Electronic Arts is the exclusive home of triple-A Star Wars games. When it announced that deal, the company immediately put some of its top studios, DICE and Visceral Games, on to projects related to the galaxy far, far away. That means those studios might not have the resources to maintain their existing franchises, so EA is opening a new development office to carry some of that weight.

Electronic Arts revealed to GamesBeat today that it is opening DICE L.A. in California. This new studio will work on the Battlefield franchise and a new, unannounced project. Naturally, it will produce all of its games using DICE’s proprietary Frostbite 3 engine.

“DICE, the acclaimed Swedish studio best known for the Battlefield series, is further accelerating its next-gen development efforts and expanding to Los Angeles,” an EA spokesperson told GamesBeat. “DICE L.A. is carrying forward the cultural values of DICE Stockholm: Passion, innovation, and creativity.”

EA also confirmed that DICE L.A. has some former members of the Danger Close studio that developed the most recent Medal of Honor games. That first-person military franchise is currently on ice while EA focuses on more profitable properties.

“Los Angeles is home to world-class talent in key development areas,” said the EA spokesperson. “Our goal is to start hiring immediately. Studio manager Fred Loving is focused on assembling a hand-selected team of the industry’s top talent.”

EA has seven new jobs listed on its website for DICE L.A. that include world artist, level designer, and gameplay engineer. Check out the full list of openings here.

With DICE L.A. taking over at least a portion of the Battlefield franchise, it’s clear that EA wants its most proven teams handling the Star Wars license.

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Maybe both.

In any case, Disney has definitely jumped — on the 3D printing bandwagon. You can now turn yourself in to a real, live (sort of) Disney action figure: a Imperial Stormtrooper. Inspired, Disney says, by a scene from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the action figure will be 7.5-inches tall and, of course, have your smiling face.

Fortunately, the figurine’s helmet is off, so your face is visible.

It’s part of the “D-tech weekends” at Disney’s Star Wars celebrations, and you’ll need to be at the company’s Hollywood Studios to get the figurine. You need to book the experience, which involved a 10-minute photo shoot of your face by what Disney says is “the world’s highest-resolution, single-shot 3D face scanner,” created by Disney’s own Imagineers, working with Disney Research Labs.

Photo done, the shot is sent to Disney’s high-res 3D printers and the completed Mini-you aka Imperial Stormtrooper will be in the mail and at your home within 7-8 weeks.

For more details, and how to reserve your shoot, check Disney’s site.

Image credit: Disney; Hat tip: C|Net

Electronics Arts just laid off 10 percent of its staff and let go of chief executive John Riccitiello. Now it is about to take on a huge challenge: Making games for the legendary Star Wars franchise.

Can EA pull it off? Or will it find itself stretched thin — and maybe even forced to cancel some of its own games in progress?

A source familiar with the matter said that Disney wanted EA to buy LucasArts, the game division of Lucasfilm, which it had acquired from George Lucas in October. But after mixed results with big acquisitions such as PopCap Games, EA’s appetite for big deals was limited. So Disney decided to shut down LucasArts and then license the rights for Star Wars games to EA. However, EA chose not to pick up LucasArts’ major work in progress, Star Wars 1313, which has been canceled.

EA’s studios are going to find themselves busy, because the company laid off perhaps 1,000 employees in the wake of the departure of Riccitiello. If it finds itself short of staff, it could hire former LucasArts employees. Or there may be another shoe to drop: the coming cancellation of other games.

An EA spokesman declined to comment on upcoming Star Wars games or any possible cancellations.

However, Frank Gibeau, the executive vice president of EA Labels, said in a post on Monday that developers at DICE, Visceral, and BioWare are going to work on the EA Star Wars games. Gibeau didn’t offer more details or say what might be canceled, if anything.

Here’s an overview of what those studios are already busy doing:

• BioWare made the now free-to-play, massively multiplayer online game Star Wars: The Old Republic, a huge six-year effort that turned out to be a disappointment.
• EA’s DICE studio in Sweden already has several hundred people working on Battlefield 4.
• Another group at DICE was said to be working on Mirror’s Edge 2, but it’s not clear if that team would be in jeopardy if EA management wants to reassign the developers to work on Star Wars games.
• Visceral Games, the studio that made the Dead Space series, was also reportedly working on a Battlefield title.

EA might have the option to postpone games rather than cancel them outright, but if Disney was savvy enough to exact a heavy price for the Star Wars license, it would make sense for EA to get to work on those games as soon as possible so the company can start making revenues to offset its licensing costs.

EA is likely to shuffle around a lot of people in order to make the Star Wars games. Disney and Lucasfilm are working on the next Star Wars movie, Episode VII, due out in 2015. But from what we hear, EA isn’t going to work on a game related to the next trio of films — at least not yet. EA will borrow from the movies, but it plans to make original Star Wars titles.

Disney will retain certain rights to mobile, social, and online games, but that does not mean that EA cannot do mobile Star Wars games. In fact, mobile is a big priority at EA under its acting CEO, Larry Probst, and the license allows EA to make games across all platforms.

The challenge for EA is that, as usual, it has too many enemies. EA had commissioned multiple Battlefield titles in order to fully compete against Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty modern-combat franchise, which comes out every year. EA’s Battlefield series was on a two-year cadence, alternating with its Medal of Honor combat franchise. But the poor performance of last year’s Medal of Honor: Warfighter game caused EA to take that series “out of rotation” and shift resources to a Battlefield-focused strategy.

DICE announced in March that it was working on Battlefield 4, which is expected out this year. Danger Close, the Medal of Honor development studio, has had some layoffs, and its next assignment hasn’t been revealed. But Visceral, which recently shipped Dead Space 3, was also secretly working on a different Battlefield title.

Will EA still have the staff to come out with a Battlefield game every year and still make the Star Wars games? Or will it have to cut some of the games in progress?

There’s no law that says EA can’t hire more people, but the company’s priority has been to cut costs in order to improve profitability. If it hires more people, such as the laid-off LucasArts employees, it won’t achieve the cost savings that it sought with the recent layoffs.

EA reports earnings today. We’ll see if any answers are forthcoming.

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Star Wars video games have risen from the Sarlacc pit. The Walt Disney Company shuttered LucasArts in April, but a month later, George Lucas’s beloved sci-fi franchise already has a new video game home.

Electronic Arts announced today that it secured a multiyear deal to produce Star Wars games (as first spotted by Kotaku). EA will focus its efforts on producing big-budget titles for core gamers playing on traditional platforms.

“While we don’t have any details to share today on specific titles, our development teams are already brimming with design ideas,” EA Labels president Frank Gibeau wrote in an EA blog. “The EA Studios that will develop these games are some of the most innovative and popular creative teams in the world, and include DICE and Visceral, in addition to the BioWare team, which is already developing for the Star Wars franchise. These imaginative teams will make games that may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories. Powering it all will be the Frostbite 3 development engine – guaranteeing incredible graphic fidelity, environments, and characters.”

DICE is EA’s top first-person shooter team. The developer produces the popular action franchise Battlefield and the powerful Frostbite 3 game engine. Visceral is best known for its sci-fi horror series Dead Space.

“We believe the collaboration between the creative teams at both Lucasfilm and Disney Interactive, working with the best in class development and publishing teams at EA, will take Star Wars gaming to a whole new level,” a Lucasfilm spokesperson said in a statement provided to GamesBeat. “We’re tremendously excited about the unlimited new opportunity to provide fans with Star Wars stories and experiences never before seen in the Star Wars galaxy.”

Under this deal, Disney maintains certain rights to publish Star Wars-related games on social and mobile platforms. Disney Interactive has had a lot of success on mobile with titles like Where’s My Water?

“This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come,” Disney Interactive co-president John Pleasants said in a statement. “Collaborating with one of the world’s premier game developers will allow us to bring an amazing portfolio of new Star Wars titles to our fans around the world.

Pleasants has a history with EA. In 2008, he worked as the publisher’s chief operating officer. He left in June 2009 to join social-game developer Playdom.

As EA’s Gibeau mentioned, the company has experience with the Star Wars franchise. The publisher poured million of dollars into producing the BioWare massively mulitplayer game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

That game failed to find the necessary audience for the company to maintain the game’s monthly subscription fee. It instead moved it to a free-to-play model to maintain a stronger player base.

That wasn’t enough to scare EA off of the lucrative Star Wars name. DICE, Visceral, and BioWare are arguably EA’s most important internal developers that aren’t working on a sports game. By committing those major resources to Star Wars, EA is betting big that the galaxy far, far away will make it a mountain of big, big bucks.

Finally, we asked EA if Visceral will abandon the Dead Space franchise to work on Star Wars.

“Visceral has multiple teams working on different projects,” EA senior director of corporate communications John Reseburg told GamesBeat.

EA will post its earnings results for its fiscal year. Expect new information about the timing for the Star Wars games at that time.

