The International House of Mojo

Well, this game looks like it will have something for everyone. Recorded at the recent ComiCon, five fan-shot quicktime clips have been posted at the Star Wars LEGO site 'from bricks to bothans'. Make sure you read the hands on report, that way you'll discover why TC-14 is hopping everywhere in the Droid Control ship (shades of Monty Python).

And if the thought "Who would win a fight between Yoda, Maul, a clonetrooper & Jango Fett" keeps you up at night, you'll love 'clip 5' - no doubt from a bonus level.
Check out the full report with video clips here.

Source: from bricks to bothans

Posted yesterday at starwars.com is news of a new cell-shaded Star Wars game based on the original Star Wars movies for the GameBoy Advance. The game is a collaboration with Ubi-Soft & LucasArts - usual GBA partner THQ is nowhere to be seen.

Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force will challenge gamers to adventure through the most exciting and memorable scenes from the classic Star Wars movies. Gamers can control Luke Skywalker as he becomes a Jedi Knight, fight Darth Vader and Boba Fett, escape from the fearsome rancor beast, and destroy the Death Star. The game allows gamers to take part in unique co-operative single-player and competitive multiplayer modes, and participate in other memorable Star Wars-based tests.

There are several in-game screenshots and a character montage on the info-page. It's due for release on the same day as the Star Wars DVDs and the LucasArts game 'Battlefront', so if you still have money to spare on that day, and still have a Star Wars fix to sort out, and own a GBA, maybe this game'll be for you.

Source: Star Wars official site

After knocking out the occasional Harry Potter LEGO computer game, it appears that the Star Wars LEGO franchise is finally in for similar treatment.

Discussion on the From Bricks to Bothans Forums. has revealed that a Star Wars game is in the works "Erlebe, wie Anakin Skywalker zur Dunklen Seite der Macht wechselt. Ab Sommer 2005.", and indeed "Opplev hele historien om Anakin Skywalkers fall til Den m?rke siden. Kommer sommeren 2005."

So, hooray! Except if you don't like gaming. Or Star Wars. Or LEGO.

Or if you own a GameCube.

Source: From Bricks to Bothans Forum

Associate Producer Matt Fillbrandt, Director Tim Longo and Line Producer Chris Williams answer questions about Republic Commando at Unreal Ops.

How did the idea of Republic Commando come about?
We wanted to create a uniquely dark and militaristic Star Wars FPS, which featured finely tuned combat and accessible squad gameplay that would provide a broad audience with a dramatic "Special Forces" experience.

What did you have to limit doing know that it was going to be a cross platform game instead of PC only?
We didn't have to limit anything, but we have to be very careful to ensure that we provide a great gaming experience on both the PC and the Xbox. Nobody wants to play a console game on their PC! We are working hard to ensure the graphics and audio as well as the controls, balance, and difficulty are all perfectly tuned for both the PC and the Xbox. Our goal is that the game should not feel like a "port" on either platform.

Check out the whole interview for more info.

For those who grew up on the original Larry Holland X-Wing Combat Simulators, and have been left cold with the recent 'arcadey' Starfighter & Rogue Squadron type titles coming out of LucasArts, here's some exciting news.

New information about the long-awaited Space Expansion to Star Wars Galaxies has finally been revealed. IGN has this new article and posted these nine stunning looking in-game screenshots.

IGNPC: A lot of us have fond memories of TIE Fighter and the other space games Lucas has published. How directly has that legacy inspired (or even intimidated) you?

Haden Blackman: It's definitely inspired everyone on the development team. We're very determined to capture the feel of the X-Wing and TIE Fighter titles. In many ways, we're looking at Jump to Lightspeed as "X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter" online - much of our focus is on that dogfighting experience.

Check out the full interview and screenshots here.

Update: There are two new official webpages where you can check out the the latest "Jump to Hyperspace" info, FAQ, screenshots, concept art, and movies; View these pages at starwarsgalaxies.com and lucasarts.com

Source: IGN

There's a new photographed poster on TheForce.net that is claimed to be for a forthcoming Star Wars Episode III video game. If legitimate, it's probably the previously rumoured "Vader" game.

