Microsoft’s confirmed Kinect Star Wars and the limited edition ‘R2-D2′ Xbox 360 will release in the UK on April 3 for £39.99 and £349.99 respectively.

The Xbox 360 exclusive was originally due to be released as part of Microsoft’s Christmas 2011 line-up, but it was delayed in order to achieve its “full potential,” according to Microsoft.

In addition to the previously announced Jedi, Podracing and Rancor modes, LucasArts has today confirmed new additions to the game, including:

• New experiences within Jedi Destiny Mode, including:
  • Space battles: As you travel the Galaxy to face an evil that threatens to undermine the fabric of the Republic, you’ll engage with forces of the Empire in intense space battles
  • Speeder Bikes and Landspeeders: Pilot iconic Speeder Bikes and Landspeeders on your epic journey
  • New duels: Battle opponents like Count Dooku and Darth Vader on your journey to become a Jedi
• New Duels of Fate mode, a battle-by-battle experience to sharpen your Jedi skills against the Dark Side.
• New Galactic Dance Off mode loaded with Star Wars-themed pop tunes where those still honing their Jedi skills can take a break to battle Darth Vader on the dance floor or bust a move “Solo style.”

Yes, you read that correctly – Galactic Dance Off mode. Now, let us all erase it from our minds and focus on the sexy Xbox.

The limited edition console bundle also features a C-3PO unlockable for Dance Mode, says Microsoft.

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I have been fighting on behalf of the Sith Empire for a week now, and in that time I have come to appreciate certain things. Without wanting to catch too much backlash for this, I have to say that those things almost all fall into the “I am glad this isn’t like WoW“, or “I am glad this is the same as WoW” categories. It is a simple fact of life that for the next few years at least, just as they have for the past few years, all MMOs will be compared to the Blizzard model. To not do so would be ridiculous, akin to not comparing a new tablet to an iPad, or a new D-SLR to neither Nikon nor Canon. So, please forgive me when I cite Warcraft in the below list, it is purely for reference.

And so I give 10 ten things that you should probably familiarise yourself with when you first step into the galaxy far, far away.

1. Don’t expect to see Luke Skywalker or Boba Fett anywhere. The Old Republic is set over 3,500 years before the events depicted in the films, which makes for a refreshing backdrop. However, you can certainly see familiar styles and technologies.

2. You need to pick sides. In this wide ranging conflict, you can opt to side with either the Galactic Republic, or the Sith Empire, in a classic goodies vs. baddies storyline.

3. Once you have chosen, you get to select your class and race. Race is certainly less important than it is in other MMOs, but your class is what will define your playstyle and role in the game. If you want to be life-saving healer, go with a Jedi Consular for example. Or if you prefer to rain fiery explosive destruction on your enemies, pick a Bounty Hunter. Each side has four classes to choose from.

4. Each class then has two advanced classes that you get to choose from when you reach level 10. This is what determines the exact roles that your character will fulfil in the game. A Sith Warrior, for example, gets to choose between Marauder and Juggernaut advanced classes. The former is purely focussed on damage, whereas the latter is more designed for a tanking role. Choose carefully, because this cannot be undone.

5. You can be a bad Jedi, or a cheery bounty hunter. Even once you have settled on a side, your choices in the game will affect your overall morality. When you interact with NPCs (non-player characters) in the TOR universe, you will usually be given a selection of responses to their questions. Sometimes, your response will result in an overall increase or decrease in your moral compass. Consistent bad behaviour will eventually earn you a Dark Side ranking. These rankings can then be used to unlock specific pieces of equipment and armour. They can also have an impact on how future NPCs deal with you.

6. Make good use of your companion. At around level nine you will pick up a companion. Like a hunter’s pet in WoW, your companion can tank for you, or do some damage, or even heal you. Unlike your lazy pet, however, your TOR companion can also sell off your junk items, gather materials, craft items, and be sent off on a variety of missions. No longer do you have to traipse around looking for nodes to mine or flowers to pick, instead what you have is a very simple people management mini-game. If you aren’t used to MMOs then you probably won’t appreciate this feature so much, but for those who have spent 100 hours fishing in a game, it will seem like a godsend.

