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KoTOR Press Visit By Tom Ohle Nov 21, 2002 Mmmm… press visit. This past Tuesday, a dozen writers from a dozen different publications descended upon our Edmonton office to get a detailed look at the Xbox version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. A number of folks from LucasArts also made their way up here to help out with demos and to give us a hand in entertaining the journalists! A few of us gathered on Monday evening at O'Byrne's, a local pub, to chat a bit about the industry and the day of gaming goodness ahead of us. Good times and good food, but it was getting late, and we had a relatively early start the next morning; we headed back to our sleeping places and caught some shut-eye. On Tuesday morning, the journalists and LucasArts staff rolled into the BioWare offices. For a couple hours, Casey Hudson (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Project Director and Producer) and Mike Gallo (LucasArts Producer) offered a live, hands-on demo of the game. Journalists were treated to several of the game's levels, including Tatooine, Taris, and the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk. Also shown were a few of the game's cinematic sequences, offering a look at some of the transition movies that play when the player moves from one planet to another. Around 1pm, we broke for lunch in the mighty BioWare rec room. Surrounded by foosball tables, everyone enjoyed a balanced diet of pizza and Thai food; a combination fit for gods. Throughout the lunch hour, people discussed the game, their jobs, and a plethora of other topics. Once everyone had had their fill of the various delicious dishes in the rec room, it was time to get back to the game! This time around, the journalists were given the opportunity to get some hands-on time with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. They played through a substantial part of one of the levels, which showed off various aspects of the game: the ability to make dark-side and light-side decisions; the party system, utilizing the main character and two party members; combat; the game's visuals, and more. While half of the group was running through the game, the other half had the opportunity to chat with Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, as well as Mike Gallo and Casey Hudson. The festivities at the office wrapped up around 4 o'clock, at which point the journalists headed back to their hotel to get ready for the last part of the trip: the Edmonton Oilers vs. Chicago Blackhawks hockey game! We had two skyboxes rented for the game, full of crab cakes, shrimp, hot dogs, cola, and beer! In a fast-paced game that featured no fights whatsoever, the Oilers prevailed 3-1. LucasArts' resident Blackhawks fan, Mike Gallo, was jeered incessantly by one certain BioWare employee (I'll give you a hint… it was me). Once we got back to the hotel, a few of us-including our Joint-CEO Greg Zeschuk-headed yet again to O'Byrne's for some drinks and snacks. It was fun, but whoever it was that came up with the idea to start doing shots needs a swift kick in the butt! Let's just say I didn't feel overly good on Wednesday. Not overly good at all. All in all, I think everyone had a pretty good time. They got to check out the game, visit an unusually balmy Edmonton, and take in an Oilers game. Watch the web and various magazines for previews of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic!
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