The next Star Wars film, Episode VII, is due out in 2015.

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The galaxy was such a nice place before the Hutts moved in. Now crime is on the rise in The Old Republic thanks to those slug-like gangsters, and property values are in decline.

Earlier today, developer BioWare launched Rise of the Hutt Cartel, the first major expansion for its massively multiplayer role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic. The downloadable content costs $19.99, or $9.99 for subscribers.

The add-on pack will raise the level cap to 55, introduce a new planet, and offer up new story-based missions for players.

“We’ve worked hard over the last year to ensure we were listening to player feedback and acting on it,” The Old Republic executive producer Jeff Hickman said in a statement. “This month, we’re not only adding hours of new story-driven content and features with Rise of the Hutt Cartel, but we are also adding depth and content to the end game with our latest Game Update 2.0: Scum and Villainy. All of this new content, combined with a much larger, more active, and engaged community since the addition of the free-to-play option last year, makes this the best time to join or return to The Old Republic.”

Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the bigger free-to-play MMOs in terms of scope. BioWare released the title in December 2011 under publisher Electronic Arts. The game originally operated under a subscription-only model, but the big-budget title moved to free-to-play in July.

The Old Republic’s failure to maintain a subscriber base is one of the many failures attributed to former EA chief executive officer John Riccitiello, who resigned from that position in March.

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As much as I adore Star Wars, the demise of LucasArts didn’t tug at my heart strings. Certainly 150 people losing their jobs is a tragedy. However, this outcome wasn’t surprising given their development track record. Very few outstanding Star Wars games were created internally at LucasArts. Particularly in recent years, it seemed the company didn’t even have a creative pulse. Looking back, it was all outside talent that did the Star Wars video game brand justice. Bearing that in mind, I view the chance to exclusively license out these properties a good thing.

Assuming these licenses are handled with care, Star Wars games will experience a renaissance. Renowned triple-A studios will put the franchise back on the map. History shows us third-party Star Wars titles tend to have superior quality-control. LucasArts developed messes like Bounty Hunter, The Force Unleashed and Masters of Teräs Käsi. In contrast, Knights of the Old Republic, Battlefront, and even X-Wing were all crafted externally. Clearly, the divide is steep. Moving forward, Star Wars games should benefit from enhanced quality and variety. I don’t worry too much about Disney whoring out rights, either. Their conservative management style preserves franchises; it doesn’t fatigue them.

I know what you’re thinking, but it actually sucks.

However, Disney was considerably liberal in canceling all the promising projects LucasArts had going. I am very upset that 1313 and First Assault may never happen. Apparently, George Lucas wanted the former reworked into a Boba Fett game. The bizarre gallery of bounty hunters (especially Boba Fett) is my favorite thing about the Star Wars universe. For me, it would have been a dream come true.

The same could also be said of First Assault, which was intended to test the commercial waters surrounding Battlefront 3. Conquering the large-scale war zones of Battlefront 2 was one of my favorite activities. For years, I have pined for a reason to take up arms as a lowly grunt again. Footage was released for both titles; they each adopted a fascinatingly gritty aesthetic. Unfortunately, a part of me is convinced LucasArts valued style over substance. Perhaps 1313 would be better off with a studio like Naughty Dog and First Assault with DICE.

I can’t say for sure. All I can guarantee is that every gamer is grieving in his own way. For a long time, LucasArts was a big player in the industry. So much of its work helped shape the gaming landscape. It didn’t just push Star Wars content, either. LucasArts created many original intellectual properties as well. Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion, Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Outlaws, and even Zombies Ate My Neighbors are to its credit.

LucasArts was a pervasive company, and the millions across the globe who took pause at its passing is a testament to its impact on games. But as sad its departure is, I’m glad its properties have new opportunity to thrive.

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When Disney shut down LucasArts today, it brought an end to 30 years of experimentation in game development and publishing. But it wasn’t exactly a surprise to those watching the company, which has struggled to find direction in recent years.

Filmmaker George Lucas created LucasArts in 1982 as an expansion of Lucasfilm beyond the realm of movies. The game division collaborated with Atari on titles such as Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus in 1984. They were released on the Atari 5200 console under the Lucasfilm Games label, and versions for home computers debuted in 1985. It was a small start to what would become a sprawling business in Marin County, where Lucasfilm was initially based.

The company would come to have soaring hits and disastrous diversifications. Those mixed results persisted for more than 30 years, and the division’s long history finally came to an end today as Disney announced it was closing down LucasArts. In doing so, Disney is breaking the hearts of a lot of veteran gamers who are nostalgic for the old Lucas games.

“It is not a huge surprise,” said David Cole, an analyst at DFC Intelligence. “LucasArts always was a hard company to classify, walking a fine line between developer and publisher, but it mainly focused on games based on Star Wars and, to a lesser extent, Indiana Jones.”

It seemed like that those franchises were always enough to keep the game division alive, but recent years have been brutal on game companies, with big names such as THQ and Atari filing for bankruptcy protection. The onset of social, mobile, and online has created huge disruptions that have been hard for traditional game companies to navigate. Disney bought the social gaming company Playdom and the mobile game company Tapulous, and then it jettisoned most of its traditional PC and console game businesses. As such, it’s not a surprise that it is also canning LucasArts in the wake of the Disney-Lucasfilm merger — especially since so many recent Star Wars games weren’t developed at LucasArts.

“In recent years many of their big products were developed externally by BioWare [the Old Republic games], Traveller Tales [Lego products], Sony Online [the first Star Wars MMO, Galaxies] and others,” Cole said. “They weren’t doing much development, although Star Wars 1313 was getting buzz. So given that, it was hard to figure out what role they would play with Disney, who already has its own game division. Also, Disney has been backing away from big-budget games for some time.

“The main message is that large media companies are still leery of major involvement in the game business. Disney bought Lucas for Star Wars. LucasArts just came along with the package, but it didn’t really fit into Disney’s strategy.”

Tim Schafer, CEO of Double Fine Productions and a former LucasArts designer of games like Full Throttle, said, “Even though part of me felt this was coming, I’m still, somehow, shocked. I never thought that Lucas would actually shut down. I feel badly for all the talented people there. LucasArts was my first job in the industry. And sad to see all that history go away. And all that concept art. I’m going to be dumpster diving behind their offices for a while to see if I can find any old Full Throttle concept art.”

Meanwhile, Julian Eggebrecht, the former head of Star Wars gamemaker Factor 5 and currently the head of Touchfactor, said, “Of course we were all expecting it when Disney acquired George’s empire, but it’s still shocking news. I look back with a bit of sadness and remember arriving at Skywalker Ranch in August ’89, meeting the 40 developers making up Lucasfilm Games back then, and never disconnecting fully from the company again.”

He begged for years to be able to make games based on the Star Wars license and, while at Factor 5, was finally able to create Star Wars: Rogue Squadron for the Nintendo 64. That game was a big hit and it led to Star Wars: Rogue Leader for the Nintendo GameCube.

As for lessons, Eggebrecht said, “Internal development is hard, and keeping a publisher thriving based on essentially one intellectual property is simply not feasible. LucasArts always suffered from a split personality – on the one hand the mandate by George to create new and original IP, on the other hand the realities of keeping a publisher alive and having to fall back more and more onto the only truly fiscally relevant IP, Star Wars, but without adequate funding and production. The amount of wasted money for internal development that went nowhere was mindboggling, especially knowing that our Rogue Squadron games were among the very few profitable ones.”

Eggebrecht is looking forward to the Star Wars license being available to external game developers.

“As a game director, and speaking for the team we would love to work in the universe again after all these years, and there is so much creative work and energy left to be unleashed onto gamers that this could be the start of something beautiful,” he said. “Ironically, thanks to Disney’s decision, the next chapter in the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron saga finally might be just around the corner.”

In 1990, Lucas reorganized the company and the game division became part of LucasArts Entertainment Company, grouped with Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound. These divisions were later separated into Lucas Digital, and LucasArts became the formal name of the games division. The company made a series of adventure games including Labyrinth, Zak McKracken, Alien Mindbenders, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure, and Loom. The company scored a big hit with the adventure game The Secret of Monkey Island in 1990.

LucasArts also created a series of sequels that kept the business humming along and spawned seasoned game designers such as Tim Schafer, who worked on The Secret of Monkey Island and led the design of titles such as Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (co-designed with Dave Grossman), Full Throttle, and the noir adventure game Grim Fandango. Those were some of the most creative titles in the video game business. Schafer left in 2000 to start his own company, Double Fine Productions. That started a tradition whereby many game designers grew up with Lucas and spun out, creating a raft of game studio startups in the San Rafael, Calif., and San Francisco areas. Besides Schafer, other seasoned game executives who cut their chops at LucasArts included Jack Sorenson, Kelly Flock, and Dan Connors (founder of Telltale Games).

