The International House of Mojo

What would the holiday season be without a two headed thingy? I ask myself this question every day, but thanks to this year?s Double Fine festive graphic, we can rest assured that we?ll all have a happy holiday.

Yes... the two headed baby is making a list, but he only has to check it once? you know? because he?s got two pairs of eyes and two brains. It?s just more efficient.

In case you may have forgotten, the Secret Weapons Over Normandy 2-disc soundtrack is now available from La-La Land Records. I?m listening to the CD right now, and I highly recommend ordering it if you can. The music is really good. That is all.

If for some reason you haven?t decided on whether or not to purchase Armed and Dangerous (what the hell is wrong with you?), LucasArts has now released a PC demo of the game. Unfortunately you have to battle FilePlanet for it, but it?s probably worth the effort. Check it, and don't forget to also read our own glowing review of this new original title.

Knights of the Old Republic, the moocher of all game awards, has earned yet another honor. Amazon.com named this Star Wars RPG both "Xbox Game of the Year" and "Overall game of the Year." As a side note, LucasArts also slyly informed us that the game has now received an average review score of 94%, which is the second highest rating for an Xbox title to date.

This concludes our required daily praise of Knights of the Old Republic. Please resume normal activity.

If you happened to tune in to watch Spike TV?s mind-numbing mess that was the Video Game Awards, you would have seen Knights of the Old Republic walk away with the title of ?Best Fantasy Game.? Darth Vader and Boba Fett were on hand to make an appearance following the announcment. A well deserved award, although the noise pollution and flashy images of this TV show almost gave me a damn seizure. Congrats to LucasArts and Bioware.

GameSpot has confirrmed the previous reports that an online multiplayer Battlefield 1942-like war game was under development at LucasArts, called "Star Wars: Battlefront." The original rumor said that the game was for PS2 online, but GameSpot's short report seems to imply XBox and PC as well. We'll have more on this as the news shows up.

It's been pointed out in a few places that Star Wars: Battlefront sounds quite a lot like the free, user-created "Galactic Conquest" mod/total-conversion for Battlefield 1942. Should be interesting to see if anything happens with that.

Update: We got word from LucasArts that the game will be developed by Pandemic Studios, makers of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the much-hyped upcoming Full Spectrum Warrior.

Acccording to this post on theforce.net's forums, the latest EGM claims that next month they'll have a huge blowout feature on "Star Wars: Battlefront." Also, LucasFilm recently registered "starwarsbattlefront.com."

The TFN post continues, mentioning recent rumors posted on IGN and friends (which I admittedly can't find) that a Battlefield 1942-esque online Star Wars game is in development for PS2, and suggests (probably correctly) that Star Wars: Battlefront is what those rumors refer to. Thanks to jp-30 in our forums for the tip.

Theres a new Armed & Dangerous trailer up at the official site, showcasing the game's uniquely extreme aresnal, funky TV show style. Unfortunately, LucasArts was extremely rude and built the video trailer into the Armed & Dangerous flash site, so I can't give you a direct link, and modem users are out of luck on saving a local copy. There's a Windows Media version at GameSpot.

This video is damn good, though, and we highly encourage viewing it in whatever way possible.

If anyone's been wanting to get a closer look at that Sam & Max Freelance Police trailer that came out at E3, a nice high-res high-framerate version is now online at LucasFiles (this is the trailer that came on the Armed & Dangerous preview disc, and has already appeared on a few other sites, but now it's up just for you!).

Also, if you were considering downloading the Secret Weapons Over Normandy PC demo, but were too pissed off at GameSpy and FilePlanet's nutty download procedures to do it, that is now mirrored on LucasFiles as well, minus the hassle. Hooray!

Gabe of Penny Arcade fame is mad as hell, and it's all because of those dirty, dirty people over at LucasArts. (Okay, so maybe they aren't really all that dirty.) In his news rant at the bottom of Penny-Arcade.com, the online gaming comic artist lashes out at LucasArts for choosing to make recycled Star Wars titles as opposed to creating games based in the Expanded Universe. Here's a quote. It's rant-tastic!

"You want to know the reason I never talked about Rebel Strike? Because I only played the first couple of levels before I was sick of it. I love Star Wars but Jesus Christopher Christ, there are other stories to tell. I have shot down all the tie fighters I want to shoot down. I don?t want to shoot down another one. I don?t care if it?s a tie interceptor, I?m done. Why not take this opportunity to introduce the casual Star Wars fans as you call them to the wonders of the [Expanded Universe]?"

Check the link and scroll down to read the rant in full.

The funny/crazy/infamous online gaming comic Penny Arcade has written up a brief impression of LucasArts' Gladius. What does Tycho think? Well, he starts out by saying, "I think they did a pretty good job", so you know it can't be too bad. Check out this link to read the whole paragraph consisting of Gladius goodness.

There's also some good interesting Star Wars musing about the Expanded Universe going on both in today's comic and in the rest of the news posts as well.

