Club Jade

The Old Republic: IGN has story details and an interview with art director Jeff Dobson while Tom Nichols of LucasArts tells Eurogamer that Galaxies will continue, and the new MMO may make the jump to consoles.

• Soul Calibur IV: You can now download Vader and Yoda (each version of the game only comes with one or the other) for your game.

• Shocker: George Lucas has never played World of Warcraft. Well, it’s not a movie, and he doesn’t own it, so… Yeah.

So outside of that whole duel mode thing, it seems that you can play as Mara Jade using the code MARAJADE. More cheats at IGN.

Meanwhile, you can learn how to unlock Starkiller in Soulcalibur IV over at the official site.

• Gaming: Gamers can now get their hands on The Force Unleashed demo – an early level of the game that takes place at a TIE Fighter Construction Facility – from either Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network.

• Comic: StarWars.com has an original comic, Visions of the Blade, that ties into both Soul Calibur IV and The Force Unleashed. It’s illustrated by Tom Hodges.
• Interview: The EUCast has a Cantina Chat with author Drew Karpyshyn.

• Travel: InformationWeek’s top vacation spots for geeks features several locations of interest to Star Wars fans, while the S.F. Travel Examiner stays close to home with One Letterman Drive.

• Art: Or, cheapest of all – io9 featured some of Big Rock Ranch’s art today. But come on, guys… Isn’t all Star Wars art inherently cheesy?
• Exhibits: Where Science Meets Imagination’s Minnesota stay has been extended through August 27th. Best go soon if you haven’t already – who know when (or if) it’ll pop up again.
• Box office: The Dark Knight continues it’s climb towards Star Wars domestic record, netting $400.04 million domestically last weekend.
• Gaming: Lego Star Wars has sold 15 million units; Soulcaliber IV is shipping two million.

Honors: The International Association of Media Tie-in Writers has named Star Wars vet Alan Dean Foster their second Grandmaster. Foster was the first novelist to tackle the franchise, ghost-writing the novelization of Star Wars as well as (under his own name) the first original novel, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. He returned to the GFFA in 2002 with The Approaching Storm. (via)

• Interviews: AM New York talks to author Karen Traviss, who’ll be in town this evening on her The Clone Wars book tour, while EUC nabbed artist Dustin Weaver.

• Gaming: Yoda and Darth Vader trash-talking in Penny Arcade.
• RPG: WOTC’s relaunch of the roleplaying game is up for four ENnies, including Best Game and Product of the Year.
• Comics: StarWars.com has the first look at Dark Horse’s Rise of the Sith omnibus.

• The massive dump of tie-ins for The Clone Wars is nearly upon us, and the official site has a quick peek at The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide.

• So much is coming out Saturday that we may actually be overdosed by August 5, but if you still crave more there’s always Star Wars Insider #103.
• And finally, take a short Clone Wars-free break with an interview with director Katsutoshi Sasaki about Soulcalibur IV and how Vader, Yoda, and the secret apprentice came to join the madness.

We saw the American ones back in March, but the Japanese versions spotted by Kotaku are a bit more heavy on the Star Wars. The game’s Japanese release date is July 31.

Gamespot is reporting that the secret apprentice from The Force Unleashed (aka Starkiller) will be joining Vader and Yoda in Soul Calibur IV – on both versions of the game.

While we’re on the subject, io9 has some pics and a trailer with footage of Vader and Yoda.

Kotaku isn’t particularly impressed, and neither am I, thanks in part to the fairly disturbing fight sounds from Vader’s opponent. Gamers, your thoughts?

(Fair warning: The high res isn’t that high res.)

• Comics: Two more previews at DarkHorse.com: Legacy #23 and a Clone Wars photo comic. (That’s Tartakovsky Clone Wars – but can they call it a photo comic if there are no photos?)

• Gaming: Catch up with the latest The Force Unleashed and SoulCalibur IV news over at GameTrailers.com.
• Fandom: The TFN boards are wrapping up National RetCon Week.