World of Warcraft for Star Wars Nerds

Remember playing Star Wars as a kid? In my neighborhood we’d blast the Star Wars LP through someone’s window and pretend to be Luke, Leia and Han Solo in the backyard. But now we’ll all be able to live our Star Wars fantasies without ever having to leave the apartment. Or wear pants!

The hugely anticipated massively-multiplayer online game, “Star Wars: The Old Republic” is possibly the most ambitious video game of all time. Publisher Electronic Arts is spending more money developing “The Old Republic” than any other game in the company’s history. Between EA and developer BioWare the budget is estimated at over $100 million dollars.

The game is part of an existing comic book and video game series, “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic,” which takes place thousands of years before the events in the beloved films. In “The Old Republic,” players choose to be Jedi, Sith, or a number of other “Star Wars”-related character-types. The game is story-driven, so the choices a player makes throughout the game define his or her own story and path to good or evil.

“The Old Republic” is seen by many as EA’s attempt at creating a “World of Warcraft”-killer. “Warcraft,” a long-running, insanely popular online game with an estimated 12 million subscribers, generates a tantalizing stream of continual revenue. Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision (owner of “Warcraft” publisher Blizzard), says he’s not worried, mainly because “Warcraft” players are a pretty dedicated crew. Clearly, he’s never been to a Star Wars convention. Spending four days in a latex Admiral Ackbar mask – that’s dedication.

And now, the bad news: publisher Electronic Arts just announced that “Star Wars: The Old Republic” – first announced in 2008 – won’t be available until April 2011. Plenty of time to dig out those mangled old Kenner action figures for one last plastic battle on Tatooine.