GamesBeat weekly roundup: Disney shutters LucasArts, Zynga tries to reinvigorate OMGPOP, and more

If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best video game stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.

LucasArts’ mixed legacy: A breeding ground for great games and designers that relied too much on Star Wars

The old Star Wars game business apparently wasn't enough to carry the longtime studio into the new age of games.

Star Wars: First Assault is reportedly a first-person predecessor to Battlefront III

First Assault would pit teams of Stormtroopers and Rebels against one another on familiar Star Wars planets.

The DeanBeat: Game acquisitions rise 23 percent to $3.4B in 2012

The game industry set a new record for the money spent on acquisitions, but the number of deals dropped.

German Facebook page leaks possible Star Wars 1313 release info (UPDATED)

Sony may have revealed a release date and platform for Star Wars 1313 on a German Facebook page.

The video game industry’s 2012 holiday cards

Every year, the game industry creates their own geek-centric holiday cards. Here's what arrived at the GamesBeat office this year.

Angry Birds Star Wars tests just how far those funny birds can fly (interview)

Rovio is figuring out how it will reach its next billion game downloads -- and how to become a huge entertainment brand.

Angry Birds Star Wars is out now, and it’s kinda cool

Did the idea of Angry Birds Star Wars make you say: "I've got a bad feeling about this"? Well, it's out now if you wish to confirm your fears.

Angry Birds Star Wars trailer reveals lightsaber and the Force

It's hard to imagine how developer Rovio could turn Star Wars into an Angry Bird game, but now we have visual evidence that they've done just that.

How Star Wars tech changed Silicon Valley (interview)

In the aftermath of the announcement, I caught up with Pixar's former CTO, Oren Jacob, for a conversation about the reunion of Lucasfilm and Pixar, two great production houses under the same roof once again.

Jedi, fedoras, and carpal tunnel: A history of LucasArts

What if LucasArts never existed? What if the irascible filmmaker, beloved (and despised) the world over for his invaluable contributions to the pop-culture lexicon, had stuck to making space operas and juvenile fantasies about archeologists in fedora hats? What if George Lucas never entered the arena of gaming 30 years ago?

GamesBeat weekly roundup: Disney buys LucasArts/Lucasfilm, Halo 4 reviewed, and Valve dislikes Windows 8

If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best video game stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.

How a Sith Lord spends the day at Disneyland

Darth Vadar. You were just purchased for over four billion dollars. What are you going to do now? Obviously, the answer is go to Disneyland in this video.

Disney’s recent history suggests it might not be ‘business as usual’ at LucasArts for long

The Walt Disney Company hasn't spent much time producing high-end games recently and instead focuses on a mobile and social strategy. It's admitted it wants to do the same with Star Wars.

Possible box art appears for the unconfirmed Star Wars: First Assault Xbox Live Arcade game

LucasArts hasn't acknowledged it, but the evidence is starting to pile up for a new Star Wars game.