Star Wars

5 Biggest Letdowns from the Star Wars Canon "Purge of 2015"

eBooks, Editorials, Game Diary

5 Biggest Letdowns from the Star Wars Canon “Purge of 2015”

Like millions of others I have seen and LOVED Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As a long time fan of films and games and books, I loved seeing things from or derived from the ‘Expanded Universe’ that were immediately familiar. In fact, everything about this great new entry was awesome … but since then I have realized what it meant to the REST of the Expanded Universe: death. It was 37 years ago that the book “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” became the first post Star Wars book, based on some early writings from George Lucas, but later declared ‘non-canon’…

Disney Dodges Spoilers by Releasing "The Force Awakens" as an E-Book Only!

News

Disney Dodges Spoilers by Releasing “The Force Awakens” as an E-Book Only!

I remember being a kid and getting books that were “novelizations” of movies. In fact, I’m 99% sure I had the entire Star Wars trilogy in novel form as well as the (now not-canon) Timothy Zahn trilogy. Disney is continuing the tradition for “The Force Awakens”, but they apparently don’t trust bookstores, because the novel will be ebook-only at release!

star wars the force awakens

News

Check Out Star Wars The Force Awakens Teaser Trailer #2!

Its hard to believe we’re so close to getting another glimpse into the Star Wars universe, as Star Wars The Force Awakens is set to arrive this Christmas. And to get all of us even MORE excited, as part of Star Wars Celebrations we get a new teaser trailer with a Luke voice-over, and a peek at Han and Chewie!

Star Wars Digital Editions

News

Star Wars the Digital Collection Comes to iTunes and Amazon April 10th!

Part of my low-key recent birthday was watching a mid-afternoon movie. I wanted to watch one of my favorites, and ended up choosing ‘Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back’, a classic I saw in theaters 35 years ago and dozens of times since. Soon I can watch it on my iPhone, as a digital release arrives April 10th!

Star Wars Episode VII Cast Revealed

Gear Bits, News

Star Wars Episode VII Cast Revealed

There will always be debates between technology fans – Mac or PC, iOS or Android, Excel or 1-2-3, Kirk or Picard, etc. But there are a few fairly universal things – we love gadgets, love debating about what we like and dislike, and we love Star Wars. Now we have the cast for Star Wars Episode VII to debate!

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star Puts You in Charge of an 8-Bit Death Star in this Tiny Tower Remake

Gear Bits

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star Puts You in Charge of an 8-Bit Death Star in this Tiny Tower Remake

Developer NimbleBit has teamed up with Disney and LucasArts to bring you Star Wars: Tiny Death Star, where you take the helm of the Death Star in order to build, develop, and prepare the planet-sized Death Star.  The gameplay is extremely similar to NimbleBit’s Tiny Tower.  It’s available for free on the App Store, Google Play, and Windows Store. You hire outer space “bitizens” in order to build the commercial and residential floors of the Death Star.  Like many freemium games, Star Wars: Tiny Death Star employs the use of premium currency that help speed up certain in-game actions.  On…

Get Ready for Angry Birds Star Wars 2!

Gear Bits

Get Ready for Angry Birds Star Wars 2!

The combination of the over-done Angry Birds and mega-licensed Star Wars seemed like a marketer’s dream and a gamer’s nightmare. Yet the game was actually good – and loads of fun for fans of both franchises. So hearing about a sequel featuring Ian MacDiarmid is actually intriguing – and you’ll be able to get it for $1.99 on September 19th. Check out the trailer:

Star Wars Battlefront Elite Squadron

Game Diary, Reviews

Star Wars Battlefront Elite Squadron for PSP – A Retro Romp Review

In the late fall 2005 after the PSP had been released for about six months LucasArts released Star Wars Battlefront II on a variety of platforms including the Sony PSP. The PSP version was a solid enough shooter but definitely lacking in depth and execution compared to other platforms. In 2007 came the PSP-exclusive follow-up Renegade Squadron, and finally in 2009 there was a DS/PSP game Elite Squadron. The final game was released as interest in the PSP was waning, folks were getting ready for whatever was next, and smartphone gaming was on the rise. I hadn’t played in nearly…

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Coming to iPad!

Game Diary, News

Apparently Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic IS Coming to iPad, Now Available

A couple of weeks ago there was a supposed leak found in the header of an Aspyr newsletter pointing to the release of the iPad version of the classic Bioware RPG Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR for short). Since we don’t do rumors here I just fished through my .Mac mail to see the evidence (I hadn’t noticed it at first), then filed it away under OHPLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASE … This morning we got everything but the final official confirmation, with a full review up at gaming site IGN. The review notes that some text is small, moving around…

mickeywars

Game Diary, News

Disturbance in the Force as EA Gets License to Make Star Wars Games!

