Interviews

TheMacBox talks iPhone Lightsaber Unleashed

PhoneSaber's creator on how it went legit

TheMacBox talks iPhone Lightsaber Unleashed

Star Wars fans are already getting excited about Lightsaber Unleashed. It's the new revamped version of PhoneSaber, the iPhone lightsaber app that was hugely popular on the App Store, then taken down by the developers after THQ Wireless (the official Star Wars mobile rightsholder) got in touch.

It's been an entirely amicable process, though. In fact, THQ Wireless decided to work with the developers to make an all-new official version. Hence Lightsaber Unleashed.

The developers are collectively known as TheMacBox, and individually known as two students from Edinburgh called Alex and Duncan. We got in touch to get their take on the new version.

Pocket Gamer: What's been changed for the new version – what new features are in it, and how have you made use of the licence?

TheMacBox: We've really enjoyed working with the Star Wars licence because it let us add some stuff that PhoneSaber fans told us they really wanted, but we knew we couldn't get away with on the old unofficial version, like the duelling music (which is really cool).

Adding all of the character bios and pics makes it that little bit more immersive too! The whole thing just looks a lot nicer!

Is it going to be free or a paid app?

Worry not, it's still going to be completely free!

It sounds like you've had a refreshingly good experience dealing with THQ and Lucasfilm. How have you found it?

As a couple of random students who develop applications for fun, we were a little worried when we started talking to THQ Wireless (we've never dealt with such a large company before) but the experience was more positive that I could have imagined. Brad Pitser, (director of global production), was our main contact and is really cool.

I spoke to him several times and have kept in touch through the whole process. I'm just really happy that it went so well, and you guys can keep playing with the app!

What next? Has PhoneSaber / Lightsaber Unleashed opened new doors for you in terms of making other branded iPhone apps?

Like I said, we're mainly in it for something to do, although we're always interested in having a go at different projects. If someone asks us to do something we'd probably go for it, but it depends how busy we are with university!

Stuart Dredge
Stuart Dredge
Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)