nellardo writes "Put three topics dear to a typical Slashdotter's heart in one product and you are faced with the possibility of excellence warring with the possibility of crapulence. Take Lego, add Star Wars, and make a video game out of it, just in time for the release of Revenge of the Sith. That's Lego Star Wars, and it is in stores now. Fortunately, it turns out to be a fun gem of a game, good for a light afternoon for the hard-core LAN gamer, and great for kids and other family-like units.

Gamespot has a look at Soul Caliber III in anticipation of next week's E3. From the article: "Besides the tale of souls mode, your single-player options will include 'chronicle of the sword,' world competition, soul arena, museum, and character creation. Character creation is the mode we're most excited for, because it lets you create an original fighter you can then take to the chronicle of the sword mode to see how he or she fares."

RichardX writes "The folks at Real Virtual Car have taken an old car, hooked up a projector to the windscreen, USB on the steering and pedals, connected it all up to a PC and ended up with what may be the single greatest homemade games controller ever." Even a force-feedback steering wheel!

1up.com is doing a comprehensive run-down of Star Wars video gaming. From the reprehensible Masters of Teras Kasi fighting game to the sublime story of the original Knights of the Old Republic, they have it all. From the article: "Whatever the case, nothing puts us quite in the mood for a pre-movie celebration like diving in and playing some good Star Wars videogames. With roughly 80 such games having come and gone over the past 20-some years, we figured now would be the perfect time to single out the best and worst that this beloved franchise has to offer."

Entertainment company Bandai announced today that they've purchased game creator Namco and as of September of this year will be merging into a single company. From the article: "Bandai shares fell 2.5 percent to 2,335 yen as of 2:27 p.m. in Tokyo, after dropping as much as 3.8 percent. Namco shares rose 8.8 percent to 1,530 yen, headed for their biggest gain since November 2003. The companies' shares were suspended for the first one and a half hours of trading, following an earlier report of the merger plan by the Nihon Keizai newspaper."

Cube.IGN has more details on the upcoming Legend of Zelda title, gleaned from Spanish gaming publication Hobby Consolas. From the article: "From screens printed in the magazine, the new outfit looks to blend peasant clothes of different cultures to achieve an altogether unique style. These same screens show the Triforce emblazoned on Link's left hand. Cool indeed. Link himself looks different from any other Zelda title. Eiji Aonuma wanted Link to sport a manga-inspired look, partly because the Link shown in the Space World 2000 looked like a lifeless puppet." Commentary on the single-mindedness of the fanboi rumormill available on Press the Buttons.

Based on Robert Howard's classic Conan the Barbarian series, The Age of Conan: Hyborean Adventures is in production by Anarchy Online developer Funcom. On top of the setting, Funcom apparently plans to shake up the traditional massive formula. From the article: "Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will be a PC 'online action RPG' that will be a mix of 'story-driven single-player experience and a massive and brutal multiplayer endgame.' According to Funcom game director Gaute Godager, it will begin as a single-player RPG adventure, and when that portion's story is complete, it will let players bring their characters into an MMORPG universe."

Gamasutra.com is hosting an analysis of Myst IV: Revelation. The author explores the good and bad points of the game's production, and reveals interesting moments from the development process. From the article: "Less than a year before the end of the project, things were not going well on the Myst IV: Revelation team: no single zone was in a finished state, communication was difficult between team members and puzzles were taking too long to prototype. We looked at the quantity of work remaining and started brainstorming on how to close this project before the end of September."

Anime publisher Bandai has announced that they will be shipping UMD and DVD discs together for some of their releases, and GamesIndustry.biz has the tale. From the article: "Brand new anime series Eureka 7, which has been created by the team behind the hugely successful RahXephon, will be the first to get the treatment - with a single box housing both UMD and DVD, for slightly more than the price of buying both separately." UMD stands for Universal Media Disc, and is the proprietary format that Sony uses for the PSP.

1up.com has details as released by Activision and id about the upcoming first person shooter Quake IV. The game, in development by Madison, WI company Raven Software, QIV is going to return to the single-player roots of the second Quake title. From the article: " The Strogg are quickly regrouping. However, with the Strogg's planetary defenses still destroyed, Earth's forces can deliver a full and final assault. This time, you're not alone. You are Matthew Kane, an elite member of Rhino Squad, and part of Earth's next invasion wave. An army of soldiers are fighting with you and an arsenal of weapons and vehicles are at your disposal in this heroic and epic battle between worlds."

