Star Wars Games
The first film (Episode 6) was released in 1977, after which the 1981 prequel was a major turning point in the marketing of the Star Wars craze across the world. With the world developing new technologies and advancements in microprocessor technologies, Star Wars video games were not far away. In 1982, the first set of Star Wars video games hit the market. These were an instant hit. Most of them drove the children crazy, as they were the newest kind of air battle and flying ships flying around the screen.
Space flight simulation games began coming out in great numbers with dozens in the first year bearing the name "Star Wars". Subsequently through the years, as computing technologies went cheaper and better, a large number of animation companies released Star Wars games which were strategy driven, required special skill or had a different approach to the story.
As games went on growing more and more interesting for the Star Wars fans, companies like West End Games, Wizard of the Coast and Lego Star Wars figured as favorite games manufacturers in the 1980's. Some of the popular latest Star Wars games include The Complete Saga, by Lego Star Wars, and The Force Unleashed parts 1 and 2. The Lego Star Wars production is actually a combination of 3 pieces - the video game, its sequel and games related to the original trilogy. Such packages have ensured great popularity amongst kids even through the 1990's when video games were way more expensive than they are today.
Lego Star Wars released in 2007, made it to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 to view on LCD or Plasma screens. Simultaneously the Wii and Nintendo DS versions were also released. For PC players the game was not available until October 2009 in the US. The game got a good head start in the market but merged into the older versions as it was not particularly different from the older versions in terms of strategies and rules. Bugs also made the game a rather unwanted version over time. However, when it came out it recorded as the fourth highest selling video game (Wii version) in 2009. The Complete Saga also earned a commendable rank in video game ratings from Guinness World Records.
The Force unleashed released for PlayStation 2 and 3, Wii and Xbox 360, is known for more realistic graphics, which can be a primary reason for a bigger and better popularity than its Lego Stars Counterpart. Designs were created with the collaboration of the team of Lucas Arts and Industrial Light and Magic. However the sales were not as high as the Lego Star counterpart during the initial months after 2007, they recorded a 6 million copy sale by 2009. The game however received certain negative comments saying that the production was ambitious, but with little to get one awe-struck in the end.
Some of the latest popular games available on the internet and the stores include Trench Run 2.0, Quest for R2-D2, Star Wars Crawl, Force Flight, and Top Trumps Live. The use of special art features are expected to serve as the main attractions in these games.