Thanks to Ringer Tom for the heads up. The latest ‘Big Nate’ comic strip features a good ole Gollum reference. [More]
Month: May 2003
According to his official website, Bruce Hopkins (Gamling), has won an award from the Paris Film Festival for Best Actor in a Short Film: Henchman. Congrats Bruce! [More]
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – April 3, 2003 – Continuing the epic legacy of the critically and commercially acclaimed Jedi Knight action game series, LucasArts, a Lucasfilm Ltd. company, announces Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy for Windows PC and the Xbox’ video game system from Microsoft. Expected for release fall 2003, this latest chapter in one of interactive entertainment’s most celebrated game series extends the partnership between LucasArts and Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), through its developer Raven Software.
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is the follow up to Star WarsÒ Jedi KnightÒ II: Jedi Outcast’, the best selling premium priced PC game in America, United Kingdom, and Germany upon initial release in 2002.
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is a dynamic single and multiplayer action experience featuring an all-new epic story. Players are immersed in the role of apprentice at Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy where they learn the power – and danger – of the Force. Amidst a multitude of complex and richly detailed Star Wars environments, including twice as many unique locales as those in Star Wars: Jedi Outcast, players face a variety of powerful and insidious enemies.
For the first time in a Jedi Knight series game, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy allows players to create and customize their own characters by choosing various characteristics including species, gender, clothing, and physical attributes such as hair and facial features. In addition, players can create a custom lightsaber, selecting from hilt and blade color. As apprentices progress in their training, different lightsabers will become available, such as the double-bladed lightsaber or dual lightsabers.
“With the overwhelming success and critical acclaim of Star Wars: Jedi Outcast, continuing an alliance with Activision and Raven Software was a clear and very easy decision,” says Simon Jeffery, president of LucasArts. “As they did with its best selling predecessor, Raven will bring to Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy innovative, dynamic, and challenging game play that honors the well-respected legacy of the series.”
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy begins shortly after the conclusion of events in Star Wars: Jedi Outcast. Players create a Jedi apprentice character and join the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 to learn the ways of the Force under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker and Kyle Katarn. While the young apprentice embarks on various missions to hone their skills and abilities, a mysterious group is discovered creating havoc throughout the galaxy. Until order is restored, the fate of the Jedi Academy – and the future of the Star Wars galaxy itself – hangs precariously in the balance.
While players will be able to accomplish more by using the lightsaber in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, they also will have a variety of weapons – new and old – at their disposal including a blaster, blaster rifle, Wookiee bowcaster, Imperial repeater, and a Destructive Electro-Magnetic Pulse gun.
A unique level selection system allows players to choose their own path through the game as well as the missions they undertake to improve their Jedi skills. The game will add new multiplayer modes and bring back the most popular modes from Star Wars: Jedi Outcast.
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy will be published and distributed by LucasArts in North America. Activision will publish and distribute the game in all other territories worldwide.
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – May 2, 2003 – LucasArts today announced the PC version of its critically acclaimed role-playing game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, is expected to release this fall. A version for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft is expected to be available this July.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is highlighted by a entirely original storyline set some four thousand years prior to the events in Star Wars: Episode I. The ancient era is dominated by an epic struggle between the Jedi and the evil Sith. The game features customizable male or female heroes and evolving playable characters, as well as dynamic lightsaber combat. Players can choose to pursue divergent paths of good or evil as they journey through numerous locations both familiar and new throughout the Star Wars galaxy.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic will be published and distributed by LucasArts, and is being developed by BioWare Corp.
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – May 14, 2003 – One of interactive entertainment’s most critically and commercially successful action arcade series returns this fall in Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike from LucasArts. Available for Nintendo GameCube’, this thrilling third chapter once again features the intense flight battles of Luke Skywalker and his elite unit of X-wing starfighter pilots and adds highly desired multiplayer capability and character-based and ground combat to the series for the first time.
Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike is the follow up to Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader’, the best selling third-party title for GameCube upon initial release in 2001.
Designed and developed by Factor 5 in conjunction with LucasArts, Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike features stunning, movie-like visuals, immersing players into an intense action-arcade experience. Players are drawn into the classic Star Wars Trilogy through more than 13 action-packed missions that encompass branching paths in flight combat, and ground-based character or vehicle conflict. For example, players can fly a combat mission over the dense forest landscape of Yavin 4 before landing to engage Imperial Stormtroopers in ground battle. Upon defeating the enemy, players then return to an X-wing and take flight against TIE fighters in adrenaline-inducing dogfights.
“With Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, LucasArts expands the award winning flight action franchise with multiplayer support and character-based combat, offering the widest variety of gameplay yet,” says Marcella Churchill, senior marketing manager at LucasArts. “This latest game in the popular Star Wars Rogue Squadron series is highlighted by stunning, cinematic-like visuals, tight controls, and dramatically engaging storylines that immerse players into the most memorable characters, vehicles, and battles of the epic Star Wars saga.”
Aerial and land-based conflicts in Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike take place in a variety of craft such as the legendary X-wing, Millennium Falcon, Snowspeeder, Imperial speeder bike, and AT-ST. Players also can carry out covert ground or air-based operations as Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles or Han Solo. Battle skills will be tested within extraordinarily detailed environments, such as the vast forests of Endor; Hoth’s foreboding, frozen world; Bespin’s gaseous Cloud City; and dangerous space meteor fields.
Multiplayer modes encompass co-op endurance, capture-the-base, challenging dogfights and more. In addition, the entire Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader game is available for play in cooperative multiplayer mode. The game also features a comprehensive reward system allowing players to unlock numerous bonus features including extra missions, vehicles, and locations.
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. and SAN DIEGO – April 11, 2003 – LucasArts and
Sony Online Entertainment Inc. today announced Dantooine as the tenth planetary environment for Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, the highly anticipated first installment of the upcoming massively multiplayer online game series. In addition, the fan community for the game continues to grow unabated and has now reached 475,000 registered members, nearly a 20 percent increase since December 2002.
Dantooine is a legendary planet from Star Wars lore and was once the home base of the Rebel Alliance and a Jedi training center. Players who visit Dantooine can expect to encounter dangerous primitive natives known as Dantari, a sizable Imperial occupation force, and a small band of smugglers led by a vicious crime lord. As with all planets in Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, Dantooine will offer a vast amount of terrain to explore, stunning vistas, and wide range of wild life.
“With the inclusion of Dantooine, we feel we’re offering a diverse Star Wars experience,” says Haden Blackman, producer at LucasArts for Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided. “Fans of the films will remember Princess Leia’s Dantooine reference from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, though more important is our ability to leverage the world’s rich history and striking landscape. As one of several ‘adventure planets,’ players will travel to Dantooine for the opportunity to engage in epic battles, uncover new storylines, and discover new sites.”
The Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided development team surpassed another major milestone April 2 by launching Beta 3. Throughout this phase of the beta program the team will continually increase the number of testers until a targeted number of 50,000 players is reached. A new release date for Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided will be announced within the coming weeks.