Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

The disc contained Star Wait, a documentary about Star Wars fans who had waited in line for Episodes II and III.
. Target stores also offered a bonus disc with the Revenge of the Sith DVD. As the architectures are entirely different between Xbox and Xbox 360, unlike other backward compatible consoles such as the PlayStation 2, software emulation is the only viable option for compatibility. The footage used contains no scenes from Revenge of the Sith nor does it have the changes contained in the 2004 DVD Special Edition releases. (Games in emulation add support for the Xbox 360's higher screen resolution and anti-aliasing abilities.) These emulators are periodically updated to add compatibility for older games; these updates are available for free on Xbox Live for those with the hard drive. The DVD version contains the content from the first two discs: The Story of Anakin Skywalker and The Story of Luke Skywalker. When equipped with a removable hard drive add-on, the Xbox 360 supports a limited subset of the Xbox's library (more than 200 games at US launch) through emulation.

Presented in full frame with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound and running 1 hour in total, it was originally produced and released in 2004 as a 3-disc collection for the VideoNow Color personal video player. [17]. The sticker on the cover describes it as "R2-D2 and C-3P0's chronicles of Luke and Anakin Skywalker". NVIDIA ceased production of the Xbox's GPU in August of that year, which almost certainly marks the end of Xbox production and the quick release of the Xbox 360 featuring a new GPU from NVIDIA's rival ATI. [5] As with many previous Star Wars "history" featurettes, it is hosted with newly shot footage by the droid duo, R2-D2 and C-3PO. Microsoft's next generation Xbox, the Xbox 360, was released on November 22, 2005. Wal-Mart stores included an exclusive bonus disc, entitled The Story of Star Wars, with some copies of Revenge of the Sith, when it arrived on DVD. To avoid frustrating early adopters, they offered a bundle containing two games and one controller for free to any purchaser who could provide a sales receipt showing the original higher price.

Disc 2:. Microsoft countered with a £100 price drop (and its equivalent in the rest of Europe) some scant months after launch. Disc 1:. With a price-dropped PlayStation 2 and a comparatively inexpensive GameCube as competition, many users were naturally reluctant to invest in the console. [4]. Obviously, ignoring the GBP-USD exchange rate in the way gives the impression of a 100% mark-up for Europe. Together with Star Wars: Battlefront II, the DVD has earned around $280 million as of November 8, 2005. As with many games consoles (for example, the PlayStation series), the Xbox was launched with a price in GBP equal to its US price in USD (in this case, $/£299), and this price then converted for the rest of Europe.

A playable demo of Star Wars: Battlefront II was also included on the DVD. Of note is the high European launch price. The 15 part web documentary series, "Making Episode III", is also included in the set. Oceania. The DVD includes a new full-length documentary as well as two featurettes, one which explores the prophecy of Anakin Skywalker as the Chosen One, the other looking at the movie's stunts. Europe. The DVD was a two-disc set, with picture and sound mastered from the original digital source material. North America.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD on November 1, 2005 in the United States. Recently, the firmware to the newer optical drives was edited to allow signed code to play. In the latter mode, two players team up to combat increasingly difficult waves of enemies. Modding your Xbox in this manner will definitely void your warranty, since it requires you to disassemble the console. In the first mode, two players fight with characters of their choice against each other in a lightsaber duel to the death. There are now sites that offer to modify the software on your Xbox for free. It also has a form of multiplayer mode, which includes both "VS" and "Co-Player" mode. Probably the most legal way of modding the Xbox is replacing the whole motherboard so that you can install Linux or any other operating system designed for PC without having to hack anything.

After the death of Obi-Wan, Anakin proceeds to kill Palpatine, and take over the galaxy. One such successful use of Live to discourage modding was when the hit game Halo 2 was released, and many owners of modded consoles found out that they were permanently banned from the Xbox Live service, but was retaliated with On-Off switchable Modchips (or add-ons) and XBOX Live friendly softmods from XBOX hackers community. One unique and popular aspect of the game was that it included an alternate ending, which functioned as such to both the game and the movie, which involved Anakin killing Obi-Wan, instead of Obi-Wan defeating Anakin as in the movie. As of November 2004, Microsoft has been taking new actions for banning Xboxes with hard drive modifications from the Xbox Live service. The style of the game was mostly lightsaber combat and fighting as Obi-Wan or Anakin. Also, most internal hardware modifications will render an Xbox unable to participate in Xbox Live, which has forced many modders to use a switch that turns on and off their modifications. However, many sections of the game featured cut scenes from the movie, or entirely new scenes for the game. Modding an Xbox may require opening the Xbox case, and would certainly void the Xbox's warranty.

The game followed the movie's storyline, for the most part, integrating scenes from the movie. A modded Xbox can even be configured into a computer running Linux, FreeBSD, or Microsoft Windows CE operating systems. A video game, based on the film, was released on May 5, 2005, two weeks before the film. Beyond gaming, a modded Xbox can be used as a media center with the Xbox Media Center software (XBMC) allowing the playing of DVDs without the DVD dongle/remote and streaming of music and video files from the hard drive or from another computer over a network. In addition to this, the siege of the Jedi Temple is slightly more violent than the cinematic version is. This process does require a modded Xbox using one of the alternative dashboards, and is used by scrupulous users to eliminate load times or leave their games in storage, and by unscrupulous users to play illegally copied games. For example, during the Battle of Coruscant, Anakin's callsign is Red 5, a reference to Luke's callsign in the Battle of Yavin. This allows the user to spare game disks from scratching and allows for faster load times.

The novel includes many little details that some Star Wars fans are likely to appreciate. Then Xbox games can be copied from the DVD to the hard disk with programs such as DVD2Xbox and PxHDDLoader, and then played directly from the hard drive. The novelization includes much more dialog than the movie, including a conversation between Count Dooku and Darth Sidious, where the reader learns Palpatine lied to Dooku about what the Empire would truly be. The original hard drive can be replaced with a larger one. A book version of the movie was written by Matthew Stover. This is especially attractive as the Xbox is designed to output to TVs, and high-quality controllers and arcade sticks are available for it. This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005 (#83). This allows running an alternate dashboard such as UIX, Avalaunch, Evolution-X or UnleashX and in turn makes playing original (free) homebrew games or various older games through arcade and console game emulators possible.