Ron Gilbert, a veteran of the Lucas adventure games, said in a piece today, “It’s hard for me not to be sad. I haven’t worked there since 1992, but it was still home to me. I grew up there. I learned just about everything I know about designing games there.”

In 1993, LucasArts started work on Star Wars games. The first internally published game was Star Wars: X-Wing, developed by Lawrence Holland and Edward Kilham. That game simulated combat in starfighters of the Rebel Alliance. Another blockbuster on the PC was Star Wars: Rebel Assault, a rail shooter game that had beautiful graphics and prerendered video that was state-of-the-art at the time. (I recall my jaw dropping when I saw the game being demoed in 1993). The title was one of many CD-ROM games that helped PC gaming hit new heights in the 1990s.

I also fondly remembered Star Wars: Dark Forces, a 1995 first-person shooter title that adopted the successful gameplay of Doom to the Star Wars setting. That also led to titles like Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and other sequels.

LucasArts periodically tried to wean itself from its Star Wars dependency. The company created military simulations such as PHM Pegasus (1986) and Strike Fleet (1987). Those early titles were published by Electronic Arts. In 1988, it launched Battlehawks 1942, an air combat simulation that spawned a total of three games, including Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain (1989) and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (1991). The team was led by Lawrence Holland, who later started the Totally Games studio. Totally Games went on to make games for LucasArts, including Secret Weapons Over Normandy in 2003. That title was one of my favorite games in the air combat simulation genre.

LucasArts also created titles like Outlaws in 1997 and the hilarious Armed and Dangerous (from Planet Moon Studios in 2003).

LucasArts returned to licensing its Star Wars games, publishing three games in the Lego Star Wars series from 2005 to 2007. That led to a big revival in Star Wars games. My own kids learned the plots of the Star Wars films from those games before they were old enough to see the movies. That led to a multigenerational money machine for LucasArts — for a time.

But in the new millennium, LucasArts itself acknowledged that it had become overly reliant on Star Wars sequels, which were diminishing in quality. That was particularly true for games based on the prequels, starting with the Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, released in 1999. To get out of its rut, LucasArts turned to BioWare, which created the well-received role-playing game, Knights of the Old Republic. In 2003, LucasArts released Star Wars Galaxies, a huge online game built in collaboration with Sony Online Entertainment.

Jim Ward, a marketer at Lucasfilm, took over the game business in 2004. He rebooted the company, cut staff, and published titles like Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars: Republic Commando, and Star Wars: Episode III. Under Ward, LucasArts commissioned Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which was a major effort to extend Star Wars in the wake of the last films. The title had an original story that filled in some of the gaps of Star Wars lore, and it was a big success upon its release. But the game required huge investments in technology, and it led to an expansion in costs. LucasArts used some of the same cool physics technology in The Force Unleashed for new titles like Fracture, and it also branched out into non-Star Wars titles like Thrillville: Off the Rails and a couple of Mercenaries titles.

Ward left in 2008 for personal reasons and was replaced by Darrell Rodriguez, formerly of Electronic Arts. Rodriguez oversaw the release of titles like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. About a month before that title was released in 2010, he drastically scaled back the size of the internal game studio, which had since relocated to Lucas’ beautiful new headquarters in the former Presidio military base in San Francisco. The beautiful vistas weren’t enough to inspire the company’s own developers to create successful games. And LucasArts increasingly turned to partners. It teamed up with BioWare (and later its purchaser, Electronic Arts) to create the massively multiplayer online game Star Wars: The Old Republic. That title took more than five years and $200 million in estimated development costs to create, but it failed in its grand ambition of unseating Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft online game.

Rodriguez also left the company in 2010, after just two years in the role. He was replaced by Paul Meegan, a former Gears of War developer at Epic Games. In 2011, LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment finally shut down Star Wars Galaxies. The revolving door in management continued to swing as Meegan left in August. He was replaced by Kevin Parker and Gio Corsi. Last year, LucasArts announced an ambitious new title, Star Wars 1313. But that game has evidently been shuttered. In October, Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, and the game division’s fate was sealed.

Some people remembered efforts such as the education-focused Lucas Learning, another interested but unsuccessful effort.

“This makes me extra-sad remembering Lucas Learning,” said David Thomas, a veteran game journalist and adjunct faculty member at the University of Colorado in Denver. “Whatever else you can say about George Lucas, he really did want to use media to make the world a better place. When they shut down Learning, I remember that there was talk about rolling the products into LucasArts in general. That really never happened. So, maybe the heart of LucasArts has been missing for years. Disney just put a bullet in the zombie’s brain.”

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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That’s what I’m trying to tell you, kid. It ain’t there — it’s been totally blown away.

After 30 years of developing Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and other original video games, developer LucasArts is no more. Destroyed not by the Empire but closed by its new owner, The Walt Disney Company, as originally reported today by GameInformer.

Disney released the following statement:

After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.

This means that Disney has ceased all internal development at LucasArts. Sources tell GamesBeat that this doesn’t necessarily mean Star Wars 1313, the promising third-person action game set in the Imperial capital of Coruscant’s underworld, or any other LucasArts game is dead. Disney and Lucasfilm is evaluating each project along with third-party publishers that could come in as licensing partners.

After the layoffs, a small team will remain on at LucasArts to help guide the properties. Some of the laid-off employees are moving on to Disney Interactive.

Since its inception, LucasArts developed and published scores of games including dozens of Star Wars titles. As a developer, its most notable period was in the late 1980s through the early 1990s when it produced beloved adventure titles like Maniac Mansion, The Secret of Monkey Island, and Day of the Tentacle.

After adventure games felt out of fashion, LucasArts fell back on the Star Wars universe for most of its releases. In 2003, it published BioWare’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic role-playing game to glowing reviews.

In 2011, Lucas Arts partnered with publisher Electronic Arts and developer BioWare to release the massively multiplayer online RPG. The highly anticipated title failed to maintain a paying audience and moved to a free-to-play model in 2012.

In October, Disney bought Lucasfilm, Star Wars, and LucasArts from creator George Lucas for around $4 billion. Since that time, Disney publicly stated that it wasn’t interested in following up with the kind of development that LucasArts specializes in, which is traditional console and PC releases.

Founded in 1982, LucasArts handled the development and publishing of all Lucas-related video games. While it developed many titles internally, it also worked with outside developers to produce licensed games.

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Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was kind of a jerk, but sometimes that led to some really humorous interactions. Case in point: Sometimes he called up Disney CEO Robert Iger to tell him his movies weren’t any good.

Jobs would periodically give Iger a ring to say “Hey, Bob, I saw the movie you just released last night, and it sucked,” Iger told Bloomberg Businessweek in a substantial profile on how Disney scooped up Lucasfilm.

Jobs calling Iger to complain about Disney movies was a part of the business relationship for the two powerful CEOs. Jobs was the CEO of Pixar when Iger approached him with an offer for Disney to buy Pixar for $7.4 billion, which Jobs accepted.

Iger recalls the talks with Jobs over Pixar positively.

“Steve and I spent more time negotiating the social issues than we did the economic issues,” Iger said. “He thought maintaining the culture of Pixar was a major ingredient of their creative success. He was right.”

From that time until Jobs’ death in Oct. 2011, the two maintained a good rapport. Iger said that even with Jobs’ criticisms, having him as a friend and occasional mentor was “additive rather than the other way around.”

Steve Jobs photo via Matthew Yohe/Wikimedia Commons

President Barack Obama’s administration has done some tremendously geeky things to help identify with the general populace, such as giving a very thoughtful response to a White House petition to build the Death Star.

However, at a press conference today, Obama may have proved that, while he can hire a bunch of Star Wars fanboys to help run the country, he himself is not one.

Speaking to the press about forging a bipartisan agreement on budget reform, Obama told reporters that he can’t perform a “Jedi mind meld” with Republican leaders to make them agree to his spending cuts.

What the president probably meant was to reference either the “Jedi Mind Trick” from Star Wars or the “Vulcan Mind Meld” from Star Trek that often used by U.S.S. Enterprise first officer Spock.

Sigh.

Update:

My response to all the ppl trying to tell me Obama was actually referencing a "Force Meld" in his press conference: http://t.co/WwirnVo6Nq—
Tom Cheredar (@TChed) March 01, 2013

Also, someone created a parody account called ObamaVulcanJedi. (I love the Internet.)

The last time this many nerds cared about politics was when Palpatine was named chancellor of the federation. #jedimindmeld—
Obama, Vulcan Jedi (@0bamaVulcanJedi) March 01, 2013

Update #2:

Well at least the president seems to have a sense of humor about the whole situation. (See The White House’s tweet below.)

We must bring balance to the Force. #Sequester #JediMindMeld http://t.co/lIZlgavhuR—
The White House (@whitehouse) March 01, 2013

Via Washington Post

Photo credit: That Daily Deal

If walking the path of a Jedi requires you to give up all wealth and material possessions, then Star Wars creator George Lucas has reached the halfway point in his journey.

