It sold well, we broke even and it's still selling. We had some really harsh reviews and there was all this noise about this thing with GameSpot and it sort of went over my head whatever people were fighting about. The web has it's own voice and it can be very loud... You know, what I see today is a lot of people picking it up, playing the free levels we put out. We get a lot of people playing online. You can argue are the graphics good enough, is it up there with the best? But it only takes two weeks and you're no longer the best looking game out. I've been playing games since Pong so I take these things lightly. In the end it's about sales and we have games like Freedom Fighters which is still selling.

Oh, it's always about the sales Thomas. Hence the problem.

IO Interview [Games Industry] [Pic]

The game will have you playing as Darth Vader's secret apprentice and takes place in the era between Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. The game will have players assisting Vader in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi.

"Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is one of the most ambitious projects LucasArts has ever launched. The combination of a great new Star Wars story with revolutionary new technology and game play means more fun than you've ever had in the Star Wars universe," said Peter Hirschmann, Vice-President of Product Development, LucasArts. "We can't wait until gamers get their hands on it this September."

LucasArts teamed up with Spike TV to air segments about the upcoming game during the channel's upcoming showing of all six Star Wars movies this weekend. The channel will be airing six different segments about the game "each with an exclusive announcement or new game play footage."

Hit the jump for the segment times, more box art shots and some details on the game.

• April 6 at 7:58 p.m. ET/PT - between the premiere of Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
• April 11 at 10:52 p.m. ET/PT - At the end of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
• April 12 at 12:00 a.m. ET/PT - throughout an episode of GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley filmed at LucasArts' headquarters in San Francisco
• April 12 at 5:06 p.m. ET/PT - before Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
• April 13 at 5:06 p.m. ET/PT - before Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back

More About Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is the first next-generation game developed internally at LucasArts, and will be available on the Xbox®360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

As its name implies, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed completely re-imagines the scope and scale of the Force by taking full advantage of newly developed technologies that will be seen and experienced for the first time together: Digital Molecular Matter, by Pixelux Entertainment, and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd.

LucasArts and developer Krome Studios are creating an equally enthralling version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on the Wii™ home videogame system from Nintendo, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and n-Space, Inc., is developing a version for Nintendo DS™. All will feature the same storyline, with opportunities to unleash the Force in devastating new ways.

Working with Lucas Licensing, LucasArts is preparing an unprecedented promotional effort around the launch of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, encompassing a full line of toys and game-based action figures from Hasbro, as well as a full publishing program from Dark Horse, Del Rey, Prima Games, and Palace Press.

More information about the game can be found at the official website, www.theforceunleashed.com, which will continue to release details throughout the year.

Larry Niven has written some of the most critically acclaimed science fiction of the past century, with several series of books that would seem perfect for the video game treatment. His Known Space world alone has enough fodder for dozens of games. Instead of capitalizing on the built-in audience of Ringworld and Man-Kzin Wars fans, he opted for something different.

After talking about a bunch of options Larry decided it would be most fun to create a new world for the game, rather than set it somewhere already established. That way we could build the world to support the game, rather than the other way around... which I really wasn't expecting from an author.

Niven is known for hard science-fiction - sci-fi that uses explainable technologies. You won't find nonsense voodoo tech in his stories. Even his rational fantasy series The Magic Goes Away treats magic as a non-renewable resource. The same rules apply for Free Fall. Alchemic is so keen to make sure the tech in the game is functional and realistic that they've recruited aerospace engineers to create their equipment.

The guys we have designing our tech (space suits, weapons, tools, ships) are aerospace engineers as well as artists... these are the same guys that are helping visualize the spacecraft for NASA's Mars mission. So everything is totally workable. Like I can point to anything on the tech illustrations and ask "what does that do?" and they can tell me. We actually had to redesign our suits because our initial design wouldn't allow the miners to thrust backwards because of the placement of the nozzles.

Hell yeah.

Alchemic is envisioning the game as an Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title, though the game is still in early developmental stages and that's always subject to change. They pitched the concept around at last month's GDC and got a very favorable response, so I'd fully expect to hear more news on the game soon. For now, oogle the concept art and imagine what could be, just like Larry Niven's been doing for the past 40+ years.

Today, with the aid of countless charts tracking the exponential growth of technology over the past 150 years, Kurzweil explained gaming in the year 2029. And no, we're not "drinking the Kool-Aid." Instead we've opted to siphon gallons of the stuff intravenously into our bloodstream.

According to Kurzweil's estimates, in 2029 a $1,000 computer will be 1,000 times more powerful than the human brain. But instead of these systems mocking us autonomously, they will be miniaturized (via nanotechnology) and fused directly to the neural connections in your brain. We will no longer be limited by polygons or advanced lighting techniques because the resolution you see will be the maximum resolution your brain is capable of seeing. Think of it less as "SkyNet is coming to get you" than "you are SkyNet."

But if 2029 is a few years too far away, try 2010 on for size. At this time, Kurzweil explains, "computers disappear." Where did they go? Into things like clothing and glasses. Images won't be viewed from screens, but written directly onto our retinas for full A/V immersion "early" in the next decade. The boundaries between reality and "virtual" reality will blur as we're always connected to the internet at high speeds. And until we develop clear system to designate each level of interaction, "real reality's going to continue to be a little irksome."

Damn that irksome reality.

Variety has a pretty epic story in their March issue that delves deep into LucasArts upcoming Star Wars game The Force Unleashed. Writer Frank DiGiacomo does not only an amazing job of shedding light on a hotly anticipated game, but also manages to lead the uninitiated on a quick tour of both the history of video gaming and the problems the emerging medium still struggles with. The story then quickly plunges into the making of the upcoming game and some of the issues the devs have run into while trying to blend new tech with old for the game.

