Experience the next great chapters of the Star Wars universe

Well for some lucky souls, yesterday marked the opening of Star Wars: The Old Republic’s early access, but only if you were the chosen one. But we knew that. EA/Bioware has always said that the pre-opening launch will be a tiered affair. That they would be letting people in slowly so as to ramp up their servers in a more controlled manner to avoid what has plagued some launches, and that is downtime because the servers couldn’t handle the load. The problem is that for some, they will get around 6-7 days of play, while others may only get 1, which is sure to leave a bad taste for those who get the short end of the stick.

But not getting a first day look isn’t all that has those who pre-ordered a physical copy of the game upset.

In this edition,.we’ll look at the high stakes for Star Wars: The Old Republic, stormtrooper motorcycle gear, and how you can help Princess Leah, a baby who’s won the hearts of Star Wars fans everywhere.

Of course, the internet is all abuzz about the imminent opening of Star Wars: The Old Republic, which begins early access on December 13th for the first round of players. And EA and Bioware are betting that their work will finally pay off. It’s a big gamble for all involved, including George Lucas, who for nothing else, has his reputation and the reputation of his franchise on the line. Six years of development went into the world that will tell the story of the Jedi and Sith of a thousand years before Anakin flew a racing pod. But perhaps the biggest concern is the $100 million dollar cost it took to make the game, one of the highest amounts ever.

After a year of hype, the opening of Bioware’s Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG is almost here and for some of us, that date is even closer than others.

For those holding pre-order codes, now is the time to redeem those codes at the official Code Redemption Center. How fast you do this will determine how much early access time you’ll have, so you want to do it as quickly as possible if you have one.

Debbie Reynolds, actress, dancer and mother of Carrie Fisher, put up many of her Hollywood memorabilia on Saturday at the latest Profiles in History auction, but the one that would make any Star Wars fan drool over was a camera. Not just any camera, but the Panavision PR 35 that Lucas himself used to film Star Wars: The New Hope. The item was certainly a rare piece indeed, a piece that sold for over $625,000.

Chewbacca to appear on Glee, Minecraft Player recreates trench scene, and Darth Vader plays the Grinch. All in this week's news.

Fans of Chewbacca will either be overjoyed or appalled to see their favorite wookie on Fox’s musical show Glee, but he is going to make an appearance in their Christmas special. We aren’t sure how Han’s number two will be included, but we are thinking it’s some sort of tribute to the Star Wars Holiday special?

The franchise of Star Wars is obviously very big business and it has provided not only entertainment for the masses, but actual firepower to use on the battlefield of gaming consoles. Could Star Wars: The Old Republic put a serious dent in World of Warcraft, continuing the fight between EA and Activision/Blizzard? The bitter feud is sometimes as interesting to watch as the Star Wars saga itself. But make no mistake. The only one laughing his way to the bank might be Lucas.

They say that stormtroopers are very dedicated to their causes and such is the case of one particular warrior who is trekking across Australia to raise money for the Starlight Children’s Foundation (the Aussie equivalent of the Make a Wish Foundation). And doing so in full armor, which has been at times an exercise in true willpower to continue on in some of the conditions that he’s had to endure, but according to the 21 year old sales associate, the people have made it all the worth while.

Imagine being in the most treacherous places that Australia has to offer, 102 degree heat, dressed in a costume that is already too hot to walk in, bitten by bugs, sometimes alone when cellphone service was non-existent. That is the 3100 mile route from Perth to Sydney, Jacob French’s destination. But despite all the difficulties inherent in what he’s attempting, his dedication to finishing his trek is admirable indeed.

French’s deed is certainly a good reflection on the...

In this video, released this week during the latest in beta testing, the Jedi Consular class is featured and it shows that a fully talented Jedi is certainly a force to be reckoned with.


Not only do they have the unique ability to be able to foresee the blaster shots and deflect them with their light sabers, but they have incredible push powers according to the video.

Lucas finally revealed after a lot of speculation last week about what Star Wars Identities was referring to. The company bought a ton of domain names on the title, even including typos, which sent the fandom into a spin with thoughts of everything from a new series, a new film, toys, etc. But none of us had pegged this one. Course in all fairness, we didn’t have much to go on.

In reality, Star Wars: Identities is the moniker chosen to represent a unique museum experience coming to the Montreal Science Center in Summer 2012. It will focus not so much on the film making techniques and science behind the tech, but a focus on the characters and how they developed throughout the movies. Through the use of props, photos, films, etc, from the Lucas archives, guests will learn how each hero and villain in the Star Wars universe came to be who they are. It will ask what shaped their personal identities and in studying these guys and gals, creators hope that...

In a strange turn of events, the city of Odessa in the Ukraine has been giving people who apply free land, up to 1,000 square meters, but they were shocked when an unlikely visitor came to make his claim.

In a bold move for any Star Wars fan, he entered the offices where they were accepting applications for the Black Sea plots, in full dark lord garb, but he wasn’t turned away by the guards. In fact, they kind of laughed as he introduced himself as “Darth Vader, right hand to Emperor Palpatine” and they let him proceed to fill out the application. He said that he needed the property to have a place to land his spaceship, no doubt an Imperial Shuttle. Those things do take up a ton of room. Anyway, he also stated that he felt he had a good chance of getting the land because the people were already on the Dark Side, taking cues from local critics who accused the city of corruption over the giveaway...

Ever since the 70’s, the battle between the fans of Star Wars and the fans of the Star Trek have had a constant argument about which is better, but pretty much for the most part, the main principles in these films have stayed out of the fray, leaving it to those that watch to decide. But when Captain Kirk spoke openly about his reasons while Star Trek was superior, Princess Leia couldn’t let that it go without comment, just like when she told Han she wasn’t a committee.


William Shatner fired the first shot in this latest volley that sounds like something you’d hear in someone’s basement over chips and Call of Duty plays. He criticized Star Wars for being more about special effects than the personal and philosophical subjects brought up in the series. He further said that Lucas’ work was really a derivative of Star Trek presented years later, and thus could not possibly be as good...

LucasFilm has locked in a whole slew of domain names that all reference the title “Star Wars Identities” which has the internet buzzing on what this could possibly be. A new project, a film, an animated feature or TV show. Who knows, it could be hundreds of things.

Or it could be strict speculation on their part. Companies often register domain names for projects that haven’t even gotten off the drawing board, much less to full production, to avoid having to fight for them later should they decide to create something with the moniker. After all, domains are only at most $35 if they get them at Network Solutions, but even cheaper at places like GoDaddy at around $7-10. That is much less expensive than paying a $1000 or more to take it to WIPO arbitration to seize control of the name or buying from the current “owner” who may be using it for honest or squatting purposes. This is especially true for sw-id.com. While its scope maybe limited, it still could...