7. Group up. Like every other MMO out there, TOR has areas that are intended for groups of players working together. These will range from two to four player sections, including companions, and could be just a single room in a building, or an entire section of story. These Flashpoints, as they are known, can be repeated as many times as you like, and will start to appear as early as level six or seven for some players.

8. Join up. To make it easier to find other players for Flashpoints, it is advisable to join a guild on your server. These groups of players have their own dedicated chat channels and other benefits. You can also group up with others to do regular quests, and having some regular partners for this certainly helps your social experience of the game.

9. Master the controls. This couldn’t be simpler for an experienced player of WoW or other MMOs, since almost all of the default controls are identical. You still use B to open your inventory, you still use tab to change target, and you still use spacebar to jump. If you aren’t familiar with the controls, you can go into options and look at the key bindings. These can be easily changed to suit your style.

10. Have fun! This is undoubtedly the most important thing I could say about this or any other game. TOR is meant to be fun, and if you aren’t having enough of it, you aren’t playing the right game. Yes, at times it will be frustrating. Yes, you will encounter other players who are total jerks. But as long as every time you log off you were pleased you logged on, then it is all worth it.

So there we go, a brief list of what I think are the key points for any new player. If you want more information, then I can heartily recommend both Torhead and Darth Hater websites for all your reference needs. If you want a great podcast, then look no further than The Instance: The Old Republic Edition. And if you want to join me for some Sith-based fun, look up Splats on the Flames of the Crucible EU server.

May the Force be with you!

Follow Sam Sheppard on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheSamSheppard

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Traditional family fun appears to have gone out of the window this Christmas.

Not only did thousands give up Boxing Day to go shopping, but more than 1m gaming fans apparently spent the festive season signing up for Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR).

The massively-multiplayer online game (MMO) reported today that it snared its first 1m users in just three days after its 20 December launch.

Those stats mean that the game, which allows players to play as Jedi and Sith lords in an enormous online world, is now the fastest-growing MMO in history – technically beating established foes including Warcraft.

Since its launch the 1m players inside SWTOR have racked up a total of 60m game-hours, publisher Electronic Arts reported. That’s equivalent to watching the six Star Wars films back-to-back about 4m times.

More than 260m quests have already been completed, and 3 billion enemies vanquished.

“We view the early success of Star Wars as an indication of a healthy MMO market,” said Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian in a note released on Tuesday according to Gamasutra.

“While there is likely some shifting of usage from Activision’s World of Warcraft, we see a viable market for multiple million-user MMOs in the U.S. and Europe.”

SWTOR is a subscription-based online game, and prices start at £8.99 per month in the UK.

Over the launch weekend hundreds of people joined in a lightsabre-themed flashmob in Times Square. Take a look below.

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There’s no score at the end of this review. Even though we’ve been playing The Old Republic for 30 hours (and counting), giving a definitive verdict is basically impossible at this stage. But what we can do is tell you whether it’s worth playing it or not.

Even if you’ve never played an MMO before, or fear the very idea of them, you might be surprised by BioWare’s take on the genre. We’ll be playing the game all over the Christmas break, so will return in January with a score. For now, here’s what we think.

People play MMOs for a lot of different reasons. Some are compelled by loot and leveling, others by playing the numbers and exploiting the system. Some are in it for PVP, others for raiding with friends.

But nobody plays an MMO because they want to get immersed in a rich story – and that’s where Star Wars: The Old Republic comes in. It’s everything you expect from a modern online RPG, but with a few crucial differences: the addition of a meaningful plot arc for each class, moral choices and full voice acting.

The game weighs in at a lumbering 25gb, and it’s clear why within minutes of playing. Every quest, no matter how inconsequential, has a number of dialogue options, and every character – including your own – has a voice. The quality of the writing and acting varies, but it gives you one important thing: motivation.

In other MMOs, quests often feel like pointless errands. The Old Republic’s are, structurally, no different, but by book-ending each one with a plot with multiple outcomes, every objective – no matter how mundane – feels like it serves a purpose.

Talking point

The dialogue system is pure BioWare; think Mass Effect or Dragon Age. As you talk to NPCs you’re given three ways to respond, each of which steers the conversation in a different direction. Your choices also affect your standing with the light and dark sides of the Force, which fans of the Knights of the Old Republic games will appreciate.