The story does mention a few things interesting to the hardcore as well, like the fact that they had to play down the game's realism because if a person was really hit with a force blow it would be like being smacked with a cannon ball, and perhaps a bit too gruesome for the T-rating they are shooting for.

The article says that Force Unleashed, which is meant to tell the story of the time between Episode III and Episode IV by fleshing out Darth Vader, has a plot twist "almost as good as the "I am your father" moment from Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back." The game also contains surprising revelations about the birth of the Rebel Alliance.

There isn't, actually, a ton of detail about the game's play in the lengthy three-page article, but it ends with this gem of a description of a play through on the PS3 of the prologue:

The Dark Lord of the Sith is on Piper's screen, his black cape billowing, his death's-head helmet gleaming in the computer-generated sunlight. Piper guides Vader forward using the game controller and eventually arrives at a narrow rope bridge of lashed-together logs. As the Wookiees begin to charge across the bridge, Piper mashes buttons and summons up a ball of Force energy that, in a nice artistic touch, withers the plant life beneath Vader's boots. Then, pushing another button, he hurls that energy at the furry, fanged Wookiees. A bunch of them go flying off into space, causing the D.M.M.-enabled bridge to start rippling like a water bed. This sends more Euphoria-infused Wookiees toppling over the sides while those that remain struggle to regain their balance. They are only prolonging the inevitable. Using a more personal form of the Force, Vader hoists a struggling Wookiee into the air and dashes him against a wooden support beam, which cracks and splinters with remarkable authenticity. As another warrior is lifted, he grabs on to one of the remaining beams and hangs on for dear life, but Vader dislodges the wooden buttress and hurls it, with the Wookiee still attached, over the bridge.

I highly recommend either picking up the magazine or clicking over to the link to read through the article. DiGiacomo's fresh look at some of the issues video games face as they strive to recreate life on a screen are quite poetic at times and his take on the merging of Euphoria's AI and Digital Molecular Matter with the physics of Havok are alone worth the time. There are also plenty of screens and interesting images.

I'll leave you with this wonderful description of the process of making a video game, to hopefully convince you to go read the article:

To observe the men and women of LucasArts in action—aside from noting their propensity to wear their security badges on bright yellow lanyards—is to realize that the process of making a video game is really the fulfillment of French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes's dream of putting "the world into equation," in the words of LucasArts lead software engineer Cedrick Collomb.

The Game Has Changed [Vanity Fair]

In addition to caffeine, most...[energy] drinks contain a high sugar content. In combination these ingredients can cause a rush that will eventually come crashing down. Those sensitive to caffeine may even become dizzy and shaky. Taking this pill with an energy drink or taking more than the recommended dosage may cause these effects.

A Pill That Makes You A Better 'Halo' Player? The Makers And An Expert Weigh In [MTVMultiplayer]

That developer is going to have to start with a clean code slate, as the unknown new home of Star Trek Online gets the license and the artwork, but not the codebase from its former owner.

The game, which was said to be going in a new, more "casual" direction, was announced in Spetember 2004 as a 2007 release. Perpetual's had a rough go of it since, canceling its MMO project Gods & Heroes and then being sued by its PR firm.

It was then infested by Tribbles and had a rather unfortunate visit from Lwaxana Troi that was meant to be in good fun, but wound up being unbearable. That may help explain why the developer is rumored to now focus on its Perpetual Platform and casual games.

Breaking News: P2 Out As Star Trek Online Developer [WarCry]

Also a big hit for parent company SCI? Pony Friends, which is, as far as we know, a harrowing pony war game.

Kane and Lynch Sells 1 mln [Next-Gen]

Today, regardless of whether it was an innocent design decision or whether consumers were being intentionally mislead, the unwarranted "ratings" have been removed. All that remain now are the pull-quotes, a preview clip, some guns to let you know how shoot-y it is... and a couple of black eyes.

Official Site [Kane & Lynch]

Maybe the Detroit News, who is quite down on the flick and writes that it's "peppered with gratuitous nudity" like that's a bad thing. Or maybe the Boston Globe and you agree that Hitman watches like a "computer wrote and directed it." Golly! That'd be keen, if true!

Maybe you'll agree with Roger Ebert, who actually quite liked it, but devotes a paragraph to regurgitating his crusty opinion that Hitman somehow "serves as an excellent illustration of my conviction that video games will never become an art form." Oh, Rog! We've already ruled your opinion on the matter as archaic and out of touch, no need to trot that old horse out again.

For those who put such weight in things, Hitman is currently sporting a 7% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes. However, it may have been boosted by the errant inclusion of a review of Disney's Enchanted, which the Dallas Morning News says is a great "screwball comedy". Guess I'll be seeing that!

Hitman Reviews [Rotten Tomatoes]

It's a new platform for us. It's our first PS3 game. It's a challenging platform to develop on, but it's also one that has a lot of potential that's just waiting to be unlocked as people get to know it better and as developers get more skilled at utilizing the machine.

It's a very different approach. The code ends up being rather different than it is on the Xbox and the PC. You can start with something that's pretty much the same and then you try to run it on the PS3 and it doesn't run very well. Then you start to optimize it and optimize it and you get further away from where you started but you really start to unlock some of the potential of the PS3... Well obviously it's something that requires a bit of resources and special effort, which costs money. But on the other hand it's something that I think most developers are rather keen on getting into because it's a new fresh system and it's an interesting architecture. Development wise it's fun. It brings back a lot of memories from college and university. In many ways it's a fun architecture to work on but definitely one that's also going to cost you some money because you need to write special purpose code for it.

Developing is "Fun" [Pro-G via PS3 Fanboy]