Round-Up: Double Sith, Cabbage Patch Game, Shrek GBA Movie

Today's round-up includes news on a carefully planned DVD and game convergence from LucasArts, another interesting license choice from D3 Publisher, and Majesco's partnership to release Dreamworks animated films for the Game Boy Advance. - LucasArts announced a release date for the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront II, the sequel to 2004's online multiplayer free-for-all shooter. The game will be released to retail simultaneously with the 2-disc DVD edition of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on November 1st, 2005. The two releases will be cross-promoted, with Xbox versions of two levels from the game available as bonus material on the special edition DVD. Star Wars Battlefront II will be available on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PlayStation Portable. - D3 Publisher of America has announced another U.S.-sourced title not developed by its parent Japanese company: the company has secured the license for the Cabbage Patch Kids from Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc. A Cabbage Patch Kids game for personal computers is now in development and is planned for release in the third quarter of 2005. "With the tremendous success of the Cabbage Patch Kids toy line re-launch, the timing was right to create a fun 'Kids' gaming experience in the interactive market," said Careen Yapp, vice president of licensing and business development for D3PA. - Majesco has partnered with DreamWorks SKG for further entries in its line of Game Boy Advance Video releases. Rather than the usual GBA Video fare of episodes of children's cartoons, the DreamWorks releases will cover animated feature films such as Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shark Tale. The three products will be the first full-length film releases in the GBA Video format. "Nintendo is thrilled to have these great titles for Game Boy Advance," says Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo's VP of Sales and Marketing. "Majesco's ability to offer consumers full-length movies pushes the functionality of Nintendo's handhelds to a whole new level." - Also updated today: product news including Di-O-Matic's announcement of Facial Studio 1.5, and the latest industry jobs from companies including DIC Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Factor 5, Mad Doc Software, Midway Games, Ratbag Games, Surreal Software, Three Rings, Ubisoft Shanghai Studio, and WMS Gaming.