It's the
year of Star
Wars for science fiction fans, and gamers already have a head start.
The Jedi
brainchild of filmmaker George
Lucas celebrates its 30th anniversary since the 1977
film release of Star Wars [image]
in 2007. But for gamers, the festivities began late last year with the release
of several LucasArts titles for hardcore fans.
LucasArts
ramped up to 2007 with Forces of Corruption, an expansion pack to
its Empire at War title that adds a third option for gamer unsatisfied
with merely guiding the mighty Empire or Rebel Alliance on to victory. Instead,
players portray Tyber Zann in his attempt to rule the Star
Wars underworld with his criminal Zann Consortium [image].
Forces
of Corruption
joined a pair of other LucasArts releases - the Star Wars: Best of PC
five-pack and Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures - to
whet gamer appetites for 2007.
In a
statement released last week, one day after storm troopers from around
the world marched in the annual Jan. 1 Rose Parade in Pasadena [image],
California, Star Wars officials pledged that 2007 will feature "entirely new
videogame adventures that continue the saga in new and unexpected ways..."
"We're
really planning the next 30 years of Star Wars," said Tom Warner, senior
director of marketing for Lucasfilm Ltd, in the statement. "Star Wars is
one of the most popular and enduring entertainment franchises in the world, and
there's no better time than the 30th anniversary to look ahead to the future of
that galaxy far, far away."
To give
gamers a head start, Star Wars: Best of PC includes the original Empire
at War, as well as Knights of the Old Republic, Battlefront, Jedi
Knight 2: Jedi Outcast and Republic Commando. Meanwhile, the
complete online adventures of Star Wars Galaxies come packed with each
of the game's three expansions of its initial An Empire Divided title,
as well as a bonus DVD with fan-generated films and behind-the-scenes material
[image].
Computer
games aside, a host of Star Wars books, merchandise and events are
planned throughout this year, culminating in Lucasfilm's four-day Celebration
IV Memorial Day extravaganza at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Lucas is
also reportedly pursuing a three-dimensional animated television Clone Wars
series to continue the saga of the same
name that ran between 2003 and 2005, though the show has not yet been sold
to a network, according to the Associated Press.
"The last
three decades were just the start," Warner said.
The
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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