The DVD features 16 music videos set to remastered selections of music from all six film scores, set chronologically through the saga. Software modding is much less intrusive, and only involves running software exploits to trick the Xbox into running unsigned program code. The soundtrack also came with a collectors' DVD, Star Wars: A Musical Journey, at no additional cost. [15][16]. A music video titled A Hero Falls was created for the film's theme, Battle of the Heroes, featuring footage from the film. He was sentenced to 140 hours community service, ordered to pay £750 costs at a court in Caerphilly, Wales, and his computer equipment was confiscated. John Williams was also composer and conductor of the score for the other five films in the Star Wars saga. It is the first conviction since the Directive was enacted in October 2003 in the UK.

The music was composed and conducted by John Williams, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices. (The Directive makes it illegal to circumvent copy protection systems on hardware including video game consoles). The soundtrack to the film was released by Sony Classical on May 3, 2005, more than two weeks before the release of the film. This was the first conviction of its kind in the UK. Lucas' coverage of the exterior cityscapes, skylines and interior isolation is similar to the cinematography and mis-en-scene of Roman Polanski, particularly in The Pianist, The Tenant and Rosemary's Baby, a film in which a husband makes a literal pact with the devil. In July 2005, a 22 year old Cambridge University graduate was convicted under the EU Copyright Directive for modifying Xboxes and selling them with an upgraded 200 GB hard drive, which was pre-loaded with 80 games. Midway in the film, Lucas intercuts between Anakin and Padmé by themselves, thinking about one another in the Jedi Temple and their apartment, respectively during sunset, in a sequence without dialog and complimented by a moody, synthesized soundtrack. Hardware modding can involve anything from simply replacing the console's green decorative "jewel" with a custom-designed one to opening up the case and installing a modchip.

McDiarmid, Lucas, and others have also called Anakin's journey to the dark side faustian in the sense of making a "pact with the devil" for short-term gain. The recent popularity of the Xbox has inspired efforts to circumvent the built-in hardware and software security mechanisms (sometimes in order to use the Xbox as a low cost web server), as well as to add customized design touches to the console's case (similar to PC case modding). In both cases, jealousy drives the husband to strangle his wife. The Xbox API is similar to DirectX version 8.1, but is non-updateable just like other console technologies. In Revenge of the Sith, Vader comes to believe that his wife, Padmé, has betrayed him to his former master, Obi-Wan. Microsoft's set of low-level APIs for game development and multimedia purposes, DirectX, was used as a basis for the Xbox's hardware programming. In Othello, the title character is led to believe by Iago that his wife has committed adultery with his confidante and lieutenant. This output selectivity is made possible by the Xbox's SCART-like AVIP port.

Palpatine's scheming manipulations of Anakin have been compared by many, including McDiarmid himself, to those of Iago, the villain of Shakespeare's Othello. Numerous unofficial third-party cables and breakout boxes exist that provide combinations of outputs not found in these official video packages; however, with the exception of a few component-to-VGA transcoders and custom-built VGA boxes, the four official video packages represent all of the Xbox's possible outputs. Lucas' editing schemes during Order 66, the slaughter of the Separatists and the declaration of the Galactic Empire is reminiscent of the montage of massacres during the christening scene of The Godfather, a film directed by mentor Francis Ford Coppola. Included with the Hello Kitty Crystal console was a matching Crystal Controller S and a copy of Hello Kitty Mission Rescue. The close-ups on Grievous's and Obi-Wan's eyes is likely an homage to the work of Sergio Leone, whose protracted gunfights featured such extreme close-ups, especially in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. A limited production run of 550 units was sold at a retail price of S$99 (US$61), if you purchase selected Samsung LCD TVs during a promotion. The lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and the four-armed skeletal cyborg General Grievous echoes similar fight sequences in Ray Harryhausen's filmography, particularly the fights involving animated skeletons and multi-armed statues in Jason and the Argonauts and the Sinbad the Sailor series. The special edition console was translucent with a pink and orange Hello Kitty picture covering the X on top of the case.

Based on the scene in the opera, it has been speculated that either Palpatine or Plagueis manipulated the Force to create Anakin, thus being Anakin's "father", but this has been neither confirmed nor denied, and was purposefully left ambiguous. The Hello Kitty Crystal Xbox was released with Sanrio in Singapore, to commemorate the release of Hello Kitty Mission Rescue on the Xbox. Also, Rotwang builds the android whose appearance heavily influenced the image of Lucas' C-3PO, who was built, in The Phantom Menace, by Anakin. Included with the neon green console was one of two games: Project Gotham Racing 2 or Amped 2. Both Anakin and Rotwang wear a menacing leather glove on one hand and concentrate on saving —or resurrecting— a lost loved one. Dew logo under the Xbox name. Anakin also bears a resemblance to a villainous character played by Klein-Rogge from a film by Lang —the mad scientist Rotwang from the classic film Metropolis. The Mountain Dew Limited Edition Xbox was neon-green colored and had a special jewel atop the Xbox that had the words "Limited Edition" and the Mt.

Mabuse, particularly as portrayed by German actor Rudolph Klein-Rogge in director Fritz Lang's films. Production numbers are unknown. Palpatine's appearance and actions are also reminiscent of Dr. The sweepstakes spanned 5 months – from April to August – in 2004. The very idea of the individual slaughter of the Jedi, order 66, is reminiscent of the coup of the Knights Templar by Pope Clement V on Friday the thirteenth, 1307. The Mountain Dew Limited Edition Xbox was only available through a Mountain Dew sweepstakes requiring loyal Dew-drinking Xbox fans to amass 550 points in order to "buy" the Limited Edition Xbox. In Lucas' film, the wife herself is a liberal senator. Included with the Ice Blue console was a matching Controller S, and a copy of Halo 2.

