It's always sad when someone in this industry steps down, and this is no different - as LucasArts President Jim Ward is finally hanging up his ten-year tenure at the company that brought us lightsabers and spaceships. Find out why and what's in the future for Jim Ward after the jump.

If we are not mistaken, the last video game title that was added to Microsoft's Platinum Hits basket was Activision's Call of Duty 2. It should also be remembered that MS ensured that the Platinum Hits release in Europe coincided with Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) launch.

Anyway, two more just got added to the long list of titles being re-packaged for a lower price, according to the official newsletter online site for Xbox 360. The first one is LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy from Lucas Arts, which was originally released both in Europe and North America last September 2006.

The next one is THQ's Saints Row, and one can't help but  wonder if MS did this on purpose to spoil the up and coming PS3 version release this Spring. Anyway, Saints Row, when it was first released, was always dubbed as a GTA-imitation, but since its initial release last August 2006, the game has already gathered a considerable following.

Both titles will now be available for just US$ 29.99.

Comic Relief is a charity organization that raises money for the poor countries in Africa and the disadvantaged people living in UK. Now, what does this group have to do with LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and TT Games? Well, a lot. Especially now that the publisher just proudly announced that it is supporting Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.

To those not familiar with this occasion, Red Nose Day is a special date for UK because this is the one day that the whole nation raises money for good cause in the name of comedy. Speaking of which, this is where TT Games comes in. According to the publisher, there's a hidden cheat for the game that unlocks red noses for all characters including Darth Vader himself.

Since this is all for a good cause, we won't be telling you the code. If you want red noses for LEGO Star Wars II, head over to the game publisher's official site (via the Read link below) and think about donating to reveal the cheat. We really hope that you guys will support this.

See, we even attached the images above to further entice you. Happy Red Nose Day!

The force is clearly with the SCi Entertainment Group, as the videogame publisher announced that revenues have risen 40% for the first six months of the fiscal year, to US$ 138 million.The majority of the revenue increase was due to product distribution according to  GamesIndustry.biz.

New products accounted for 50% of revenues to December 30, with new IP Just Cause the most successful release. SCi expects the game to hit the one million mark in terms of units sold by the end of the fiscal year and has confirmed that a sequel for Just Cause is currently in development.

One third of revenue for the first half came from the distribution of third-party titles, with sales of Lego Star Wars so far reaching a whopping 5.4 million units. The publisher also anticipates that Justice League Heroes, released in November, will also sell one million units by the end of the fiscal year.

GameInformer reports that LucasArts is spreading a holiday surprise for all you Lego Star Wars II fans out there. By entering a few codes you can play as Santa the Jedi Knight!

Here be the simple instructions:

• Step 1: At the Mos Eisley Cantina, enter the following two codes: CL4U5H (for Santa hat and red clothes), TYH319 (for white beard)
• Step 2: Go to the Character Customizer and create the proper costume. Use a human head, the appropriate red clothing and red cap.
• Step 3: In the Extras menu, activate Disguise 3.

Sad thing is, he isn't as fat as he ought to be. However, he's still cute, still fun, and is still Santa! Slice away folks!

Before the "wtf?! this is not news!" comments start, we're gonna jumpstart this post by saying that yes, we know this is not news, and this has absolutely nothing to do with any aspect of Lego Star Wars gameplay, but we just found this vid so funny that we had to post it here.

We know some of the *cough*older*cough* gamers out there are probably harboring "Princess Leia in the gold bikini" fantasies, so maybe this one's for the younger gamers out there who want to see Princess Leia gone wild. Check out this vid posted by mcre8ive over at YouTube which shows Lego Leia strutting her stuff and dancing on top of a table...all in front of the bewildered and mesmerized Han Solo. Heck, you'll even see Han bobbing his head to the beat of My Humps. Bwahaha.

Why don't you guys just check out the action yourself, here's the video of Leia shaking her booty to the Black Eyed Peas. Enjoy! (If the video doesn't load because YouTube's having some site whatever, then you can just use the "Via" link instead.)

