It's official, we have a Star Wars: The Old Republic release date! Detailed on the SWTOR pre-order page are the editions available, related bonus items, system specification requirements and of course the dates themselves; December 20th in North America and December 22nd in Europe.

If you're in Australia you won't be able to order it on Origin due to initial restrictions on the regions that are allowed to purchase the game, but you can order it from Game in the UK for about $65 including...

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From the recently run E3 2011 expo is this STAR WARS: The Old Republic highlight wheel, featuring a conflict on the war-torn planet of Alderaan. "A militaristic Republic war hero has seized the throne in a misguided attempt to protect the people of Alderaan. Watch as Republic players confront the powerful and well-protected 'King Ulgo', in this Highlights Video."

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If you're someone who has followed Penny Arcade for any amount of time then you know that Mike Krahulik (aka Gabe) is an epic Star Wars nerd. He's been playing BioWare's upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO for the last month and has just shared his thoughts. Although the game is still in beta and his post hardly constitutes a review it is still arguably the first feedback so far on the title from a gamer's perspective....

When I look at Star Wars: The Old Republic, I think "yeah, they can have my money." That was until I found out that the game will be an exclusive on EA's new digital distribution platform; Origin. Frank Gibeau, president of EA Games, told GI.biz that "EA's going to have some of our own platform exclusives," which includes their forthcoming Star Wars MMO....

Dallas Dickinson, Director of Production on STAR WARS: The Old Republic gives us a hefty 11 minute walkthrough of the forthcoming MMO at E3 2011. You'll see actual gameplay within Tatooine, played out using a Sith Sorcerer. Despite looking typically "MMO", it looks like it might be one of the better ones...

EA CEO, John Ricitiello, yesterday stated that there was "great progress towards a spring 2011 launch" during a fiscal year conference call. This time-frame has now been confirmed by BioWare, declaring that we should expect a US-spring 2011 release window for The Old Republic. However, it is promised that we can expect some exciting developments during 2010 including the first ever hands-on testing.....