We've been told by sources directly affected by the cuts that roughly 50 developers (a sizeable number of Krome's total workforce) were let go from the company's Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne branches last Thursday and Friday. The main culprits? A super-high Aussie dollar (making US-backed development expensive) and what's described as a "lack of contracts".

Krome CEO Robert Walsh put a more official slant on the causes in the following statement, sent to GameSpot:

Regrettably, an undisclosed number of employees across each of Krome's three studio locations were informed they would be let go.

With declining game sales, the industry is really feeling the effects of the struggling economy. In spite of industry-wide cutbacks and Krome's need to reduce costs, we've worked really hard to minimise the impact on our staff. These cuts, while incredibly difficult as they affect the coworkers we consider friends, are necessary as we position Krome for the future. We're also actively pursuing several business opportunities which, if secured, will enable Krome to reemploy some of the staff given notice.

Krome also worked on the PS2 and Wii versions of the latest Transformers game, and were the creators of the last generation's Ty: The Tasmanian Tiger series.

I'm still confused about how to think of Republic Heroes. On the one hand, it's a tie-in game for a show that turned out to be way cooler than a I thought – so it follows I should have high expectations of it. On the other, it is a tie-in game – and I've been burned by plenty of those before.

What Is It?
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes is an adventure game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PSP and whatever else they can figure out how to program for. It's a tie-in game for the Cartoon Network series that takes place between the first and second seasons of the show. Players either take the role of Jedi or of Clone soldiers to get through the story.

What We Saw
I played through a mission on Jum-9 as Jedi and through a mission on Behpor as Clone soldiers in co-op mode with another games journalist on the Wii version. I'm told it's an older build with some known issues.

How Far Along Is It?
The game is out October 6.

What Needs Improvement?
Not Pretty Where It Counts: The backgrounds and character models look pretty good, but because the camera is pulled so far back, it's hard to appreciate either. In extreme cases of camera pull-back, the characters start to look like stick figures and all of the spaceship innards are reduced to a dull gray plane dotted with blue pick-up orbs.

Where Am I…? When playing as Clone soldiers, it can be hard to keep track of your clone depending on which one you choose to play as for a mission. Some of them have clear color differentiation – like blue shoulder pads – but they're all wearing helmets, so it's easy to confuse your clone with another clone and then wind up walking over a ledge.

2D Jumping Puzzles On A 3D Plane: The jumping in Clone Wars seems a bit fiddly on the Wii compared to the 360 demo build – but this might be one of those "known issues" I was told about. All I know for sure is that I was supposed to jump to the right for a pipe when my targeting reticule showed up. I saw it and pressed the jump button and right on the analog stick (if you don't press a direction, you wind up jumping in place) and instead of jumping right, my character climbed out into the 3D plane of the pipe and then jumped straight out into empty air somewhere to the right of where my reticule was fixed.

What Should Stay The Same?
Droid-Jacking: Rather than just murdering your way through a slew of different droids, Republic Heroes asks players during the Jedi levels to hijack droids and solve puzzles with them. The droid-jacking mechanic itself is simple – just jump on top of them with a double jump and press B to ram your lightsaber into them to steer – but it adds a layer of depth to gameplay that's greatly appreciated.

Swooshing Lightsabers: The famous lightsaber effects play from the Wiimote speaker whenever you opt to use motions controls to swing the lightsaber. Using the Wiimote to swing the lightsaber turns into a bit of a waggle fest, sure, but it's still neat to have the sounds there. Also, you can opt not to use motion controls at all and just mash the B trigger to pull of ‘saber combos.

Split Gameplay: Switching back and forth between the Jedi and the Clones is pretty fun. Playing as Jedi is like being in a brawler where you're mashing B or swinging your arm around to pull of close-quarters combos and jump on top of droids. Playing as Clones is like playing a shooter where the Wiimote becomes your targeting reticule and B becomes the blaster trigger. Both gameplay approaches suit the Star Wars universe and it's fun to switch between the two.