Lucas donated $2 billion to education charities back in October, which accounts for roughly half of what he made from selling LucasFilm to Disney.  And now, a little over a month after the sale was approved by federal regulators, he’s decided to sell his entire two percent stake in Disney, according to an SEC document filed today.

According to the document, Lucas will sell 37,076,679 shares of Disney stock at $53.77 each. The stock sale will give him another $2 billion, which he’ll then need to surrender if he ever wants to reach the level of Grand Jedi Master.

Some are suggesting that the move is yet another example of how much faith Lucas has in Disney to continue the Star Wars legacy, which includes a new trilogy of movies (Episodes 7, 8, and 9) and several spin-off films. Thus far, fans seem happy with the decision, too, as all-star sci-fi director J.J. Abrams was recently named as the director of Star Wars Episode 7.

Via TechCrunch; Photo via mnikita7/Flickr

And then they revealed that they are working with each on movie and game projects.

Abrams’ star has risen in Hollywood as he directed films such as Super 8 and Star Trek. Last week, Disney named him the director of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode 7 movie.

Newell is a celebrity in his own right, as Valve is the maker of Half-Life, Portal and Portal 2, Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike, and others — all highly regarded and notable games. Valve also runs the Steam digital game distribution and community service on the PC, and it is considering entering the living room console market with the so-called Steam Box, an open Linux-based machine.

The two celebrities shared their views on stage at the 12th annual DICE Summit, an elite game industry event in Las Vegas. Abrams thanked Newell for the games that he and his family have enjoyed over the years. The audience laughed throughout the conversation, and the faux antagonism was clearly staged to make the divisions between movies and games seem sharper.

Abrams started talking about how films are linear and they craft the experience that the filmmaker wants the audience to have. Then Newell interrupted him and said, “Not to pick on you, but movies take away the notion of agency.”

He showed a clip from Cloverfield, featuring massive destruction happening in front of the camera, and Newell then said, “Put the camera down and fucking run.”

Abrams said, “The problem I have in games is that players are sometimes running in the same direction.” Abrams showed two clips where a player could completely ignore a computer-controlled character who was talking to the player’s character. The player could interrupt the conversation and throw a grenade at the person.

“When you and I are playing Left 4 Dead, you can come over and save me,” Newell said. “It is our story.”

But Abrams retorted that there should be consistency and meaning to the story being told.

Abrams showed a couple of scenes from Jaws, saying that film makers can plant seeds early on in a story that are pulled into a major plot element later on in the film. But Newell showed a clip from the Portal 2 video game where plot points are delivered in a very cinematic, movie-like way.

“It leads you toward the resolution of the game, and one of the great things about this is that it is under the player’s control,” Newell. “The self-paced mechanism is key” to a better psychological experience and multiple playthroughs. Movie makers could learn from this pacing, Newell said, where the player gets the satisfaction of being in control.

Abrams showed a clip from Star Trek where he embedded an image of R2-D2 from Star Wars in a pile of debris outside of the Enterprise.

“So I should go back to watch all of your films to study debris and find out what movie you are directing next?” Newell said.

Abrams showed another clip from Die Hard and noted it was 23 minutes into the film before the real action started. That sequence sets up all of the pyrotechnics that happen later.

“Movies let you experience moments that are not the point but are everything,” he said.

Newell showed a scene from Half-Life 2 where you get a new weapon. But the scene shows more of the background behind the character Alex, her sense of playfulness, and her relationship with her father. In that sense, Newell works in the same kind of storytelling into the fabric of a game.

“The more you play, the more you learn, the more you feel,” Abrams said, agreeing with Newell.

“I love your games,” Abrams said. “It would be fun to work with you on.”

“We are recapitulating a series of conversations about what happens when game and movie people work together,” Newell said.

And the kicker: The two men are working together on a game, and Valve will see how it can contribute to an Abrams movie.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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The game industry’s marquee conference, the DICE (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit, is going to open with the geek equivalent of Star Trek’s Kirk and Spock. Film maker J.J. Abrams, who is directing the next Star Wars movie, will appear on stage with Valve co-founder Gabe Newell to talk about storytelling across digital entertainment platforms.

The opening keynote discussion at the conference will feature a conversation between the giants of two different entertainment industries in a talk entitled, “Storytelling Across Platforms: Who Benefits Most, the Audience or the Player?” We’ll be there, covering it live.

Abrams’ presence at the game event will inevitably invite discussion about the marriage of Hollywood and gaming, two industries that have had a mixed history together. But “transmedia” entertainment properties, or those that cross into different media, have become a bigger deal, leading to either huge entertainment blockbusters or flops.

Abrams is clearly the more famous entertainment celebrity, but Newell — whose company has made blockbusters such as Half-Life, Portal, and Left 4 Dead — has an equally committed fan community in the gaming space. At DICE, Newell will enter into the game industry’s Hall of Fame.

The keynote will take place on Feb. 6, the opening day of the 2013 DICE Summit at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) produces the summit, and it will feature an awards program that is akin to the Oscars of games.

“This about great entertainment, storytelling, and creativity,” said Martin Rae, president of the AIAS, in an interview with GamesBeat. “It’s about how two very different people have a conversation about what is important in entertaining their audiences. I know DICE attendees will be fascinated with what these two incredible people will have to say.”

Lucasfilm, which Disney acquired for $4 billion, recently confirmed Abrams as the director of the next Star Wars film, the seventh episode in the series.

“J.J. is involved in activities that resonate with game people,” Rae said. “And Gabe looked out ahead of everybody and anticipated what gamers needed. They’re brilliant and creative but come from different places.”

Abrams is the founder and president of Bad Robot Productions. Formed in 2001, Bad Robot has made films and television series such as Cloverfield, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, ABC’s Lost, Fox’s Fringe, and CBS’s Person of Interest. In 1998, Abrams co-created his first television series, Felicity; he then created and executive produced Alias in 2001, and co-created and executive produced Lost in 2004. In 2006, Abrams directed his first feature film, Mission: Impossible 3, followed by 2009’s Star Trek and 2011’s Super 8, which he also wrote. His most recent feature, Star Trek Into Darkness, will open in May.

Through Bad Robot Interactive, Abrams also created two award-winning apps, Super 8 and Action Movie FX. Rae said, “J.J. is about pushing entertainment to people using different media. The question for the future is how do you want the audience to be engaged? The entertainment of the future will be more interactive.”

Newell will also speak on the morning of Feb. 7 in a talk entitled “A View on Next Steps.” That talk will focus on the game industry. Newell made headlines recently when he unveiled plans to create an open-source, Linux-based video game console for use with televisions. The machine uses Valve’s Steam service, which dominates the field of digital-game distribution.

Rae said the Abrams-Newell conversation will stream live online.

[Image credits: JJ Abrams by Joi Ito, Flickr Creative Commons; Gabe Newell, Dean Takahashi]

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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When a petition to secure resources, funding, and begin construction of a Death Star — the planet destroying mega ship commissioned by the Empire in Star Wars — gained the necessary signatures for a formal response from the White House, most people probably figured the Obama administration would offer up a simple “nope”.

But as the administration sees it, a ridiculous request deserves an equally ridiculous response.

In a letter titled “This Isn’t the Petition Response You’re Looking For” (a play on words from a classic Star Wars quote), the White House proceeded to lay out a rough cost for building a Death Star, state its position on the destruction of planets, and pose questions about the project’s worth to American tax payers:

The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn’t on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:

• The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We’re working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
• The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
• Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

The response to the petition is not only littered with references to the classic movies, but it also takes care to highlight the administration’s support for the International Space Station — saying this is already sort of the project that’s been requested, minus the massive scale, world-shattering weapons, and armada of TIE fighters. If you have a moment to check it out, it’s actually very clever.

And if you’re wondering why our elected officials are devoting resources to this type of silliness, then you’ve probably not checked out the White House’s official website. The site allows citizens to petition the government about anything (obviously, anything), and promises a response to any petition that reaches over 25,000 signatures within 30 days.

Apparently, Amazon isn’t cool with any self-published book with the appearance of copyright infringement — specifically, something related to Star Wars.

This is what happened to Gib Van Ert’s memoir “A Long Time Ago: Growing up with and out of Star Wars” yesterday. Amazon yanked the ebook due to an “unspecified trademark issue,” according to the author. The book isn’t telling a story about the characters in George Lucas’s series of films or even the “expanded universe” characters that appear in various sanctioned novels, video games, and graphic novels. It’s about someone’s life experiences and how Star Wars affected them.

“[Amazon's] emails are vague, but they seems to being saying that I have to have Lucasfilm’s permission before selling on their store a book that talks about Star Wars,” Van Ert explained. “It’s a crazy position – Star Wars is a massive pop, cultural, and generational phenomenon, as my book tries to explain through a personal narrative.”

