This is a brave step in advertising, capitalizing on heretofore untapped tiny blank squares. Thanks, geekgrrl!

On The Clone Wars issue, my take is I just feel like that would have been better represented on television. It was designed for television and it would have been seen in a completely different context if you saw a thirty minute story and then the next week a thirty minute story and if two weeks in a row are about Jabba the Hutt’s son, “that’s fine, let’s move on. Let’s get some more Clone War stories… What else happened?” I think when you put it in a theater, you’re not only up against people like Pixar, but you are up against all of the other Star Wars movies, so I feel like it was a little bit handicapped and I personally feel like people are going to come back to the cartoon and go “You know what? This is great. We were hard on this.” I understand why they were, because they put it in a different arena, a completely different playing field and again I don’t think that is where it was designed to be. Would you agree with that?

Well, would you?

Quint chats with Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice [Ain't It Cool News]

George gave us a history lesson about what the major characters in the Saga were doing in that time frame, and offered feedback and suggestions about the plot and characters.

Is it wise to actually go around and tell people that? Pssst, we consulted with George Lucas for this game. That's right, the George Lucas that turned the Force from a mystic energy into some cell-based midichlorian-communicating mumbo jumbo. And the same George Lucas who let stormtroopers kill Jedi\.

Certainly there are oodles of smart, talented people at LucasArts. Let's play up those folks, 'mkay?

Star Wars lives on through games [Reuters]

Lack of ambition to blame for previous Star Wars flops, admits LucasArts [Eurogamer] [Image]

XCN Soul Calibur IV Q&A with Katsutoshi Sasaki, Director [MSXBOX World]

Star Wars Battlefront III [Amazon via GoNintendo]

Soul Caliber IV’s Starwars Stage [Aeropause]

Lightsaber styli [View From Heaven, via Go Nintendo]

But did you know that it's been featured in at least 48 video games? From Ant City to Timesplitters 2, Mr. Juandrful at Kezins has gleaned the full list. It's longer than Wikipedia's list of games using the scream, and includes titles not yet released (where the scream is used in a trailer), so he seems to have done his homework. We had a little something on this back in 2006, but not a full list of games. So check it out. And booby prize goes to whomever comes up with the best onomatopoeic spelling of the scream, in the comments.

We've All Heard it: The Wilhelm Scream [kezins.com]

The Wii version is officially titled Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels.Was Luke being a little harsh, or is a true "lightsaber simulator" (which Ken Fox of developer Krome Studios says this game is not) the only avenue to the hearts of Star Wars fans?

Waggle-fatigued? There's also a DS version, Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance, being developed by LucasArts Singapore and promising "innovative stylus-based input," and, we're told, partner-based gameplay.

Trailers for both titles will premiere on Spike TV's GameTrailers TV With Geoff Keighley on Friday, so we can see for ourselves. Full announcement follows the jump.

Master the Lightsaber this Holiday with Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Wii and Nintendo DS

LucasArts to Unveil Trailer on Spike TV

San Francisco, Calif. – June 19, 2008 – LucasArts today announced Star Wars: The Clone Wars will blast its way onto the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ in Holiday 2008. Bringing an entirely new look and feel to the galaxy far, far away, Star Wars: The Clone Wars combines the cinematic qualities of the Star Wars movies with state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery from artists at Lucasfilm Animation.

Star Wars™ The Clone Wars™: Lightsaber Duels™, in development by Krome Studios exclusively for the Wii, delivers fun-filled Lightsaber battles for the entire family while it immerses players in the characters, locations, and epic duels from the all-new Star Wars feature film. Built from the ground-up for the Wii, Lightsaber Duels features an intuitive motion-controlled combat system that puts the Lightsaber™ weapon in your hand for non-stop fun.

