Hasta La Gadget!

If you had watched The Dark Knight Rises, I would assume at one point or another, you might have expected to hear Bane actually breathing out aloud ala Darth Vader with that face mask of his on. Well, here is a little bit of Star Wars goodness for you with the $59.99 Lego Star Wars Darth Vader Desk Lamp, allowing you to unleash the power of the Dark Side right at your desk, albeit in Lego style which is always cute as a button no matter how you look at it, of course. You will be able to have the freedom to pose Vader’s arms and legs as you please, and he can be used on or off the base.

The lightsaber that belongs to Darth Vader will have at least a dozen LEDs to light up your workspace, and for those of you who are extremely concerned as to whether this is officially sanctioned by Lucasfilm, you can breathe easy. It is an officially licensed LEGO and Lucasfilm collectible, and will run off a trio of AAA batteries. Of course, you can alternatively have it run from USB power, which is always an option if you are going to be by your desk all day long, or should I say, night?

[ Lego Star Wars Darth Vader Desk Lamp copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Darth Vader might not look it, but he’s actually pretty yummy. I’m not talking about the looks of the actors who played him in the movies, but this blueberry-and-licorice-flavored ice cream shaped in the image and likeness of Luke Skywalker’s greatest enemy (who also happens to be his father!)

It looks awesome, doesn’t it? Too bad we won’t be seeing it in any grocery stores anytime soon because they were only made by Russia-based design firm Stoyn to “transform dessert into intellectual discourse” and “spur a conversation about the relationship between culture, art, and commerce.”  They have, however, turned up at several art exhibitions, so you might actually get a chance to try one for yourself if you’re in the right place at the right time.

Sounds like they were able to achieve that very complicated-sounding objective using pretty simple but creative means.

Other ice cream designs include Mario, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Chuckie, Freddy Krueger, and Jason X, among others.

Which one’s your favorite?

[via Wired via Obvious Winner]

Yesterday, Electronic Arts surprised absolutely no one by announcing that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be going free-to-play later this year. Wedbush Securities thinks that this is a great idea, and is encouraging investors to buy up stock in EA while they can still get in at a decent price. GamesIndustry International reports that EA’s stock currently sits at $11.68 per share, but Wedbush gives the company a twelve-month target of $29.

That’s a pretty huge gain, and it isn’t hard to see why Wedbush thinks EA’s stock will skyrocket. Yesterday’s financial report was more or less in line with the company’s expectations, so it really wasn’t anything to get excited about. However, The Old Republic‘s upcoming transition to free-to-play is something to get excited about, considering that making the switch has worked wonders for other MMOs in the past, such as Lord of the Rings Online.

Speaking about The Old Republic‘s transition specifically, Michael Pachter predicts that the change to free-to-play will bring BioWare‘s game “10 million MAUs indefinitely, with upside to perhaps 50 million.” 10 million monthly users certainly isn’t anything to scoff at, but 50 million players? Apparently Pachter thinks that the Star Wars name will be able to pull players in by the boatload. That could very well happen, but The Old Republic definitely has a long way to before it can boast 50 million players.

Still, stranger things have happened before. Ultimately, Pachter and Wedbush say that the switch to free-to-play will be good for Electronic Arts and BioWare, stating that the large margins BioWare will be making on Cartel Coin sales to the game’s increased user base will bring in more money than charging $60 for the game and then hitting players up for a subscription fee every month. We’ll see if the switch was a good decision soon enough, as Star Wars: The Old Republic is set to go free-to-play this fall.

Pachter: The Old Republic could net 50m players with free-to-play switch is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We all knew it was going to happen eventually, but today BioWare and Electronic Arts made it official: Star Wars: The Old Republic is going free-to-play. It seems that the Star Wars label and the BioWare name just weren’t enough to get the necessary amount of people to subscribe, so now the companies will see if a switch to free-to-play will provide a boost to user numbers and revenues. Though the transition won’t be happening until this fall (that’s as specific as EA was), there are some changes happening soon that current players will want to know about, so read on to find out more.

After the transition eventually happens, SWTOR will come in two different flavors: a subscription-based model and a freemium model. Those who choose to pay the monthly subscription fee will have access to all of The Old Republic‘s of features, and will be getting a monthly Cartel Coin bonus. Cartel Coins are BioWare’s funny money for The Old Republic, as they allow users to buy “customizable gear and convenience features” from the new Cartel Store. Free-to-play users will be able to play all of The Old Republic‘s 8 classes to level 50, but there will be a few restrictions that can be removed through microtransactions.

Current and former subscribers will get 150 Cartel Coins for each month they paid the subscription fee, so if you were planning to return to The Old Republic once it went free-to-play, you might want to consider jumping back in before the transition happens. BioWare also says that starting in August, the game will be sporting a new $14.99 price tag, allowing users to get in on the cheap before the switch. BioWare has launched an FAQ that answers many more questions about the transition to free-to-play, so if you’re currently subscribed, we recommend that you give it a look.

Making the switch the free-to-play has worked wonders for many MMOs in the past, and we expect that The Old Republic‘s popularity will skyrocket once the change is implemented. BioWare and Electronic Arts stand to make a lot of money if the transition is successful, which begs the question of why this didn’t happen back in February, when user numbers started making a sharp decline. It was probably pride that made them resist, but once the transition actually occurs, we have a feeling that both companies will wish they had bitten the bullet sooner.

Star Wars: The Old Republic going free-to-play later this year is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Lego fans, Star Wars fans, and chess fans all have something to rejoice about today, a Return of the Jedi Lego chess set. The board is the third part of a series of chess sets designed by Brandon Griffith, a member of LUGOLA(LEGO Users Group of Los Angeles). Each set in the series commemorates one of the movies in the Star Wars trilogy.

For the Return of the Jedi chess set, you can play as the Imperials on one side and the Rebels on the other. Whenever I play a Star Wars video game, I always choose Imperials, so I would probably choose the Imperial here, not to mention I’d rather have Scout Troopers as my pawns rather than Ewoks. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the set will be mass produced, so fans will have to take their own stab at making the board themselves. Good job on the set Brandon, it would definitely makes me want to play chess more often with a board like that.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars begins to ship to North America across multiple consoles, Star Wars keyboard with LCD touchpad now on sale,