In Frankenheimer's film, the wife is the daughter of a liberal senator. The console was translucent blue and retailed for approximately $249. Also, in both films, the brainwashed assassin eventually murders —or is led to believe he has murdered— his own wife. On March 18, 2005, an Ice Blue Halo 2 Limited Edition Xbox was released in Canada and Asia. Palpatine's fabrication of a Jedi "coup d'etat" is comparable to the plot of the John Frankenheimer thriller Seven Days in May, while his conversion of Anakin to the dark side and motivating him to assassinate his political enemies in order to aid his ascent to dictatorial powers are more close to the content of Frankenheimer's previous film, The Manchurian Candidate. The original retail price was ¥22'800 yen ($215), and included the translucent blue console with a matching Controller S, a DVD Playback Kit, an Xbox Live Starter Kit with a free one-year membership, a copy of Dead or Alive Online, and a five-foot-long Kasumi body pillow. Anakin's execution of Dooku mimics the scissor-beheadings of Ridley Scott's film Gladiator, and the subsequent run across the elevator shaft walls while the spaceship is falling in battle echoes the disastrous situations of The Poseidon Adventure. The translucent blue case was based on the costume of Dead or Alive's main character, Kasumi, and had "Dead or Alive Online" written in white lettering in the lower left corner of the top of the case.

Early on the Jedi navigate their way through General Grevious' ship by traversing elevator shafts, thematically and visually echoing the tradition of post-Die Hard action movies and Lars von Trier's mini-series Riget (The Kingdom). The system had a limited manufacturing run of 5,000 units, and was released simultaneously with Tecmo's fighting game, Dead or Alive Online. Throughout Revenge of the Sith Lucas refers to a wide range of films and other sources drawing on political, military and mythological motifs to enhance the impact of his story. On March 25, 2004, a Kasumi-chan Blue Xbox console was released in Japan. Worldwide gross eventually reached $848,466,209, ranking 12th all-time and the 2nd worldwide in 2005, right behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.. 200,000 of these Xboxes were produced. Revenge of the Sith was released in 115 countries. The version of Halo that came with this bundle was identical to other versions of Halo, with the exception of a "NOT FOR RESALE" notice placed on the front of the game case.

history.). The console case featured the Halo logo and the words "Special Edition"; the controller had a jewel that had the Halo logo in place of the normal Xbox logo. (Taking ticket-price inflation into account, it is the 55th highest grossing movie in U.S. This version was translucent green and came with a copy of Halo: Combat Evolved and a matching translucent green Controller S. Its total of $380,270,577 ranks it 7th all-time domestically, the highest-grossing movie of 2005, outgrossing second-place Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by nearly $100 million. On March 14, 2004, Microsoft released a special version of the Xbox in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It apparently stopped running in domestic theaters on October 20, 2005. A Crystal Controller S was also availible separately.

It was the third fastest (after Shrek 2 and Spider-Man) to reach $350 million. The Crystal console was re-released on October 8, 2004 in a new bundle (but with only one controller) at the normal Xbox price of €149/£99. It became the only film to tie Spider-Man 2's record of eight days to $200 million, and with $25,088,336 in its third weekend (June 3-5) it had passed $300 million on Saturday, its 17th day, surpassing the record of 18 days held by Shrek 2. It is unknown how many Crystal Limited Editions were produced, however; later bundles were released pairing a re-released Crystal Xbox with different Xbox games and Xbox Live subscriptions. It joins Spider-Man, The Matrix Reloaded and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as the only movies to make $100 million in three days. With a price tag of €199/£139, the Crystal Limited Edition came with a transparent console and two matching Crystal Controller S. It totaled $158.5 million in its first four-day period, surpassing the previous four-day record held by The Matrix Reloaded ($134.3 million) and making it the second highest grossing movie of 2005 after just four days in release (behind Hitch, $177.6 million, which it passed on its fifth day). On March 14, 2004, the Crystal Limited Edition Xbox was released in Europe to celebrate the Xbox's European birthday.

According to the box office prediction and analysis site Box Office Mojo, Revenge of the Sith set domestic records for highest gross in a given number of days for each of at least its first twelve days of release except for the seventh and eighth, where the record is narrowly held by Spider-Man 2. Included with the Pure White console was a matching Controller S, a DVD Playback Kit, and an Xbox Live Starter Kit with a free one-year membership and voice communicator. This broke several box office records:. The original retail price for the Pure White Limited Xbox was ¥19'800 yen ($186) and was only available for purchase online at the Official Xbox Japan website between the dates of January 30 and February 6, 2004. In total, it earned a record $50 million on its opening day. The words "Limited Edition 2004" were also carved into the jewel of the console, and into the exclusive Controller S (right below the Xbox name). The film earned an estimated $16.5 million from 2,900 midnight screenings in North America upon its release. The system had a limited manufacturing run of 1,000 units and allowed purchasers to personalize their console with up to twenty letters (Japanese characters not allowed) engraved on the case.

One nomination:. On February 22, 2004, a Pure White Limited Xbox Console was released in Japan, to commemorate the console's two-year anniversary in that country. One nomination:. The Translucent Green Limited Edition Xbox was also released in Candada and came with one matching Controller S and two games, Crimson Skies and Project Gotham Racing 2. Though some critics saw it as the best of the series, others saw it as pretty much on par with the other prequels. The green Controller S was also sold separately. It is also often said to contain plot holes, though they are all more or less disputable. The styling of the Translucent Green Xbox is identical to Debug Units used in game development; of course, the retail versions lacked the words "Debug Unit" on the front of the case.

