E3 2009 News Roundup

Last Updated: 6/20/09, 2:45 a.m.

E3 2009 brought us lots of videogame news for Star Wars and LucasArts fans.  Here’s a roundup of the announcements:

Star Wars: The Old Republic:

• Previews: 1UP, Destructoid, Digital Trends, G4TV, G4TV (Video), GameSpot, GameTrailers, GameSpy, Giant Bomb, IGN, Joystiq, Kotaku, Massively, SCI FI Wire, SFGate, StarWarsMMO.net, Ten Ton Hammer 
• The game has a new (epic) trailer, which can be viewed here!
• It will be the first fully voiced MMO.  Every character will have a unique voice. (source)
• According to BioWare, TOR has more audio than all 86 episodes of The Sopranos.  And that’s only one third of the way through the voice work! (source)
• The smuggler class will have a dynamic cover system.  It is the first time this has been in an MMO. (source)
• TOR will have a smuggler class, which will make you feel like Han Solo. (source)
• BioWare has username filters in place that block major Star Wars characters like Han, Luke, Leia, Anakin, Yoda, etc.  If you want, you can turn off player names, chat, etc. (source)
• TOR won many awards at E3! (source)
• BioWare’s TOR E3 2009 Highlights. (source)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

• Previews: IGN, Destructoid, G4TV, What They Play
• Screenshots: GameSpot, IGN
• Trailers: Xbox LIVE Marketplace
• The game will have co-op, but only offline. (source)
• Xbox.com has revealed more details about the game. You can short-circuit droids and turn them against each other, play instant challenges and mini-modes, and more. (source)

Star Wars: Battlefront: Elite Squadron

• Previews: 1UP, G4TV, G4TV (2), Kotaku, Pocket Gamer
• Four game play videos were found on the LucasArts VIP Press Site.  You can watch them here.
• Galactic Conquest mode now supports hot seat multiplayer rounds. (source)

Other LucasArts News:

• LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues Previews: 1UP, G4TV, IGN
• The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition is coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade and PC.  It will have new graphics, voices, and music. (source)
• The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition previews: Joystiq, OXM Podcast (about 15:00 in)
• The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition will feature the original voice cast. (source)
• Interview with Dominic Armato, voice of main character Guybrush Threepwood in Monkey Island: KOXM Episode 168 (intro at 3:16, interview at 21:21)
• G4TV has game play videos of The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition and Tales of Monkey Island.
• Destructoid has an interview with the writer of Monkey Island games.
• Telltale Games is developing a brand new episodic Tales of Monkey Island series. (source)
• Tales of Monkey Island will be released for the PC and Wii on July 7.  Each game in this episodic series will take roughly two hours to complete. (source)
• Tales of Monkey Island Previews: 1UP
• LucasArts president Darrell Rodriguez talks about E3. (source)
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga will be one of the launch titles for Microsoft’s new Games on Demand marketplace, which will let you purchase and download full retail games on your Xbox 360.  The service will launch in August with over 30 titles currently on the market, including LEGO SW:TCS. (source)

Miscellaneous E3 Notes:

• Out of all the new games, technologies, and more at E3 2009, Star Wars was the 21st most popular topic.  Roughly 1.3% of the articles on E3 focused on our favorite franchise. (source)
• Microsoft’s new motion sensitive “controller” called Project Natal could open up some interesting options for future Star Wars games.  It could be used to accurately implement motions like Jedi Mind Tricks, Force Push, Force Lightening, etc.  Some people are skeptical of whether Natal actually works, but everyone (to my knowledge) who has tried it has been convinced.
• The latest StarWars.com Homing Beacon has a quick wrap of of Star Wars news.
• Mark Hamill has signed on to voice The Watcher in Darksiders. (source)

This post will be updated as more news is announced throughout the week.  Bookmark this page or keep an eye on our Twitter for updates.

Thanks to TheForce.net for links to some previews.

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