What’s more puzzling about this situation is that Amazon continues to sell the print version of Van Ert’s book, as BoingBoing’s Cory Doctorow points out. The only real explanation is that Amazon has some sort of system in place that automatically flags content that may be in violation of infringement — much in the same way that Google has set up a system for media company’s to do with search engine results and infringing videos on YouTube. The real question is whether Amazon also permits its self-published authors to challenge the claim, and how long it would then take for the book to reappear in the ebook store.

It makes sense that Amazon wants to grow its self-publishing business, which is more lucrative for both authors and Amazon than going through a publisher. But an automated copyright infringement system isn’t the way to go, if that’s indeed what’s currently in use. We’re reaching out to Amazon for more information about how it flags ebooks, and will update this post with any new info.

Image via Lucasfilm

Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm will bring the world at least three new Star Wars movies (Episodes 7, 8, and 9) and many new ways for the company to boost its digital media revenue.

During a call to investors Monday afternoon, Disney said it estimated that, had Lucasfilm produced another three movies between 2005-2012, each would have grossed $1.2 billion in revenue after box office, merchandising, licensing, and home video sales. That makes Disney’s decision to drop $4.05 billion on the acquisition less of a gamble. But if the movies will eventually recoup Disney’s initial expenses, the rest of Lucasfilm’s properties will translate into profit.

“It is a sustainable source of branded, high-quality creative content with tremendous global appeal that will benefit all of Disney’s business units and is incredibly well suited for new business models, including digital platforms,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during the investor call.

The thing about the Star Wars universe alone is that it’s freaking massive. Our copy editor, Jason Wilson, joined me in frothing at the mouth when thinking about all the possible media properties that Disney could bring to life in cartoons, films, or TV shows or comic book form. Star Wars has hundreds of characters, many with their own epic tales created by novelists, comic book creators, and video game producers — and all with an official stamp of approval by Lucasfilm. The Extended Universe has many stories that you literally need a timeline to see how it unfolds, beginning 5,000 years before the first Star Wars movie hit theaters to about 140 years after the first movie, Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope.

And Lucasfilm has been really good at telling stories that span across books, video games, and comic books. For instance, Knights of the Old Republic originated as a video game, but it spawned a successful line of graphic novels produced by independent publisher Dark Horse. The same is true for many popular Star Wars novels, which Lucasfilm has spun off into their own graphic novels. The reason you don’t see these stories spill over into movies and TV shows is because it not only presents a higher risk of profitability but it’s also much harder to produce reliably. I suspect that’s why there are currently only two Star Wars cartoon series in production, The Clone Wars and the yet-to-air Star Wars: Detours.

Now that Lucasfilm has Disney’s vast resources (not to mention financing) at its disposal, more TV programming will undoubtedly stem from the popular books, comics, and video game storylines. These stories will also likely translate into mobile and social games — an under-utilized area for Star Wars by Disney’s standards — as well as a new stream of revenue for Disney’s digital and  home video sales.

Home video sales, as Disney said on the call, aren’t as high as they should be. And if you look at the company’s strategy, it’s concentrated on preserving that rather than translating it to the new digital marketplace. It’s the only major entertainment company that doesn’t use UltraViolet format for digital video sales, and Disney doesn’t license much of its content to streaming services like Netflix. I think this is really less about Disney fearing that digital sales will hurt physical sales and more about Disney thinking its content is strong enough to stand on its own.

That said, Disney needs more iconic content for its digital strategy to work, and Lucasfilm provides that.

Top illustration by Francesco Francavilla/Twitter; Bookshelf photo by Tom Cheredar/VentureBeat

The Walt Disney Company purchased the rights to Star Wars with its acquisition today of Lucasfilm, the production company that makes Star Wars, and all of its subsidiaries. That includes video game developer and publisher LucasArts.

“Disney bought all Lucasfilm companies, including LucasArts. For the time being, all projects are business as usual.  We are excited about all the possibilities that Disney brings,” Lucasfilm publicist Barbara Gamlen said. The original release notes that all LucasArts employees will remain on staff, but Disney executives did reference plans to focus on social and mobile Star Wars games as opposed to high-end console releases.

We’ve contacted LucasArts to determine what this means for that storied developer’s many beloved games, including the in-development Star Wars 1313 and the Star Wars: The Old Republic massively multiplayer online role-playing game. We’ll update with any new information.

Disney made the purchase for $4.04 billion. You can read our full story here, as GamesBeat is focusing on the video game side of the story.

“Star Wars resonates with consumers around the world and creates extensive opportunities for Disney to deliver the content across its diverse portfolio of businesses including movies, television, consumer products, games and theme parks,” a press release from Disney reads.

The Walt Disney Company chief executive officer Robert Iger continues the enthusiasm: ”Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas. This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.”

The Star Wars films alone have made $4.4 billion at the box office globally. Lucasfilm’s extended media properties, merchandising lines, and video games add a significant stack of cash to that sum.

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” Star Wars creator and chief executive officer of Lucasfilm George Lucas said. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”

Here might be the biggest news of this deal: Disney is making a new Star Wars film. A Star Wars: Episode VII is set to debut in 2015. George Lucas will stay on in the role of creative consultant.

LucasArts was originally founded in 1982 with purpose of developing video games under the label Lucasfilm Games. In 1990, Lucasfilm reorganized the game division under its own LucasArts title. It’s best known titles in the early days were its adventure games like 1987′s Maniac Mansion and 1990′s The Secret of Monkey Island.

The developer’s Star Wars games are also a big part of its history. The 1993 X-Wing space-combat simulation game is considered by many to be one of the best examples of that genre.

Since the beginning of this century, LucasArts has found the most success in working with other developers. BioWare’s role-playing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game in 2003 is often referred to as the best Star Wars game.

Star Wars now joins the Disney’s recent acquisition of the Marvel comic-book company. Disney now holds the rights to some of the biggest names in entertainment.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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The Force is strong with Mickey Mouse, apparently. In a landmark media deal, Disney has agreed to pay $4.05 billion to buy Lucasfilm, the owner of the Star Wars properties.

Disney will also purchase LucasArts, the video game development arm of Lucasfilm.

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” George Lucas, the chairman and CEO of Lucasfilm, said in a statement. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”

The most interesting part of the deal, as far as we can see, is the announcement of Star Wars: Episode 7, which is slated for a release in 2015. Episodes 8 and 9 will follow that film. Disney writes in its announcement (emphasis our own):

The last Star Wars movie release was 2005’s Revenge of the Sith – and we believe there’s substantial pent-up demand. In 2015, we’re planning to release Star Wars: Episode 7 – the first feature film under the “Disney-Lucasfilm” brand. That will be followed by Episodes 8 and 9 – and our long-term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years. We’re very happy that George Lucas will be creative consultant on our new Star Wars films and that Kathleen Kennedy, the current co-chair of Lucasfilm, will executive produce. George handpicked Kathy earlier this year to lead Lucasfilm into the future. She’ll join Disney as president of Lucasfilm, reporting into Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn and integrating and building the Star Wars franchise across our company.

Disney is clearly excited about the cash-and-stock deal, one that closely resembles its purchase of Marvel three years ago for $4 billion.

“Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas,” said Robert Iger, the chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, in a statement. “This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.”

This deal makes Disney one of the most massive players in the media space. On top of Marvel and Lucasfilm, Disney also owns ABC, ESPN, and Pixar.

Photo illustration: Tom Cheredar/VentureBeat

The Force (of inertia) is strong with this one.

Finnish-based developer Rovio is teasing a Star Wars version of its phenomenally popular physics game Angry Birds on its new Tumblr page. The first post features an animated image of one of the birds in a traditional Jedi robe activating a lightsaber. Rovio confirmed this is an official announcement via its Twitter account.

Angry Birds is still one of the most successful game franchises to come out of the smartphone revolution. Players destroy structures by firing birds with a slingshot. It’s an easy-to-pick-up and difficult-to-master mechanic. Angry Birds also set the standard for advertising in mobile games. Most of the Android versions are completely free for players to download, yet the in-game ads produce nearly $1 million a month in revenue.

Rovio branded this blog with the Angry Birds property. It has a few other games, so the fact that the URL is angrybirds.tumblr.com signifies that this relationship with the Star Wars series will result in a mashup between the bird-flinging games and the science-fiction series. The assumption is that the developer is creating a game where Jedi birds knock down scores of piggies in Stormtrooper armor — I’m down with that. Maybe instead of a slingshot, we’ll get to use telekinetic Force push and pull powers.

Other than the Jedi-bird animation, Rovio only included this information regarding the announcement:

Times Square, New York, October 8, 10 a.m. EST.

HINT: Head to Toys ‘R’ Us at 8 a.m. EST!

GamesBeat will have all updates regarding Angry Birds’ flirtation with George Lucas’s space opera right here.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Clarence Bodiker famously once said, “Guns, guns, guns!” But had he lived in Tamriel circa 4E 201, he’d probably have said “Fus, ro, dah!” instead. And so, to kick off our series of favorite mods for the Steam version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, we’re focusing on some of the coolest spell, Shout, and weapon add-ons inspired by other games and movies.

