Top 5 Things We Want in Star Wars: The Old Republic, But Probably Won't Get

Lucasarts and Bioware have just announced Star Wars: The Old Republic. The game is set 300 years after the amazing role playing game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The new game will be a MMO where hundreds of thousands of gamers will get to live out their Star Wars lives in a time long before Darth Vader was even a glimmer in Shmi Skywalker's eyes.

We all love Star Wars. We all want to live in that galaxy far, far away.

So here are the "Top 5 Things We Want to Do in Star Wars: The Old Republic, But Probably Won't Get to Do".

1. Create a Yoda-type character. Who doesn't want to be short, green, and walk around with a cane. Not to mention you can kick some serious Sith booty with your off the Midi-chlorian chart Force powers.

Why this won't happen: No one even knows what species Yoda is, so creating an opportunity to have an entire race of them would probably not be allowed by "The Bearded-One".

2. Own your own Millenium Falcon. "The fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy" is also the baddest ship in the Star Wars Universe. You'll need to start off with a standard YT-1300 Light Freighter and then apply your own "special modifications" to upgrade your ship.

Why this won't happen: Modifying your ship in the original KOTORs didn't happen, so don't count on it in this one.

3. Assassinate Jar Jar Binks' great, great, great, great, grandpa. Jar Jar is by far the most unnecessary and most annoying character George Lucas ever created. So being able to eliminate his ancestor would be nice. No Grandpa Jar Jar, no Jar Jar.

Why this won't happen: Killing off Grandpa Jar Jar, would be nice, but then Lucas would probably use Boss Nass in place of Jar Jar in Episode I, so is it really worth it?

4. Have a Rancor as a pet. It's been reported that you will travel with a couple of companions while you play the game, so why can't one be a giant monster that can eat your enemies in one big bite?

Why this won't happen: How's he going to fit on your tricked out YT-1300?

5. Become so powerful that you start your own "Grand Empire of the Republic!" Obviously you'll start off small as a humble youngling in the Jedi Temple. But you'll progress and turn to the Dark Side during your teen years. Then you can become an intern for a Senator from Naboo, then assassinate the Senator to take their place, then get elected Chancellor of the Senate, then declare yourself Grand Chancellor, then start a private war with another Sith character, then create a clone army to command, then . . . you get the idea.

Why this won't happen: Do you really think anyone could pull that off?

As of right now only a PC version has been announced. We can only hope that an 360 or PS3 version is released as well.

Gaming's Mount Rushmore

"A monument's dimensions should be determined by the importance to civilization of the events commemorated." -Gutzon Borglum

What do Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln have in commmon with Duke Nukem, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Sonic? They are all icons of their respective history. Our Forefathers have been imortalized on a mountain side since 1941 and it took 14 years to complete the monument.

But what if there was a Mount Rushmore of Gaming? Who would be chizzled into stone for future generations to see? Let's think about this, shall we?

First of all, whoever gets put on the "Gaming's Greatest Monument" needs to transcend the world of video games. The entire world knows of George Washinton and Abraham Lincoln, so the faces on the mountain need to be recognizable by more than just the hardcore gamer.

Mount Rushmore's Presidents were each from a different era. So the second criteria to be chosen should span different platforms. It will be best to choose one face to represent Nintendo, one for Sony, one for Microsoft, and one from a dead platform.

And finally, the characters must have originated in the gaming universe. Darth Vader and Pikachu have both been in games, but they also both were put into video games because of the success of other genres.

Nintendo Candidates: Mario, Donkey Kong, Link

All three have starred many times over in their own games. All have best sellers in their repetoire. And all are very recognizeable.

The Winner: Mario. Was there ever any doubt? Granted, Mario had his gaming debut in the original Donkey Kong arcade game, but Mario is Nintendo. This was probably the easiest choice of them all.

Sony Playstation Candidates: Cloud, Kratos, Solid Snake

This is a tough one. Final Fantasy is one of the most successful series of games on the Playstation platform. And the greatest character from the Final Fantasy series is Cloud. Final Fantasy saved Square Enix, but is Cloud the face to represent Sony? Solid Snake has little competition in the stealth-action gaming world. (Sam Fisher where are you?) Snake has graced the PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP. Is that enough be imortalized in stone? God of War star, Kratos, is the best character in a Playstation exclusive game to come along in quite a while. Sony would like to tell you that Kratos is a household name, but is he?

Winner: Solid Snake. When it came right down to it, Cloud was only in the one Final Fantasy game and Kratos hasn't been around for long enough. It may seem like Snake wins by default, but don't tell him that.

Microsoft Xbox Candidates: Master Chief (Halo:CE), Master Chief (Halo 2), Master Chief (Halo 3)

Let's face it, if there was no Master Chief there would no longer be an Xbox and there never would have been an Xbox 360. So even hinting that there could be another face to represent the Xbox is a joke. So of the three versions of Master Chief, which one should be chosen. Halo: CE Master Chief was the original. He redefined FPSs on consoles. Halo 2 Master Chief was in the fastest selling United States media product in history. And Halo 3 Master Chief is the only one on the Xbox 360.

Winner: Halo: CE Master Chief. Just like Star Wars & Indiana Jones, the first is the best.