Final Thoughts
As far as tie-in games go, I know Republic Heroes could be a lot worse. But, based on what I enjoyed in the cartoon screening, I think it could somehow be a lot better, too. I just wouldn't know how exactly to make that happen without ruining the ESRB rating. Maybe they'll get that figured out in time for season 3's tie-in game.

In Republic Heroes gamers will take on the roles of Jedi and clone troopers, including Anakin Skywalker and Clone Captain Rex. The storyline will bridge the game between season one and two of the animated series and has gamers trying to stop a "mysterious techno assassin's destructive plot." The game will include more than 30 missions.

"The Clone Wars franchise has struck a chord with viewers and gamers around the world with its action-packed storyline and memorable heroes," said Darrell Rodriguez, president of LucasArts. "With its Jedi and Clone Trooper gameplay and all-new storyline, Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes takes the franchise into a truly exciting and interactive direction."

Due this September, the title is coming to the DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360.

The DS version is being developed by LucasArts Singapore and looks to be very touch-heavy, while the Wii version is being developed by Krome Studios in Australia. The LucasArts folks call Wii game the "ultimate light saber dueling experience."

Check out the whole interview over at EW.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Exclusive [EW]

Interview: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [IGN]

The core idea of it was that I wanted the player to use the controller in a new way, and hitting two random buttons as quickly as possible was just the ticket.

PinataIsland.info interview with Cameron Davis [pinataisland]

KONAMI REVEALS FULL VOICE CAST FOR HELLBOY THE SCIENCE OF EVIL
Hollywood Standouts Selma Blair and Doug Jones Join Ron Perlman in Video Game Adaptation of Hit Entertainment Property
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) - July 10, 2007 - Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today revealed the full voice cast for Hellboy™ The Science of Evil (working title), its upcoming video game adaptation of the smash hit entertainment property for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. In addition to Ron Perlman, who portrayed Hellboy in the 2004 feature film, Selma Blair and Doug Jones will reprise their roles from the motion picture as Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien to lend their voices to the game.
As Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien, respectively, Selma Blair and Doug Jones created enduring identities for their characters in the popular 2004 Hellboy feature film as they battled alongside Ron Perlman's imposing portrayal of the crimson-skinned warrior. Featured prominently in some of the most successful films of the last 10 years, Blair is well known for her roles in Legally Blonde and Cruel Intentions, while Jones recently lended his talents to the Academy Award-winning Pan's Labyrinth and Adaptation.
"With voice acting from Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and Doug Jones, and creative guidance from director Guillermo del Toro and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, Hellboy The Science of Evil is shaping up to be one of the most faithful video game adaptations of an entertainment property of all-time," said Brian Christian, Vice President of Product Development at Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "Drawing from the mythology of both the comic books and the motion picture, we are able to tell an original story featuring all the characters, settings and visceral gameplay that fans could ever ask for in a Hellboy game."
Hellboy The Science of Evil lets players take control of Hellboy's incredible supernatural powers as they battle to overcome a terrible Nazi scheme. Wielding the massive Right Hand of Doom, players will be able to wreak havoc on both the enemies that stand in the way as well as the game's detailed levels, using the rubble they leave in their wake as weapons for even more bone crushing power. With the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 versions of the game, players will be able to team up with a friend to battle through the game cooperatively via online play as a number of characters from the Hellboy universe, each with their own unique fighting style.
Developed by Krome Studios, Hellboy The Science of Evil is planned for release on the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 system and PSP system this fall. For more information on the game, please visit: www.konami.com.
About Konami
Konami is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties. Konami's titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid®, Silent Hill®, Dance Dance Revolution® and Castlevania®, among other top sellers. The latest information about Konami can be found on the Web at www.konami.com. Konami Corporation is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiary offices, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH in Frankfurt, Germany. Konami Corporation is traded in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KNM. Details of the products published by Konami can be found at www.konami.com.