Star Wars™ The Clone Wars™: Jedi Alliance™, developed exclusively for the Nintendo DS by the LucasArts Singapore team in conjunction with Lucasfilm Animation, lets gamers experience the awesome power when two Jedi join forces to fight as one. With an innovative stylus-based input, controlling the Jedi’s movement and engaging in Lightsaber combat has never felt more immersive.

“Working on The Clone Wars chapter of the Star Wars Saga has been an exciting endeavor for everyone here at LucasArts,” said Feargus Carroll, project lead for LucasArts Singapore. “The intuitive and accessible gameplay on both the Wii and the Nintendo DS complement one of the most exciting Star Wars adventures yet.”

The world premiere trailer for the games will debut exclusively on Spike TV’s “GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley” on Friday, June 20.

About LucasArts

LucasArts, a Lucasfilm Ltd. company, is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game console systems, computers and the Internet. Based in San Francisco, Calif., as well as on the Internet at www.lucasarts.com, LucasArts was created in 1982 by George Lucas to provide an interactive element to his vision of a state-of-the-art, multifaceted entertainment company.

The Minus World gang put together a list of five LEGO video games that will never ever happen, though we're not 100% sure that LEGO Juno is completely off the table. Our favorite is above, but heretics may find LEGO The Passion of the Christ more to their liking.

5 LEGO Video Games That Will Never Happen [The Minus-World]

Analyst Michael Pachter estimated that prior to the layoffs, LucasArts had approximately 200 employees, the balance of whom were tasked essentially with liaising between George Lucas' intellectual properties and the only three development studios ever to build games on those properties: BioWare, Pandemic and UK-based Traveller's Tales.

Their primary role, Pachter said, was to ensure proper treatment of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones IP, manage business relationships with the studios, and handle marketing of the properties.

In April, former Electronic Arts LA COO Darrell Rodriguez took over for the recently-departed Jim Ward as LucasArts' president. We can assume Rodriguez still has close liaisons with EA, or at least a confident familiarity with EA's business practices, said Pachter. And with EA now owning two out of three Lucas IP development studios in BioWare and Pandemic, it would appear there is no further need for such a large staff while Rodriguez is on board at LucasArts.

"If I'm Rodriguez and I know that I'm going to do most of my games with EA going forward, then I'm a lot less anal about double-checking everything EA is up to," said Pachter.

An anonymous former LucasArts employee had the same speculation: "My guess: EA cut a deal and is already making Star Wars games! That's just a guess, but on the heels of the Bioware/EA thing and the hiring of EALA's COO as Lucasarts' new President... that math ain't hard to figure."

Film studio politics could be playing a role here too, said Pachter. Traveller's Tales is owned by Warner Bros., and can be expected to focus on making games based on WB properties like Harry Potter in the future. It would be highly unlikely, said Pachter, that WB would allow Traveller's to work on future Indiana Jones games when rival studio Paramount (Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull) would reap the benefits.

In other words, if WB won't be doing any George Lucas films, then a development studio it owns won't be doing any George Lucas games, and that means LucasArts has a limited need to deal with the UK-based studio.

"Why would Paramount want Warner Bros. to mess with their movie?" Said Pachter. "At least EA has a good reputation with the [film] studios and does a good job on the kid-friendly games."

So with a relationship to the UK studio reduced if not eliminated, and with EA's BioWare within a close radius of LucasArts, and with former EA exec Rodriguez at the helm, there's hardly any need for a large staff to handle IP development, said Pachter.

The analyst added, "If I were EA, I would go in to George Lucas and try to buy LucasArts."

When Kotaku spoke to LucasArts earlier today, a representative stressed the publisher's good health and commitment to its internal studio. "We are healthy," she said. "LEGO Indie was launched on seven platforms to positive reviews, The Force Unleashed and Fracture are on track for this fall. We have a good slate of games and we have some good stuff going on in production.

"We are definitely committed to the internal studio."

Despite the layoff of what sources have told us could be up to 80 percent of LucasArts' staff, Pachter doesn't believe the publisher is in dire straits financially, however.