This particular entry is all about Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings weaponry available to the Dovahkiin thanks to some talented modders.

The two mods showcased below are Lord Haun’s Magicka Sabers and LOTR Weapons by Isilmeriel.

Magicka Sabers

Lightsabers in Skyrim is already cool enough, but Lord Haun took it several steps further and provided an extremely detailed offering of lightsabers from across the entire Star Wars universe. The attention to detail in re-creating each character’s distinct lightsaber is absolutely remarkable.

LOTR Weapons

If you want to crack skulls with the Witch King’s flail or end a young adventurer’s career early with a few arrows from Legolas’ bow, this mod has what you’re looking for. The only notable weapon missing is Sting, Frodo’s glowing shortsword. But mod-maker Isilmeriel promises it’s on the way.

If you’d like to win a golden Skyrim NES cartridge, comment on this post and RT/follow us on Twitter.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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A bunch of well-known geeks — like Nerdist founder Chris Hardwick and Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman — have teamed up to produce a short film for the upcoming Course of the Force charity run that’ll play on the Nerdist YouTube channel.

If you’re expecting lots of Star Wars references, then you’d be correct. As VentureBeat previously reported, the Course of the Force event has Nerdist Industries, Octagon, Machinima, Lucasfilm, and others teaming up for a charity run worthy of the ancient Jedi Order. Participants (lesser-known geeks) can buy themselves a quarter-mile leg of the race with a $500 donation, with all proceeds being donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Each runner will carry a lightsaber and hand it off to the next runner. Sponsors will have prize giveaways along the way at Star Wars-themed parties. The race kicks off July 7 and continues through July 11, one day before the 2012 Comic-Con International in San Diego.

As for the short film, not only does it promote the charity event, but it’s part of that original content play that YouTube is pushing through its premium content partners (like Nerdist). The video itself takes place at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and features plenty of Star Wars references, such as R2D2, Tuskin Raiders, Boba Fett, Ewoks, etc. It’s worth noting that Nerdist CEO Peter Levin assures me that the Ewoks will be genuine and (I’m assuming) not some cheap CGI Alf-looking knock-offs.

We’ve taken the liberty of embedding the video below. Let us know in the comment section if you plan on participating in the event.

Wicked Lasers has created arguably the most dangerous Star Wars toy you will ever own: The LaserSaber.

The company has released its version of the space-age weapon, called the LaserSaber for obvious copyright reasons. It sports a 32-inch “polycarbonate blade,” aircraft-grade aluminum hilt, and actually powers up and down like the LightSaber. It does this through what Wicked Lasers says is a “magnetic gravity system” that pushes and pulls the light. The unit costs $100, but you have to buy the laser separately, which can run you $300 to $1,000.

But this thing is made of lasers. It can blind your friends and hurt your pets. Wicked Lasers says you should only use it when wearing protective eye-wear, or LaserShades. Also, you shouldn’t use it to sword fight, as it will cause harm to those around you. It doesn’t make sound effects anyway, so get ready to make those yourself.

So, if you can’t do any of the obvious stuff with it, what can you do?

1. Get lucky. With that “magnetic gravity system” you’re bound to attract something.
2. Facetime with long distance friends to prove you’re doing fine in your studio apartment in the Tenderloin.
3. Take Instagram photos of it and upload them to Facebook (still love how meta that is).
4. Replace the candle in your Carrie Fischer shrine with the LaserSaber.
5. Use it as a giant coffee stirrer. (Don’t actually do that.)

So, we all know you’re buying one, what will you use it for?

via Gizmodo

The gaming community has taken all sorts of liberties with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, sometimes making the game Bethesda should have, and sometimes, making things that cannot be unseen. Ever. More on that soon….

Today’s selection of Skyrim mods include a variety of Slave Leia costumes for that special someone, above, as well as Magicka Sabers (lightsabers), below. You can also convert the moon into a Death Star, should you be so inclined.

The Slave Leia mod isn’t quite an exact replica, unfortunately — it’s more like the version you’d buy at Party City, but the “barely there bikini/cloth” combination is delivered well enough. And best of all, Carrie Fisher isn’t wearing it.

I was also going to include a bunch of Force spell mods, but in Skyrim those are just called “Shouts.”

Follow the links to download these mods and more:

• Slave Leia variants
• Magicka Sabers
• Deathstar Moon

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Redwood City, Calif.-based EA is one of the biggest independent video game publishers, with business that range from hardcore shooter games like Battlefield 3 to casual titles like The Sims Social on Facebook. Its results are a bellwether for the video game business. EA is balancing digital and retail sales of games and is shifting more and more of its business to digital distribution.

EA reported non-GAAP revenues of $1.65 billion and earnings of 99 cents a share. Analysts were expecting non-GAAP revenues of $1.62 billion and earnings of 93 cents a share, compared with revenue of $1.4 billion and net income of 59 cents a share a year earlier. EA’s own guidance was for $1.55 billion to $1.65 billion in revenues and 85 cents to 95 cents a share in net income. In after-hours trading, EA’s stock has fallen 14 cents to $18.44 a share.

But EA said that adjusted earnings for the fourth fiscal quarter will be 10 cents to 20 cents a share, compared to expectations of 29 cents. EA said sales will be $925 million to $975 million on a non-GAAP basis for the fourth fiscal quarter, compared with estimates of $983 million.

EA chief executive John Riccitiello will talk about the results in detail at 2 pm Pacific time.

“We are pleased to report a strong holiday quarter driven by Battlefield 3, FIFA12 and a strong showing by our digital games and services,” said Riccitiello in a statement. “Star Wars: The Old Republic is developing a committed community of players with more than 1.7 million active subscribers and growing.”

EA has a diverse portfolio of games, but the big title that everyone is watching closely is Star Wars: The Old Republic, which launched Dec. 20 after six years of development and an estimated $200 million in expenses. EA is selling the game for $60 and asking for subscriptions of $13 to $15 a month. The key is whether the gamers who tried it out on a free basis will stick with it and pay for the game. Star Wars sold through 2 million units in just a month.

The Old Republic, which has been in the making for more than five years, was a major reason why the publisher purchased development studio BioWare (and the now defunct Pandemic) for $860 million in 2007. The success or failure of the game will speak volumes about the tenure of Riccitiello. The Old Republic could get a boost since a 3D version of the film Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace will debut at the box office on Feb. 10.

Previously, Riccitiello  stated that the game would be on a path to profits with half a million subscribers, a modest number in light of World of Warcraft’s 10.3 million players. He said that the game needed 1 million subscribers to be nicely profitable. If Electronic Arts gets 1.5 million to 2 million subscribers, it will be enough to “make it look like a great investment and justify the purchase of BioWare Pandemic,” Riccitiello said. The high-end numbers may seem overly ambitious, but in the past year, World of Warcraft has lost around 1.7 million paying subscribers, leaving plenty of former Warcraft fans ripe for the picking. With 1.7 million users already, EA is at the high end of the hopes for the game.

Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12 both sold through more than 10 million units, while Madden NFL 12 has sold through almost 5 million units to date. EA said it was the No. 1 publisher in market share for North America and Europe. Its share in 2011 of Europe grew 3 percentage points to 20 percent, while it grew 1 percentage point to 17 percent share in North America.

PopCap, acquired for $750 million-plus in August, has grown revenue by 30 percent of the past 12 months. EA said it was the No.1 game publisher in the Apple App Store in December, with the free-to-play mobile game The Sims: FreePlay hitting NO. 1. EA’s Nucleus registration system now has a database of more than 168 million players. And EA’s Origin digital distribution service has more than 9.3 million consumers and generated $100 million in non-GAAP revenue since its launch. EA Origin now has publishing deals with 11 new companies, including Warner Bros., THQ, CapCom, Trion Worlds and Robot Entertainment.

In the fourth fiscal quarter, EA has some big titles coming. This wek, EA is launching Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the title developed by Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios. EA will also launch Mass Effect 3, a big sci-fi title on March 6.

“We recorded our highest operating cash flow in 31 quarters and grew segment share in both Europe and North America,” said Eric Brown, chief financial officer. “Third quarter non-GAAP digital revenue grew 79 percent year-over year, and we achieved our goal of generating over $1 billion in non-GAAP digital revenue on a trailing-twelve-month basis.”

For the past 12 months, EA said non-GAAP revenue was $4.2 billion, up from $3.7 billion a year earlier. Non-GAAP net income for the year was $311 million, or 92 cents a share, compared with $173 million, or 52 cents a share a year earlier.