Not every worthwhile game title involves headshots, big explosions, high speed racing, or athletic prowess. The stealth genre, which started to gain attention with the likes of Tenchu: Stealth Assassin, is now typified by the modern military series Splinter Cell. The newest title, Chaos Theory, improves on concepts introduced in previous games, continues to offer a unique multiplayer experience, and expands the gameplay in a few minor ways. All told, Splinter Cell : Chaos Theory is a worthy successor to the previous games in the series, and offers up familiar gameplay that never once feels stale.

Via the ffwd linklog, a story on the Hollywood Reporter site discussing the public image of the ESRB, from "pain in the butt" on the developer's side to lax child perverter on the lawmaker's side. From the article: "The issue Greenberg describes is one involving dollars and cents: Almost every single retail chain chooses not to sell 'AO' rated games, period. In just the same way that many movie theaters will not show films branded with an 'NC-17' rating, the 'AO' severely limits a game's distribution, to put it mildly."

Spacefaring races always seem to get into trouble, and game designers love to put us into the shoes of the explorers and soldiers of tomorrow. Unfortunately, futuristic titles can be just as tiresome as Dungeon Crawl #457. Both MechAssault 2 and Nexus: The Jupiter Incident are examples of this truism. Both games are well conceived, with fine pedigrees behind them, but neither manages to deliver satisfying gameplay or long-term enjoyment. Read on for my analysis of these two titles...in spaaaaaaaaace.

Aeonite (Michael Fiegel) writes "The back cover of Game Creation and Careers says "Reading this book is like being at a round-table discussion with more than 150 of the video game industry's most successful designers, developers and publishers." In fact, it's exactly like that, for better and for worse. Mostly worse." Read on for the rest of Fiegel's lengthy review.

autojive writes "According to a Reuters story, 'The National Basketball Association on Tuesday signed long-term video game licensing deals with five publishers, bucking the recent trend of sports leagues making exclusive arrangements with a single company. Electronic Arts Inc., Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., Midway Games Inc., Sony Corp. and Atari Inc., all current NBA partners, signed new deals with the league.' I guess not playing favorites can get you deals worth a reported 500 million dollars total while hopefully keeping most players and publishers happy."

The original Halo was a seminal moment in console gaming. The intuitive controls and memorable gameplay of Halo's multiplayer component still makes it a gaming favorite when it comes to LAN gaming. The sequel builds on the successes of the original game with new features (such as dual weapons) and Xbox Live integration. Some minor graphical glitches and a somewhat weak plot keep this from being the best game evar, but Halo 2 is an extremely enjoyable console shooting experience. Read on for my impressions of Master Chief's return, and a look at an Xbox Peripheral that allows you to use your keyboard and mouse with Xbox shooters.

AaronH copies and pastes: "'Face of Mankind is an MMORPG set in the 24th century. You are invited to play out the ageless battle of good vs. evil, and witness all shades of gray in between. Role-playing and your real-life skills are the raw ingredients of game play. This MMORPG uses the first ever player-generated mission system, and combines it with sophisticated economics and complex player politics for a new kind of online experience. Only your ability to shoot, bargain, politic and otherwise duck and deal will advance your character's private or corporate agenda. The success of each and every mission will determine your rise to the top, or your fall into obscurity. Whatever path you take in this astonishing world, plan well: one day, one minute or a single second could bring you to your destiny as the true Face of Mankind. The first download mirrors for the open beta client have been put up. The servers themselves will be open for open beta testers on Monday.' Fileplanet has a few trailers while ya wait for the servers to come online."

Though it was released back in September of 2004, I've only had the chance to play the racing/action title Burnout 3: Takedown post-Christmas. Marked by imaginative gameplay and extreme speeds, Burnout 3 is an amazing example of what's possible when developers look outside the traditional confines of a genre. While games involving cars may be the furthest thing from the minds of some readers, if you were ever a four-year-old who made "psshhhh-kapoooo!" noises with your Hot Wheels, you are probably going to dig this game. Read on for my take on this Criterion Games title.

Rogerpq3 writes "Enemy Territory Fortress (ETF), a port of the Quake3 mod Q3F is now available for Enemy Territory players. ETF is based off the Team Fortress concept: 10 unique classes and a ton of very cool weapons along with some killer maps. The mod includes many game types like CTF, Reverse CTF, Single Flag, Capture & Hold, Assault, King of the Hill and Duel. To play the mod, all people need to do is download Enemy Territory and the latest patch which are both free. You can find a list of download mirrors for ETF here."

Gamespot is reporting that EA has pinned the launch date for the first Sims 2 expansion at March 1st, with the game being in stores on the 3rd. Gamespot also has an interview with the producer discussing new gameplay options, and the first official trailer. From the interview: "We expect the college experience for a single sim to last about double the length of the teen life span. But a single sim won't necessarily be able to experience all that college has to offer, so we anticipate that players will bring multiple sims to college and play them in very different ways."