News so big I was blasted into space...

We have a recurring theme at the moment. The theme is Star Wars - it was big last year and this year it seems to be growing in size and popularity. It's classic set of films, and the games that go with it are absolutely fantastic, explaining the history behind the films and forcing us to set out on epic adventures. It has brought both young and old together as they sit down on a Saturday night and watch one of the Star Wars films or battle the evil Sith in one of the many, many games. It is this year, 2012, that Star Wars will be returning to us. You thought TOR was good (I certainly did), but you haven't yet seen what's coming to your local games store in April this year. Yes, it's a new game, but there's more to it than that. Far more. Take a look for yourself...

Yes, it's an XBOX 360 based on R2 D2 with C3P0 controllers! A joke, you say? No, I promise you that this is real. It's very real indeed. Not only this, but it also comes with a white Kinect and a Star Wars game that is for Kinect. Now you can be a real Jedi, wielding your lightsaber and using the force on weak minded scum. The console should come with 320GB, a wired headset, white Linect, Star Wars game and Kinect Adventures. The price? well, we haven't been given an exact price just yet, but the estimate it between £250 - £300. It's actually quite a good deal for such a unique bundle. The force is strong in this console...

We asked a few of our readers to tell us what they thought of the new console and asked whether or not they were excited by its release. So, they sent us short clips of themselves telling us exactly what they thought so that we could stick it up on our YouTube channel and blog. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KPGZ0Q3XB0

We're always interested in your opinion, and so we would like to invite you all to share your opinions on games and consoles with us. If we like them, we'll put them on our YouTube channel and here on the blog for other readers to take a look at. don;t be shy, send your videos to titusvalhalla@gmail.com and tell us what you think.

- Valhalla

Not so long ago, on a laptop not too far away...

...Was a Gamer by the name of Valhalla who was interested in a new MMORPG. Whilst stacking shelves at work, he came across a case that interested him, one by the name of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Excited, he asked his colleagues about it until one, by the name of Dave, was able to tell him more. This is where the adventure begins, the adventure through the galaxies...

It was on December 20th that Dave and I planned to buy SWTOR and play it together that night. However, tragedy decided to take a lead role and destroy my plans - my card went missing. Without my debit card I could do nothing. Distraught, I was unable to buy the game and play the glorious thing that is SWTOR. Depressed, I spent the evening imagining what I could be missing, and the day after I was able to venture into work and pick up what was rightfully mine. Finally, I had what I wanted most.

I spent the whole night exploring the game, getting the feel for my character and messing around, generally killing some bad guys. I have to say, I was pretty damn impressed by the graphics and character customisation. When I started the game my jaw literally hit the floor when the cinematic started. I mean, seriously, it was just fantastic. I was overcome with joy that my hard-earned money had not been wasted. It took me a moment to recover from the sheer fantastical-ness that was the opening, but when I was over it I was right on my character. I decided to be a good-guy Smuggler (and plan to turn to the Dark Side), and went with the best 'race' - Cyborg. Yeah, I look freaking awesome and there is nothing you can say to disprove that. Nothing. The character editing was top notch, almost on par with Skyrim. I could edit face shape, tone, detail, scarring, hair style, markings, Cyborg parts...it is just so vast. It took me quite some time to decide on the perfect character, but I think Mikal turned out just right (as I've already pointed out). Take a look.

"I'll be back"

After an awesome classic Star Wars intro (music and slanted writing included) I was thrown into a new world filled with top graphics. In fact, it was only today that I turned the graphics up to high. Mind blown, once again. I did a few starter quests, getting used to my new UI (which is very similar to WoW), getting a feel for the way gameplay worked and what not. It was kinda irritating that my ship was nicked at the very beginning of the game. I mean honestly, that's MY ship. I even named it. So, once I stopped chuckling at the way my little Cyborg moved I got more serious and started getting my head into the game. It was surprisingly easy to do. The thing is, when you enter cinematic mode (which is pretty much every time you talk to a quest giver or receiver) you are able to choose how your character responds to the NPC. They can be rude, polite, flirtatious, indifferent, you name it and your character can probably turn down that path.

Dark Side points (or Light Side if you're going that way) are there to demonstrate how far you're going towards one side of the force. In my case it's Dark side because I'm actually kinda evil. To protect a woman I didn't really like I slaughtered a load of men that were supposed to be my allies. Why? well, because I could. That act earned me 50 Dark Side points and I was only level 3. Talk about rebellious, soon I'll be going against my whole faction.

The only downside is the respawn. If you want to be revived where you died you may have to wait for over ten minutes, depending on how many times you've been revived beforehand. either way, it's a pain in the backside, especially when your respawn point is quite far away.

I'm still exploring the game really, getting to grips with the whole thing, but I'm determined to find my starship and save it from the bastard that stole her. I really loved that ship. So far, I'm really enjoying SWTOR, and it's going to be a struggle to pay for both this and WoW, but I tell you it will be worth it. I assure you.

Keep watching for more SWTOR updates, for as I get further through the game, the more adventure updates you'll be getting from me.

Happy New Year!

- Valhalla