Sony Online Entertainment announced today that a free-to-play game based on Cartoon Network’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars is currently under development by the studio that’s given gamers Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, and some game you might have heard of before, called EverQuest. Titled Clone Wars Adventures, it’s a new MMO that will offer both free and subscription-based models, and will be out this fall on the PC.

“Clone Wars Adventures is the ultimate destination for fans of The Clone Wars series and will bring the action and excitement of the show to players online so they can experience The Clone Wars universe firsthand" said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. "We’ve worked with LucasArts and Lucasfilm to create a virtual world that is seamlessly integrated with the TV series and a true extension of the show. It’s also just flat-out fun to play."

With Clone Wars Adventures a new generation of Star Wars fans can become the next great hero of the Republic and take their rightful place alongside the Jedi, Padawan and Clone Troopers.  Players can speed through space in a starfighter, take out waves of battle droids in Tower Defense or test their brains with challenging Droid Programming puzzles.  Players can also purchase legendary Star Wars outfits, items and accessories through micro-transactions using Station Cash, SOE’s virtual currency.

Features:

• Extend the Fantasy: Kids no longer have to wait until the next exciting episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated TV series to continue exploring and enjoying the Star Wars universe.  With Clone Wars Adventures, kids can go online to experience exciting thrills as you duel iconic adversaries with your own custom lightsaber, speed through the galaxy in your starfighter, defeat enemies and take down starships.  Adventure online to discover your destiny!
• Play Free or Upgrade: Clone Wars Adventures is a free-to-play game, but players who want to take the galactic action to the next level can purchase a monthly membership.  Players can also buy cool Star Wars universe items from within the game through micro-transactions using Station Cash.
• Minigames & More: From Droid Programming to Speeder Bike Racing, Clone Wars Adventures puts you in the driver seat to experience epic action in immersive minigames that take you to your favorite locations in the galaxy.  Become the proud owner of a tricked out Droid pet or throw a party in your player house – the fun is endless!
• Fun With Friends: Whether you are on adventures with old friends or competing for leaderboard status with new ones, Clone Wars Adventures is a lively virtual world that connects players in fun and safe ways.  Show off your achievements in your Trophy Room, use safe chat and emoticons to express yourself and celebrate in-world events with the entire galaxy!
• Embedded Card Game: Clone Wars Adventures card battles lets players pit a variety of fun characters, creatures and vehicles from The Clone Wars television show against one another in a unique, fast-paced combat similar to the gameplay styles of traditional games such as War and Concentration.
• Kid-Friendly: Parental controls allow for the customization of safety options, including pre-canned chat and playtime settings for younger players.

LucasArts and Traveler’s Tales embark upon another noble space quest in LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, the latest LEGO-themed game announced today.

It’ll be based on the popular cartoon program, which is a highly-stylized bridge between the events of the films “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith,” and if it follows in the now normative trend of excellence, we can expect a hilarious fun time in the impending adventure.

“LucasArts continues to set the bar for next-generation family entertainment,” said Darrell Rodriguez, president of LucasArts. “The LEGO Star Wars franchise is a massive hit with fans, bringing in sales of over 20 million units worldwide. We’re thrilled to extend this experience to LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, delivering the humor and fun players expect from this award winning franchise.”

The game will feature all the characters you know and love from the television show and follow the events of the first two seasons, as well as introduce a new level builder as well head-to-head combat moves and more bells and whistles to be announced later.

What’s interesting about this one, as opposed to other LEGO-based titles, is that this game will be built off a franchise whose characters are already cartoon and stylized. How will that transition work? Your guess is as good as mine.

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars comes to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, DS, PSP, Wii and PC at a to-be-determined date this Fall.

“I’m not homeless yet.”

It’s‚ a fairly low-key way to express the kind of professional success illustrator Grant Gould is experiencing.

Recently hired by Lucasfilm Ltd., Gould is part of a team that’s‚ working on The Clone Wars online web comics. Released in tandem with the television show, the comics will supplement the plots and characters found in the weekly episodes.

Star Wars fans are no stranger to Gould’s work. His art can be found all over the official site as well as illustrations and “How to Draw” tutorials, as well as on the Topps Revenge of the Sith Artist Sketch card series.