Don’t expect a quest system that completely rewrites the MMO rule book. It’s still essentially killing and collecting, but the story really does bring it to life. Quests often have humorous or unexpected outcomes, and the class-specific missions offer a constant, running story that’s genuinely compelling. It also means you can comfortably play the game solo without being numbed by boredom.

Convnience is another thing The Old Republic brings to the table. Whether it’s something as simple as the ‘area loot’ option, which automatically loots all nearby fallen enemies at once, or the ability to send your companions on errands, like collecting materials or crafting items. There’s still busywork, but less of it – and if you really don’t want to delegate to your crew, you can do it all yourself.

But let’s rewind. Your first, and most important, choice is what class you’re going to be – and whether you’ll side with the Republic (the good guys), or the Empire (the not-good guys). Here’s a breakdown of the classes for each side, and the different types of gameplay each one offers.

First up, the Sith Empire.

SITH INQUISITOR

Starting planet Korriban | Advanced classes Sith Assassin, Sith Sorcerer | Races Human, Rattataki, Sith, Twi’lek, Zabrak | Personal ship Fury-class Imperial Interceptor

Basically a mage. They can use lightsabers, but their specialisation is in the Force. They can fry enemies with powerful lightning, trap enemies in whirlwinds and sacrifice their companion for a health boost.

SITH WARRIOR

Starting planet Korriban | Advanced classes Sith Marauder, Sith Juggernaut | Races Cyborg, Human, Sith, Zabrak | Personal ship Fury-class Imperial Interceptor

The Empire’s tanks. They’re best at wading into groups of enemies with their lightsabers, protected by heavy armour. They can also dual-wield lightsabers if they opt for the Marauder advanced class.

IMPERIAL AGENT

Starting planet Hutta | Advanced classes Operative, Sniper| Races Chiss, Cyborg, Human, Rattataki, Zabrak | Personal ship X-70B Phantom

These guys use tech and stealth to defeat enemies. They can take cover, use portable shields, and score critical hits by sniping. Later, they’re able to poison foes and use bots to increase health regen.

BOUNTY HUNTER

Starting planet Hutta | Advanced classes Powertech, Mercenary | Races Chiss, Cyborg, Human, Rattataki, Zabrak | Personal ship D5-Mantis Patrol Craft

Bounty Hunters also favour tech, but combine it with brute strength and heavy weapons. They can torch enemies with flamethrowers, toss wide area explosives and fly with their trademark jetpack.

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That too-awesome-for-words Star Wars-themed Xbox 360 you’d swap a limb for will be out in Spring, if new rumours prove accurate.

The machine was officially confirmed back in June but has since gone AWOL, held back by the delay of the accompanying Star Wars Kinect game.

The title was previously listed for release in “holiday 2011,” but has now been pushed back by MS in order to achieve its “full potential.” No new date for the game or console has been announced.

But Kotaku has today reported being told by ‘a source’ that the console is being lined up for a Spring release. That, we assume, points to a date for the game too.

In addition, the site posted a photo (pictured) of the console being used on the set of a ‘popular network television show’ due to air in February.

So they are out there. You just can’t have one yet.

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Admit it: when you woke up this morning, one of the many, many, many things you didn’t expect to see on your computer screen was a bearded dragon playing a phone game called “Ant Crusher”, now was it?

But there you have it, that’s just what happened. All thanks to the weird and wonderful world that is the internet.

Well, the internet and YouTube user “ThatSpecialGuy”, whose love of Bearded Dragons and playing games that involve crushing ants have combined beautifully to produce this utterly endearing viral video.

Thinking about it, game designer Judith Weberman couldn’t have hoped for a better market campaign, even if she’d paid for it, with the video already nudging towards the 500,000 views mark just a week since it was first uploaded.

A relatively unknown game – compared to the likes of Angry Birds, at any rate – “Ant Crusher” is produced by iTech Developers, and if your interest has been piqued by this unwitting advert for the game, you can buy it on iTunes here.

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BioWare has released another one of its most tantilising character progression videos, this time for the Sith Inquisitor.

BioWare recently confirmed that a massive 2 million fans have volunteered to take part in the beta tests for BioWare’s much-hyped MMO.

“The game itself has a huge pre-existing fan base. We had about 2.4 million people register for the Star Wars fan site, over 2 million of which volunteered to do [beta] testing for free,” said EA CFO Eric Brown earlier this week.

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