February 16, 2010 wasn’t exactly a Tuesday for the ages…it was more like a release date that will go down in gaming infamy. Topping the list was SEGA’s Aliens vs. Predator, a game that despite its level of potential seems to have delivered with all of the beauty and grace of a facehugger on Valentine’s Day. Then, there was a much lesser hyped game that, depending on your experience with the franchise, had the potential to become somewhat of it’s own classic..that game is Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce. Since it’s original release on the PlayStation console in 1997, the Dynasty Warriors franchise has slowly evolved over time (for better or worse depending on who you ask), and it is easily one of KOEI’s most successful ongoing series.

With that being said, I want to tell you a story. Although I’ve been somewhat disenchanted by the game over the past couple of releases, the PSP release of Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce wasn’t that bad, so when the demo was released on Xbox Live, I checked it out and thought the online co-op gameplay (for up to 4 players) and the weapons/ leveling system was pretty sweet, so my brother-in-law and I decided to pick up the game. We figured the inclusion of the 4 player co-op would be an awesome opportunity to share the gaming experience with some of our friends back home. Instead of reserving the game, we figured we would just go out the day of it’s release and pick it up. And so, the story of a Dying Dynasty begins…
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Several weeks after the announcement of Apple’s new iPad there has been a lot of talk regarding the presence of the new device and how it will impact the gaming industry (if at all).  Some sites have gone so far as to blatantly make fun of the device (not that it doesn’t necessarily warrant it) but after having some time to let it all soak in, I thought it would be good to put things in perspective and see what the EBA Community thinks about the matter.  Not to single out Kotaku (even though I will with Example 1 and Example 2), but it seems to me that some of the information being put out there for gamers is not being properly put into perspective.  After all, this is Apple, a HUGE company, and while hardcore gamers might not feel the impact directly, publishers and developers dedicating time/resources to the platform means that gamers will most likely be impacted in some shape, way, or form. So, let’s take a couple swigs of the ‘ole spirits and discuss, shall we?
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BioWare has made it a point to update their fans every Friday with new information regarding Star Wars: The Old Republic via the game’s official website.  Well, following an earlier announcement revealing the final two classes available at launch (Jedi Consular and Sith Inquisitor), another playable planet was revealed late last week – Alderaan.

For those that don’t know, Alderaan has always played a major role in the expanded universe of Star Wars – and briefly in the films, before obviously being the ‘test’ planet to be destroyed by the first death star as our friends Vader, Tarkin and Princess Leia looked on.

The in-game footage along with the concept art look amazing – the thought of a Jedi and Bounty Hunter duking it out on a snow capped mountain seems very intriguing.  Check out the screen shots and back story for the planet HERE and stop by the EBA forums to chime in on how you feel about the newest addition to the list of playable planets in SWTOR.

Last Friday was a big Friday for fans of the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Not only were we presented with a new episode of the web comic, as well as a more in depth look at the Republic Jedi Knight class, but more details emerged for yet another class for the Sith Empire; the Imperial Agent.  The initial release for the new class was announced earlier last week at the Electronic Arts European Press Tour and highlighted for us on Darthhater’s blog post.

Now, the Imperial Agent class itself was officially described as being, “heavily inspired by several classic Star Wars characters such as Zam Wessel and Grand Moff Tarkin.”.   We can only speculate, but the combination of Wessel and Tarkin most likely means the class will rely heavily on subtle combat (maybe stealth?) and the cold, calculated evil we know and love about the ‘Moff.  It doesn’t appear they have added combat footage for the class as of yet, but I am sure we can expect that sort of thing very soon.  In the meantime, check out some very detailed images of the class in action inside the game’s image gallery on EBA and also poke around inside the official SWTOR forums HERE for additional information about what’s shaping up to be a rather intriguing class.

Of course, we’ll keep you posted as more details emerge.

In Star Wars lore, Coruscant is the capital of the Republic.  The scope of the planet is huge, being the center of politics for the entire Star Wars universe, containing the Jedi Temple and billions of sentient beings on the surface and city ‘underworld’.  We have seen a hint at the scope not only from the Star Wars prequels, but also with Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR).

The Bioware/LucasArts showing at PAX revealed to us another video clip to sharpen our swords on – The reveal of the planet Coruscant for Star Wars: The Old Republic. At the Penny Arcade Expo, the attendees were treated to a sneak-peek of the video, but the internet gods has intervened and provided a link for us lowlie gamers who have a life, have to work, and unfortunately could not make it to Seattle to experience it for ourselves (unless your Mr. Shizzle, and it’s your job.  Focker.)
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That’s right, this isn’t those bits and pieces you remember from the recent big ass party you got totally smashed at while hitting on your best friend’s woman..shame on you. blame it on the ah-ah ah-ah ah-al-co-hol…No, this is a DIFFERENT type of Flash…and distinct point that BioWare is trying to make…

Ok, so we’re all used to dissecting small amounts of information, images or video pertaining to the highly-anticiapted MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, but some recent vids are a bit more revealing and amount to what is more like a small tsunami.  I think most of the MMO community, much less the Star Wars community, is EXTREMELY excited after watching the recently released walkthrough videos from GamesCom in Germany…and for good reason.  It appears the game is progressing smoothly, the voice over integration is, indeed, very nice – but the ‘flashpoint’ demo was absolutely woot worthy. No, really – WOOT worthy.
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If you boys and girls haven’t checked it out yet, Cody over at TenTonHammer had a really great interview with a few of the devs at the recent Comic Con. Give it a look-see HERE. Now, there is obviously a little fanboyism that exerts itself either from being a fan of BioWare or Star Wars, however, my head started to hurt after the 1st page of this interview. Why? How many bloody times can you say the word ’story’ in an interview? Seriously? Kudos to Cody for really trying to wring some information other than the old “Story Pillar” standby.  At the very least, Jake Neri did make a couple of very interesting comments in regards to game play on page 2 of the interview:

“I mean, we haven’t even shown anything to the public yet past level eight. We have really, really exciting character classes that each feel totally awesome. If you’re a guy that just wants to power through a bunch of those and just have a really compelling combat experience at the top of the game, that’s an option for you. We’re already proving that to ourselves, and if folks just want to fight – and that’s the pillar that they love – they’re going to be very satisfied.”

