Electronic Arts has unveiled a new DICE studio in Los Angeles, funnelling a bunch of staff from EALA/Danger Close into the new offices, along with "outside talent", and setting a staffing target to recruit 60 more people before the end of the year.

This week's Game Buzz kicks off with a look at Disney farming out the Star Wars licence to EA, and the hopes and fears that come with such an arrangement; we take a look at the Precursor Games crowdfunding push, and assess the messy tangle that has been the Silicon Knights saga; once again we find ourselves chatting about the Wii U, only it's not us ragging on Nintendo's machine this week, it's Avalanche; we touch upon the recent re-departure of Patrice Desilets from Ubisoft; and we look at the recent handbags between Activision and ShopTo.

Game Buzz | Episode 31 - Devil's Dance. Recorded 10th May, 2013.

Parental Advisory: We've tried to keep it as conversational and informal as possible, and you should be warned that there may be some instances of strong language.

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So the task of creating new gaming adventures from that galaxy far, far away has fallen to EA. To be fair to the company, they do have some sort of success in this area. SWTOR is not as much of a joke as some would have you believe, particularly in light of the recent financial report. EA misfired on the MMO, and it might have cost Riccitiello his job in the end, but the figures point to a turnaround since game took the freemium route.

But let us consider Star Wars simply as a tie-in licence for a moment, for really that is what it will represent to EA: a big name with a rabid fanbase, a large chunk of whom will probably buy into anything with those two words emblazoned on the box.

And as a publisher who handles licenced products and tie-ins, EA has always been synonymous with mediocrity.

EA has stated that none of its planned Star Wars titles will be emerging before April 2014.

Avalanche Studios are really the studio that Pandemic always wanted to be. Avalanche make incredibly fun, often deliciously OTT games like Just Cause 2.

And they came painfully close to brokering a deal with LucasArts that would have seen them make an enormous open world Star Wars title. Sounds awesome, right?

Let that sink in. Now remember that when it comes to Star Wars and video games, we're no longer allowed nice things.

EA has announced a new partnership with Disney, in an exclusive deal that will see the likes of BioWare, DICE, and Visceral Games creating new Star Wars titles for the next few years.

This week on the PWNCAST, Jon and Carl give their initial impressions of Defiance; we wax lyrical over Fire Emblem: Awakening and the notion of the 3DS as a must-have device due to its now-stellar lineup; and Matt goes bonkers and goes eBaying while drunk on nostalgia, leading to something of a Star Wars love-in.

PWNCAST | Season 3: Episode 12 - Saber Throw, Recorded: April 11th, 2013

Parental Advisory: We've tried to keep it as conversational and informal as possible, and you should be warned that there may be a few instances of strong language.

Click the banner at the top to play the file, or right click and select 'Save Link As' to download the file onto your hard drive.

Want more? Check out the rest of our PWNCAST posts onsite, hit us up on iTunes, or subscribe to the PWNCAST Feed here.

So LucasArts is no more. But let's be honest, will anyone really notice? In recent years, the studio once held in the highest of esteem for pioneering a golden age of adventure games, and (dare we say it) superlative licensed titles, has become a byword for everything wrong with the industry - once dominant hive of creativity laid low by quick-buck sequels, haemorrhaging talent, and shameless greed from the parent company overlords. We've had barely a peep out of the in-house development team in years, with a hands-off presentation of Star Wars 1313 last year and a vague leak surrounding Star Wars: First Assault the only hint of life behind those closed doors.

With that in mind, there's perhaps not much to lament with the news that Disney has called time on LucasArts' existence. However, to borrow the words of High Fidelity's Barry, is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great studio for their latter day sins?

Of course not. And those sins are the reason LucasArts is now defunct. But we should take a moment to remember some of the greatness that has borne the Gold Guy logo, and recall a time long ago, when LucasArts was synonymous with awesomeness...

Matt

I think of LucasArts and I think of two very separate things: Star Wars and adventure games. The former is a given, and remember this was back in the days when licensed games didn't have to suck as a rule. As a studio, they nailed wish fulfilment. We wanted to be crack pilots in the battle between the Rebels and the Empire, and the X-Wing series provided. We wanted to be a smuggler and a Jedi, and stepping into the boots of Kyle Katarn gave us that opportunity too. Dark Forces was my very first FPS, and I loved it. When LucasArts handed their license over in these early days, too, collaborations gave us Jedi Knight and KOTOR.

Star Wars 1313 In Jeopardy

Five months after their $4bn Lucas takeover, Disney has closed down LucasArts as a videogame developer and publisher. From here on out, Star Wars titles will be licensed out to other publishers and studios, while internally-developed Star Wars 1313 and First Strike have been left high and dry.

