Just 
a few short years ago, massively-multiplayer online games (MMOs) were considered the future of gaming.
Virtually every publisher was running one, building one, or contemplating one. A lot of those failed. A few struggled along with small but loyal audiences. And all of them acknowledged that they lived under the shadow of perennial champ World of Warcraft.
The 
Sith are doing a number on the Horde.
Blizzard Entertainment has acknowledged that the December launch of EA’s Star Wars: The Old Republic is a notable part of the reason subscriptions to World of Warcraft have been on the decline lately.
No one has doubted that Bioware’s 
upcoming massively multiplayer game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, was going to be, well, massive. But the unusual — and baffling — pre-order experience for the game is causing a disturbance in the Force.
Typically, pre-orders are pretty simple: You put down a deposit, you wait for the game to come out and you’re guaranteed a copy on day one. But with The Old Republic, it’s a bit more complicated.
Electronic Arts’ is betting big on Star 
Wars – to the tune of nearly $100 million.
“Star Wars: The Old Republic” is one of the video game publisher’s biggest titles of the year – arguably of the last 5 years. While the game’s not scheduled to come out until this holiday season (and could potentially slip to 2012), this seems like a good time to run down the latest on one of the few titles that could give “World of Warcraft” a run for its money.
The last couple of years have been rough ones 
for Electronic Arts and THQ. Rapid changes in the video game landscape and an unlucky string of underperforming titles has taken its toll on both companies’ stock prices.
This week, though, both companies showed some signs of life as they reported earnings, giving investors hope that the long awaited turnaround for each company might be about to begin.
Chris Morris: Journalist 