Other criticisms included the usual ones raised against the prequels, such as "wooden" acting, overuse of flashy and colorful computer-generated special effects, and an attempt to be both childish and mature all at once (including many slapstick moments along with a large number of severed limbs and heads). The console came with two matching Controller S and retailed for €229/£149. In contrast with the previous two prequels, these flaws are generally seen as minor and not obtrusive to the film. On May 2, 2003 a Translucent Green Limited Edition Xbox was released in Europe to celebrate Xbox's one-year European birthday. As with earlier prequels, many felt that Lucas did not draw out the potential of Natalie Portman's performance, but this is partially because her entire sub-plot (as a founding member of the Rebel Alliance, alongside Bail Organa and Mon Mothma) was cut from the film-- it's restored in the DVD, however. Included with the Special Edition console was a matching white Controller S, an Xbox Component A/V cable, an Xbox Component AV pack, a copy of Panzer Dragoon Orta with its soundtrack CD, and a dragon head necklace. Many critics were pleased with the acting, however, with Christensen's depiction of a more mature Anakin Skywalker and Ian McDiarmid's charismatic turn as the ascendant Chancellor Palpatine receiving the most acclaim. The Panzer Dragoon Orta Special Edition was priced at ¥35'800 ($358) and could only be pre-ordered on November 1, 2002 through Sega Direct.

Despite the generally positive reception, many critics asserted Lucas' continued weakness with dialogue in general, particularly with the romantic plot-line. The console's special features included a white case with the Panzer Dragoon Orta logo in top's the lower left hand corner, as well as some artwork from Orta surrounding the Xbox jewel. Lucas has directed," and equal to The Empire Strikes Back as "the richest and most challenging movie in the cycle.". This Special Edition had a limited production of 999 units; however, it is rumored that there are actually 1,049 units in total. Scott of the New York Times concluded that it was "the best of the four episodes Mr. This quickly became the most sought-after Xbox to date. O. On December 19, 2002, a Panzer Dragoon Orta Special Edition Xbox was released in Japan to commemorate the release of Panzer Dragoon Orta on the Xbox.

A. Included with the Clear Black console was a matching Clear Black Controller S, an Xbox Component AV pack, and a key chain that had Bill Gates' signature and the console's serial number engraved in it. Some critics have noted that they view it to be the best of the prequels, while other reviewers have judged it to be the best Star Wars film since Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The system had a limited manufacturing run of 50,000 units, and originally retailed for ¥35'800 yen. Film review site Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of 82% based on 229 reviews, compared to the 63% and 65% received by Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, respectively. In 2001, a Clear Black Limited Edition Xbox was released in Japan to commemorate the Xbox's Japanese release. Critical reaction towards the film was largely enthusiastic, especially in comparison to the two previous prequels. Manufacturing photos can be found here..

A New Hope also contained a very mild amount of what some consider adult language, such as "damn" and "hell." Revenge of the Sith contains no such content. Microsoft extended the warranty on those first generation Xboxes that came with faulty drives and fixed them for free, unlike Sony and their first generation PS2s. A New Hope was originally rated G, but its rating was deliberately pushed up in order to attract a broader audience. Several internal hardware revisions have been made in an ongoing battle to discourage modding (hackers continually updated modchip designs in attempt to defeat them), cut manufacturing costs, and to provide a more reliable DVD-ROM drive (some of the early units' drives gave Disc Reading Errors). All previously released films in the series, except for A New Hope, were rated PG. This Japanese controller (which was briefly imported by even mainstream video game store chains, such as GameStop) was subsequently released in other markets as the "Xbox Controller S", and currently all Xbox consoles come with a "Controller S", while the original controller (known as Controller "0" or "The Duke") was quietly discontinued. Due to its dark undertones and scenes of violence, Revenge of the Sith is the first and only Star Wars film to receive a PG-13 rating from the MPAA. In response to these criticisms, a smaller controller was introduced for the Japanese Xbox launch.

Both rips are widely spread and available in popular P2P networks. The original game controller design, which was particularly large, was similarly often criticized since it was ill-suited to those with small hands. Then, on June 4th, 2005, an Internal Xvid Rip version of the film was leaked into P2P file sharing networks as well, which was the final, theatrical cut of the movie seen in theaters, and was a much higher fidelity version of the film than the workprint one, although still not quite as good as the theatrical release, and was also wasn't a Telecine transfer yet, due to vibrations and frame-skips during certain moments in the movie. However, the Xbox has also pioneered safety features, such as breakaway cables for the controllers to prevent the console from being yanked from the shelf. The movie was a time-stamped workprint, suggesting it may have come from within the industry rather than from someone who videotaped an advance screening. Because of this, the Xbox has found itself a target of mild derision, as gamers poke fun at it for things like a warning in the Xbox manual that a falling Xbox "could cause serious injury" to a small child or pet. A copy of the movie leaked into P2P file sharing networks just hours after opening in theaters. This is largely due to a bulky tray-loading DVD-ROM drive and the standard-size 3.5" hard drive.

Most of them took advantage of an offer to see the film at a nearby cinema, the Arclight. The Xbox itself is much larger and heavier than its contemporaries. However, a line of people stood there for more than a month hoping to convince someone to change this. The Xbox does not use Windows CE due to Microsoft internal politics at the time, as well as limited support in Windows CE for DirectX. Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a traditional venue for the Star Wars films, did not show it. Therefore if the Xbox crashes, the only way to recover is to reboot the console as there is no multitasking support on Real Mode. The global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas claimed before the premiere that it may have cost the US economy approximately US$627 million because of employees who took a day off or reported in sick. That is why Xbox is running on Real Mode and not Protected Mode as seen on Windows 2000.

It was released in most other countries on May 19, six years to the day after the release of The Phantom Menace (A New Hope and Return of the Jedi were also released on the same day, six years apart). Although the Xbox is based on commodity PC hardware and runs a stripped-down version of the Windows 2000 kernel using APIs based largely on DirectX 8.1, it incorporates changes optimized for gaming uses as well as restrictions designed to prevent uses not approved by Microsoft. Revenge of the Sith premiered at the Cannes Film Festival (out of competition) on 15 May 2005. An Xbox owner can rip music from standard Audio CDs to the hard drive so players can use their custom soundtrack in addition to the original soundtrack of Xbox games that support such feature. The Revenge of the Sith novel was released two months before the premiere and the actual script was leaked on the Internet a few days later. Some games support "Custom soundtracks," another particularly unusual feature allowed by the hard drive. Many times the stars, and Lucas himself, were spotted on the cam. Most of the games also use it as a disk cache, for faster game loading times.

