Author Archives: Ben Retan
Disney Shuts Down LucasArts, Cancels Star Wars 1313 And Star Wars: First Assault
After over four years of working at Lucas Arts, I came in today to find out that Disney is shutting the doors on the studio. I would have really liked to have been able to share First Assault with the … Continue reading
Star Wars 1313 Announced
I’m glad we have finally announced one of the projects we have been working on here at Lucas Arts. It has been in development for several years now and I worked on it during the early concept/prototyping phases including designing … Continue reading
Common Game Design Anti-Patterns – San Francisco IGDA Meeting
I will be speaking tonight, April 11th 2012 @ 7PM, at the San Francisco IGDA meeting about Common Game Design Anti-Patterns. Come check it out! Here are the details. Talk title: Common Game Design Anti-Patterns Description: Anti-Patterns are patterns that … Continue reading
Talk Of Alabama Interview
After the Birmingham News article, a local morning talk show also asked me to do an TV interview. The host was a somewhat mistaken about my role on the project but he was very enthusiastic!
Birmingham News Article With David Jaffe
The Birmingham News gave The Force Unleashed 2 an A+ review and the reporter contacted me about doing an interview. While telling him my story, I mentioned how, as a designer from Birmingham, David Jaffe (also from Birmingham) had inspired … Continue reading
The Force Unleashed 2 Released
After a lot of long hours of hard work, I’m proud to say Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 is finally released! This project has been an epic journey and I’m extremely proud of the work I was able to … Continue reading
Full Sail Article
I was recently approached about doing an article about my work on The Force Unleashed 2. It was featured on the Full Sail website and details my work and experience on the project. “Video games have played an important role … Continue reading
Lucidity Released On XLBA
I recently worked on level design for one of the more indie games we have been developing as part of our Lucas Labs effort. It’s a reverse-platformer in the sense that instead of controlling a character moving through a world, … Continue reading
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed DLC
Really excited that the DLC I’ve been working on is coming out! It was awesome getting to work on the Boba Fett and Obi Wan boss fights. I hardly could have imagined when I was a kid running around dressed … Continue reading
Six Flags Fun Park DS Released
My first published game has now been released and I’m extremely excited! There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being able to go to the store and see your game on the shelf. Even though I’m doing design work now … Continue reading