What's hot and what's sizzling hot! That's what these charts from Amazon.com is all about. The list is updated every hour but this is how the charts looked at post time.

PC Games
The still to be released World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade is already smoking at the top of the PC games charts with pre-orders so we guess its one of those guaranteed hits just waiting to happen. Meanwhile, World of Warcraft is entrenched at No.4.

1. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade (pre-order)—Vivendi Games
2. Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe (pre-order)—Microsoft
3. The Sims 2: Pets exp. (pre-order)—EA
4. World of Warcraft—Vivendi Games
5. Battlefield 2142 (pre-order)—EA
6. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War Dark Crusade exp.—THQ
7. Nancy Drew: The Creature of Kapu Cave (pre-order)—Her Interactive
8. Neverwinter Nights 2 Limited Ed. (pre-order)—Atari
9. The Sims 2—EA
10. Warcraft III Battle Chest—Vivendi Games

The top ten PSP and Xbox 360 games on Amazon.com after the jump.

The Bringing it Home campaign is in full force today for day 10 and although there aren't any demos there are plenty of videos to check out for upcoming games. There are five trailers for upcoming games, three videos for Saint's Row, a picture pack and some downloadable content for LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. All of the trailers and videos are free of course as well as the X06 Picture Pack.

The downloadable content is the LEGO Star Wars II 360 Downloadable Character Pack, which cost 200 Microsoft Points and will give you access to all the characters that you earn from beating the first LEGO Star Wars game. So go ahead and check out the full video list below and if any of it tickles your fancy be sure to check it out on the Marketplace.

Trailers/Videos:

• Bringing it Home: Arcade Montage
• Bringing it Home: John Woo Presents Stranglehold
• Bringing it Home: Blitz the League
• Bringing it Home: F.E.A.R.
• Bringing it Home: Army of Two Trailer
• Saint's Row-Mayhem Video Strategy
• Saint's Row-Insurance Fraud Video Strategy
• Saint's Row-Hitman Video Strategy
  

Word is out that the LEGO Star Wars 2 demo is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. Along with this treat are the trailers for Forza 2 Physics & Damage, NBA 2K7, Sonic The Hedgehog, Shrek 3, Just Cause, NHL 2K7, and The Darkness. Also, players can now avail of Alan Wake Picture Pack for 80 Points, Alan Wake Theme for around 150 points and a new Kameo Design-a-Skin pack. All of these are still part of Microsoft's Bringing it Home downloadable content galore in line with the TGS and X06 season.

Speaking of X06 season, every Xbox 360 fan is now looking forward to more downloadable content that will be announced in Barcelona on Wednesday, September 27. We got hold of news that Microsoft will be first dishing out  Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey trailers. Blue Dragon will be released in Japan this winter and is expected for international release along with Lost Odyssey by the end of the year.

Microsoft's X06 will happen on the 27th to 28th of September in Barcelona. A great time to expect for more updates, so keep it here at QJ for more news.

A game's popularity will always reflect on its shelf status. And it's almost a cliche that as soon as a new console is coming, the games that can be played in such platform disappear magically from the rental stores. GameFly, a popular rental company in the US, has given us a reflection of such interest on the next-gen titles.

After LEGO Star Wars 2 reportedly stole the limelight from other games by selling more than a million titles in a week's time, Xbox 360's The Godfather now surfaces as the the most requested title across all platforms for the week. Okami placed second while LEGO Star Wars 2 was demoted to third.

The see-saw of game title ranking has made us giddy. The Godfather reigned on all the platforms, including Xbox 360. It outranked LEGO Star Wars 2 once again, while THQ's Saints Row followed on the top three spot. Former number one Test Drive Unlimited crashed to number seven.

Other upcoming next-gen platforms reflected the same boom on the sales and rentals at GameFly. Most notable of them are Sony's Heavenly Sword and Ubisoft's Red Steel. Expect that these game titles will continue to outrank one another at GameFly and other U.S. stores, so keep a close watch for the updates.