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Meet Admiral Ackbar, Who Still Hasn’t Seen the Original Star Wars
Everyone knows Frank Oz, of The Muppets fame, voiced Yoda in the Star Wars movies. Ditto for James Earl Jones and Darth Vader. But do you know who did the voice for Admiral Akbar, uttering one of the most widely-used lines from the original trilogy (IT’S A TRAP!)? Or the voice of Mr. Head Tentacles…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 23, 2012 -
Kotaku East
George Lucas’ Daughter Could Kick Your Ass
She really could. She could kick a lot of people’s asses—not just yours. That’s because Amanda Lucas is a mixed martial arts superstar. Lucas began MMA in 2008 after taking Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes. The former dance instructor’s first fight was in May of that year. “I got beat up pretty bad,” Lucas told Sports Illustrated.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 21, 2012 -
Kill a Room Full of People With Your Brain (For Fun)
This Darth Vader may not have James Earl Jones’s wicked baritone or David Prowse’s imposing height (nor even Hayden Christensen’s adolescent whine), but the evil overlord skills on display simply cannot be denied. It just goes to show: there’s a little force-wielding maniac in all of us. Seriously, how great would it be to be…
By Kate Cox Published February 14, 2012 -
Not a Jedi Mind Trick: Kinect Star Wars Xbox 360 Bundle Out on April 3rd
Those rumors about an April debut for the Kinect Star Wars game—and the fancy console associated with it—have turned out to be true. Xbox exec Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb confirmed an April 3rd date on Twitter and an official press release cites a $450 price for a console + Kinect + game bundle.
By Evan Narcisse Published February 7, 2012 -
Darth Vader Invades South Osaka (Noooooooooo!)
When I first moved to Osaka, I lived near Shinsekai—a rough part of town in the south. My apartment was clean and spacious, but the area was populated with drunks, prostitutes, and gangsters. And this weekend, it was filled with Imperial Stormtroopers. Shinsekai is one of the stigmatized parts of Osaka. Many in North Osaka,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 7, 2012 -
These Are Not the Same-Sex Relationships The Old Republic Players Were Looking For
Riffing on the Family Research Council’s outrage over same-sex NPC relationships in Star Wars: The Old Republic, talk show host Conan O’Brien and team cobble together some footage of the science fantasy franchise’s most famous gay couples. Of course the actual footage has nothing to do with the actual situation in Star Wars: The Old…
By Mike Fahey Published February 3, 2012 -
How to get Lightsabers in Skyrim
There’s a lot of talking here at the beginning. A lot of boring crafting stuff. Stick with it. Eventually, you’ll see that you really can get lightsabers in Skyrim. And canon be damned, they are awesome The mod has actually been available since late last year. If you don’t have it installed, get on it!…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2012 -
The Force is 1.7 Million Subscribers Strong with Star Wars: The Old Republic
According to EA’s third quarter financial results report, BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic has generated more than 1.7 million paying subscribers since its December launch. One wonders if that number was recorded before the game’s PVP balance issues began
By Mike Fahey Published February 1, 2012 -
Family Research Council: ‘Rebel Fleet Surrenders to Gay Empire’
Oh boy. The Family Research Council, acting in its role as wise counsel to all that goes into video games, hath finally noticedeth that BioWare intends to publish a game update to Star Wars: The Old Republic that accommodates same-sex relationships between player characters and NPCs. This didn’t go over well with them, because he’s…
By Owen Good Published January 28, 2012 -
Kinect Star Wars Makes Chris Pratt More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine
Parks & Recreation and Moneyball star Chris Pratt’s turn as a micheivious Obi-Wan in this commercial for Kinect Star Wars does not make me want the game. It does, however, make me to hang out with Christ Pratt. There’s no gameplay whatsoever in this Kinect Star Wars trailer, which all things considered might be for…
By Mike Fahey Published January 26, 2012 -
BioWare Bans Old Republic Player For Using Internet Meme
“I’m 12 and what is this”. If you don’t know what that means, here. Everybody back on the same page? OK, so we can all have a laugh at this poor guy’s expense when he was banned from Star Wars: Old Republic for using the line. Posting “I’m 12 and what is this” in a…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2012 -
Disabled Gamers Laud The Old Republic as 2011’s Most Accessible Title
The advocacy publication for disabled video game enthusiasts has named Star Wars: The Old Republic its Mainstream Game of the Year, meaning it is the most widely released title that also is most accommodating of gamers who have different needs to enjoy full-featured gameplay. AbleGamers praised SWTOR for “many accessibility options such as full subtitles,…
By Owen Good Published January 21, 2012 -
Report: BioWare Wanted to Make a Marvel Comics MMO, But Made a Star Wars One Instead
A fascinating report in the Los Angeles Times about Star Wars: The Old Republic ought to get some attention for pegging the cost of making the massively multiplayer game at $200 million. But for fans of the game’s developers at BioWare—and for fans of some of the cooler pieces of pop fiction around—there’s another detail…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 20, 2012 -
Star Wars: The Old Republic Factions Learn to Work Together to Exploit the PVP System
Now that BioWare has instituted fixes limiting the number of Republic and Imperial players taking part in each instance of player-versus-player planet Ilum an uneasy truce has been formed. Now both sides can take turns killing each other for credit! Patch 1.1 for BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic patched the game so players could…
By Mike Fahey Published January 19, 2012 -
Wait, Don’t Cancel Yet! Check Out What’s Coming Soon for Star Wars: The Old Republic
With yesterday’s patch 1.1 player-versus-player debacle stemming a flood of threatened account cancellations, BioWare has released a video showing off what the coming months have in store for Star Wars: The Old Republic, in case you choose to stick around. In case you missed yesterday’s story, patch 1.1 basically transformed the high-end PVP planet of…
By Mike Fahey Published January 19, 2012 -
Star Wars: The Old Republic Patch 1.1 Breaks High-End PVP
Before Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s 1.1 patch went live early this morning, player-versus-player combat on the level 50 world of Ilum was slightly broken, with more players focusing on completing non-PVP goals than fighting. After patch 1.1 the zone has been transformed into an Imperial PVP wonderland. There are plenty of non PVP-related issues…
By Mike Fahey Published January 18, 2012 -
The Force Was Strongest With These Star Wars Comics Caption Winners
Those panels up above, featuring mulleted stand-ins for Kotaku staffers past and present? One of your very own peers wrote them. And it caused much merriment in Kotaku Tower, so thanks for that. In case you missed it, Dark Horse gave Kotaku readers the chance to write their own captions for a page from the…
By Evan Narcisse Published January 16, 2012 -
Droids Have Feelings too, You Know. Even When They’re Not the Droids You’re Looking for.
Don’t assume that, just because they’ve been built in a factory and programmed by man, that droids are just hunks of metal and wiring. They’re as much characters of the Star Wars universe as anyone else. More feelings [paperbeatsscissors, via Geek-Art]
By Luke Plunkett Published January 16, 2012 -
The Life-Sized Stormtrooper You Can Eat
Over the years, Kotaku has posted so many cakes that the site is now jaded. It takes a lot to impress. It takes a life-sized Stormtrooper. Via BoingBoing comes this 6’4″ tall edible Stormtrooper. Oak Leaf Cakes made this large desert for the Arisia Science Fiction Convention in Boston. 6’4″? Isn’t that a little tall…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 16, 2012