Ok, so it doesn’t really TELL us anything, but it’s a nice consolation for those following the development of the game – that has nothing to do with the story.  There has also been some growing excitement of late as to how far along the development of the game is and that we could see even a January release date…. calm down, my friends, I know the thought of playing SWTOR within the next six months triggers nerdgasms of epic proportions…. In this article, as the quote above from Jake Neri clearly states, the demo only goes through character level 8 – so in my personal opinion, Q1 of 2010 is not logically realistic..but one can hope!

Anyway, EBA gives its regards to Cody from TenTonHammer, for valiently attempting to cleave through their crap, even if he did only manage to swat a few flies away…..

The recent Video documentary #3 posted on SWTOR.com revealed some exciting new footage within Star Wars: The Old Republic.  With the chance for us all to see some of the voice acting in action, I can safely say (well, at least in my humble opinion) that the quality of said voice overs is, uh, frickin’ awesome. However, that’s not why I’m here – always looking beneath the surface and with my “super geek” glasses firmly in place, I can tell you that this is actually one of the first public glimpses into gameplay delivering the first views of a UI! (User Interface). 

Now, I’m sure it will be completely customizable, but from the looks of it, you have the chat windows stationed in the upper left, with your attack bar and progression bar rusting just underneath. Group member icons also appear in the lower left, with your target highlighted in the middle right attached to the UI.  I’m sure it will go through several revisions, but it looks very clean, as well as what you might have come to expect from other successful MMO modeled UI’s. Also, two things I noticed…The Jedi’s UI appears to develop some type of ‘threat’ meter that shows up in yellow – appears to actually increase as you are in combat – this may be a Sith only ability, as it increases in combat, it decreases whenever a special combat move is used. I also noticed the smuggler and bounty hunter class has a meter that is in blue, apparently mimicking the gun’s energy regeneration, as it appears to be full and go down when using special moves. Though speculative, it would make sense that we will see energy regeneration in combat weapons, and perhaps even a foreshadowing of the different uses of force powers and how those abilities will be balanced (based, I am assuming of coarse, on the ability to increase “hate” or “threat” to increase your ‘force bar’ and release a powerful move). 

Overall, a very exciting documentary, and well worth the weight in sith-spit to have a look – so, put your own super geek glasses on and check it out and then discuss inside the EBA Forums.

The official Star Wars: The Old Republic website has made it a point to give updates often, and surprisingly in depth in regards to development of the game.  One of our favorites is the developer’s blog – a collection of topic specific information about some area of development in the game.  In this sometimes candid developmental “blog” we often get insight into what’s going through the genius mind;s over at BioWare – the most recent, Devloper Blog #10, highlights one of the latest subjects that we are excited about – VO (Voice Overs). 

Anyone keeping up with the news would know that BioWare announced that the entire game would be completely voiced over – a first in the genre – but while I was reading over the blog, I was thinking a couple (alright, more than a couple, ridiculously too far ahead and not even worth it) steps ahead and wondered: “What about developing expansions or updates to content?”  Now, there’s no doubt the development and release of the game will be HUGE, but we all know, at some point, the introduction of new content is going to become a valid issue amongst the SW:TOR loyal “future” subscribers/fans.  The cost and organization of this feature alone begs the question – Will VO put a damper on future expansions of the game? I know, I know – we are not even in beta yet, but think about it – developing a worthy expansions takes a LONG time to plan and implement – but add to it that VO has to be incorporated into the mix and you’re left to wonder how this will impact the overall quality/timeliness of expansions pertaining to the highly-anticipated MMO? Take a look at the blog and let us know what you think inside the EBA forums.

It seems that fear of the unknown drives a lot of debates, in and out of the gaming realm, but ESPECIALLY in the MMO space – After all, if you plan on investing countless hours within a particular game world, you’d have a pretty strong feeling towards any changes that might impact your experience. Will my class get nerfed? Will they add this type of weapon? Will they add the ability to dual wield? What about PVP balance?? It’s an exhaustive process and one that often takes a toll on the minds of MMO players.

Well, this trend is no different in BioWare’s upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, as one of the most heavily debated features right now is Economics. With almost 400 PAGES of official SW:TOR forum traffic, it’s one of the most touch button subjects for fan hopefuls of a truly well rounded MMO. Crafters vs. Loots? Credits vs. Gameplay? Should you get better gear because you are a better player, or because you have more ‘virtual money’? WTF? What makes you a ‘better player anyway??! A player driven economy, or a loot driven economy? One fan has gone so far as to create his own crafting system that you can check out right HERE! On a side note, it’s interesting to see the difference in the fanbase, where a majority of Star Wars Galaxies players refer to it as “Crafting” while some of the other MMO community figures often refer to it as “class gear”….

So, if you’ve ever played an MMO and particularly if you’re pumped about SW:TOR, here’s the big question: How do you feel economics in SW:TOR should be handled to provide balance within the game?

As someone who has invested a considerable amount of time in both SWG and WoW, I’m curious what our AxeHead community feels about the subject. At any rate, don’t give in to the fear of the unknown..because we all know where that leads..fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate…and hate..leads to twinkies…

Hit up the EBA forums or comment below to offer up your opinion!