Relax, Warcraft III Just Got Patched [PC]

Warcraft III, a PC (and Mac!) game released almost eight years ago, just got a couple of new, official patches. Now that’s some post-release support. More

Don’t Expect World of Warcraft On Video Game Consoles, Ever [Blizzard]

World of Warcraft, the world’s most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game, is available on the PC and on the Mac. It is not available on home consoles like the PS3 and the Xbox 360. And it probably won’t be. “I think there’s a lot of reasons,” World of Warcraft lead producer J. Allen Brack told game site G4tv. “There’s not one thing. One is, it takes a long time to develop an MMO. The lifecycle of consoles being what they are, you have to really time when your console’s going to come out, what its projected lifecycle is going to be with when your game is going to be, which is challenging.” The life cycle for consoles can last up to ten years plus; however, it can also be much shorter. There are hard drive issues, too: all PS3s have hard drives installed in the consoles, but that is not true for the Xbox 360. “There’s those technical challenges,” he continued, “there’s patching challenges, there’s the quality controls that we have vs. the quality controls that say, a Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo has. All those things sort of raise the bar in terms of the challenges and then specifically in the case of WoW, WoW was designed to be a keyboard game and its control scheme and its camera controls and the number of abilities that you have and the spells and how things work are very keyboard-centric. The idea of translating that to a gamepad is a very, very challenging proposition.” Okay, fine, there are hurdles, but if MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XI have come to home consoles, then certainly World of Warcraft can do it, too. Right? Right?! “I think it’s unlikely that WoW comes to the consoles,” he added. “It is something that we talk about on a pretty regular basis, but someone is going to figure out how to make an MMO on a console and they’re going to be wildly successful. I have no doubt about that.” That game, it seems, will not be World of Warcraft. This is a stance that Blizzard has had for a couple of years now, and it doesn’t look like it will change. Sorry console gamers! Blizzard Thinks About A Console World Of Warcraft “All The Time,” Prospects Dim [G4]

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Don’t Expect World of Warcraft On Video Game Consoles, Ever [Blizzard]

Diablo III’s Male Wizard Is A Sexy Rock God [Blizzard]

Blizzard has revealed the male model of Diablo III’s wizard class, sporting a look that many late 70’s, early 80’s rock stars would have given all of their chest hair for. First the female monk , then the female barbarian , and now this guy, the male wizard. Comparing concept art to concept art, the male wizard in Diablo III is showing just as much, if not more skin than his female counterpart , who made her debut during BlizzCon 2008. My goodness, has this game really been in development this long? Of course, when you look at the in-game model, seen below, the male wizard is covered from head to toe in clothing and armor, while the female version still has her arms and neck exposed. I hope there’s an outfit that looks more like the sexy rock god concept art, as that’s how I plan on rolling in Diablo III. Now we just have to wait for the female witch doctor, and then Blizzard can release the game! Pretty please?

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Diablo III’s Male Wizard Is A Sexy Rock God [Blizzard]

The Zerg Overrun The Orkin Army [Clips]

If you’re unlucky enough to not be in the StarCraft II Beta, or unwilling to pay $300 to get in , here’s a two minute clip showing what you’re missing – in this case, the Zerg clobbering some holier-than-thou Protoss ass. This is the latest GameTrailers video on the subject; five other gameplay videos were posted back on Wednesday. You can catch them all through the link. StarCraft II [GameTrailers]

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The Zerg Overrun The Orkin Army [Clips]

Starcraft II: Some Thoughts On The Beta [StarCraft]

