Not only that but players are also putting in an average of five hours a day in the game, totaling 28 million hours logged. Here are still more crazy numbers. 3.8 million characters have been created, over 1 million of which are famous light saber users.

And in case you are wondering about the Light Side versus Dark Side stats, as it stands now, Sith Warriors outnumber Jedi Knights; 550,000 to 510,000. Plus, over 2 billion NPCs have already died in The Old Republic. Yes, I think it’s safe to say that they have a hit on their hands.

[via Shacknews via Geek]

This battle between good and evil was staged on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011, and involved about 100 or so people having a good old lightsaber-battle. Of course, the Jedi had blue sabers and the Sith donned red ones.

It must have been pretty awesome to witness up close, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan. Would you have wanted to be a Jedi or a Sith?

All that’s left to decide is how you’re going to fit in enough time to mess with The Old Republic while still playing Skyrim 100 hours a month.

[via My Modern Met]

BioWare claims that this is just the beginning of this amazing Star Wars journey and they are confident that it has been worth the wait. Judging by the footage I’ve seen, I would have to agree. It looks like a solid Star Wars game, though I haven’t yet had a chance to play yet. Let us know what you think about it in the comments below.

[via Tech Radar]

Razer’s Old Republic keyboard is the real winner among the bunch, with its built-in multitouch track pad, and a cool color LCD screen underneath it. It’s also got 10 color LCD buttons right above it. They can be mapped or programmed with macros. Each of the buttons can have custom graphics. The keyboard also offers multi-color LED lighting around the perimeter.

The keyboard looks pretty awesome, assuming it works with other applications and games and isn’t too expensive.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The mouse is a Jedi-themed variant of Razer’s Naga MMO mouse, including 12 programmable buttons on the side. Razer will also sell a headset, which looks a bit odd with its hexagon-shaped headphones.

All three of these peripherals will come with alternative decorative plates, so you can be either a Sith or a Jedi.

[via CrunchGear]

You can download the podcast from BioWare’s blog, but for those who don’t have the time, here’s the meaty part, as quoted by Exophase:

“One of the first things you’re going to see is improved graphics. We actually created the engine for Mass Effect 3 and used that to make Mass Effect 2 PS3. So we took the content, the story and all of the other assets that made up Mass Effect 2 and we put it into the Mass Effect 3 engine.

We’ve also gone ahead and made the experience much more solid on PS3. So for example the controls are geared towards the PS3 controller [although] you can switch it back to the old Xbox control style if you like. Other things like planet scanning have been improved; we’ve rolled up all of the patches; done a whole bunch of bug fixing.”

Mass Effect 2 for the PS3 drops on January 31, 2011. You can pre-order it at Amazon for $60 (USD).

Not only is the sequel spread out across two discs, but the follow-up will also feature a sprawling voice cast packed with even bigger names than the first game, which sported work from the likes of Marina Sirtis and Lance Henriksen. Actors Seth Green and Keith David will be returning for the second game, and a bevy of new actors have been added to the voice cast, from Carrie-Anne Moss and Tricia Helfer to the underrated and fabulous Oscar nominee (and Emmy winner) Shohreh Aghdashloo and Martin Sheen. In case that’s not enough, fan favorites Adam Baldwin and Michael Dorn round out the cast. I sure hope January and February are low points in the movie release schedule next year, because Hollywood is gonna be hard-pressed to pull me away from this one.

At this point, I’m not sure what’s left for the planned third game. Nathan Fillion? That’d be worth waiting for.

[via Gay Gamer]

Now it’s a little sadder, actually, getting a glimpse of what was. What will it be like to explore the surface of a planet you know will eventually poof in a spectacular display of cruelty? Guess we won’t be getting too attached to anything.

I’m thinking that’s going to be a little difficult, though. At least I’ll be waiting a while for the impending sadness; BioWare’s MMO effort isn’t scheduled for release any time in the near future.

[via Joystiq]

The sequel to the far-reaching Mass Effect is due out in January, and if you’re willing to drop the extra cash, you can pick up an art book, a DVD, and a comic book, all packed into a pretty tin box. The superplusgood edition will be available for $69.99 (Xbox 360) or $59.99 (PC).

As for the in-game Collectors, they are an advanced insectoid race prepared to throw down some nastiness against your Commander Shepherd. They’ll be joined by Abominations (super Husks), Batorians (a flying formation of Husks, quite possibly the scariest idea ever), and Scions, some crazy zombie-fied humans grafted onto weapons. Those sound a little more like Abominations to me.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Joystiq]

I don’t know much about this guy, other than the fact that he is ninja-silent and thoroughly bad. I do, however, know that this game cannot possibly come out soon enough. Mass Effect was an incredible experience and from everything released on this one, so far? It looks like it might really be better.

And you’d better be, too. Word is that decisions in this one might be deadly, and I’m not saying for your squadmates. I’m saying for you. Or your version of Shepard, anyway.

If you missed Thane’s debut in the trailer, you can check it out here.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Joystiq]

The new game was leaked by a Joystiq reader, and according to the info the game’s protagonist, Jacob Taylor, is “a biotic-powered super-soldier who stumbles across a plot to terrorize civilization’s greatest beacon of hope.” For a second there I thought the enemy was after the bacon of hope. That would have been a better idea, because we’re all willing to fight for ordinary bacon, what more for the bacon of hope.

As you can see the game will be a top-down shooter ala GTA II. It’s supposedly a short game, clocking in at just 2 hours, half of which consists of elevator rides. Kidding. Marc DeAngelis over at thebbps thinks that the tactical aspect of Mass Effect will still be there, i.e. pausing the game to give orders or use tech abilities, as evidenced by those icons in the image above. And judging from the image below, yours truly thinks that the Paragon/Renegade aspect of the game will be there as well.

Mass Effect: Jacob’s Story will reportedly cost $3 USD, no word on release date yet. If this game becomes a hit, EA and BioWare might expand the Mass Effect story further, and may even release additional mobile games based on another franchise, Dragon Age. Trust me EA: Bacon of hope = $$$.

*Update: BioWare Community Coordinator Chris Priestly has clarified that the game is not a prequel but a side story of one of the characters in the upcoming Mass Effect 2, and he says that it’s not crucial to the lore of Mass Effect: “Consider it a “fun optional ‘extra’ game.” So should we still buy it? I definitely won’t, because I don’t have an iPhone.*