GreenPeace Strikes Back

I'm sure you remember the Volkswagen commercial with the miniature Darth Vader. Well GreenPeace at the moment is not too pleased with Volkswagen after they opposed European emmision laws. So they decided to make their own Star Wars parody ad by depicting Volkswagen as the Empire.

Star Wars E-Books

It was announced yesterday that today many of the Star Wars novels will make their way to electronic form. The publisher Random House along with LucasArts made the announcement listing over 150 books to choose. The books can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. LucasArts created an ad which can be viewed here.

Goodbye, SWG...

In response to my last post, this woman made a video of her reaction to Star Wars Galaxies shutting down. She becomes very emotional about what she loved about the game and how much she played the game. Although, she goes on the offensive by not only attacking Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts but also Star Wars: The Old Republic and Bioware, as if it was their fault. So enjoy, cry but most likely laugh.

R.I.P. Galaxies

As Star Wars: The Old Republic is anticipating its own release the original Star Wars MMO, Galaxies, is finally nearing its end. Star Wars Galaxies was released in 2003 and today still has a devoted following. But today Sony announced that servers will shut down on December 15th. Sony released this statement:

"The shutdown of SWG is a very difficult decision, but SOE and LucasArts have mutually agreed that the end of 2011 is the appropriate time to end the game," the companies said in a statement. "We are extremely grateful to all of the SWG fans. We have had the rare opportunity to host one of the most dedicated and passionate online gaming communities, and we truly appreciate the support we've received from each and every one of you over the course of the past eight years."

The King of Alderaan

In today's Friday Update The Old Republic website released a new video of a Republic conclusion to the World Arc on Alderaan. Republic forces must collaborate to bring down King Ulgo of Alderaan for the planet to support the Republic. To do so, they must infiltrate the Royal Castle, take down the large number of trained guards and eventually kill King Ulgo. The video shows all four Republic classes including the Twi'lek Smuggler who gives a nice knee to the groin of a poor guard.

Many Bothans Died To Bring Us This Information

LucasFilms and Epic Ink, a publisher of rare, special edition books, is set to release a collection of original blueprints from the Star Wars movies. This collection will feature over 200 original production design blueprints from all six films. This is the first time the blueprints would be released from the LucasFilms Archives with over 500 photos included. It will feature all of the most iconic sets in Star Wars like the Millenium Falcon, the Death Star, the Cantina, the forests of Endor and even the blueprints of R2-D2 and X-Wing fighters and many, many more. But don't expect it to come without a price, they go on sale in November for the price of $500. You can pre-order it now at http://www.theblueprintsbook.com. Too bad those poor Bothans didn't have this deal.

Turning to the Dark Side

If you ever felt like the Jedi Order was not for you, this video will show you how to go from a Jedi hero to a Dark Side Devil. In just 3 easy steps you can join the fellowship of the Sith. And remember: Everyone is out to get you.

My Most Anticipated Planets in TOR

After showing that top 10 video yesterday I was sort of inspired to make my own top 10 TOR related video. So I thought I would make it on the topic that I enjoy the most, planets and exploration. So I quickly put together a video of my most anticipated planets in which to play on. I used planet videos from the Holonet and edited with good ol' Windows Movie Maker. So this is my actual creation and I hope you enjoy.

Top 10 Reasons to get excited for The Old Republic

A user that goes by the handle "domslife" put together a great and informative top 10 list of reasons why he's interested in playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. It sheds light on the size of the planets, companions, crew skills and other subjects in the game.

#Winning

Today The Old Republic website showed off how well received they were during this years E3. TOR was one of the most popular games that was presented at E3 and it will be its last showing there. It won numerous awards from websites and publications. The awards ranged from best PC game, best MMO and best trailer. Electric Playground even named it best of E3. Congratulations to the TOR team and I look forward to the release of the game this year.

The Old Republic receives its gold stars and ribbons

Another TV Show?

George Lucas doesn't wasnt to stop releasing Star Wars TV shows. Firstly, an animated special is in the works but based on the LEGO Star Wars video game series. The LEGO video game series is popular for its childish and humorous gameplay. It is slated for a Fall 2011 release. But apparantly another animated series is being produced called Star Wars: Detours. It has been said that the new animated series would "complement 'The Clone Wars', taking 'Star Wars' in a completely new and fun direction." This may be the rumoured Seth Green produced Star Wars Robot Chicken-esque, comedy show that has been thrown around. But one thing's for sure, that there is no end of Star Wars in sight.

3-D No More?

So the 3-D re-releases may not actually all be released. Producer Rick McCallum said that only one movie, The Phantom Menace, may get the 3-D treatment. It depends on how successful the movies are and if they can't get the money, they can't make the 3-D. It bothers me though since they're releasing The Phantom Menace first since most people would want to see the original trilogy more, but I do understand that they want to do it in chronological order.

Live Action TV Show On Hold For 3-4 Years

More news is coming out on the live-action Star Wars TV show. George Lucas said that filming would most likely take place in the Czech Republic but the bad news is that were going to have to wait about 3-4 years for the show to come out. The reason is because they want the technology that they have in mind to become cheaper since this is TV and not the movie screen. This is exactly why he waited those many years to create the Star Wars prequels. The time period in which this will be set will be between episodes 3 and 4. Lucas says that it wont focus on the main characters of the movies. He also has 50 hours of third-draft scripts ready to go, so hopefully by the time he starts shooting, the stories will be in depth and very entertaining. More info can be found here.

Where The Hell Am I? #2: Christophsis

To get away from all this E3 craziness we travel back to the Outer Rim Territories of the Galaxy. Deep in the Savareen Sector sits a blue-green planet named Christophsis.