Though LucasArts arguably lost their way in recent years, we can't help but shed a tear for the company who brought us Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, TIE Fighter, Rogue Squadron and more. Details below.

"There's A Lot Of Different Eras In Star Wars"

Obsidian Entertainment, who developed Knights Of The Old Republic II back in the day, are apparently sitting on a pitch for a new Star Wars game and plans to approach Disney just as soon as the dust has settled.

...But No Decisions Made Just Yet

Disney unveiled their new cross-platform gaming universe last night with Disney Infinity - ostensibly a sandbox titles that looks to take the action-adventure and collectible-snaffling shenanigans of Skylanders and combine them with the content creation of games like Minecraft and LittleBigPlanet.

We learned yesterday that the launch in June will see Play Sets from the worlds of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, and Monsters University, with the presentation also showing off cameos from The Muppets, Aladdin, Toy Story, and The Nightmare before Christmas.

But what about larger, franchised acquisitions - Marvel and Star Wars to be precise?

Nintendo's recent announcement that Namco Bandai will be co-developing the next Super Smash Bros set our minds racing. With such an exciting precedent, backed up by the likes of Ni No Kuni from Level-5 and Studio Ghibli, Metroid: Other M from Team Ninja and XCOM: Enemy Unknown from Firaxis, what else could the best designers in our industry come up with if they were let loose on someone else's IP?

So, here we go. Blue sky thinking. No holds barred. So far outside the box that the box is a dot to us. Here are the ten (probably impossible) developer/franchise crossovers we want to happen, and why we feel that they're a match made in heaven.

10: Tomb Raider... By Naughty Dog

Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider reboot is certainly looking good, but it's also looking a lot like Uncharted. So why not let Naughty Dog loose on the IP? They've got the experience at creating visceral climbing and shooting rollercoasters in historical settings, not to mention populating their games with relatable action heroes and memorable villains. Go for it, I say.

9: Pokemon... By Hironobu Sakaguchi

I've come to realise that I need more from Pokemon in terms of storytelling and scope, and as far as I'm concerned, the collect 'em all framework could definitely support a stronger plot. Who better to take on the task than Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi, who co-designed Chrono Trigger and the original Final Fantasy? Time-travelling and dimension hopping would be a fantastic diversion, not to mention a great place to find new Pokemon.

If Mistwalker are unavailable, I'd also be happy to give the license to Grasshopper Manufacture. Suda51 would defnitely come up with some worrying Pokemon designs...

Actually Titled Star Wars 1313

Remember that shadowy game LucasArts teased in a journo invite? Well the cat's out of the bag, and it's been confirmed that the company are hard at work on a "mature" Star Wars 3rd-person action title.

What's that? You've always wanted to dip your toes into the waters of a Star Wars MMO but you've never fancied the idea of paying for it? We'll you're in luck, as this weekend LucasArts and BioWare are running another Weekend Pass to give newcomers a crack at runing and gunning in The Old Republic.

Duty Calls In Tamriel

There were two big, fat announcements last week - those of Black Ops 2 and The Elder Scrolls Online. This bank holiday weekend, we take a look at both announcements and discuss our hopes and fears regarding both. Elsewhere, we chat about starting out own convention, we gush about Morrowind as it turns 10, we discuss a few of our favourite Star Wars titles, and Jon suggests a new fandom day dedicated to the Empire.

PWNCAST | Season 1: Episode 12, Recorded: May 7th, 2012

Some of the things that get covered this week:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
• The Battle of the FPS B-Teams
• FPS smack talk
• The Elder Scrolls Online - Wishlist
• The Elder Scrolls Online - Response to the reality
• TESV: Dawnguard
• Morrowind
• Star Wars Day: Favourite Star Wars games

...and much, much more.

Parental Advisory: We've tried to keep it as conversational and informal as possible, and you should be warned that there may be quite a few instances of strong language.

Click below to play the file, or right click on the banner at the top, and select 'Save Link As' to download the file onto your hard drive.

Want more? Check out the rest of our PWNCAST posts onsite, hit us up on iTunes, or subscribe to the PWNCAST Feed here.

Despite Biggest Entertainment Opening Ever

Despite generating over 750 million dollars in just five days on release, shifting 6.5 million copies in the US and UK alone, the Call of Duty brand still can't hope to compete with the likes of Star Wars and Harry Potter. That's according to Stephen Cheliotis, chief executive of The Center for Brand Analysis, who believes the videogame market is over-saturated with military shooters, resulting in consumer confusion thus diluting brand recognition.

