A beta patch for Star Wars Battlefront is now available, updating Pandemic's multiplayer shooter to version 1.3. The update unlocks the frame rate, and offers several netcode related improvements. Thanks 3D Gamers.

GameSpot has posted a first look at Star Wars Battlefront 2, which they say should be officially announced soon. The multiplayer shooter sequel (again in development at Pandemic Studios) will feature new gameplay modes, more locations to fight in, Jedi combatants, Episode 3 content and more. Also mentioned several times in the article is that fan feedback has been used to improve various parts of the game. Six screenshots are included, and there's also a developer video interview.

Battlefront 2's gameplay modes will feature some fan-requested tweaks, as well as offer a deeper, more narrative-focused single-player campaign. Furthermore, it will add to the already robust online multiplayer mode of its predecessor. The single-player game will offer open-ended mission-based objectives that will obviously owe a thing or two to the six Star Wars films. The game will have a broader feel thanks to the different approach Pandemic is taking toward the planets you'll fight on. Whereas the planets in the first game had multiple maps set on different parts of the world, Battlefront 2's 12 planets will only offer one map each, providing more variety overall. Expect to see some planets taken from Episode III, such as the crater world of Utapau (General Grievous' hideout) and the volcanic lava world of Mustafar (where Anakin gets the skin peel of a lifetime).

LucasArts has released an update for the US version of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, updating the game to v1.0b. The patch adds support for the Intel i915 chipset, adds Opo Chano voice lines and also fixes several game bugs. Thanks Blues.

The first Star Wars Galaxies: Rage of the Wookiees development diary has been posted at GameSpot. In the opening installment, concept artist Arnie Jourgenson writes about the creation of the planet of Kashyyyk for the expansion pack.

GameSpot had an unusual Sunday update, offering impressions of the new Star Wars Galaxies expansion pack Rage of the Wookiees. The article touches on the new items, new areas and additional space quests.

MMORPG.com has a Rage of the Wookiees Q&A, asking Sony Online Entertainment producer Dallas Dickenson about this Star Wars Galaxies expansion pack. Topics include the world of Kashyyyk, additional content for Wookiee player characters, new species, Episode 3 content appearing in the game, combat, asteroid mining and more. Thanks Blues.

GameSpot has a story up about Star Trek Online, offering some more info on this MMORPG in development at Perpetual Entertainment. They recently saw a sneak preview of the game and talked to lead designer Glen Dahlgren about it.

LucasArts has opened their Star Wars Galaxies: Rage of the Wookiees product page, offering the first few screenshots from the upcoming expansion pack.

IGN has first details on Rage of the Wookiees, the second expansion pack for Star Wars Galaxies. Due out in May, the expansion adds content related to Episode 3 which will be in theaters the same month. There will be a hundred new missions on the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk, players will be able to mine asteroids in every space zone (a new mining-specific ship is being added), and SOE is also adding the Jedi Starfighter II.

Over at the Star Wars Galaxies Vault you can find a new Q&A with Gordon Walton, who heads the Austin studio of Sony Online Entertainment. The questions and answers are about recently announced changes to the game.

Patches for the international versions (no U.S. patch yet) of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 are now available, though it's not known what the 1.94mb download fixes.

In the Home Stretch is a development diary of sorts on GameSpy, as Obsidian producer Chris Parker writes about the final days of debugging and testing Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords for the PC.

GameSpy is the latest site with a preview of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, which is due out on the PC soon. The preview offers an overview of what the game is all about, and doesn't just cover the PC changes. There is also a Q&A about the game at Xequted.

IGN has their own preview of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, taking the PC version for a spin. New media is indlued as well.

GameSpot has a new Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords preview, checking out the PC port of Obsidian Entertainment's RPG sequel.

GameSpot has a new Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Q&A, asking producer Mike Gallo about the upcoming PC version of the RPG sequel.

Following the release of the updated dedicated server, new patches are now available for Star Wars Battlefront updating Pandemic's multiplayer shooter to v1.2. Though now 170mb instead of 60mb, the patch does not include new content but only some balancing changes and some bug fixes.

An updated version of the Star Wars: Battlefront dedicated server has been released, with a client patch probably following shortly as the new release supports the Jabba's Palace bonus map.

1UP has posted the first online preview of Empire At War, the new Star Wars strategy game from LucasArts and Petroglyph (ex-Westwood guys). Set after the events of Episode 3, the game is all about a large battle for the galaxy, fought on more than 20 planets.

You start with a few planets under your control and work to expand your sphere of influence. It sounds simple enough, like stuff that's been done in strategy games countless times before, but instead of a rudimentary, linear campaign in which you wage one battle at a time to progress the story, Empire at War's campaign is much more dynamic, with everything you do impacting the next battle. That's why we're excited. Most of what we saw in a demo of the pre-alpha code focused on how the combat sequence works. So, the best way to dive into this is to take a quick walk through the chain of events that make up the flow of combat. On a large galaxy map, you see all the planets that you'll be fighting over. Besides the obvious additional income (which we'll get to later), there are specific secondary incentives to own a planet [...]

Screenshots can be found here.

LucasArts has released the Star Wars: Battlefront level editing tools, allowing people who feel like downloading 410mb to create their own custom content for the game. The release is unsupported.