Not only did Hyperspace members receive special articles, but they also received many other benefits, such as a webcam, which transmitted a new image every 20 seconds during the time it was on from Fox Studios Australia. The Xbox was the first console to incorporate a hard disk drive, used primarily for storing game saves (eliminating the need for separate memory cards) and content downloaded from Xbox Live. Members of Hyperspace, the Official Star Wars Fan Club, received a special look into the production. Nonetheless, most of these features were not fully exploited in its first year of launch, notably the lack of Xbox Live online multiplayer. According to an interview with Hayden Christensen in Playboy magazine, playwright Tom Stoppard did an uncredited rewrite and dialogue polish on the script. Also, the console cost as much as the high-end GeForce 3 video card alone in 2001, while having comparable graphics processing power (the Xbox's NV2A graphics chipset is a derivative of the GeForce 3). It is rumored that the scenes he worked on included the Yoda/Palpatine battle and a part of the Mustafar duel. At the time of its introduction, the Xbox was the only game console to do so.

Lucas sent over an animatics artist to assist him. The Xbox was designed to take advantage of a slowdown in the saturated PC gaming market and incorporates a built-in Ethernet adapter. This happened when a project of his fell through and he had some spare time. This prediction turned out to be correct; Microsoft Game Studios, Microsoft's game division in charge of Xbox development, had its first profitable quarter reported in January 2005, thanks largely to the success of Halo 2[14]. Lucas confirmed in an interview that Steven Spielberg tinkered with several action sequences in Sith. Microsoft predicted that it would not make a profit on the Xbox for at least three years. The long process of post-production continued until weeks before the film was released in 2005. The losses deepened when sales of the Xbox increased and when the price was reduced successive times to compete with PlayStation 2 [13].

George Lucas finished the script of the film only five days before the beginning of principal photography. [12] In particular, the Xbox hardware itself is a loss leader, since the console was sold at a loss even at its debut price. Principal photography on the film occurred from June 30 to September 17, 2003 at Fox Studios Australia. Internal documents show that the Xbox division had invested $4 billion from 2000 to 2005. The film was produced with a budget of US$113 million, making it the least expensive of the three prequel films. The large size of the hardware itself did not endear itself to the size-sensitive Japanese consumers. It was later adapted into a script from 2003 to 2004. The Xbox has sold poorly in Japan mainly because Microsoft was unable to enlist enough local developers to cater to Japanese interests.

The film's story was written by Lucas, in the form of a basic plot outline, in 1973. In Europe, the Xbox's market share is currently ahead of the GameCube, but is still behind the PlayStation 2. She claimed this was because she posed for the June 2005 issue of Playboy magazine, whose appearance on newsstands coincided with the movie's May release, but Lucas denied this, stating that the cut had been made more than a year earlier, and that he had cut his own daughter's scenes as well. The Xbox has enjoyed its greatest success in North America, where an estimated 13.5 million units have been sold and where it managed for a time to outsell the PS2[11]. Bai Ling filmed minor scenes for the film playing the role of a senator, but her role was cut during editing. Although ahead of the GameCube's 18.5 million, this was far behind the PlayStation 2's 90 million (after the Xbox was discontinued in favour of the Xbox 360, the GameCube and PlayStation 2 have reached 19.8 million[9] and 100 million[10], respectively). (However, the final storyline in the Republic comic series reveals that Vos escaped this initial attack.). According to company documents, Microsoft has shipped 25 million consoles to retailers worldwide at the end of 2005[8].

Expanded Universe character Quinlan Vos' death scene was never filmed, though his death was implied (but not explicitly shown) in the comic adaptation. However, as of February 2005, estimates show the Xbox's share of the worldwide console market is only moderately ahead of the Nintendo GameCube and far behind the PlayStation 2. The death scene of Shaak Ti is a DVD deleted scene. Some critics were initially concerned that the Xbox would allow Microsoft to extend its dominance of the PC software market to consoles. The deaths of Barriss Offee and Luminara Unduli were either cut from the film or never filmed in the first place. In July 2004, Microsoft announced that Xbox Live reached 1 million subscribers, and announced in July 2005 that Live had reached 2 million. Many Order 66 scenes were cut. 250,000 subscribers had signed on in 2 months since Live was launched [7].

The scene where Yoda arrives on Dagobah to begin his self-imposed exile was also cut, but is featured in a deleted scene in the DVD release. This online service works exclusively with broadband. (Due to the dating supported by Expanded Universe sources, and the fact that Chewbacca is still on Kashyyyk at the time, the pilot of the Falcon in the cameo is the previous owner(s) to Lando Calrissian and Han Solo, as Lando and Han were children at the time.) It is one of the ships landing in the background. In November 2002 Microsoft released the Xbox Live online gaming service, allowing subscribers to play online Xbox games with (or against) other subscribers all around the world and download new content for their games to the hard drive. However, the Millennium Falcon makes an appearance in the scene in which Anakin and Obi-wan return to Coruscant. In 2005, the long-awaited Xbox-exclusive Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and Far Cry Instincts were released. George Lucas wrote early drafts of the script in which a 10-year-old Han Solo appeared, but the role was never cast or shot. That year, Microsoft and Electronic Arts reached a deal which would see the latter's popular titles enabled on Xbox Live.

