Spore: Galactic Adventures has landed at retailers near you. This expansion adds new adventures for your favorite Spore creations letting them explore the universe as Space Captains. Level your creature up by completing missions and battling in intergalactic arenas. There are 16 missions included with the expansion as well as an adventure creator that allows you to create custom missions that you can share at the Official Spore and Spore Creature Creator Site.

Once you sign up for an account, you can also download free adventures created by the gang responsible for Robot Chicken. They promise they are  “Rated TEEN with Animated Blood, Crude Humor, Mild Fantasy Violence, and Mild Suggestive Themes by the ESRB”. Sounds great to me.

More details from the Spore Galactic Adventures press release follow the break.
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The Star Wars SAGA RPG is officially one of my favorite games to read lining right up there next to the old West End Star Wars D6 RPG, Pinnacles’ Deadlands and Kenzer’s Aces & Eights. While I’m currently buried in fantasy mayhem in my two ongoing RPG games every new SAGA release not only entertains me and enriches my Star Wars fanboyish knowledge of the galaxy far, far away, but it also demonstrates that if I ever get the opportunity to play in a game rather than run it I’m going to insist it be Star Wars SAGA.

Every time I begin a discussion of Star Wars with a game group I seem to have the same frustrating results.. “Star Wars would be great if I didn’t already know how it ended.” Is the most common response I get.

It seems a lot of gamers have their impressions of what adventuring in Star Wars can be locked into the films they enjoyed. I’ve even had the “Star wars is a generational saga about the Skywalker family and their impact on the universe” George Lucas paraphrase thrown back a few times.

Well guess what folks, that may be true of the George Lucas story and his cinematic campaign, but this is an entire galaxy full of folks. Lots of planets to explore, many cultures to experience and lately even, thanks to Dark Horse Comics and Bioware/Obsidian lots of time to play within. I professed my love of the Knights of the Old Republic setting in a previous column, and with the reveal trailer for the upcoming Bioware Old Republic MMO making fanboys lose it, I think the resistance to playing in that setting may start waning.

Getting away from the 800lb. Gorilla in Star Wars: The Rebellion, Darth Vader and even the later Expanded Universe canon of the Yuuzhan Vong and New Republic can be a challenge.

How do you tell your own tale in a world so universally loved?
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Following the revelations of earlier today with the Microsoft E3 2009 kickoff events Electronic Arts hits the stage in California at 2PM California time (yes that’s an official time zone… California is more important than the rest of the Pacific time zone… just ask them). We’ve included the embed link to G4TVs JustinTV feed for the event.

I’ll attempt to do a liveblog of the event in the same post as well if you’re interested in my insight into the whole thing.

You can see the embed and the liveblog after the jump. Read the full article

I talk weekly about the convergence of pen-and-paper gaming with the digital game space of video games but today I get to announce a convergence going in the opposite direction.. Green Ronin, publishers of the popular Mutants & Masterminds, True 20 and the current publisher of The Song of Ice and Fire RPG just announced that they will be taking the world of BioWare’s forthcoming Dragon Age: Origins and converting it into a traditional RPG.

Dragon Age, often referred to in hype releases as “the spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate” (BioWare’s original Fantasy RPG based upon the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms settings), will be getting a “box set” release in the summer meant to introduce both the world of Thedas (Dragon Age’s setting) and the concepts of traditional role playing to video game fans.

“We’re delighted to be working with Green Ronin to explore more of the Dragon Age universe through a pen and paper role-playing game. We’re excited to deliver Dragon Age’s unique dark, heroic fantasy to our audience in a brand new way—a perfect complement to the landmark game we’re launching on PC, Xbox 360, and PLAYSTATION 3 this fall,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, EA. “Our development teams craft rich, deep worlds, and this is an excellent way to expand the franchise.”

This is not the first RPG setting to make the transition from video game to paper – previously Everquest, Diablo, Starcraft and World of Warcraft have gotten a conversion to traditional RPG products at Wizards of the Coast and with White-Wolf’s Sword and Sorcery imprint. While none of those settings are still in active development this is the first time I can recall that an in-development video game property is getting a tabletop treatment before its even been released.

Who knows, maybe if Dragon Age grabs its audience Green Ronin and BioWare can negotiate to bring Mass Effect to pen-and-paper RPGs as well. I’d be first in line for a game based on that setting. Dragon Age feel like more of the same Tolkien derivative fantasy at this point unfortunately. You can read the full details of the press release after the jump.

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Are you a huge Elder Scrolls fan? Did you ever want to know about the worlds surrounding games like Daggerfall, Arena, Morrowind, and Oblivion? If so, Bethesda is taking steps to give you exactly what you want.

In a press release, Bethesda announced today that they have reached an agreement with Del Ray Books to publish two novels based on the Elder Scrolls series. While two books doesn’t sound like a lot of room to detail the massive world and events of the Elder Scrolls series, you can bet that if these two sell well, there will be plenty more to follow.

I have to admit that I’m fairly interested by this idea. I enjoy reading fantasy novels, as my groaning bookshelves will attest. As I’ve always enjoyed Bethesda’s offerings, I will probably be first in line to pick up some of these as well.

