In this trailer, you’ll get a first look at the sequel to the blockbuster console action game, Star Wars, the Force Unleashed.

Star Wars The Old Republic will let you explore an age thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader when war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire divides the galaxy.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition v. 1.1 Patch
http://www.filefront.com/14900751/Star-Wars-The-Force-Unleashed-Ultimate-Sith-Edition-v.-1.1-Patch/
This patch will update the PC version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed to version 1.1, and includes general performance improvements and additional controller support.

Grand Theft Auto IV v1.0.5.0 Patch
http://www.filefront.com/14901121/Grand-Theft-Auto-IV-v1.0.5.0-Patch-/
This patch updates GTA IV to version 1.0.5.0 and includes support for all languages in a single .exe, as well as a number of fixes and tweaks.

This trailer shows off the DS version of this expanded new take on the classic Star Wars Battlefront gameplay for portable platforms.

Ever wondered how ‘Droid Jacking works in Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes? This How To video walks you through the process.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but the announcement that LucasArts was reviving some of their back catalog got me excited. After all, who didn’t love games like Star Wars Republic Commando and Battlefront II? In addition, there’s Tales of Monkey Island as a brand new title from Telltale Games.

If reading Eva’s impressions of Monkey Island got your interest up, I’ve got some good news for you.

FileFront now has the playable demo of Guybrush Threepwood’s triumphant return for you to download and try out. Simply click this link to head over and download the demo from FileFront’s fast, free servers.

I fully expect you all to come back here and tell us what you think of the demo. After all, that’s why we have the comments section.

While Guybrush Threepwood is returning in a new title and a relaunched classic later this week from Telltale Games and Lucasarts as Eva mentioned, today the big news was regarding the return of a number of classic Lucasarts Adventure games (The Dig and LOOM being the best news) and more than a few of their not-quite-as-old franchise action titles like Star Wars: Republic Commando, Star Wars Battlefront II and the various Indiana Jones titles are making their way to Valve’s digital distribution system, Steam on July 8th.

The complete annotated list includes:

• Armed and Dangerous™
• Indiana Jones® and the Fate of Atlantis
• Indiana Jones® and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
• LEGO® Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure
• LOOM™
• Star Wars Battlefront® II
• Star Wars Republic Commando®
• Star Wars Starfighter™
• The Dig®
• Thrillville®: Off the Rails™

It definitely looks like Lucasarts is trying to recapture the the glory days of the company before it became the “bad” Star Wars game and LEGO tie-in company. The games will be released on the Xbox 360 via Live! as well.

There are a few more games I’d love to see make this list like the Maniac Mansion games, or Grim Fandango – by Tim Schafer – lately the mind behind Psychonauts and Brutal Legend.  Till then however I think I might just consider picking up another copy of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and LOOM.

Last week we saw the id/Bethesda merger under parent company ZeniMax Media and there was much rejoicing, but what if Electronic Arts merged its two online game developers into one giant super developer wouldn’t that raise some eyebrows and be general cause for mass excitement?

Well that actually happened as the publishing giant reorganized a bit putting RPG mavens Bioware and long time MMO developers Mythic in the same division. While the two studios will remain mostly autonomous for the time being, they now both have a single reporting line up the chain to the big bosses and money men. That single leader? Bioware’s Dr. Ray Muzyka.

Dr. Muzyka’s ascencion to the head of the organization basically also points to the exit of Mythic’s longtime leader Mark Jacobs. According to Jacob’s blog the MMO pioneer is taking a sabatical for awhile and he leaves with a classy ‘I’m not going to dish on anything, I’m just going to thank folks and peacefully step aside’ sort of announcement – a classy response that we don’t get to see so often these days.

Regarding the future path of the now combined studio’s efforts, Dr. Muzyka indicated in an official response over on IGN that:

Anything’s possible. We can’t say it wouldn’t happen. There’s no active plans, currently to do that, but the teams at Mythic and BioWare I know from talking to all of them, they’re really excited about working together, so I think that fuels a lot of cool things.

Warhammer: Age of Reckoning is still holding strong in the WoW dominated MMO market while Bioware’s first effort – the much anticipated Star Wars: The Old Republic is still a ways off. Mythic has a lot of experience that could help the minds at Bioware pull off their vision of Star Wars and maybe even put a dent in the Warcraft numbers but only time will tell if this pairing will be all it seems.

Genuine Star Wars Clone Trooper Blasters and Light-up Lightsabers are headed to the Wii this fall. Bensussen Deutsch & Associates are bringing out these fully licensed peripherals for their Power A line.

The Clone Trooper Blasters are made to work with the upcoming Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes game. It uses both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk for a duel trigger action, one the barrel and one on the nunchuck. You can customize each blaster with a nice variety of stickers that are included.

The Light-up Lightsabers aren’t designed for any specific game. They’re sculpted replicas of Yoda and Anakin Skywalker’s lightsabers. The Wii-mote fits right in the hilt. You can turn the light up feature on and off to conserve battery power.

Pictures of all three Power A Clone Trooper Blasters and both Light-up Lightsabers follow the break.
Read the full article »

According to many different sources speaking to GamesIndustry.biz this morning, it is being reported that Free Radical Design has closed down and an unknown number of staff and senior executives have left already. One staff member even went so far as to tell GI.biz that when they showed up for work the doors were locked and a note on the door told them to go to a nearby hotel for a meeting. Why did that make me giggle a little? Sorry, being gutter minded here.

While it is indeed sad news to hear of another gaming studio shutting its doors, where does this leave the “unnamed” LucasArts project they have been quietly working on despite the deal with LucasArts going down the toilet back in October? Supposedly, the game has been sent to Rebellion to be worked on instead, the game was Star Wars Battlefront III. If that is the case, it is a good move because Rebellion, as you all know, were the masterminds behind the very popular Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron. However, that is still rumor at this point like I said, so just keep your shirts on.

You may recall that during the past few months, stirrings around the internet have claimed that trouble had been brewing at Free Radical for quite some time, with even the assumption that many changes and lay-offs were to happen at any day thanks to the parting of ways with LucasArts and the flop known as Haze. All of this was subsequently denied by the company’s director Steve Ellis, who like most higher-ups dismissed the accusations as false:

“Nothing unusual is happening here. Projects end. New projects start. That’s how things have worked for nearly 10 years. TimeSplitters 4 and an unnamed project are both still in development [along with] other unannounced projects, which are in the process of being signed. We certainly won’t be laying off any staff today. Or, for that matter, any time in 2008. If something happens in 2009 I’m sure we’ll be prepared to comment – but from where I’m sitting, whatever happens is far more likely to be positive than negative.”

As of this post, all calls to the Free Radical offices were yet to be returned and no word on whether or not we can expect an official announcement or press release soon has been divulged either. But, Edge apparently has some inside information on what went down during the hotel meeting. You can view that after the break.

Read the full article »