"Don't think about LucasArts as a stand-alone entity that must make a certain profit," he said. "It's wholly owned by George Lucas, and George has more money than God. I would not ever worry about George Lucas being in financial trouble."

Both LucasArts and EA declined to comment.

Soulcalibur IV Unleashed [GameSpot]

Clone Wars Coming to Wii and DS [IGN]

They got the scale right. Vader's a big guy. And they got the cloak right. And...the lightsaber. I guess. But really, all this does is confirm that while for a percentage of people their fanboy dreams are about to come true, it confirms for the rest of us that this is the stupidest Vader-related idea since someone thought screaming NNNOOOOOO would be touching.

[If we made the game for high-end PCs], someone with a low-end PC would have a watered down experience, they would have to turn all the settings down and it wouldn't be the same game. On the other hand if we made that game for as many people as possible then it's not taking advantage of what those $4,000 systems can do.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Interview [VideoGamer]

The influences that Yoda will have in terms of gameplay because of his height, [is that] some of the upper attacks won't hit him... However, we always try to make the gameplay fun, so we prepare positive demerits of choosing Yoda and also negative demerits on it. There's always some give and take... I don't know who will be best to use to defeat him, but what's more interesting is you can use Asteroth to make it like David and Goliath. That'd be fun.

Whatever your console, this trailer will convince you it's going to be awesome. Exclusive content and gameplay for all of them. God, now I want to buy a Wii. Right after I take a cold shower.

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.

GameTrailers just put up their first episode in a ten-part look at the history of Star Wars video games. While it takes awhile to get going, once they do start talking about the games, it gets pretty interesting looking at such classics as the Atari 2600 retro pack Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Arcade in its vector graphics goodness and Star Wars Jedi Arena on the 2600.

According to the anonymous comment, "Mich (& company) was unhappy with his delaying of the Force Unleashed and Indiana Jones titles." The commenter implies that Ward was more interested in delivering "kick ass" games more so than games that shipped on time, on budget and with, we assume, an acceptable level of ass kicking.

Anonymous then goes on to write that interim president Howard Roffman's replacement of Ward "could spell trouble for the LucasArts division" if he aligns with those who feel that properties such as Indiana Jones and Star Wars should be more often handed off to third-party developers.

He or she then rips into the working relationship with ILM, calling Zeno, the pipeline that LucasArts' internal game engine Zed runs upon, "garbage" and "one of the worst first party developement tools out there." That certainly inspires some confidence.

The full comment is definitely worth a read, regardless of whether it's 100% factual or not. At the very least, it provides interesting insight into the (possible) inner workings at LucasArts. let's just hope someone doesn't get Force-choked to death because of it.

GameSetInsight: Disgruntled Of Presidio Writes... [GameSetWatch]

Besides the few clips I'd seen floating around, this was the first extensive experience I'd had with the game. Now it certainly wasn't a "hands on" by any means, but we got to see a fair amount in the half hour presentation. In Force Unleashed you play Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice who has been sent by Vader to involve yourself in nefarious deeds. The game actually takes place between the two trilogies, nestled in between Episodes 3 and 4. There is a heavy theme of redemption and we are clued in that where we start in this game as characters may not be where we end up at the end. And of course, The Force Unleashed has plenty of one thing: The Force!

When creating the title one of the things the developers wanted was the ability to use the Force at all times. "When I hit a button, it better do something with the Force" was their motto and believe me there is plenty to be had. Wannabe Jedis can use Force Pushes to move objects and enemies, they can grab enemies and throw them around like rag dolls. In one of the levels, a TIE fighter construction facility, our character was picking up entire ships and hurling them at enemies, scattering them like bowling pins (there will be an Achievement for destroying TIE Fighters!). Lightning can be harnessed and used to shock enemies as well as turning them into powerful "Lightning Grenades." Just charge that enemy up with lightning and then throw their electrified corpse in the battle and watch the fun. The Force can also be used to solve puzzles and open doors whether that's actually manipulating the locks or just using brute force and knocking the thing down. The Force can also be combined with traditional light saber attacks to create deadly combos. The PS3 and 360 versions of the game will have 24 unlockable combos each. The destructible environments are filled with endless amounts of ammo guaranteeing you'll never be far away from something to manipulate and throw. A special "pay off" camera can also be employed so you can watch what happens to enemies as they skitter off and slam into walls.

