With The Clone Wars improving a lot in its current second season and getting progressively darker, Lucasfilm is obviously worried that Star Wars is getting good again and so are planning a new animated series for pre-schoolers. Yes, kindergarteners, nursery schoolers, or those annoying brats that Anakin brutally murdered in Episode III. Presumably that last scene won't make it to this new series.

Anyway, the working title is 'Squishies' for god knows what reason, and is reportedly based on the popular/crap line of squat toys called 'Galactic Heroes'. What part of the Star Wars timeline it will cover is anyone's guess.

Star Wars Babies next, anyone?

Well, they did. I think posting Star Wars news every now and again looks good on our tax return or something.

Various blogs and news sites are sure making it sound that way.

You may have noticed it on the side, you may not have cared. Nevertheless, please find enclosed our timely Knights of the Old Republic review, meatbags. End Statement.

Well, not exactly. Lego Star Wars III has just been announced by LucasArts, and a good educated guess could probably discern what it's covering...

The Clone Wars. Since all the characters in the (now getting pretty good actually) TV cartoon series already look like they're made of Lego this shouldn't be a problem, although whether the game will follow any particular episodes or doing their own a la Lego Batman is anyone's guess. The press release reads:

"LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars will combine the best elements of all previous LEGO games while adding brand new gameplay to make it the most action-packed LEGO videogame to date. Developed by the same team at Traveller’s Tales that created the critically acclaimed LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones series, the game will ship on the Wii, Nintendo DS, PS3, PSP , Xbox 360, and Windows in the Autumn of 2010.

“LucasArts is an amazing partner, and working with them on the next iteration of the LEGO Star Wars series continues to be a great experience,” said Tom Stone, director at TT Games. “The team at TT is working hard at making this simply the best LEGO game ever with all new gameplay and features never before seen in a LEGO game.”

This'll be Traveller's Tales' sixth collaboration with LucasArts, and the second since Warner Bros bought them (not sure how that works, but someone's obviously flexible). Let's hope it's better than all the other Clone Wars games, which were so bad even I didn't buy them.

During an annoucement by EA that it was lowering its 2010 fiscal projections, CEO John Riccitiello seems to have indirectly referenced Star Wars: The Old Republic's release window:

Riccitiello also said that the company is planning to launch "our major new MMO"--presumably BioWare Austin's Star Wars: The Old Republic--in "spring 2011." It was unclear if he meant calendar year 2011, or EA's 2011 fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2011.

Granted, it is indeed a presumption that he is referring to The Old Republic at all, since there are other possible EA-related MMO candidates. Still, given the lack of recent news on the project, I don't think many honestly expected to see The Old Republic before 2011 at this point.

Tingler Confirms: Kotaku confirms that Bioware confirms. So it's confirmed.

While the game's meager 7 million + customer base awaits with anticipation the recently announced sequel, LEC has released that totally impossible PC version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition on Steam and Direct2Drive this past Tuesday in an effort to reach out to the seven remaining gamers in its audience who've yet to discover it. (For the unaware, this "Ultimate Sith Edition" is a recent re-release with additional content.)

Packing a $39.99 price point and some steep minimum requirements, this is no download for the faint of heart. But if you've never played STFU, want to, and remain unfazed by the PC port's terrible reviews (though presumably this an improved, post-patch version), doing so has never been more convenient.

In other LucasArts news, IGN has awarded the special edition of Monkey Island "Adventure Game of the Year." Seems a bit off, given the competition, but hey, we'll take it.

Pandemic Studios, who developed Battlefront, Battlefront II, Mercenaries and Clone Wars (2002) for LEC before being absorbed along with Bioware by EA has been shut down:

Electronic Arts has confirmed rumours regarding the closure of Mercenaries and Saboteur developer Pandemic Studios.

The majority of the Los Angeles-based studio’s 200 staff have been let go, including founders Josh Resnick, Andrew Goldman and Greg Borrud, who served as president, CEO and vice president of product development respectively, the publisher told Joystiq.

This makes for a sucky situation for all those developers, and a fuzzy situation as far as who is developing the elusive Battlefront III. In 2006, the game's development was associated with UK studio Free Radical Design before it too closed its doors.

Following that, the game was said to be transferred to the hands of Rebellion, developer of the two handheld entries in the series, Renegade Squadron and, earlier this month, Elite Squadron. It was later suggested though that the company was only working on a PS2 port of the game, and that the franchise's original developer Pandemic was back at the wheel. That Pandemic would have been developing for LEC despite being owned by EA isn't out of the question given that LEC is partnering with Bioware for The Old Republic.

Of course, that's all moot now. I wonder who's next on the list?

Well, aren't you excited? You can get it from LucasArts or anywhere else for just about every platform. LEC is also listing some sort of "Sith Edition" of The Force Unleashed for November 3rd, complete with extra levels, if that sort of thing tickles your fancy.

Just a follow-up to the snippet Darrell Rodriguez mentioned in that GameTrailers TV interview about how the Jedi Knight series was coming to Steam and Direct2Drive next week.

There was some confusion about what that would include, but the LucasArts Twitter confirms it will be the entire series. That is: Dark Forces, Jedi Knight, Mysteries of the Sith, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy. I'm particularly glad that the excellent Jedi Knight mission pack is on there too.

So, will you be getting any?

JP Update: They're here!

Dark Forces $4.99
Jedi Knight $4.99
Mysteries of the Sith $2.99
Jedi Outcast $9.99
Jedi Academy $9.99

or

Jedi Knight Collection... $19.99!

JP Update II: Some crazy Germans enterprising modder has fixed the 3D Acceleration problem some are experiencing with the Steam release of Jedi Knight (myself included). Simply extract this ddraw.dll file into your game directory (probably c:Program FilesSteamsteamappscommonstar wars jedi knight) and you can ramp up your resolution and turn 3D Acceleration on.

Kotaku are reporting that LucasArts are planning on making "several world exclusive announcements" at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego, next Friday. Since they're planning the announcements for the Star Wars Spectacular keynote address, I'd expect them to be related to that franchise.

Personally I'm betting on Star Wars Battlefront III, although if Imperial Commando turns up it'll blow my mind. Force Unleashed II is also a possibility.

They'll also be showing off Krome's Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, TT Games' Lego Indiana Jones II and Bioware's The Old Republic.

UPDATE: Apparently The Force Unleashed's just had some new mysterious achievements added, making it look like one of the announcements could be another downloadable map for the game in the form of Jabba's Palace.

Incredibly exciting news comes today as LucasArts has announced the foreshadowed Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, an action/adventure game based on the animated series of the same name and developed by Krome Studios, who were responsible for Lightsaber Duels and the low-end ports of The Force Unleashed.

You can check out the riveting press release here. (It couldn't kill you to check out the official site either, I guess.) The game releases this September for all platforms (yes, even PC), assuming you don't succumb fatally to your anticipation first.

Bioware has revealed the Trooper as the second playable class in their MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic.

They've updated the class pages and added some new wallpapers featuring the Trooper. GameSpot has also conducted an interview focusing on the new class with principal lead writer Daniel Erickson and lead combat designer Damion Schubert.

Either they got commands from on high or they're getting worried about more controversy from the homophobic American media, but Bioware have begun locking threads discussing homosexuality and censoring words such as "gay" or "lesbian" on their Star Wars: The Old Republic forum.

Bioware's Sean Dahlberg explained simply: "As I have stated before, these are terms that do not exist in Star Wars. Thread closed."

So, to reiterate: C-3PO is camp, not gay.


jp update: The moderator on the Bioware forum has apologised for overstepping the mark, and the gay discussion there has been allowed to continue. Source: Kotaku.