Dead Platform Candidates: Sonic (Sega), Pac-Man (Arcade), Gordon Freeman (PC)

Sega had a good run in the 90's. The Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast were all solid consoles and Sonic was the star of them all. The Arcade was the only place to get quality gaming at one time and Pac-Man was the greatest arcade game of all time. People used to ask for their paycheck to be cashed out in all quarters just to munch on power pellets. Gordon Freeman is the protagonist in 2 of the top 5 rated PC games of all time and he rounds out our candidates from dead platforms.

Winner: Sonic the Hedgehog. Some may say that the PC and arcade aren't dead and that Sega created the only dead systems worthy of a candidate, but Sonic can hold his own. He's had some lousy games recently, but none of them were on a Sega console. Sonic is more than worthy to represent the dead consoles of the world.

This is all in my humble opinion, so let me know who you think should be on Gaming's Mount Rushmore. And if there's a Photoshop expert out there who would like to create my Mount Rushmore of Gaming, I'd love to see it.

Please don't make a Halo movie. Unless . . .

Let's take a trip into the not so distant future. You've camped out for days just to buy your ticket. You've stood in line with hundreds of others for hours talking about your favorite moments from the the game. You take your seat in between the 37 year old comic book shop owner and the foul mouthed 14 year old with the gamertag "MstrCheef99". Half your popcorn is gone and you're debating on whether you should take a restroom break now because you know the frozen Mountain Dew that is giving you brain freeze is going to kick in about half-way throught the credits. But just as you're about to get up, the house lights go down, the curtains part, the slideshow advertising the local community college turns off, and the credits begin to run.

You're about to watch Halo: The Movie and not even a Covenent invasion could tear you away from the big screen for the next two-and-one-half hours.

Two-and-one-half hours later . . .

Your popcorn is gone, your frozen Mountain Dew is making its presence known, and your denial is setting in. Maybe it's because your walking out of the theater at 3am, maybe it's because the guy walking out next to you smells like he hasn't showered in a month, but maybe it's because the movie didn't live up to your expectations.

You make the decision to go home and get some sleep saving your reservations about the movie until you see it a second time later on that day.

It's 3pm, you've seen it twice, and you can't deny the fact that you're going to have to make excuses to all the PS3 fanboys online because the movie based on the greatest fps ever stinks.

This is a scenario that no Halo fan wants to face. So listen up Microsoft, Peter Jackson, or whoever else will be involved in a Halo movie if it ever happens . . . PLEASE DON'T MAKE A HALO MOVIE!

Unless . . .

The character of Master Chief is completely CG. In fact, maybe the entire movie should be CG. One of the things that makes the Halo Universe so appealing is it's look. If the star of the film, looks like a guy in a Master Chief holloween costume, then heaven help us all.

And unless . . .

The story is based on Halo: Combat Evolved. At first I thought it would be nice to make the Halo movie a prequal to the first game, but it really doesn't make sense to have a Halo movie without an actual halo ring. The story of the first game was the best because of all the mysteries it explored. Who is this super soldier named Master Chief? What is the Covenent and why are they trying to erase humanity? Who are the Forerunners? What are these little parasites that keep bursting forth from other creatures? A film about the final stand of the humans aboard The Pillar of Autumn is the way to go.

And also unless . . .

Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson's story is told as well. Master Chief is a one of the greatest video game protagonists of all time, but Sergeant Johnson's role in the destruction of the first halo must be told as well. Running around as Master Chief and gunning down Grunts is a blast (pun intended), but watching that on the big screen for 2.5 hours doesn't make for a masterpiece. If the movie is going to be accepted by more than just the die hard Halo fans, you've got to make the audience love the characters. There's no better character to develop than Sergeant Johnson.

And finally unless . . .

The soundtrack is composed by Martin O'Donnell. A good soundtrack can turn even a bad movie into something that is watchable (i.e. Purple Rain or Armaggedon). O'Donnell's soundtrack to the games is more than worthy of being the soundtrack to the movie. Without the familiar sounds of singing choirs, full string orchestra's, and the occasional electric guitar thrown in, it's just not Halo.

My Firsts

Since this is my first post, I thought I'd talk about some of my gaming firsts.

My 1st Console - I grew up when arcades were at their peak and the home gaming consoles were just starting to hit their stride. For me my first console was the Atari 2600. What a system! I spent hours dodging astroids, blasting invaders from space, and eating power pellets in the one of the worst arcade to console games ever, Pac-Man. Thankfully in this case the first was not nearly the best.




My 1st Game Addiction - The first game I was absolutely addicted to was Baseball Stars for the NES. I was in 6th grade and created my entire little league team on the game. Of course I batted lead-off and won the MVP through multiple seasons. One of the greatest events in all of gaming was climbing the fence to rob someone of a home run in Baseball Stars.





My 1st Hated Game - We all have games that frustrate us and make us want to throw a controller across the room (i.e. beating the devil on Guitar Hero III on Expert). But then there's that one game that makes you want to use every curse word ever phrased and then make up some more to add to the list of foul things you must say about the putrid cartridge that is in your system. And that game for me was E.T.


Why am I picking up these Reese's Pieces? Why do I keep falling holes? Why is Dick Tracy chasing me? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop? The world may never know.