The beautiful view of Christophsis from space

The planet gets its colour from the massive hexagonal crystals that cover its surface. These crystals are important to the planet as they also can be used as lightsaber crystals. Also, using these crystals to build cities with the aid of the crystals for support. The crystal spires were ideal to make buildings out of and some of these cities were able to be seen from space. A few number of asteroid belts surround the Christoph system making the early history of the planet dangerous for a number of asteroid tragedies. But as time went on technology was developed to control the dangerous meteors. The asteroid belts also made for great mining facilities to boost the Christophsis economy.

The crystals on the surface are visually spectacular

During the Clone Wars the capital city of Christophsis was Chalcydonia and another big city was Crystal City. Crystal City was the setting for a major battle between the Republic and the Separatists in the Clone Wars.

The buildings of Christophsis were made of the natural crystals

Other than a few mining events, Christophsis' history was not too exciting until the Clone Wars had begun. Christophsis was a main setting for the Clone Wars movies and appeared in a few more episodes throughout the series. The Separatists wanted Christophsis to join their cause and ordered them to submit to the Separatist Rule and sent many battle droids to help. The Christophsians asked the Jedi to come to their aid while some of the population had to defend for themselves.

A few Christophsians try to hold off Separatist battle droids

The Jedi arrived including Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker and after a few days, they faught off the Separatist Army. But the retreat did not last long as the Separatists kept pressing but eventually the planet was liberated with the help of Anakin's new padawan Ahsoka Tano. It was a costly victory, but a victory nonetheless for the Republic.

That's All Folks!

E3 is finally over and all of the big electronic companies have shown what to expect for gaming in the next year. We had a new Nintendo console called the WiiU and a new portable Playstation system named PSVita. Games like Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim wowed audiences over the past week generating anticipation for their releases. But my most aniticipated game, The Old Republic, had a variety of information releases including an amazing cinematic trailer, some gameplay on Tatooine and Alderaan (some of the most iconic planets of the Star Wars Galaxy) and the introduction of their take on raids called Operations. Today the TOR website released on video on many features that would be expected to find when playing. I have never been more excited to play a video game in my entire life.

Tatooine Artifacts

The E3 videos just keep on coming and the latest one released on the SW:ToR website is a beauty. It is a walkthrough of part of an Imperial quest on Tatooine. The game was shown through a Sith Sorceror's perspective (relatable to Darth Sidious). The background of the quest is to find artifacts that the Czerka Corporation had left on Tatooine hundreds of years before, and if you played the original KoTOR then you would be familiar with Czerka. But players need to first track down another Sith to get to the artifact. It really shows how well written this game is since this is just a simple quest and yet very interesting. It also shows off some companion, mount and party options available.

The Other Star Wars Game

Star Wars: The Old Republic is not the only Lucas Arts game to be shown at this years E3. Star Wars Kinect shows off the abilities of the Kinect by being able to use motions to imitate a lightsaber swing or control spaceships or pod racers.

E3 Continues

So the secretive Old Republic developers have released some information on end-game content. They released a little information on raids or as they call them, Operations. In the one Operation that they revealed is an ancient prison on Belsavis that could be a greater threat to both the Empire and the Republic than the war. The Operation is called The Eternity Vault and they released a trailer along with it.

Gameplay Footage!

Tons of information has been spilled today during E3. Nintendo had its press conference this morning and unveiled the WiiU. The developers at Bioware had a live stream going with a little play through on Tatooine and some Q&A. Most importantly we learned that the Bounty Hunter has a Jawa companion named Blizz. Ooootiiiniii! Now a lot of gameplay footage of The Old Republic has made it's way to youtube and it is looking better than ever. This first video is of a Sith Marauder taking down some sand people on Tatooine.

The following video is from GameSpot who interviewed Daniel Erickson who is the lead writer on the game and he shows new footage of the beautiful Alderaan.

I'll definately find more footage and news on The Old Republic as E3 goes on so check back here later on.

Return

E3 begins tomorrow but major press conferences are in full force with Microsoft, Sony, EA and Ubisoft presenting some demos and trailers today. Star Wars: The Old Republic presented a mash-up of all the cinematic trailers released called "Choose" but on the actual SW:ToR website they released a new full length cinematic trailer, which in my opinion is the best of the three. It depicts a younger Satele Shan and Darth Malgus as the Sith Empire has returned to reclaim their ancient home of Korriban. It also has my favourite class, the always bad-ass Smuggler.

It's Friday! Friday!

The Old Republic website released more information today on update Friday. The first bit of information was the preview to E3, and it looks were going to get another cinematic trailer. They will have their whole presentation to the press this Monday which you can stream on ea.com. Next up was the new Old Republic comic by author Alexander Freed called The Lost Suns. This series will feature Theron Shan, a Republic spy who infiltrates the Sith Empire. He is also the son of Satele Shan, the Jedi Grand Master, who is seen in the Hope cinematic trailer. Alexander Freed is a senior writer on The Old Republic and was responsible for the other Old Republic comic, Blood of the Empire. And lastly, the Advanced Classes page was refurbished and it includes more information including all the skill trees for each of the Advanced Classes. All the stories can be found here.

Behind the Prequels

If the Star Wars prequels did not seem the same to you as the original trilogy, I come with answers. Apparantly the real George Lucas was kidnapped for 20 years as an imposter took his name. The real Lucas escapes, and he's back, with a vengeance. Viewer Beware: Jar Jar Binks with a lightsaber.

LEGO Sandcrawler

Look at what the pesky Jawas have now created. One of the best Star Wars LEGO pieces I have seen, a functional Sandcrawler. It took the creator, Marshal Banana, nine months to build using 10,000 LEGO blocks. In the video it doesn't look that big but it's actually a meter long. Most impressive indeed.