GAAP revenues were $1.06 billion, up from $1.05 billion a year ago for the quarter. GAAP net loss was $205 million, compared with a net loss of $322 million a year ago. EA closed the quarter with $1.2 billion in cash and 7,742 employees, down 17 percent from a year ago.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft could soon be feeling a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of subscribers suddenly cried out and started heading for a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars: The Old Republic is an impressive and easy to play new competitor from Electronic Arts that makes great use of the Star Wars license. It is the most promising new massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) since World of Warcraft claimed the genre’s throne seven years ago.

The Old Republic developer, BioWare, obviously studied the market leader’s playbook and relies on many tested game play mechanics. But it also added excellent storytelling, dialogue choices and companion characters in the tradition of the studio’s renowned single-player RPGs. The result is an engrossing and addictive online game that is particularly welcoming to solo adventurers and newcomers alike.

Having one of the most prolific science fiction universes to play with doesn’t hurt. Set thousands of years before the events of the Star Wars movies, The Old Republic delivers an original take on George Lucas’ saga. It’s lacking the star power of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader or Han Solo, but allows players to create their own Jedi Knight, Sith Warrior or Smuggler in the mold of those iconic characters. Among the 17 worlds are recognizable movie settings such as Tatooine, Hoth or Coruscant.

Big bet in the toughest gaming market

Electronic Arts has much riding on The Old Republic, which was a major reason why the publisher purchased development studio BioWare (and the now defunct Pandemic) for $860 million in 2007. The game’s budget is reportedly in the range of $100 million dollars. The payoff could, however, be substantial, as users must shell out a monthly subscription fee ($12.99 – $14.99 depending on the term length) if they want to continue playing, as the $60 game comes with just one month of included server access.

Electronic Arts management has repeatedly stated that the game would be profitable with half a million subscribers, a modest amount in light of World of Warcraft’s 10 million player numbers. But it’s a big gamble on a business model that hasn’t worked well for most others. MMORPGs like EverQuest II, The Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online switched from mandatory subscriptions to a free-to-play model with optional in-game purchases and reportedly increased both player numbers and overall revenue.

Climbing the ranks in the Empire and the Republic

At the beginning of the game, players pick one of two sides for each of their game characters, the “good” Galactic Republic or the “evil” Sith Empire. Each faction offers four starting classes which are mirrored on the other side. The Jedi Knight is a lightsaber-wielding melee fighter like the Sith Warrior, the Smuggler shares his cover abilities with the Imperial Agent, Troopers use similar gadgets to Bounty Hunters and Jedi Consulars cast force magic tricks just as Sith Inquisitors do.

At level 10 players choose between two advanced classes with slightly different strengths. For example, a Bounty Hunter can learn additional healing skills by becoming a Mercenary or gain tanking abilities instead by picking the Powertech specialization. Further character customization happens in three class-specific skill trees, where bonuses and additional skills are unlocked by spending points.

For my Sith Inquisitor, I chose the Sorcerer advanced class, which offers the trees Corruption (healing), Lightning (dealing damage) and Madness (weakening enemies). In order to get access to one of the top skills by character level 40, I need to limit my point spending to one of the three trees. Being able to specialize a character class in this way is a welcome feature, though the way to the top-tier skills doesn’t allow as many interesting choices as World of Warcraft’s sophisticated talent tree system.

Leia buns and Maul horns

Character creation also offers a good deal of visual customization, with several prominent Star Wars races to choose from. For example, by selecting the Zabrak race and tweaking the horn and tattoo patterns, I was able to create a pretty convincing Darth Maul wannabe. And devotees of Princess Leia’s hairdo will be delighted that her classic buns are one of dozens of hairstyle options to choose from.

But who would play a non-Force character when Jedi and Sith classes get to swing customizable lightsabers and use crowd pleasers like Force Choke or Lightning? I would, because BioWare made the regular guys sufficiently powerful and cool. The Trooper/Bounty Hunter classes are pretty badass with gadgets like sticky grenades, flamethrowers, missiles and jetpacks. Smugglers/Imperial Agents have a unique cover mechanic that grants them defensive bonuses while they are hiding behind objects. It’s somehow hard to believe that a single Imperial Agent is an equal match to a Jedi Knight, but for the sake of game balance I’ll gladly swallow it.

According to BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka, the studio’s core vision is “to deliver powerful, immersive experiences that engage our players emotionally”. For years The Old Republic’s developers have been emphasizing that they would bring a “fourth pillar” to the MMORPG table, with “story” joining genre staples “exploration”, “combat”, and “progression.”

It’s not that other MMORPGs haven’t incorporated intriguing story lines. Just look at the massive Warcraft fiction. But truth to be told, compared to the standards of modern single-player games, the story presentation in MMORPGs sucks. The typical quest in World of Warcraft is introduced as a text window that hardly anybody bothers to read. Who cares why I have to kill a dozen baddies anyway? Well, in The Old Republic I actually care and find myself seduced by the cinematic storytelling.

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Blizzard is the developer behind World of Warcraft and it’s currently the dominant force in online. Its largest gaming event, Blizzcon, is coming up in Anaheim, Calif., in October, and is likely to be the site of major news announcements. That’s because Blizzard is now facing pressure from Electronic Arts, which threw down the gauntlet by announcing it would release its highly-anticipated online game Star Wars: The Old Republic in December this year.

“If they are holding any juicy details, it’s going to be announced at Blizzcon,” M2 Research senior analyst Billy Pidgeon told VentureBeat. “The big news is probably going to be a Diablo 3 date and a possible new announcement about one or more new properties.”

Titan will likely succeed — and possibly kill — the company’s most successful online game, World of Warcraft. That game is the last of a dying breed, a subscription-based online game with more than 11 million users that pay $15 each month to access the game.

Blizzard Entertainment announced World of Warcraft in September 2001. It came out in November 2004 after being in development for more than three years and after several delays. The game was immediately a hit with fans of massively multiplayer online role-playing games — or MMORPGs — and ended up killing several other subscription-based online games, such as Tabula Rasa and Star Wars: Galaxies. The game grew like wildfire, eventually reaching a peak of more than 12 million active subscribers.

But World of Warcraft is hemorrhaging subscribers, falling to 11.4 million active subscribers in the first quarter this year and then 11.1 million subscribers in the second quarter. Free-to-play and casual games like those developed by Zynga have emerged as a significant competitor to more traditional online games like World of Warcraft. Blizzard tried to counter its losses with its own free-to-play version of the game. New World of Warcraft players can run through the game’s first 20 levels without paying a dime, but have to start paying the subscription fee to go past that.

“It’s normal to see some declines,” Blizzard Entertainment chief executive Mike Morhaime said. “We have seen an increase in new account creations (thanks to a free trial version), but it’s still too early to tell on conversions to subscribership.”

In the past, World of Warcraft has successfully taken down a lot of other online games. But it hasn’t faced competition in the MMORPG space from a major video game company like Electronic Arts, THQ Interactive or Take Two. Until now, none of these have  tried to show down against World of Warcraft.

That will change come December 20 this year, when Electronic Arts releases Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare, the team behind smash hits Mass Effect and Dragon Age, is working on this online game, which has been in development for several years. It’s a spiritual successor to the Knights of the Old Republic series, which was very popular with gamers on the original Xbox console. Electronic Arts is betting on the team, which consists of some of the best developers in the industry, delivering another hit capable of bringing down World of Warcraft.

Electronic Arts has timed its release perfectly, because most gamers will be on vacation or heading home from college to spend time with their families during the holidays. That puts some pressure on Blizzard to respond, if only to keep the buzz about its own games simmering.

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences board member Zack Karlsson doesn’t think Blizzard will announce Titan at Blizzcon. However, he told VentureBeat, Blizzard might want to move aggressively to counter the launch of The Old Republic.

“If I’m them, I park it right on top of some big (The Old Republic) announcement,” Karlsson said. “I’d want (The Old Republic) to spend something big, drop some cash, and then run right over them and trump marketing dollars with PR.”

Announcing Titan is not the same as shipping it, however, since Titan won’t be on the market for some time. That means Blizzard will be fighting EA’s shipping game with vaporware of its own.

A leaked product schedule that hit the net in December last year (below) indicates that Blizzard could release Titan in the fourth quarter of 2013. So far the schedule has been accurate (outside of Diablo 3′s delay). Financial research firm Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told VentureBeat Titan news probably wouldn’t see the light of day given that it’s a 2013 release.

Blizzard, after all, is known for releasing games when they are ready — not when a release schedule dictates it. But the schedule would give Titan a roughly three-year lead time for the game, which is similar to the lead time for World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty (announced May 2007 and released July 2010) and Diablo 3 (announced June 2008 and originally slated for late 2011).

“We commonly use the term ‘soon’ when referring to Blizzard releases, because we know that no matter how hard we’re working to reach a target, we’re not going to compromise and launch a game before it’s ready,” Blizzard CEO Morhaime said.

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Ever since the release of the incredibly popular World of Warcraft, Star Wars Galaxies has struggled to hold onto its subscribers. But the chief culprit in the death of this game is its own publisher. Sony has released several updates that have not been received well with fans.