Scenes with Captain Needa and Mon Mothma were deleted. In 2004, Halo 2 set records as highest grossing release in entertainment history [6] as well as being a successful killer app for the online service. Another theory is that he had already played an alien character whose similarites were too close to the Grievous character, in 1997's Lost in Space. In addition, many other publishers got into the trend of releasing the the Xbox version alongside the PS2 version, instead of delaying it for months. Ultimately, his audition was never chosen. Take-Two Interactive's exclusivity deal with Sony was amended to allow Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and its sequels to be published on the Xbox. According to him, Gary Oldman is a friend of Rick McCallum, and recorded an audition as a favor to him. Several best-selling and critically-acclaimed titles for the Xbox were published, such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Ninja Gaiden, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Matthew Wood, who ultimately voiced Grievous, disputed this story at Celebration III, held in Indianapolis. The Xbox Live online service was launched with a strong lineup including MotoGP, MechAssault and Ghost Recon. Out of respect and solidarity with the other members of the guild, he chose to back out of the role rather than violate the union's rules. In 2002 and 2003, several releases helped the Xbox to gain momentum and distinguish itself from the PS2. However, complications arose during contract negotiations after Oldman learned the film was to be made outside of the Screen Actor's Guild, of which he is a member. Lastly, Sony countered the Xbox by making exclusivity deals for highly anticipated games such as the Grand Theft Auto series and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Gary Oldman was originally approached to provide the voice of General Grievous, and he accepted. Although it enjoyed strong third-party support from its inception, many early Xbox games did not take full advantage of its powerful hardware, with few additional features or graphical improvements to distinguish themselves from the PS2 version, and this negated one of the Xbox's main selling points.

Also in the movie was Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in the original trilogy), who played a speaking role as Captain Colton, the pilot of the Rebel Blockade Runner Tantive IV. However, the failure of several first-party games (including Fuzion Frenzy [4] and Azurik: Rise of Perathia [5]) damaged the initial public reputation of the Xbox. Nick Gillard, the stunt coordinator, plays a character named Cin Drallig (his name spelled backwards). Other successful launch titles included NFL Fever 2002, Project Gotham Racing[2] and Dead or Alive 3 [3]). Much of the crew also make cameos in the film. Halo still remains the console's standout title. His three children also play cameos: his son, Jett, as a young Jedi-in-training called Zett Jukassa killed defending the Jedi Temple against clone troopers; his daughter, Amanda, as a character called Terr Taneel, seen in the security hologram; and daughter Katie as a blue-skinned alien called Chi Eekway, visible when Palpatine arrives at the Senate after being saved by the Jedi, and talking to Baron Papanoida at the Opera House. The greatest success of the Xbox's launch games was Halo: Combat Evolved, which was critically well-received [1] and one of the best-selling games of the year.

It marks Lucas' first and only appearance in any of the Star Wars films. The Xbox launched in North America on November 15, 2001. George Lucas makes an appearance at the Coruscant Opera House as a blue faced being named Baron Papanoida, that can be seen outside Palpatine's box. The Xbox even brought high-end gaming technology to the mainstream, sporting a top of the line GeForce 3 equivalent graphics processor, a built-in Ethernet adapter, and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The film concludes with Beru, Luke, and Owen staring out over the desert at Tatooine's twin suns. The Xbox also presented a standardized alternative to the near-endless variety of end-user configurations on the PC. In space, onboard a Star Destroyer, Darth Vader and the Emperor oversee what is either the construction of the first Death Star or the Death Star prototype.^[1] Leia is brought to Alderaan to live with the Queen, and Luke is brought to Tatooine to live with Owen and Beru. Being based upon Windows and standard PC hardware, the Xbox was more familiar to developers and as a result was significantly easier to develop for in contrast to PlayStation 2's proprietary processor and operating system.

On Naboo, Padme's parents hold her funeral. The authors concluded that the Xbox project as a direct response to the upcoming PlayStation 2. Obi-Wan and Yoda will watch and wait until the time is ready for the Skywalker children to do their part in the battle against the Sith. As well, a venture into the gaming console market would also diversify Microsoft's product line, which up to that time had been heavily concentrated into software. Aboard the Tantive IV, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Bail Organa agree to keep the children hidden and separated. The growing video game market seemed to threaten the PC market which Microsoft had dominated and relied upon for most of its revenues. When Palpatine tells Vader that he killed Padmé, Vader unleashes a furious scream in a rage that distorts and destroys droids and equipment in the room. According to the book Smartbomb, by Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby, the remarkable success of the upstart Sony PlayStation worried Microsoft in late 1990s.

On Coruscant, occurring simultaneously in the film with the birth of his children, Vader is put in his classic armor, which allows him to survive his terrible injuries. Some see the Xbox as a way to capitalize on the growing video game market, noting that the PC market growth was stagnating after the dot-com bust. Just before she dies, Padmé says there is still good in Anakin. In May 2000 the "Xbox Project" was officially confirmed by Microsoft. Padmé gives them the names Luke and Leia. Gates said that a gaming/multimedia device was essential for multimedia convergence in the new times of digital entertainment. However, they manage to save her babies—she delivers twins, a boy and a girl. The rumors of a video game console being developed by Microsoft first emerged at the end of 1999 following interviews of Bill Gates.

Padmé is given medical assistance, but although she is physically intact, her will to live is gone and she dies. The Xbox was initially developed within Microsoft by a small team which included Seamus Blackley, a game developer and high energy physicist. Later, Palpatine arrives at Mustafar with a squad of clone troopers, and they rescue Vader from the brink of death. . After picking up Vader's lightsaber, Obi-Wan leaves Mustafar with the badly-injured Padmé. Notable launch titles for the console include Amped, Dead or Alive 3, Halo: Combat Evolved, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, and Project Gotham Racing. He ignites into flames, sustaining near-fatal third-degree burns and severe lung damage. The Xbox was Microsoft's first independent venture into the video game console arena, after having developed the operating system and development tools for the MSX, and having collaborated with Sega in porting Windows CE to the Sega Dreamcast console.

Vader tumbles down the embankment and rolls to a stop at the edge of the lava. The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America and Puerto Rico, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and later on March 14, 2002 in Europe. Obi-Wan soon gains the advantage of higher ground, and, when Vader attempts to jump over his former master, Obi-Wan cuts off both of his legs and his left arm. Xbox: Part Deux (Xbox XGPU Basics)" by Dave Salvator, ExtremeTech.Com, November 30, 2001, retrieved January 30, 2006. The fierce lightsaber duel continues between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. "GameCube vs. With clone troopers coming to aid Palpatine, Yoda makes the heart-wrenching decision to retreat, and escapes with the help of Bail Organa. NZ$249 (2004 Q4, 2005).

