On May 24th LucasArts will launch the first compilation pack in the Star Wars Galaxies series. In addition to An Empire Divided and Jump to Lightspeed, the compilation pack will include an all new Episode III adventure: Rage of the Wookiees for the Total Experience. Taken directly from Revenge of the Sith, Rage of the Wookiees includes adventures on the planet of Kashyyyk, the Wookiee home world.

New Episode III features:

• Explore Kashyyyk -- the home planet of the Wookiees is being added as an entirely new adventure planet and space zone

• Adventure through over 100 story-driven quests - Join the Wookiees in their fight for freedom against their Imperial-supported Trandoshan slavers or support the Empire in their mission of quelling the spread of the Rebellion!

• Visit and discover points of interest and adventure zones including the Wookiee-run tree cities, Trandoshan-controlled slave camps and the safari lands of the affluent Rodians

• Pilot new starcraft inspired by Revenge of the Sith including Anakin's Jedi Starfighter model

• Embark on daring new space mining missions to recover precious raw materials for sale to ground-based crafters. Surviving slews of pirates will provide unprecedented economic opportunities

• Experience the all new combat system featuring new weapons, new armor, new effects and a new user-interface to make combat even more engaging and fun!

• Xequted has an overview, as well as a small Q&A.


• GameZone has some thoughts about the last beta weekend.


• GameSource provides an preview.

In addition to our world tournament, which will be ongoing 24/7, we will be offering other special events on a frequent basis. The fan community has taken the website competitions to their hearts, with incredible participation in our battle report and guild emblem contests.

In-game events will offer another level of opportunity for players, and we’ve been talking about a lot of fun things coming up. I look forward to seasonal events, perhaps opportunities to get special in-game items at certain times of the year, or short-term competitions constructed with a holiday theme. The sky’s the limit, really, since with streaming technology, we can add elements of an event quite easily.

For those of you who’ve been following the development of Tabula Rasa, you may be aware that the game underwent a major transformation over the last year. We’ve hesitated to share more information about these changes as we wanted to be absolutely confident with this new direction. At present, we are pleased to report that this project is shaping up to be a truly outstanding massively multiplayer online game.

The reasons we have undergone this transformation are many and complex. Simply put, our team felt that the first incarnation of Tabula Rasa was not the game we felt it should be. We felt this way from our own reactions playing the game as well as others external to the team playing it. We believe that the change for the positive will be obvious to all.

Over the next few weeks you will see changes to the Tabula Rasa website. The site will be receiving a major overhaul in advance of this year’s E3 event. You can look forward to new creatures, new features, and new information. Everyone here at Destination Games and NCsoft is excited about the new look and feel of this highly anticipated game. We hope you’ll be excited too.

Richard Garriott and the Destination Games Development Team

Where The Matrix Online scores high is in the flexibility of the skill system and the overall adherence to the franchise. This undoubtedly feels like the Matrix, which is sure to please fans who've dreamed of taking up their own identity in the world and choosing sides in the three-sided conflict. The "big" story elements haven't really taken center stage yet with me but those that I have experienced have been pretty impressive. If the team can keep up that level of involvement, the story will be one of the game's biggest draws.

But story and setting aside, The Matrix Online, isn't as innovative as it ought to have been. It relies heavily (unapologetically at times) on many of the genre's conventions, from class archetypes to loot to endless missions of errand running and extermination. In many ways it feels like a fantasy game in sci-fi clothing. For me, that just doesn't do justice to the potential inherent in the brand.

• Atari: Dungeons & Dragons Online


• Imaginary Numbers: Tactica Online


• Lucasarts: Star Wars Galaxies: Episode III Rage of the Wookiees


• NCSoft: Auto Assault, City of Villians, Guild Wars, Tabula Rasa


• Sony Online Entertainment: EverQuestII Expansion

There are two main thrusts behind the expansion. First is the overhaul of the graphics engine and a vast improvement in the technical detail as a whole. The new visuals benefit the whole game, not just the new environments. Wherever you go you'll see the benefit.

Second is offering the player lots of new things to do. That especially means that we're galvanizing the lower part of the game for those players who aren't at a high level already. In the last expansion pack we offer high level players lots of new content, but with Catacombs we want to offer everyone more stuff to enjoy. So there's more stuff across the board. That also closes up the ranks between the lower and higher level players, the casual and the hardcore. We found that people who could only fit in an hour here and there were falling too far behind players who were dedicating several hours a day. Those dedicated players will still achieve more in the game than casual players, but Catacombs will allow players who spend less time in the game the chance to keep playing with their friends, who might be at a much higher level.

1. The Sims 2 University Expansion Pack - Electronic Arts $34
   
2. World Of Warcraft - Vivendi Universal $50
   
3. The Sims 2 - Electronic Arts $49
   
4. Half-Life 2 - Vivendi Universal $47
   
5. The Sims Deluxe - Electronic Arts $20
   
6. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Ubisoft $49
   
7. Halo: Combat Evolved - Microsoft $30
   
8. Galaxy Of Games 350 JC - eGames $10
   
9. Brothers In Arms: Road To Hill 30 - Ubisoft $50
   
10. MS Zoo Tycoon 2 - Microsoft $34