically entering an office” sort of thing, as one reviewer so keenly pointed out. For a true fan however, the trailer told much more than a straight hour of in-game state-of-the-art graphics frenzy would have, and it really did say what every fan out there wanted to hear: that the folks at DICE were treating this project with utmost respect and that they were aiming to make a game that they, as Star Wars fans, always wanted to play. The trailer also showcased the lengths the team went to in order to create as authentic a Star Wars experience as possible, immersing themselves into the annals of the Star Wars universe in ways only true fans would ever be…
DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront – Something for the Fans to Really Look Forward to
Star Wars gamers and fans of the movies/universe are certainly living in exciting times these days. While they do not currently have much available to them gaming-wise, they certainly have great things to look forward to and to be excited about. There’s a lot on the horizon for fans of the cult classic, and even though it is now certain 2014 won’t bring them the fulfillment and joy only a well-put together Star Wars game of movie can deliver, 2015 looks promising, at least according to EA’s Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen, who said at the annual shareholders’ meeting of the company that Star Wars: Battlefront would indeed be released during the second or third quarter of 2015. The stormy history of the title and the speculation sparked by the game’s introduction at E3 in June, 2013 (trough a ~30-second intro), don’t exactly paint a clear or even relevant picture…