Taking top prize of a consumer poll two years in a row is something most companies would dream of … unless you are EA, and the poll is ‘Worst Company in America’. That’s right, EA made history by capturing the title an unprecedented two years in a row. How? Trashing beloved franchises, over-enthusiastic nickel-and-diming via DLC, and psychologist and analyst enhanced extortion through freemium games (yes, they actually have behavior-analyst teams designing games to get you to spend $100 over time on something you wouldn’t pay $5 for upfront!). So imagine the excitement of the gaming community when the most…

Disney Kills Off LucasArts, Here are Their Five Best Games!

Game Diary

Disney Kills Off LucasArts, Here Are Their Five Best Games

Game development studios, like any other company, are subject to the whims of their corporate masters. So when Disney bought LucasFilms and LucasArts last year I thought there were two potential outcomes – either rebirth or death. I just didn’t see them letting the studio continue to languish. And while it is a sad day, the reality is that LucasArts has been largely a publishing and licensing house for a number of years. But they remain the source of many of my favorite games, so as Disney kills off LucasArts, here are their five best games! For more specific details,…

Angry Birds Star Wars is EVERYWHERE!!!

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Angry Birds Star Wars is EVERYWHERE!!!

In case you didn’t hear, Angry Birds Star Wars releases today. For many who are tired of BOTH Angry Birds and Star Wars this represents a black hole of interest. But for everyone else, Rovio has made sure that they have made the game as widely available as possible to maximize sales while people are interested. Versions are out for iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, Kindle Fire HD specific versions, Mac, PC and Windows Phone 8 (WP7.5 support coming later). Angry Birds Star Wars for iPhone and iPod Touch (Apple, $0.99) Angry Birds Star Wars HD for iPad (Apple,…

Disney Acquires LucasFilm, Including Movies and LucasArts Gaming Division

Game Diary, News

Disney Acquires LucasFilm, Including Movies and LucasArts Gaming Division

If you could name one company better and bigger at monetizing franchises than LucasFilm, it would have to be Disney. So perhaps it is fitting that the ‘House of Mouse’ that also owns Buzz & Woody and Marvel’s Avengers has taken on the Skywalker clan and Dr. Jones. Here are some details from BusinessWeek: Disney paid $7 billion for animation studio Pixar in 2006 and bought Marvel Entertainment in 2009 for $4.2 billion, adding the creators of “Toy Story,” and “The Avengers” to the company’s library. The Lucas acquisition brings the “Star Wars” pictures, which have generated $4.54 billion in…

Zaxxon Escape for iOS/Android Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Zaxxon Escape for iOS/Android Review

Type of app: Action Platform/where to buy: iPhone/iPad or Android Developer: SegaDescription: It’s been thirty years since gamers first took on the evil robot Zaxxon, and Zaxxon Escape continues the story of what happened after his defeat. Players must escape a crumbling asteroid base by shooting, swiping, and tilting their spaceship through an ever-changing maze of corridors, guided only by their reflexes and handy powerups like auto-pilot and tractor beams. Find out if you have what it takes to survive the total destruction of Zaxxon. Major features: I was a huge fan of Zaxxon back in the early 80s (it…

Angry Birds Star Wars Set to Cause a Disturbance in the Force on November 8th!

Game Diary

Angry Birds Star Wars Set to Cause a Disturbance in the Force on November 8th!

By now it should be clear to anyone that Rovio is ready to cash in on any opportunity to keep their money-printing Angry Birds franchise in the public mind … and what better example of how best to do that than the 35-year old Star Wars franchise? On November 8th Rovio will be releasing a Star Wars themed Angry Birds game for iOS and Android. Not many details yet, just this little snippet: On November 8, the Angry Birds and Star Wars universes will collide, in our best game to date. It doesn’t stop there though, we’ll have a whole…

George Lucas and Seth Green Debut New "Star Wars" Cartoon

Gear Bits, News

George Lucas and Seth Green Debut New “Star Wars” Cartoon

Through the Star Wars movies and Clone Wars cartoons, we got to know the main and side characters through their major exploits across the galaxy. But what about “what the daily life is like in a galaxy far, far away”? Well, now producers George Lucas and Seth Green are going to let us see that, in the form of a new cartoon series called ‘Star Wars Detours’. Here is what their YouTube description for the trailer had to say: Star Wars Detours™ is an animated comedy that explores what daily life is like in a galaxy far, far away. There…