Gould thanks fellow artist >Tom Hodges, who is also working on the online Clone Wars comic, for his start in professional illustration in 2004. Hodges, who was working on an online strip for Hyperspace, a section of StarWars.com, told Gould about the opportunity to draw for the Topps series. As a fan of the Star Wars saga, Gould jumped at the chance to work on such a well known story.

“I enjoy drawing characters that people are familiar with, but giving them my own spin,” he said in a recent interview with Blast.

With his first professional illustrating job under his belt, Gould continued to work on other projects such as trading card sets for many popular comics and television series along with personal commissions.

“So I knew I had to make a decision — start cutting back on the illustration jobs, or quit my day job and try my hand at fulltime freelance illustration,” Gould said. “I guess I figured I’m still young enough where if I completely screw up, no harm, no foul — at least I can say I tried it out.”

“I took my chances and quit my day job, and dove headfirst into the scary world of fulltime freelance.”

Scary for many reasons,‚ not the smallest of which was the fact that Gould had little formal training and education in illustration.

“In college (Brown College in Minnesota) I had a few classes on ‘life drawing’ and such, but I would say for the most part I’m self-taught … Illustration is like any skill in that the more you do it, the more you learn and the better you get.”

Gould has had many informal‚ chances to learn, as well. “In high school, I was the guy who would draw silly cartoons and doodle Ninja Turtles in my notebooks.”

Gould was a graphic designer for about seven years and drawing in his free time before turning his attentions to illustrating full time. “I think anatomy books and tutorial books helped a lot, too, in my younger years,” he said.

Finally, Gould recognizing that the skill of observation as helped his artwork a lot. “Watching how people move, studying body shapes and faces (both in real life and in cartoons and movies), and really noticing how things fit together — I think all of it contributes to how I draw.”

And how he draws has gotten him where he is today.

“Now that I’m working on the Clone Wars online comic, it feels like I’ve graduated and am getting to play with the big boys,” Gould said.‚ He’s currently also working on a comic of his own. “I wrote and drew my own creator-owned graphic novel, and it’s coming out this November.” Wolves of Odin, as the name implies, focuses on Norse mythology with a bit of the supernatural thrown in.

“It’s genuinely exciting to wake up and work on something that you love…I think Young Grant would be very happy to see where I’m at today in my career.”

After all, he’s still not homeless.

George Lucas just needs to stop.

With “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” Lucas has set a new low for milking a series until it’s worthless. While the recent episodes one through three of the Star Wars saga were not the greatest pieces of film literature (Lucas even admitted in interviews that he rushed episodes one and two so he could work on three), they were still fun and profitable. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” was mediocre but charming, and made the money that its inevitable sequel probably won’t, but it was still Harrison Ford and therefore fun. “Clone Wars” has no such saving grace.

Sure it was a film marketing towards kids, but movies such as “WALL-E” have taught us that kids movies can be for adults too. “Clone Wars” dialogue consisted of bad one-liners and nicknames such as “Skyguy” for Anakin Skywalker and “Are-twoey” for R2-D2. Plus there was the five-minute-long plot and Jabba the Hutt’s flamboyantly feminine uncle Zero (somehow Jabba managed to have a son and an uncle when Hutts are asexual in the Star Wars universe, but we won’t get into that).

Watching the action sequences felt like watching the CGI sequences of a (yes, Star Wars) video game, and not in a good way. Perhaps “Clone Wars” had once been intended to be a video game itself, but once Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee signed on to do their respective voices, Lucas had decided to just steal the video game footage and offer it to a wider, higher paying audience. Fortunately with games like “Star Wars: Force Unleashed” coming out, we have something to look forward to that hasn’t been done over three times.

As for fitting into the Star Wars universe, where did Anakin’s newfound “Clone Wars” apprentice Ahsoka between when “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” ended and “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” began? Maybe we’ll get a comic book strip or some webisodes drawing on a dead plot line for another 10 years.

The original “Star Wars” came out in 1977. The original “Indiana Jones” came out 1981. It’s been about three decades, Lucas. Go make something new.

The only reason “Clone Wars” gets half a star is because it’s Star Wars, not because it’s quality.