Anyone out there already in posession of, or looking to buy Secret Weapons Over Normandy should be interested to know that the first downloadable SWON content has been made available via XBox Live, the XBox online network. The downloadable bonuses include two planes (Vought F4U Corsair Fighter and P-40E "Kittyhawk") and a new paintjob skin for one of the existing planes.

It sounds like LucasArts and Totally Games plan on continuing to dump bonus content into this game via Live over the coming months, so that's probably worth checking out. I'd personally love a plane with Max's gaping tooth-filled maw painted on the nose, but you know. More on the new XBox Live content can be found at the official SWON website.

Anyone with an XBox should have already picked up this month's Official XBox Magazine, whose coverdisc contains a playable Armed & Dangerous demo. For the rest of us, IGN has uploaded five gameplay videos for you to take a look at. Says the Scumm Bar's RemiO about the A&D demo: "This is the most addictive, funny, pure fun game I've played in ages, reminiscent of those old Amiga games where gameplay and originality took the front seat to flashy graphics."

A new release has come and gone, and with it, a first batch of reviews. This time, the critics take a look at Secret Weapons Over Normandy. Here we go...<:MORENEWS:>

GameSpy gives the title 4 out of 5 stars, saying that "Normandy is the opposite of realistic in too many ways to count, and that's what makes it fun... everything is geared toward ease of play and the thrill of conflict." GameSpy also praises the game's level design and live orchestral score.

Gaming Age gives the new Larry Holland game a B+. "In short," the reviewer writes, "Secret Weapons Over Normandy looks very good, it's just not a graphical powerhouse. It looks more like an old WWII movie than a summer blockbuster, which fits perfectly... The story is interesting, well told and serves as the perfect excuse to get into the cockpit of the era's most famous aircraft."

IGN gives the game a reasonable 8.0 out of 10. "First and foremost," the four-page article states, "Secret Weapons attempts to bridge the gap between historical accuracy and arcade sensibility... LucasArts can realize much higher returns on their investment development with the PS2 and Xbox versions and it's apparent that that's the target for this game."

Secret Weapons Over Normandy is in stores now for the PC, PS2, and Xbox.

Team Xbox has published an interview with Greg Borrud, director of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Naturally, this interview discusses some of the new features for the Xbox version of the game. Here's a quote:

The team has always been pretty excited about working on the Xbox. In fact at the beginning of the production we were debating whether the game should release on the Xbox or the Gamecube first.

Seems to be a lot of that going around. Find the full interview right here.

Source: TheForce.net

GameSpot has published Entry #1 for Hal Barwood's RTX Red Rock designer diary. This first entry deals with the woes of cutting parts out of the game as the production deadline looms closer. Here's a small glimpse into the process:

So, with a good cut to make, why is the process so tough? Because we're in schedule hell, with hard dates to make and not much time to make them. Each little featurette must be measured against time that could be spent honing up the frame rate, for example, on the PS2. And cuts can backfire.

PS2, eh? *sniff* In addition, the feature allegedly contains 37 new screenshots. Note for you Windows users: the screenshots will not appear if you've been monkeying around with your "hosts" file. Enjoy!

Lots of new (and early) updates from LucasArts.com yesterday evening. First, you can check out the Knights of the Old Repbulic page for a profile on a new character by the name of Canderous Ordo.

Then, stop by the Ask LucasArts section if you want to find out how the Xbox port of The Clone Wars will be different from the Gamecube and PS2 versions. (Hint: Xbox Live)

There is a new screenshot of the week as well from Gladius. This shot seems to demonstrate the game's interface during the battle sequences.

And finally, the RTX Red Rock page has been updated to include audio clips of one-liners from the main characters. You adventure gamers may want to pay particular attention to Boris Dezurov, as his voice seems to be quite familiar beneath that Russian accent. Yarr!

On a side note, there is still no official word from LucasArts concerning the rumored cancellation of the RTX Red Rock Gamecube port, but we were told to expect more info "soon."

News has been a bit slow, but luckily for us Gamespy have posted an interview with Rick Watters, The Collective's producer responsible for Indiana Jones and the Emperors Tomb.

GameSpy: And ? "Snakes? Why does it have to be snakes?"

Rick Watters: We get to explore some of the other nuances of Indy's character in this game as well.

Read more of Watters' choice answers on Gamespy. Alternativley, depending on laziness, make them up yourself.

As pointed out by Royal Fool in the Adventure Gamers Forums, LucasArts has removed all mention of the Gamecube from the RTX Red Rock site and press release stuff (to prove that I'm not crazy, here's the old RTX site with the GC logo).

Hopefully the Gamecube release is only delayed and not cancelled (the recent RTX preview at Gamespot said the Gamecube release was lagging behind), but it's a disappointing rumor to us Gamecube owners nontheless.

Update: LEC says more info on whats up with the Gamecube version will be coming soon, so we still have no idea what's up. :)

LucasArts.com updated its RTX Red Rock page yesterday. The update includes five new screenshots, which as always, look quite impressive. There's also a bunch of really cool concept art in the gallery now as well. Find them all right here.