But not all enemies can be just tossed about. Many of them have their own Force powers that can be quite something to reckon with. In one battle we watched as enemy Jedis turned the junk and garbage lying around to create powerful Junk Titans to protect them. At the end of each level you will be faced with the inevitable Boss battle, usually a top Jedi with their own over-the-top special Jedi powers that you will have to overcome. Many battles end with finishing moves along the lines of the button pushing endings of God of War battles. However missing a button here does not give you as stiff a penalty and players who get it right the first time will be rewarded with extra points that can be spent on weapon and Force power ups later.

The environments were rich and varied. Besides the TIE Fighter facility we were also able to check out a Clone Wars battle ground as well as the planet of Felucia which is overgrown with giant fungi. The environments, while not endless, certainly have plenty to explore and will be filled with all sorts of secret areas and surprises for those who want to take the time to do a little searching rather than plowing straight through the main game.

We looked a little at the Wii version of the game and as expected the graphics weren't nearly as rich. There will be extra locations and characters in the Wii and PS2 versions, but the overall storyline will remain unchanged across all the platforms. One thing the Wii version will have to itself though, is Duel Mode. Put together like a traditional fighting game, Wii owners will be able to choose from twenty different characters from the Star Wars Universe to battle against their friends. Two players can battle it out to the death while flailing their Wii-remotes about like light sabers. It should be noted however that the Wii controls are not one to one gestures, but have been adjusted to suit the gameplay.

Once the presentation was over the talk reverted to a Q&A which revealed a few interesting tidbits such as the fact that Darth Vader's voice in the game is provided by the guy behind the Chad Vader series of YouTube videos. One fellow asked if limbs would be able to be hacked of like in one of the earlier SW games and we were told that no, beheadings and limb removal would be a thing of the past. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be released as a "T" rated title across all platforms guaranteeing that pretty much everyone will be able to enjoy unleashing their mega Jedi powers on the world.

The gameplay started in a Tie Fighter hanger, our male protagonist looking down at the cleanly-textured room. Everything is understated, save for the size. It's so massive that I found myself mentally categorizing other games that had indoor environments with ceilings that reach 150+ feet in the air.

And it reminds you that force powers are truly the intended focus of the game. Because while our male protagonist was indeed holding a lightsaber, he opted not to use it all that often. Sure, part of the gameplay decision was for our benefit, but when levels employ so much vertical space, sometimes propogated with Tie Fighters floating by (ready to be plucked out of the air), the saber feels so tedious.

We watched as the jedi made short work of the Storm Troopers (effortlessly lifting them and ran into the spaceship's hallways (also some of the largest we've seen). The blast doors were satisfyingly bent open ala The Force and then new troopers got the taste of some lightsaber.

Then something really bothered us. We noticed that when the troopers died, green orbs popped out like we've seen in God of War. While we're sure these orbs are intended to fill the force meter, their fantasy-based nature really sucked us away from the hyperrealism of gorgeous floating Storm Troopers, grabbing on to any near object in attempt to save life and limb.

Even on the large projected screen, the game looked very nice. We can only imagine it scaled down to a more manageable, non-jumbotron size. Unfortunately, there was one pretty cool image that you'll never see.

In an early concept video, designers rendered a mock battle between a jedi and a rancor (large humanoid monster). After battling for about a minute, the monster swallows the jedi.

