It is Friday, The Onion, and SW:TOR

Calling it a day early this week everyone, I tried and tried to find something that wouldn’t just be random blabbering to write about but alas I never found that hidden gem. So to save you 3 minutes (but still waste 2) I will not be doing as most major news outlets do to fill space by posting a meaningless article.

The Onion sums up my thoughts on the subject completely. (NSFW language)

Yes I realize by posting an article dedicated to not posting an article I am contradicting myself but it gives me a reason to share the video which is all that matters because I enjoy it.

PS. A lot of people that are signed up to be in Bioware’s SW:TOR beta received an email last night. The email may have been sent early or to the wrong email group but it implied that the recipient was already part of the beta. Hardly newsworthy but it made me chuckle at how many people became instantly upset over it because they were still without a closed beta invite. Oh how I wish I could get permission to write about SW:TOR closed beta but the greater beings in the industry have deemed it wrong.

Star Wars: The Old Republic official launch date announced!

Huge news today (this weekend really but we were away), there is an official release date for Star Wars: The Old Republic and it is this year! Tuesday, December 20th SW:TOR will be released. The game we have been waiting for since its announcement in 2008 is finally here and it’s just a short 3 months away. The timing couldn’t be better either with competing games like Torchlight 2 and Diablo 3 right around the corner as well. I imagine that we will here the announcement of an early 2012 release date for Diablo 3 (once the buzz about SW:TOR has died down), and I further suspect that after the announcement of Diablo 3 we will here a mid-late November or a very early December announcement for Torchlight 2’s release date.

D3, TL2, and SW:TOR (is this really English anymore?) are different kinds of games so you may be thinking that their dates shouldn’t impact buyers but with the style of TL2 and D3 being a form of MMORPG (minus the massive) some fans of true MMORPGs will be thinking of grabbing them. Blizzard is a big company, they need a return on D3 (and its 10 years of work), so they will likely play it safe and not try to compete with a title like SW:TOR but TL2 is a different story. Torchlight 2 will be a 20 dollar game, it’s just the preference the producers have over at Runic Games. Because their game is so cheap and so popular it can show up before SW:TOR, pull strong numbers, and if it truly is another great game from them, survive through SW:TOR’s launch because of its price point. People are more likely to risk buying a 20 dollar game that is the sequel to a ‘game of the year’ game then they are to buying a game that in the past hasn’t produced the best titles. Historically Star Wars games haven’t been amazing, we wish the best for latest one from Bioware but we will be keeping a wary eye on it.

These are merely predictions, not fact (except the SW:TOR release date). It is simply based off when they should be released to produce the most profit and gain the biggest fan base. However I am no economist/marketer and I’m quite terrible with numbers so take it only as an idea, but feel free to tell me how/when you think the three games will be released and why below.

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Gaming's weekly roundup

Just a few things to close out the week today:

TGS Flyer (I don't know what the japanese says)

First, Bioware has told us that we can’t publish an article on the closed beta of Star Wars: The Old Republic just yet stating that the closed beta is exclusively for testing purposes. So, sorry fellas you will just have to wait on this one, in the meantime we will keep on testing for them.

Tokyo Game Show is quickly approaching. Never heard of it? Well it is sort of like E3 (or some of the cons) where all the major publishers get together and show off what they have. To put it in perspective, E3 gets about 50,000 attendees. Tokyo Game Show got over 200,000 attendees last year. TGS opens to the press September 15^th and to the public September 17^th lasting through the 19^th. When TGS starts we will try and bring you the latest news from Japan as we get it. We might even work the weekend on this one. I’m praying for PS Vita news, Uncharted 3, and the latest installment in the Resident Evil series. 

MariO!!!!

One last thing that has us super excited, we love Mario. We love Portal. We love the developer that is remaking the 8-bit Super Mario Bros game with Portal mechanics. Yes, you just heard it; Mario and Portal will finally be in the same game, the classic you grew up with but with a new twist. It will be called MariO. It gets better; rumor is that the game will be free. Fingers crossed.

If you like our news and reviews, follow us on Twitter @1upnerd or like us on Facebook. Also, share us with your friends!

EA to be Limiting Sale of Star Wars: The Old Republic at Launch

Last week at Gamescon, EA announced that they would be limiting availability of Star Wars: The Old Republic upon release. EA is hoping that in limiting availability that a smooth launch will be ensured. EA has yet to specify how many copies will be released but if all goes well in this endeavor, pre-sales may rise quickly. It is entirely possible that part of the reason for doing this is to prevent extraneous server load and to prevent long lines to get onto servers during the launch period as has been the history of many MMO launches in the past. Alternatively the plan may just be to use limited copies to drive up sales, EA already knows how many sales they need to make to break even (half a million) on this game so by increasing the demand they might get the sales of users who would have waited later to see how the game develops. Because EA isn’t saying how many copies they are selling or how long it will take them to start selling the game again if they reach the cap, many people might grab the game early so that they don’t run into the potential issue of having to wait days, weeks, or even months before getting into the game. Star Wars: The Old Republic will be sold in stores but also will be sold digitally. However EA is controlling the digital sale of the game so you won’t be seeing it on Steam, instead it will be on an EA client. Hopefully this game doesn’t run into the same issues EA has had in the past with its clients (they generally aren’t very good and they have terrible terms that you have to agree to).

Star Wars: The Old Republic is set to launch this year or early 2012 with a closed/open (based on pre-order) beta starting in mid-late September or early October. I am in the closed beta already so as soon as I get permission to print something about the game, you can expect my impressions of it but for now you will just have to wait. Here is to hoping Bioware (the game’s actual developer) continues with its history of success in video game developing and we get a solid product, I don’t think it will kill WoW but I do think it will compete and thrive along side it. 

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