Mega-publisher Electronic Arts is experiencing massive layoffs this week. According to the Beeb, there was a Star Wars game cancelled as EA cuts 670 jobs. That's a lot of jobs. Recent games have received a fair amount of praise as of late, but canceled Star Wars projects are everywhere lately. They write:

The sliding scale of what is on- or off-limits under the Disney regime is tough - does a character being canon matter anymore?  Lucky for us, apparently not!   GameStop's 6-inch Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Shadow Stormtrooper The Black Series Action Figure is up for pre-order now, limit 1 per customer.  At $24.99 with no in-store pick-up option, it's not cheap for one of nearly a dozen figures to use or share this tooling.

If you're a toy collector of a certain age, the 1978-1985 black and silver Kenner line look is a holy thing.  You saw it on action figures, vehicles, coloring books, and all sorts of toys (as "collectibles" were not really a thing) when you were a kid, and also at subsequent flea markets, garage sales, and guys named Ron's garages.

This look was out of vogue by 1991 when LucasFilm Games and JVC teamed up for Star Wars for the NES in 1991 and the GameBoy in 1992.  Star Wars was barely making a blip on the cultural radar with a few video games, some hollow figures from Dakin, and a small publishing program at what primitive humans of that era referred to as "book stores," some of which sold video games out of the back.   This game was not necessarily a gem of its era, but it sold well on the strength of the license and of the hope that it would be great.

For those of you who missed out in the 1991 and 1992 era, or the reissues later, or the reissues of the reissues, you've got one more chance on June 28 (assuming you don't buy the originals off of eBay for about ten bucks a pop first.)

Last year, Walmart and other big box stores carried Arcade 1-Up's classic arcade game cabinets.  They're a little smaller, but with a riser they're roughly normal height.  At E3 this week, they announced Star Wars with The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi included.   It looks like the old stand-up unit from roughly 1983, which admittedly isn't as cool as the cockpit cabinet but it's neat.  We're told it'll be under $500.

In "I can't believe it either" news, a bunch of the 1990s Star Wars video game library is coming back in print!  Limited Run Games announced a bunch of retro game cartridge and boxed PC software reissues - Monkey Islands, Dark Forces, and so on.  The games are expected to have extras, and most special physical games include things like posters, maps, or other fun flat things.  We don't know what these will be yet, and I speak from experience that the NES and GameBoy Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back games were not impressive when they were new.  (Shadows of the Empire was great, though.) 

Thanks to our pal Adriana, we have word of BBCre8.com selling this awesome Star Wars Cartridge (Slider Pin).  It's $15 and was created for LA Comic Con, you can slide up the cartridge and there are several other low-run styles of other NES cartridges which I am trying to convince myself I do not need.

Kotaku and other sites are reporting a huge, open-world Star Wars game that was in production now isn't.  The mourning! After Ragtag and other games just don't make it out, like the legendary old Battlefront III, we can only be left wondering what could have been.  Like why there wasn't an NES game based on Droids in 1985.  The world is full of disappointments.

Kotaku posted a really swell article called The Collapse Of Visceral's Ambitious Star Wars Game.  The game was one in which you played a Han Solo-gone-wrong type in the pre-Star Wars time frame, and the demos looked gorgeous.  The feature goes in to detail about what the game was - and wasn't - and how deadlines and budgets are a far deadlier enemy than the Galactic Empire.  Check it out.

The AVClub put together a wonderful round up of unreleased video game news.   Did you know about the Darth Vader spin-off of Rogue Squadron, or the game focusing on Chewbacca's years as a bounty hunter during the "dark times?"   If not, this is must-read, must-watch stuff.   There are links, there are videos, and there will be tears over the things you've missed.  Click here to check it out.  It's called "George Lucas ruining a Chewbacca game was just one of LucasArts’ woes."

One of the best Super NES games 1992 had to offer is on PSN!  Super Star Wars is up now for $9.99, which is less than the $59.99 it cost back then.  I like this ridiculous action game a lot, with wonderful power-ups and goofy cut scenes. It's charming - if you love 16-bit gaming you might want to check this out.

If you've got a PlayStation and a hankering to play some old favorites, this is a good week to be alive - just remember, that "old" is a lot more recent than it used to be. 

The PlayStation 3 has a Star Wars Throwback Pack on sale for $30.35 with PS2 ports of Bounty Hunter, Dark Forces, Racer Revenge, Starfighter, and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.  Those titles are also available individually for $9.99.

PlayStation Vita and PSP owners can enjoy a larger mega bundle for $39.99.  It includes Battlefront II, Battlefront: Renegade Squadron, Battlefront: Elite Squadron, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, and the original The Force Unleashed.

While there was fear of Disney burying the past of LucasArts, it turns out that there's still gold in them thar hills - $9.99 worth, to be exact.   X-Wing and TIE Fighter are both up on GOG.com along with other Lucas titles like KOTOR, Sam & Max, and a few more.  Click here to check them out - you too can buy them and they'll sit on your hard drive unplayed with hundreds of other cheap games you got on Steam last year.

In an article called More Cancelled Star Wars Games Revealed, IGN reveals that Factor 5 had been pretty busy before the 2008 financial crisis.  We almost got a Rogue Squadron compilation on the Wii, and a bunch of other goodies.  We also missed out on Star Wars Rogue Squadron: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter.  It's worth a read.

Forbes and other outlets are confirming 40 new levels are on the way to Angry Birds Star Wars 2 - and apparently they're free.  Does this mean more new toys? Most likely, so strap yourselves in for another season of bird importing on your iPhones!