In a ferocious contest of Force powers both are flung apart, Yoda falling to the floor of the Senate chamber. NZ$299 (2004 Q2). In the Senate building, Yoda confronts Palpatine and the two engage in a fierce battle. AU$249 (2004, 2005). Obi-Wan and Vader break into a ferocious lightsaber duel. NZ$349 (2004). Enraged, he uses the Force to choke Padmé unconscious. AU$299 (2004).

Vader sees Obi-Wan emerge from Padmé's ship, and suspects her of betraying him to his former Master. NZ$399 (2003). Horrified, Padmé realizes that Obi-Wan's story was true. AU$349 (2003). Padmé wants to leave public life to live together and raise their child, but Vader tells her that he has brought peace to the Republic, and that he can overthrow Palpatine so he and Padmé can rule the galaxy together. NZ$499 NZD (3 October, 2002, Launch Price). When the couple reunite on Mustafar, they embrace. AU$299 AUD (2005).

Unbeknown to her, Obi-Wan secretly boards the ship just before it takes off. AU$399 AUD (2004). Padmé later departs to Mustafar to see her husband. AU$699 AUD (26 April, 2002, Launch Price) (Quickly dropped to $399 to compete with launch of Nintendo GameCube). Obi-Wan meets with Padmé and tells her that Anakin has turned to the Dark Side, but Padmé refuses to reveal where Vader is. €99 (Spain, January 2006 promotional price). On Mustafar, Vader is initially greeted by Viceroy Nute Gunray, however Vader immediately attacks the Separatist leaders and their small force of guards, ending the slaughter by killing Gunray. €99 (Ireland; Christmas 2005 promotional price).

Yoda says they have no choice but to destroy the Sith. £99 (August 27, 2004). Obi-Wan looks into the security recordings and sees Vader slaughtering the Jedi and then kneeling to Palpatine. €149 (August 27, 2004). In the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan and Yoda reconfigure a signal to warn all Jedi to keep away. £130 (2003). Palpatine informs the Senate of a Jedi plot to overthrow the Republic and announces that the Republic will be reorganized into the Galactic Empire. €199 (2003).

Senator Bail Organa rescues Obi-Wan and Yoda, and brings them to the Jedi Temple before heading to the Senate building. €249 (August 30, 2002). Vader later goes to Padmé and tells her the Jedi have tried to take over the Republic. €299 (Launch Price (Rest of Europe) and Ireland April 26, 2002). With a battalion of clone troopers, Darth Vader eradicates the Jedi in the Jedi Temple. £299 GBP (Launch Price March 14, 2002),. Ki-Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, Barriss Offee, Luminara Unduli, Plo Koon, Stass Allie, and other numerous Jedi across the galaxy are exterminated, but Yoda and Obi-Wan barely manage to survive. €479 (Launch Price (Ireland) 14 March, 2002),.

Palpatine orders clone troopers across the galaxy to turn against their Jedi Generals. US$179 (February 6, 2006, Bundled with Forza). Palpatine orders Vader to go to the Jedi Temple and kill all the Jedi within, then to go to the Mustafar system and kill Viceroy Gunray and the other Separatist leaders. CAD$199 (March 29, 2004). Palpatine takes Anakin as his Sith apprentice, and christens him with the Sith name Darth Vader. US$149 (March 29, 2004). Shocked, in pain, and caught off guard, Windu is consumed by Palpatine's Force lightning, forcing him out the window and killing him. US$179 (May 14, (2003).

Sensing that Palpatine was trying to corrupt Anakin, Mace tells Anakin not to believe him, but Anakin believes that the only way to save his wife is to keep the Chancellor alive, so he attacks Windu by cutting off his weapon hand. US$199 (May 15, (2002). Just as Windu is about to kill the Chancellor, Palpatine tries to convince Anakin that the Jedi were really trying to take over. US$299 (November 15, 2001, Launch Price). As Palpatine and Windu engage in a lightsaber duel, Anakin arrives. Approved by Microsoft for wireless gameplay with Xbox. Windu attempts to arrest the Chancellor, but Palpatine lunges with a fierce lightsaber attack which kills Agen Kolar, Kit Fisto, and Saesee Tiin (who were assigned to accompany him). Logitech 2.4 GHz wireless controller.

Anakin tells Jedi Master Mace Windu about Palpatine's true identity. This system has been defeated by the Xbox hacking community, who have developed tools to modify gamesaves to work in a different console, though some unique technical information concerning the recipient Xbox must be known. Upon realizing this, Anakin threatens to kill Palpatine, but instead decides to expose him to the Jedi Council. Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball) do not support this accessory as a cheat prevention measure. Meanwhile, Anakin discovers that Palpatine is the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious. Note that some recent games (e.g. Obi-Wan retrieves the droid's blaster and shoots the General several times in the chest, killing him, then tosses the blaster on the ground, muttering that it was, "so uncivilized.". Memory Unit: An 8 MB removable solid-state memory card onto which game saves can either be copied from the hard drive when in the Xbox Dashboard's memory manager or saved during a game.

Obi-Wan manages to break open Grievous's loose chestplate, exposing the living organs in his chest. The precise layout of the controls differs between the two variations of controller.

Undaunted by the General's four-saber technique, Obi-wan quickly finds an opening in Grievous's defences and slices off much of two of his four hands. Xbox Music Mixer: A utility software bundled with a microphone that connects to an adapter that plugs into the top expansion slot of a controller. After witnessing an argument between Grievous and Nute Gunray, he emerges from the shadows on top of a walkway and quickly disposes of Grievous's personal bodyguards before engaging Grievous himself. Later, as the price of the Xbox dropped, the DVD remote was bundled. Obi-Wan is sent to Utapau to find General Grievous. Although there is nothing to prevent the Xbox from acting as a progressive-scan DVD player, Microsoft chose not to enable this feature in the Xbox DVD kit in order to avoid royalty payments to the patent-holder of progressive scan DVD playback. This intrigues Anakin, due to his nightmares regarding Padmé. By selling a DVD remote separately, Microsoft was able to bundle the cost of the DVD licensing fee with it.

