Star Wars: The Old Republic Interview

This year at E3 True_Avery and I got the chance to sit down with LucasArts Executive Producer Tom Nichols to ask your questions about The Old Republic and threw in a few of our own. And we hit solid gold: Jumping is confirmed! Hit the break to read the full interview. Read more»

Action figures and comics in SWTOR’s future?

Comments made to VG247.com are raising speculation about potential licensing additions for the upcoming game.

“We are looking forward to working with our partners in LucasFilm, that have worked with us previously on KOTOR in bringing the comic books to life, and action figures, and all kinds of things,” said Tom Nichols, executive in charge of LucasArts’s online games business. He continued to say that he thinks “the potential is there for us to have similar types of products and extensions from our licensing partners as well.”

What exactly are “extensions?” We’ll just have to wait and see because it looks like SW:TOR itself is still a long way off, much more so any spin-offs it might inspire.

Check out the original article from VG247.com.

LucasArts: KotOR MMO is “Overwhelming”

Speaking to VG247, LucasArts online head Tom Nichols has commented on the prospect of creating such a huge game. He believes the combination of LucasArts, Bioware, and EA have what it takes to make it happen and make it be a success. However, he acknowledges it will be a long road.

“Daunted? I don’t know if I’d use that word,” Nichols said. “I’m bullish, I’m optimistic. I think it’s a huge opportunity for us, and for BioWare and EA.”

Read everything he had to say at Videogaming247.com.

EA and LucasArts: Star Wars MMO to be bigger than WoW

EA and LucasArts are aiming to take on World of Warcraft with BioWare’s newly announced MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Speaking to Videogaming247, EA Games’ president, Frank Gibeau, spoke of the company’s ambition to use the Star Wars IP to build up a user base to overtake that of Blizzard’s.

“We have very high expectations for this,” Gibeau explained. “Just look at the base of Star Wars fans, plus what BioWare can do. Trust me: we want to win. EA’s reputation is for wanting to win.”

“This is going to be a powerful category and there’s lots of ways to compete in this category. [Blizzard] created a much larger opportunity for everybody else, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way.”

LucasArts’ Tom Nichols agreed, adding: “When World of Warcraft came out, everybody thought, ‘No, the market is only this big, because that’s as big as EverQuest was.’ Blizzard showed that it could be much larger.”

“Our goal is to show that by bringing storytelling to the genre that we can attract an even wider audience. Plus, we have the benefit of this huge brand, which has done very, very well for nearly 30 years.”

When asked specifically if the game would be bigger than World of Warcraft, Nichols said: “I think this game has that potential.”

The Old Republic is “PC-only,” says LucasArts boss

According to VG247, Tom Nichols, LucasArts’ online head, has reported that The Old Republic is to be PC only, conflicting with a recent report from EA boss man Frank Gibeau.

“It is PC-only,” said Nichols when asked if KOTOR’s Xbox tradition would be upheld.

Nichols further commented, “We’re just focused on the PC platform at this time.” Nichols spoke at the San Francisco announcement of the game the same day EA mentioned the possibility of TOR along with Warhammer Online moving to consoles. According to this, do not expect The Old Republic to be on a console near you.