Ever wonder how Santa Claus manages to work his way down chimneys way too small for him? Or how he seems to stop time in order to visit all of the world's good boys and girls every Christmas morning? LucasArts and TT Games know the answer: Santa Claus is a Jedi Knight whose amazing Force powers allow him to pull off such spectacular feats. A long time ago, he came to us from a galaxy far, far away to exile himself from the Jedi purge led by Darth Vader. (No... that's not official canon.)

Step 1: At the Mos Eisley Cantina, enter the following two codes:

CL4U5H (for Santa hat and red clothes)
TYH319 (for white beard Extra)

Step 2: Go to the Character Customizer and create the proper costume. Use a human head, the appropriate red clothing...and don't forget the red cap! Santa can wield the weapon of your choice — we recommend the green or red lightsaber to seasonally complement his shiny red duds. (Remember, the color of his lightsaber decides whether his Force powers are naughty or nice.)

Step 3: In the Extras menu, activate Disguise 3.

Step 4: Enter the character-based level of your choice in Free Play.

Step 5: Spread holiday cheer to a galaxy in pieces.

Lucas Arts dropped us a line pointing out that their Lego Star Wars II game, out for one week, has already sold more than 1.1 million copies across the eight platforms it was released on.

Yeah, but you might as well say that's for only seven of the platforms since the DS version has got to be generating negative sales. As in returns.

"There's definitely something for everyone in LEGO Star Wars II, and the sales and reviews so far are proving it," said Jim Ward, president of LucasArts. "This is the type of fun, accessible game everyone in the family can enjoy. It appeals to so much more than just the traditional gaming audience."

Best part? The press release quotes my Rocky Mountain News review of the game. Ammo for that inevitable conversation in the corner office that always seems to be looming over my head. Brian Crecente

The first production run of the game (the one you have) was pushed out the door early. This was in part to coincide with the release of the Star Wars DVDs Episode IV, V, VI. The good news is that a second production run of the game has been tested and should hit store shelves after the initial stock runs out. However the game is still not bug free, but MUCH cleaner. The Endor Battle level has been tweaked so it is now user friendly. Although if I remember correctly the wireless co-op mode is still crap.

The moles also tell me that the U.S. version is actually far better than the one that hit Europe.

The whole thing is being blamed not on Amaze, but Lucas Arts, who, according to my sources, rushed the game out the door. The bugs were reported, the developers were trying to fix, but Lucas Arts just wanted the game shipped, according to the moles.

If you recall, this is the same excuse used for that abortive ending in Knights of the Old Republic 2.

Now I just need to figure out how to locate the secret second run of the game and try to swap it for the cruddy version I have. Brian Crecente

We're bringing our DS Lites and plan to hang out at the DS kiosks playing Lego Star Wars II, which I sorta detest on the DS, but he seems enthralled with, for an hour or so.

Hmm, I wonder if they will have the Wii on display. I was talking to some Activision folks yesterday about whether younger children would get into the Wii or not. I totally think they will. Tristan really wants to play with the Eye Toy and the Vision Camera, but it seems like the games aren't really crafted with short-armed children in mind. The Wii, well you should totally be able to play with it. Brian Crecente

I'm not sure whether to be aroused by these pictures or amused... I'm talking about the one of Princess Leia, not the Ewoks. Definitely not the Ewoks. Brian Crecente

LucasArts sends word that Lego Star Wars II will include both the original 50 characters from the first game, plus more than 50 new charactrers. The sequel will allow you to import all of your unlocked characters from the first game with a save file.

The characters will feature new abilities and you will also be able to customize them, according to the LucasArts press release.