I remember being an avid reader of both PC Gamer and PC Zone back in the mid-90s, but it was a demo disc from the former back in 1995 that introduced me first to Kyle Katarn. Before BioWare had taken historical flights of fancy back in time and dug up Sith tales of Revan and Malak to show people how to do it, before a shaven-headed pouting teen had been tutored and cloned by Mr. Vader, LucasArts used to make good Star Wars games. No, really.

And this was one of them.

It was something of a golden age for a fledgling genre known as the first person shooter. id Software's excellent double whammy of Wolfenstein (1992) and Doom (1993) gave rise to an enromous wave of copycats, most of which did nothing to advance the formula. But there were a few who stepped away from cloned mediocrity and basic key-hunting to actually further the genre.

Marathon, as Jon noted a couple of weeks back, was one such game. Bungie's pioneering FPS was the first game to use free-look but, being a Mac-only title, it's impact was rather ignored by the PC crowd. We didn't really get proper mouselook until Terminator: Future Shock, although Ultima Underworld and System Shock gave it a damn good shot. Dark Forces, however, did stand slightly apart from the regular Doom clones in that you were able to look up and down, the 3D aiming was somewhat improved, you could crouch and swim and the level design and puzzle-platforming elements were deeper than simply running around and fetching keys. The original idea was actually to create a 3D adventure game title (LucasArts were having particular success in that department), and so the idea was to try and introduce more puzzle elements, switches, vertical level design and platforming opportunities and it's clear to see even to this day that there's a big difference in how Dark Forces plays compared to the combat-focused action of id's trendsetter.

If ever there was a mod that could get me to fork out a load of money to assemble a rig and switch to playing Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on the PC, rather than my Xbox, it'd be this one because it looks awesome! The premise is simple, it's Modern Warfare, only in a galaxy far far away!

May the 4th be with you! Yes, it's Star Wars day and, after that thoroughly disappointing Blu-ray publicity crash-and-burn that had thousands being directed to the X-Men First Class trailer, it's time to stop whining about the unremarkable news and start reminiscing about what made us love the series in the first place. Tom already put together a Star Wars top ten last year, but with the nature of such lists being all subjective and whatnot, I figured it might be a good idea to pick out five of the forgotten gems from the past couple of decades and highlight a handful of Star Wars games that could use a re-release or a reboot.

Honourable Mention - Star Wars: Rebel Assault

Nintendo seem to have adopted a recent strategy of bringing previously uncool things back into fashion (augmented reality games, fitness titles), and the Wii provided a new lease of life for the rail-shooter genre. Some were still relatively unassuming (Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles), others provided a fresh take on existing franchises (House of the Dead: Overkill, Dead Space: Extraction). Under these circumstances, one might have expected and anticipated a return for Rebel Assault.

...though unfortunately the first game was woeful.

Star Wars: Rebellion

I know what you're thinking. A large chunk of you will think I've gone mad choosing this over Galactic Battlegrounds, but that's where you're wrong. I love that game, it's the only one that does ground combat at all well, but that's not really the point. Rebellion wins  out here just because there are very few games like it around these days. In many ways it's akin to the tactical, diplomatic parts of the Total War series - the Football Manager to Galactic Battleground's Sensible Soccer. It's strategy writ large, echoing the gameplay of Master of Orion more than any of its strategically-minded namesakes.

As an RTS fan I like mixing it up on a more hands-on level, but Rebellion provided something different, something rather more tactical. Instead of single units, you amassed fleets. Instead of taking over bases, you took over sectors. Instead of building construction yards (well, you could pretty much still do that), you could build a Death Star. And a fully operational one at that. it deserves a reboot, or at least a re-release. GOG, I'm looking at you. pretty please?

He combines elements of some of the best Star Wars characters, starting off life as a humble farm hand like Luke Skywalker, eventually becoming a hired gun like Han Solo, looking a hell of a lot like Obi Wan Kenobi, and last but not least becoming a valued asset to the Jedi Order. If you've not guessed by now, or haven't seen the title of this article, I am of course talking about Kyle Katarn.

Now, on first glance, it's hard to imagine that Kyle would become the beacon of light that we know and love, seeing as he enrolled in the Imperial Academy following a Rebel attack during which his parents were killed and he became filled with hatred, uh oh dark side warning! He went on to shine in the Imperial Special Operations department, and began supervising missions against the Rebellion. His success in one such operation even earned him the Imperial Medal Of Valour.

Luckily Kyle eventually wised up, thanks to his pilot and love interest Jan Ors, who just so happened to be a double agent working for the Alliance and revealed to Kyle that it was actually the Empire who was responsible for his parents' early demise. When Jan was discovered by the Empire, Katarn helped her to escape thus ending his Imperial career, and kick starting his freelance mercenary work, the majority of which involved spying for the Rebellion.