Alternately, it may be an actual movie poster, and the 3rd installment of the prequel trilogy after The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones is titled "The Video Game". This will no doubt give much mileage to those who believe there has been too much digital trickery / special effects in the latest movies. check it out.

Update: More information from starwars.com

Star Wars: Episode III Making the Game Preview: Video-game players will be able to experience the stunning Jedi action of Episode III themselves in the new Star Wars: Episode III game, due out in Spring 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. This special feature shows how game developers at LucasArts worked behind-the-scenes and on the set to create the most authentic Jedi experience ever.

Source: theforce.net

There's a new editorial on TheForce.net about the history and impact of Star Wars games, and it seems to be wrong. The writer of the article talks about "early" Star Wars games failing to be "system sellers." Unfortunately, he's not talking about Rebel Assault, or TIE Fighter (which were at least "CD-ROM drive sellers"), and he's not even talking about Super Star Wars for the SNES. His definition of "early Star Wars game" is in fact Episode I Racer for the PlayStation 1.

You couldn?t rank a SW title back then with a Donkey Kong Country or a Doom game. Star Wars games then were mainly made for the simple Star Wars fan. You wouldn?t expect a SW game then to set sales records and sell out the first day of its release. It just wasn?t in the nature of a SW game to do such a thing. Come on, look at all of the PlayStation SW games like Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Power Battle, they are all laughing stocks.

Just for the record, in 1995 LucasArts was the #1 PC publisher in terms of market share, having 4 out of the top 20 titles of the year, due to Dark Forces, X-Wing Collectors Edition, TIE Fighter, and Full Throttle. Give it a read, and be confused.

Eurogamer has a bit of gossip they picked up at GDC about LucasArts' rumored upcoming game starring Darth Vader. Here's a clip:

Hopefully the run-up to E3 will show more on the Vader game and shed a great deal more light on LucasArts' ongoing plans to milk unending piles of cash from the greatest science fiction franchise in history.

Read the whole article for the actual story (yes, there's more in the writeup than that little insulting jab). Who knows if this is real or not, but a SW game where you play as Vader would at least be kinda different. Maybe? Barely?

Generic Episode III based Star Wars Game #246 has had some new screenshots added to it's product page. Go here if you care.

Okay so we all knew this already because not only was a Knights sequel inevitable, but it would also be a really stupid thing to lie about. Well, 1up has confirmed that Knights of the Old Republic 2 exists, and tells us that it will be gracing the covers of the June issues of EGM and Computer Gaming World magazines. So, KOTOR 2 is real. Party down.

You're probably aware that Grim Fandango was defeated by both Chrono Trigger and Knights of the Old Republic in the title fight thing over at GameSpy. In retrospect, it's a bit of an odd matchup to say the least, but hey, GF managed to get slightly more than a quarter of the votes. However, congratulations are in order for KOTOR as it advances to the final round of the Hyrule bracket, also known as "the contest to see who loses to Zelda: OoT by a lot."

Naturally, there's a new and highly amusing update at Double Fine Action News in response to these results. In addition, you ought to check out the new ACTION comic, because you love doing that.

PS: Someone stole my car. God damn.

As pointed out by, erm, "monkeyboobs" on the forums, developer Factor 5 (mostly known as developers of the Rogue Squadron series) have registered trademarks for two new names: Battle Squadron, and Animal Wars. People are guessing that Battle Squadron might be Star Wars related - possibly refering to the rumored "Rebel X" compilation of Rogue Squadron games, or a Rogue sequel. Animal Wars, however, is a mystery. Animal Wars Unleashed? Animal Wars: Free Agent? All signs point to "no."

IGN has a lengthy preview of the upcoming Star Wars FPS Republic Commando, which LucasArts is developing in-house. The IGN preview talks more about Republic Commando's interface, weapons, and the much-talked-of squad of soldiers you command around in the single player game.