Palpatine says the ability to save people from death is something that can be learned, but not from a Jedi. DVD playback was not included as a standard feature of the Xbox due to licensing issues with the DVD format that would have added extra cost to the console's base price. Palpatine subtly manipulates Anakin in their discussions, making him distrust the Jedi. DVD Playback Kit: Required in order to play DVD movies, the kit includes an infrared remote control and receiver. Later at an opera house, Anakin arrives and Palpatine tells him the story of an old Sith legend; the story of Darth Plagueis the wise. It can also be used for DVD playback. As the Chancellor's bodyguard, Anakin builds a close friendship with Palpatine. Xbox Media Center Extender: A kit that allows Xbox to act as a Media Center Extender to stream content from a Windows XP Media Center Edition PC.

Later, Obi-Wan privately tells Anakin that the Council wants him to spy on the Chancellor because they believe that he is corrupt. This functionality is similar to Sega's DirectLink for Sega Saturn. This enfuriates Anakin, who believes it to be an insult. System Link Cable: A Cat 5 crossover cable for connecting together two consoles or a Cat 5 straight through cable used in conjunction with an ethernet hub for connecting up to four consoles, for up to 16 total players. The Council agrees with the Chancellor's appointment, however Anakin is not made a Jedi Master. The headset can in fact be replaced with most standard earpiece-and-microphone headsets; headset specialist Plantronics produce various officially-licensed headsets, including a special-edition headset for Halo 2. Chancellor Palpatine makes Anakin his representative on the Jedi Council. Xbox Live Starter Kit: A subscription and installation pack for the Xbox Live service, as well as a headset (with monaural earpiece and microphone) that connects to a control box that plugs into the top expansion slot of a controller.

However, Anakin is troubled by visions of Padmé dying in childbirth, visions like those he had of his mother before she died. While the official Wireless Adapter guarantees compatibility with the Xbox, almost any wireless bridge can be used. Despite Padmé's worries, as they have kept their love and their marriage secret, Anakin is overjoyed at this news, and the couple make plans to raise their child. Xbox Wireless Adapter: a wireless bridge which converts data running through an ethernet cable to a wireless (802.11b or 802.11g) signal to connect to a wireless LAN. Upon his return planetside, Anakin is reunited with his wife, Padmé Amidala, and she informs him of her pregnancy. Note that while there is an "official" Xbox 'System Link' cable (a crossover cat5e cable), any PC ethernet cable can be used in the normal way treating the xbox as an NIC, eg an Xbox-Xbox connection requires a crossover cable, whereas an xbox-switch connection requires a straight-through cable. Unable to leave the cruiser, which has been damaged in an engagement with the Republic fleet, Anakin crash-lands the ship on one of Coruscant's landing tracks. Ethernet (Xbox Live) Cable: A Cat 5 cable for connecting the Xbox to a broadband modem or router.

In the process of his escape, he decides to launch all of the cruiser's escape pods, therefore trapping the Jedi and the Chancellor on a fiery descent to the planet below. As Europe has no HDTV standard, no High Definition cable is currently provided in those markets. Anakin and Obi-Wan try to capture Grievous, eliminating most of the bridge crew in the process; Grievous escapes, however, in an escape pod. Advanced SCART Cable: The European equivalent to the Advanced AV Pack, providing a full RGB video SCART connection in place of S-Video, RCA composite and stereo audio connections (composite video and stereo are still provided by the cable, through the SCART connector, in addition to the RGB signal), while retaining the TOSLINK audio connector. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the Chancellor attempt to escape the ship, but are captured by General Grievous, leader of the droid army, and taken to the bridge. Also provides analog RCA and digital TOSLINK audio outputs. Palpatine reassures him that Tyranus was too dangerous to be kept alive. High Definition AV Pack: A breakout box, intended for HDTVs, that provides a YPrPb component video signal over three RCA connectors.

Anakin immediately expresses regret; to kill a foe who surrenders is not the way of the Jedi. Advanced AV Pack: A breakout box that provides S-Video and TOSLINK audio in addition to the RCA composite video and stereo audio of the Standard AV Cable. Palpatine urges Anakin to kill Tyranus, and despite Anakin's reservations, he does. RF Adapter: Provides a combined audio and video signal on an RF connector. In the ensuing lightsaber duel, Anakin defeats Tyranus by amputating his hands. European systems come with a RCA jack to SCART converter block in addition to the cable. They make their way to the observatory were Chancellor Palpatine is being held captive by Darth Tyranus (Count Dooku). Comes with the system.

During the space battle, Obi-Wan's ship is damaged by several buzz droids and the two Jedi crash into the hangar of the The Invisible Hand, where the Chancellor is held hostage. Standard AV Cable: Provides composite video and monaural or stereo audio to TVs equipped with RCA inputs. The camera tracks down from a blinding Coruscanti sun, to reveal a Venator-class Star Destroyer, with two Jedi Starfighters flying alongside it. Dimensions: 320 × 100 × 260 mm (12.5 × 4 × 10.5 inches). Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi lead a mission to rescue him. Weight: 3.86 kg. Chancellor Palpatine has been kidnapped by the Separatists second-in-command, General Grievous. Controller Ports: 4 proprietary USB ports.

The opening crawl reveals that the galaxy is in the midst of war. EDTV and HDTV Support: 480p/720p/1080i (see game boxes for supported resolutions). . PAL TV's have less than 600 horizontal lines. It broke several box office records in its opening week, and went on to earn over US$ 850 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of 2005 in the U.S., the 2nd highest grossing film of 2005 worldwide (right behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), and the 12th highest grossing worldwide film of all time. Note: NTSC (Non-HD) TV's have less than 500 horizontal lines. Released on May 19, 2005, the film was generally positively received by critics, especially in contrast to the two previous prequels. Maximum Resolution (2x32bpp frame buffers +Z): 1920(vert.)x1080(horiz)