I can’t say I’m surprised that the game is finally shutting down. I personally stopped playing as soon as the “New Game Enhancements” were released. Like other players, I was disappointed that Sony decided to drastically revamp the character classes and combat system to the point where it was quite similar to World of Warcraft. The New Game Enhancements update turned the game’s original character progression into a class-based system that featured nine archetypes like a combat medic and a close-quarters fighting Jedi.

I spent a fair bit of time building up my character when the game first came out. It was a lethal combination of a warrior-monk that could also heal and buff everyone around him. That character would go on to become a Jedi — and it was always fun to watch everyone else stand in awe when I pulled out a lightsaber for the first time (of course, I was subsequently murdered by a bounty hunter for having the gall to whip it out in public.) Like other online games at the time, World of Warcraft stole a lot of the game’s subscriber base. But Star Wars Galaxies still held onto a core population of gamers who enjoyed its skill progression — myself included.

Star Wars Galaxies was successful because it was unlike other MMO games at the time. Players could master several classes at once and create characters who suited themselves. You could create a doctor who was a deadly sniper, or a fighting monk who could also build starships. It was also extremely difficult to unlock the Jedi class, but very rewarding.

The game let you really be whatever you wanted to be. You could go out and build a city, and become a politician and eventually mayor of that city. You could become a well-known ship architect and produce starships for some of the best pilots in the game. You could fly into space in a single ship and take down a massive star cruiser — if you were good enough. Or you could spend your time hunting down Jedi scum and picking them off from a hundred yards away with a blaster rifle.

Almost all the magic disappeared with the “New Game Enhancements.”

The problem with the move to World of Warcraft-style gameplay was that there was already a World of Warcraft. Even with a Star Wars skin on top of it, Star Wars Galaxies was not polished enough to hold onto its core subscribers. The company shuttered twelve of the game’s servers in 2009. I took a chance to explore the game one more time recently before the recent PlayStation Network outage and found the cities in the game to be completely desolate. They once buzzed with doctors handing out buffs and hundreds of people clustered around auction terminals.

The Old Republic, another online Star Wars game due out soon, will aim to unseat World of Warcraft from the top of the MMO universe — though reaching that goal seems unlikely. It also came out in 2003 — and its age really does show.

It feels like a little piece of my childhood will disappear along with that galaxy far, far away. But what happened with Star Wars Galaxies should serve as a pretty clear lesson to the rest of the online gaming industry.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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BioWare’s latest Star Wars epic The Old Republic, a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game set in the Star Wars universe, is everything Star Wars fans are hoping for in an MMO.

BioWare showed off the game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo today in Los Angeles, Calif. I got a chance to play one of the Sith Marauder classes on a quest — and it is about as good as MMO games come. But The Old Republic is following the recipe for a successful MMO, not a World of Warcraft killer. The only way to defeat World of Warcraft is to discover and create the next big innovation in the MMO genre, not adopt the same tropes World of Warcraft has spent years nailing perfectly.

That being said, The Old Republic is quite fun to play. The game plants players in the Star Wars universe as one of eight classes. There are two factions in the game that are at each others’ throats — four classes per faction — that players have to choose from: the Republic (the good guys) and the Sith (the bad guys.) There are advanced classes that players progress through over time, and each class has three different skill trees to help players specialize the character to their liking. (World of Warcraft classes also have three different skill trees per class.)

BioWare wants to make the MMO’s story a core part of the experience as well. Most MMO games — World of Warcraft included — gloss over the storyline and focus mostly on combat, exploration and progression. Each class in the game has story lines that are unique to the class. Each choice the player makes typically has some kind of an effect on the story line, so a player replaying a class should typically end up with a different experience. The classes also each have a companion character that helps advance the story.

Then there’s the whole Star Wars universe. The series is an iconic piece of pop culture that shows up in movies, books, cartoons, comics and even other video games — World of Warcraft included. Players get to travel to iconic worlds like the desert world of Tatooine and the lush forest planet Alderaan, which is unfortunately blown up in a few thousand years. There are dozens of alien races and tropes, along with the whole mysterious and fascinating story of the Jedi and the Sith. BioWare has a lot to work with in order to create a brand new MMO gaming experience.

BioWare plans to use its story-telling prowess — which is orders of magnitude better than many other game developers — to unseat the current MMO champion from its throne. But the company has been very tight-lipped about what kind of story the players are going to experience when they play through the classes. That’s understandable, because they don’t want to spoil the game, but it’s really the only thing the game might have going for it if it wants to give World of Warcraft a run for its money.

The gameplay is just as similar because World of Warcraft has standardized so many parts of the MMO gaming experience. The damage-over-time abilities, the healing skills, the vehicles and the fantastic animations are all there. Your character looks elegant as she flings around her lightsabers and mows down her enemies. But we’ve seen this all before, and we’ve seen it done very well by World of Warcraft. There is room for copycats, but a copycat game is not going to unseat the current champion.

The aesthetic gameplay similarities to World of Warcraft are endless. The names of some skills in World of Warcraft — like Rupture and Shiv — make an appearance in The Old Republic. Those skills are unique to the Rogue class in World of Warcraft, and they’re skills for the rogue-equivalent Marauder class in The Old Republic. Rage, a resource for some classes that charges up as you execute certain abilities, operates almost identically to the resource of the same name in World of Warcraft. Even the color of the text that appears on the screen and the font (white for damage, yellow for special damage, and purple for experience points) is the same as the MMO titan.

Star Wars Galaxies, the last Star Wars MMO game run by Sony, was relatively successful because it had a unique crafting system and skill progression system that was unlike other MMO games that were around at the time. Players could master several classes at once and create characters that truly suited themselves by cherry picking the skills they wanted. You could create a doctor who was a deadly sniper, or a fighting monk who could also build starships. It was also extremely difficult to unlock the Jedi class, but very rewarding.

World of Warcraft stole a lot of the game’s subscriber base, but Star Wars Galaxies still held onto a core population that enjoyed the skill progression the game had. Then Sony decided to revamp the game with “New Game Enhancements,” which turned the game’s original character progression into a class-based system that featured nine archetypes. It was much like World of Warcraft, at its core, and I don’t really blame Sony for trying to do what was already successful in the MMO genre.

The problem with that move was that there was already a World of Warcraft. Even with a Star Wars skin on top of it, Star Wars Galaxies was not polished enough as a World of Warcraft-like MMO to hold onto its core subscriber base. The company shuttered twelve of the game’s servers in 2009. I took a chance to explore the game one more time recently before the recent PlayStation Network outage and found the cities in the game to be completely desolate when they were once buzzing with doctors handing out buffs and hundreds of people clustered around auction terminals.

I’ve played through at least a dozen MMOs in my time, including the likes of Rift, Star Wars Galaxies, Everquest and just about everything in between. I haven’t seen anything come close to the level of polish that World of Warcraft has and the mass appeal it has with gamers — which is why the game has more than 11 million subscribers in its persistent world. World of Warcraft is still the game to beat, and I’m not sure that The Old Republic can offer players something new enough to unseat it.

The Old Republic will probably pull a small chunk of World of Warcraft’s subscribers over to its side for a period of time because they might be looking for something new. After all, World of Warcraft has been out for nearly a decade. But those same users might find themselves heading back to World of Warcraft because the team has much more experience operating a persistent world than the BioWare team and because it’s a world that is familiar and has a good number of people they know playing the game.

BioWare isn’t trying to create the next most innovative game mechanic for an MMO. It’s trying to create a very polished MMO gaming experience. And it succeeded in that.

Star Wars: The Old Republic should come out sometime later this year. (Sorry for spoiling that bit about Alderaan exploding if you still haven’t seen the films.)

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Star Wars fans (myself included) have been waiting for a good motion-controlled Star Wars game that lets them wield a Lightsaber, the sword of the mythical Jedi in the Star Wars universe, and use the magic-like force with their own hands. Microsoft let slip that the game was coming last night, but the company gave a live demo of the game on-stage today.

A few games have attempted to recreate the magic of the Star Wars universe, but they haven’t come close to creating a seamless experience just yet. There’s still a niche for a proper motion-controlled Star Wars game that features decent swordplay since motion-controlled gaming became popular. It’s a series so iconic that it would be able to attract both hardcore and casual gamers alike — a move that Microsoft has been attempting with its take on motion-controlled gaming.

But it looks like the game still has a few kinks to work out. It certainly looks fun, but the motion controls on screen lagged slightly when compared to the player’s motions on stage. It also seems like most of the content is scripted and there is very little technical movement. The game, at first glance, seems like a “wave your arms like a maniac to win” game — though the player on stage had a little bit of trouble moving a piece of equipment around with the Force.

You can see a full video of the demo below. Be sure to check out VentureBeat over the next few days for wall-to-wall coverage of E3.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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