When you come to a locked door you can look at it and [in your visor] get the silhouette images of your team setting up for a breaching sequence with one guy on the door and the other two ready to lay down cover fire and throw grenades when it's breached. Or, while in the same situation, you can get the silhouette image of one of your troops hacking the door control panel. The whole command system basically shows you what your troops will do and where they'll do it before you issue the command so that you won't be confused by the orders you're giving. Simple things like telling your guys to hop in a turret and lay down some cover fire will still be accompanied by a green silhouette image showing you exactly what they're going to do if you issue the order.

This game actually sounds pretty interesting and not terrible (of course saying that on Mojo will surely jinx the game). I'm looking forward to seeing it at E3, or earlier if I can con someone at LucasArts into letting me sneak in sometime. Check out the whole preview for more info. Thanks Shack.

We clearly missed this, but the North American edition of PC Gamer has named Knights of the Old Republic the 2003 Game of the Year. Pretty cool, but we all sort of saw that coming, right? Congrats to BioWare and LucasArts for the recognition, and thanks to "theholyidiot" for the news tip!

One day I'll finally actually get to play KOTOR... one day...

LucasArts today put out a press release and some new screenshots revealing a little more about the upcoming first person shooter, Star Wars Republic Commando. In the game, which is apparently dark, moody, and involves sneaking around in lots of atmospheric dank corridors (as shown in the excellent E3 teaser), you play as a clone trooper, with a small squad following you around which you can vaguely control:

Mission briefings set the tone in this dark first-person shooter, as players lead their squads on a variety of assignments such as hostage rescue, infiltration/data retrieval, elimination, assault, sabotage and reconnaissance operations. Your three-man team is controlled through an intuitive and accessible "smart squad" command system, based on squad markers and stances.

The game takes place on a lot of various ships, as well as the planet Geonosis (the red one with the insects in Episode 2), and Kashyyyk (home of Chewebacca and Wookiee Life Day). More info is available at the official site.

Those IGN people recently got the chance to visit LucasArts and play a pre-alpha build of the upcoming multiplayer Star Wars game, Battlefront. The uber positive preview they wrote gives a lot of details and tells us what we might expect. Here's a quote:

We drove to LucasArts early Wednesday morning, sat in the LucasArts testers' pit, and played, in awe, the latest PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of what looks to be one of the biggest games in 2004, Star Wars Battlefront.

Click here to check out the full article.

Computer and Video Games has a quick first look article about Star Wars Battlefront, including some quotes from producer Jim Tso. It also has some interesting bits about Battlefront's "Galactic Conquest" gameplay mode, which is apparently one of the key points that separates Battlefront from Battlefield 1942:

If you manage to hold a territory for a certain period, your team will be awarded with one of a range of special attacks. These bonuses aren't simply gimmicks, either. If the Imperials control Tatooine for example, they can call upon Darth Vader for personal aid on the battlefield. And if you think the Dark Lord of the Sith isn't intimidating enough, control of Endor actually gives you access to the Death Star, which instantly vaporises an entire world.

Read the whole story at Computer and Video Games online.

At long last! According to DVDFile.com, we should see the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD no later than this September 21st. Of course, it's going to be the 1997 'special' edition, but it's better than nothing. Check out the article here!

Worthplaying has a handful of new screenshots for the upcoming Star Wars Republic Commando, including even more shots of the Metroid Prime-inspired helmet cam. Republic Commando is a PC and XBox squad-based single player FPS set in the Star Wars Prequel universe, and uses the latest Unreal engine.

Does IGN know something we don't? Well, most likely yes, but what about all things concerning LucasArts? In its "Most Anticipated Games of 2004" article, IGN lists Knights of the Old Republic 2 (though not from Bioware), Rebel X (a compilation of Nintendo Star Wars games), and a mystery Episode III game in which you play as Darth Vader.

Additionally, we at Mojo have heard a few rumors of this Darth Vader game as well, and that it may or may not be the pet project of Jon Knoles. In case you're unaware, Knoles previously wrote and directed Bounty Hunter, which was another game developed concurrently with the production of a Star Wars film.