Of course the big question is this: Who’s writing these novels? Find out, and get more details on the first of these two novels after the break.

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On February 3, New York Times bestselling author of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx blends will be releasing his latest book Mortal Coils, an urban fantasy mixed with ancient mythology and published by Tor Books. This will be the book one of five for his epic new series.

Eric Nylund is best known as a writer and story consultant for Microsoft Game Studios ans was instrumental in developing the Halo franchise and for Epic with the Gears of War franchise. In the past, he has also worked with BioWare, and Ensemble Studios and is the author of three of the five Halo novels which sold over two million copies which are: Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: First Strike, and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. Together, his novels have sold over two million copies.

His upcoming projects, which should be of interest to gamers and graphic novel/comic fans alike are a mini-series called Battlestar Galactica: The Cylon War which is a prequel to television show due out in January 2009. Also, a graphic novel titled Halo: Genesis will be published in the spring of 2009, and will appear in the Limited Collector’s Edition of Halo Wars.

Storyline for Mortal Coils is listed after the jump.

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Nintendo has announced its early 2009 game line up which kicks off with Pokémon Platinum. the popular DS title will hit shelves March 22, 2009.

Other familiar games among the over 100 planned releases are New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis and New Play Control! Pikmin are coming out for the Wii with edutainment title Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, Personal Trainer: Math and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars headed for the Nintendo DS.

More games from the Q1 2009 Nintendo line up follow the break.
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There are only a few more memorable lines spoken in the original Star Wars than when Obi Won refers to the Mos Eisley spaceport on Tatooine where Luke and he meet up with Han Solo and Chewbacca as a place where:  “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.”

That fateful meeting set the tone for the scoundrel and privateers in the Star Wars setting and introduced us to our first bounty hunter as well (even if he did get blasted by Han.. alas poor Greedo).

Scum and Villainy is the latest book in the outstanding Star Wars SAGA Edition RPG line. Like the place that inspired the films dialog, the book introduces gamers to the seedy side of galactic life in a galaxy far, far away. Lovable rogues, mercenary privateers and less forthright businessmen get their own sourcebook concentrating on making the gray side of Star Wars’ black and white universe not only playable but interesting to set within an entire campaign.

No longer do force wielding Jedi or noble galactic soldiers need to be the sole focus of a Star Wars campaign. Instead players and GMs alike can spend some time wallowing in the mud, making backroom bargains and getting involved in illicit deals with high risk and big rewards.

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Elven Legacy, the sequel to Fantasy Wars, is promising to deliver a world filled with magic and a nonlinear storyline, gauged to provide many hours of gameplay for strategy fans or just fans of Fantasy Wars. Through an epic quest aimed to restore the former glory of the Elven race, the game promises both depth and scope, and from the looks of the new screens we just go in–a colorful and inspirational one at that.

In the game you an play for elves or humans in two primary campaigns or for the orcs in a wide variety of bonus missions. Using the accompanying tools players may create their own missions and campaigns and share them in multiplayer mode.

The game features a new Elven race along with new opponents; unique character talents, spells and artifacts; improved AI (one of my beefs with Fantasy Wars) additional maps for multiplayer mode, role development of characters and units, and various tactical opportunities.

Elven Legacy is expected to be released sometime in March 2009, so until then check out the very pretty screens for the game here and here. I am hoping that they fixed all the bad things about Fantasy Wars this time around, because I am really wanted to give it a try.

True Games Interactive, makers of online MMOS have announced a partnership with developer Petroglyph or better known as the folks who brought you Star Wars: Empire at War, by way of a new online action strategy game called Mytheon. This online micro-transaction game will launch in Fall 2009 and combines action, strategy and RPg-gameplay with a heavy emphasis on collectability and combat.

Set within a fantasy universe steeped in unique mythologies from across the globe, players will first embark on a rousing journey through the lore of ancient Greece; with ongoing expansions to follow that will delve into exotic mythologies from the far-flung corners of history. With real-time combat and extensive customization features, Mytheon will offer PVP and solo play as well as an integrated social networking feature set.

“There really isn’t a game on the market today that someone could compare to Mytheon,” said Jeff Lujan, Founder and Chairman of True Games Interactive. “The game truly creates an entirely new genre offering a combination of features that gamers would normally have to play several different games to get. There is no doubt it is an ambitious project, but Petroglyph has routinely delivered AAA quality, genre-defining games and Mytheon continues that pedigree.”

In the game, players will collect and customize a vast assortment of “Power Stones” which are used to conjure devastating spells and summon faithful minions in climactic battles against monsters and other players. Mytheon will offer three distinct character classes, each specializing in a specific “Power Stone” type, such as summoning or healing.

“The passion and energy behind Mytheon has been tremendous at Petroglyph. This is exciting new territory for Petroglyph to explore” said Chuck Kroegel, CEO and General Manager of Petroglyph. “We are making a compelling and addictive new genre that will have you fully immersed and entertained. We couldn’t have asked for a better partner than True Games to take this journey with us and I’m certain that together we’ll deliver a long-lasting new franchise.”

I guess we will find out for ourselves next Fall.