IGN posted a great article detailing the Companion Characters for Lucas Arts’ upcoming MMO, Star Wars:The Old Republic. No, these are not virtual escorts for your space perving pleasure. These are more along the lines of an R2-D2/C3PO type of companion.

The Companions will serve multiple functions during your journey through the game, from simply providing you with company to giving commentary and pointing you towards points of interest. According to IGN, these Companions may become your friend, your enemy, or maybe even your lover!

If you’re interested in Star Wars:The Old Republic, head on over to IGN to read the full article, which includes an interview with the game’s Creative Director and Lead Designer James Ohlen. Then get your scruffy-lookin, nerf-herder butt back here and let us know what you think!

Hello and Welcome! Well Axeheads as another week draws to a close, I bring another edition of End of the Weak, a magical romp through the candy-filled landscape of the tubes. This little column started off, strangely enough, as a massive shout out to a hilarious series of youtube vids that comprised the funniest and most accurately brutal review of The Phantom Menace I’d ever seen.

Today, I’m elated to bring you the follow up: RedLetterMedia has published their long-awaited review of Attack of the Clones! All the madness, scathing commentary, and madness are back as our sanity-challenged narrator walks us through Star Wars: Episode II and all its fail. I’d say more but that would waste time you could be using to watch the review so…onward!
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Hot off the (virtual) press folks, LucasArts has announced the next installment in the LEGO Star Wars franchise. Check out the full press release for the deets:

PRESS RELEASE

LucasArts and TT Games today announced the development of LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. The next chapter in the award-winning LEGO Star Wars videogame franchise, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars will combine the best elements of all previous LEGO games while adding brand new gameplay to make it the most action-packed LEGO videogame to date. Developed by the same team at Traveller’s Tales that created the critically acclaimed LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones series, the game will ship on the Wii, Nintendo DS, PS3, PSP , Xbox 360, and Windows in the Autumn of 2010.

“LucasArts continues to set the bar for next-generation family entertainment,” said Darrell Rodriguez, president of LucasArts. “The LEGO Star Wars franchise is a massive hit with fans, bringing in sales of over 20 million units worldwide. We’re thrilled to extend this experience to LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, delivering the humour and fun players expect from this award winning franchise.”

“LucasArts is an amazing partner, and working with them on the next iteration of the LEGO Star Wars series continues to be a great experience,” said Tom Stone, director at TT Games. “The team at TT is working hard at making this simply the best LEGO game ever with all new gameplay and features never before seen in a LEGO game.”

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars will include all the characters from both seasons of the hugely popular animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as some fan-favourite characters from the beloved theatrical Star Wars Saga. The game will feature brand new battle modes, giving players unique, head-to-head combat and an upgraded level builder, allowing the creation of customized bases and in-game battlefields. Play either as a Jedi or Separatist with all-new character abilities, such as Squad command, Lightsaber slicing, Lightsaber jumps, long distance Jedi attacks and Grapple Tie-Ups, all within a new, easy-to-navigate hub.

END

Of course, We’ll keep you posted on more details as they emerge.

Hey everyone, DK here kicking off another week of Member BattleCries here on the ‘Axe. So, as you may have seen, this week’s topic starter is asking you to sound off on your ideas regarding Microsoft’s Natal. What would you like to see? What would make the somewhat skeptical amongst us actually get excited for the “future of gaming”? Well, EBA Member Moose0847 chimes in to let us know his thoughts on the matter and it involved one of the biggest IPs in the world. Check it out after the jump.
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Whether you liked it the first time you saw it or not, chances are we can all agree that the Phantom Menace hasn’t aged quite as well as its predecessors (or successors depending on how you look at it). Let’s face it, Star Wars Episode 1 has spent the last decade slipping from pop-culture phenomenon to pop-culture punchline. Now I’m not here to pile on…wait, actually that’s exactly what I’m here to do. But, more to the point, I’m here to share with everyone the miraculous discovery I’ve recently made: I’ve found a way to enjoy the Phantom Menace.

My new found appreciation comes courtesy of a seven-part YouTube review that is at once comprehensive and articulate critique and at another one of the funniest spectacles ever created by the whole of humanity. Whether you love Star Wars or hate it, this review really does have something for everyone (satire and validation respectively). Set aside 70 minutes of your time and don’t plan on drinking any milk…cause its gonna come out your nose.

Parts 2-7 after the jump.

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Cover their escape route and move in for the kill, its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry! In this week’s skirmish, we run down the details on The Saboteur’s day-one-DLC, ponder Medal of Honor’s move into *cough* Modern combat, check out the rumors of a possible Mirror’s Edge sequel as well as the announced iPhone game, and discuss the new Prince of Persia entry to the Sands of Time series.

With Black Friday already behind us and the Christmas Holiday moving steadily this way, we discuss what gamers want at retail this year. Will Walmart’s deep price cuts pull shoppers away from specialty boutiques like GameStop? Next up, we take a look at a recent FTC report to Congress that praises the ESRB and calls gaming the most proactive and responsible medium when it comes to keeping adult content away from children.

The Battle Cry of the Week goes to the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge, the promise of seeing a new Star Wars game at the Spike VGA’s this weekend, the recent trailer for Red Dead Redemption, and developers who punish skill.

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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.

You’ve seen every film over 200 times. You know the Skywalkers better than your own family. You have a stronger knowledge of the Force than Yoda himself AND you probably loose sleep wondering what the next title in the storied Star Wars saga will be. Well, you will apparently find out come December 12th as the Spike VGAs will be the platform for the reveal for what’s next in the Star Wars gaming universe.

Anyone wanna take a guess as to what the new game is? Feel free to use the comments section below to do so and check out the teaser after the jump for some inspiration.

The 2009 Spike Video Game Awards air LIVE Saturday, December 12th at 8PM/7C on SPIKE.
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Break the gates and show no mercy, its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry! In this week’s skirmish, we commend Quake Live for finally supporting the Mac and Linux, run down the deets on the Dragon Age: Origins Collector’s Edition, discuss the controversy over the Borderlands box art, and take a look at the App Store like games rumored to be on their way to the PSP Go.

The Super NES series of Star Wars games are making their way to Wii Virtual Console shortly, so this week we decided to run down our list of fav Star Wars titles and ponder whether The Old Republic can live up to the pedigree. Next up we take a look at Gabe Newell and his recent comments regarding Valve’s support (or lack thereof) of the PlayStation 3.

The Battle Cry of the Week goes to Valve for keeping Team Fortress 2 alive and well with fresh content, the latest footage showing off Uncharted 2’s single player campaign, Ozzy for rocking BlizzCon, and DLC on physical media for all those gamers who are internet-challenged.

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From Engadget:

“In response to an Engadget Japan post entitled “Cruel Star Wars USB drives,” one incredibly talented reader went ahead and one-upped the entire collection with a custom made Empire Strikes Back Luke Skywalker drive. All you need to know is that the USB input is accessed by severing his hand. Search your feelings, you know this to be awesome.”

I thought it was an interesting piece, my only concern would be trying to hook this boy into the back of my PC with so many cables laying around.

Catch more pictures from the article.