Needless to say, this didn't end well. The monster was struck with a lightsaber ulcer so bad that its body exploded. And despite a packed hall of hoots and hollers in response, the content was too spicy for the ESRB to designate a "T for Teen" rating.

And it makes us wonder how long it will be until we're choosing between uncensored version of games and their "radio" edits.

[Star Wars Shop]

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]

I've been to a lot of conference sessions talking about how to make games better than they are. I've read a lot of books about it and seen even more books on Amazon about it. The game industry likes to talk about this subject - a lot. And who knows? I may not have been able to identify what was annoying my little friends about these games if I hadn't been studying the subject myself.

But I just can't shake the feeling that all us game developers would learn these lessons better if we just sat down and played like a 3-year-old for a while. Even if we're making games for grown-ups. As we get older we get jaded. We expect to be disappointed. We aren't surprised by inadequacy and sloppy work. We tolerate mediocrity and even find comfort in the mistakes that have become tradition through repetition.

It's an interesting perspective on some of the game design issues that have sparked much discussion in the industry.

Play Like a 3-Year-Old [Escapist Magazine]

Now, it's time to play.

The site drops hints that there's a possibility even more characters from the Star Wars universe could appear—there are no shortage of Jedi and Sith out there—but doesn't provide much beyond a fantasy roster. Hey, it can't be worse than Masters of Teras Kasi and it's definitely better than some godawful Todd McFarlane custom creation.

We're heading over to Namco Bandai's Soulcalibur IV CES event in just a bit, so expect impressions and more news to come as soon as possible.

Star Wars in Soul Calibur IV [1UP]

We also wouldn't mind the DualShock 3 being renamed "we lied, you do care" or Nintendo's friend codes going by something more catchy like "we want you to play with buddies IN PERSON, get it through your f'ing head already."

You say one thing, but you mean your mother. (VideoGame Box Art Edits 2) [via digg]

Most plug and plays we don't really want to play or plug even. This, this is different. The Plug and Play Retro Gaming Millennium Falcon Joystick is packed with four Star Wars games: Lightsaber Dual, Assault on Hoth, Red Leader and Battle of Endor. Like all plug and plays, the games are housed in the controller. But what a controller! Truly spectacular. This is the standard from hence forth all plug and plays will be judged. Forever.
Star Wars Plug and Play [TFTS via Uber-Review via Geekologie via Alice]

Just look at coverage of Halo, the top-selling science-fiction series that is akin to "Star Wars" in its level of made-up mayhem. In the mainstream media Halo is often described as a "violent space epic" or a "violent shoot-'em-up game." But when was the last time "Star Wars" was described as George Lucas's "violent space movie"? For that matter, when was the last time anyone referred to "The Sopranos" as a "shoot-'em-up television show," which at some level it was?

The answer to both questions is basically never, and that is because American culture has become so inured to violence in linear media that even the most heinous depictions of brutality go almost without comment.

Despite how wonderfully good (and logical) such a project would be, consider it rumor for now until we hear more.

BioWare's Upcoming MMO Based in KOTOR Universe [Primotech - thanks, Omega88!]

"Hey Fred, you coming with us to march around TGS tomorrow in our Stormtrooper suits?"
"The fact that you even had to ask me questions your commitment to this project. I'll be there, but I hope that you won't."
"Today is the worst day of my life."

Also, while at TGS, we got hands on with a phone game, a phone game that had a peculiar way of saying "split." What was that peculiar way?

But you get two great games, Games for Windows support and all the bonus material from the original Empire at War Collector's Edition for the low, low, low price of $29.99. Now that's savings.

Product Page

I feel bad in pointing out that the Wiimote's lack of relative motion sensing is probably making the job a programming nightmare. And if developers don't nail the project, it's tough to predict who will look worse: Nintendo or LucasArts. On a lighter note, we're getting Wii Lightsabers! Hooray!

More Motion-Sensitive Lightsabers Coming to Wii [via maxconsole]