I’ve been playing the Starcraft II beta for a couple of days now . On the off chance you actually want to hear what I think about it, read on, reader, read on. Before I get started, let me establish what I am. Or, rather, what I am not . I am not a “hardcore” Starcraft fan. Sorry. I loved Starcraft, yes, but I loved it in 1998. I played it then, I finished it, I got on with my life. So if you want somebody who goes toe-to-toe with Koreans, who can agonise over the minutest details of this sequel, from build times to scroll speeds to how this is going to affect your next competitive match, sorry. I’m not your man. If you’re a casual observer, though – as I imagine the vast majority of you are – then you’ll probably be in the same boat as me; loved Starcraft back in the day, and are simply curious to see just what’s changed (or hasn’t changed) over the past 12 years. That, I can help you with. (Since this is neither a preview or a review, I’m just going to give you all my thoughts at once) The Water Still Beads – My goodness this game is polished. I mean, I know this is Blizzard, and I know it’s been 12 years in the making, but still. From menu screen to interface to terrain to the behaviour and animation of the units, this game is dripping with incidental detail. You want to see what Blizzard mean when they say “it’s done when it’s done”, you boot this game up and compare the trimmings with any other game you’ve ever played, you’ll see what they’re talking about. 12 Years? – It’s unfair to say this game has actually been 12 years in the making. It hasn’t. Blizzard has, in case you missed it, been busy making other stuff during that time. Still, when you play a game that comes so long after its sequel, you expect at least some things to be different. To have evolved. But no, at least in terms of the multiplayer game, aside from some new units and the fancy trimmings, at a fundamental level this is essentially Starcraft HD. How you feel about that depends on whether you wanted a change or not; personally, I’d have liked to see Blizzard be a little more adventurous (though, to be fair, they may be saving that for the singleplayer game). Listen To It Purr – My PC is what you’d call “slightly above average” OK, above average (DualCore 3.0ghz, 4GB, GTS 250 1ghz). It’s not a $3000 rig. And yet I can play the game on its highest detail settings at a smooth and consistent framerate, regardless of the size of the map or the number of units on screen. If you’re running an average rig, then, or even a below-average rig, slide the settings down a little and you’ll be well looked after. So Far, So Good – For a beta, things sure are running smoothly. As somebody who doesn’t play World of Warcraft, Blizzard’s Battle.net system was a new experience for me, but over two solid days of play I’m yet to run into any problems whatsoever, whether in terms of dropped connections, lag or trouble finding a game. If It Ain’t Broke – While I wish Blizzard had made some more sweeping changes to the game, Starcraft’s second-most treasured asset – it’s universe – already feels stronger and more confident. The developers have successfully tread the fine line between preserving old favourites and making necessary tweaks, leaving us with Protoss that are a little more Predator, Zerg that are a little more repulsive and Terrans that have, smartly, been shifted a little in tone, from Southern hillbillies to Wild West pioneers (complete with Deadwood-esque soundtrack). You’ll especially love the Terran’s new mech, above, whose inspiration is a little more foreign than the rest of their units. So, yeah, that’s what I’ve come across over the past two days, from being the 167th person connected to the game until now, when there’s an average of around 2500 people online at once. If you’ve got any other questions, feel free to leave them below; I’ll be playing a lot more over the next few days, so I’ll try and answer them to the best of my abilities/knowledge (and if anything big jumps out, I’ll add it in here).

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Starcraft II: Some Thoughts On The Beta [StarCraft]

The StarCraft II Beta Test Has Officially Begun [Blizzard]

Hell, it’s about time… to start playing some StarCraft II! Blizzard has announced that the closed beta test for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is officially a go, with invitations going out to “thousands of gamers.” Yeah, check your e-mail! Scratch that. Check your Battle.net account! That’s where you’ll find your StarCraft II closed beta fate. If you didn’t get in for the first look at Blizzard’s next real-time strategy game and the revamped matchmaking service that goes along with it, you better head to Battle.net now, create an account and be on your best behavior. Beta keys only go out to good boys and girls. If you have one of those BlizzCon golden tickets that permit you access to the beta, check out the StarCraft II beta FAQ to see how to use it. While you wait for your invitation to go out, make sure your PC is up to snuff . Did you get in? Let us know!!

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The StarCraft II Beta Test Has Officially Begun [Blizzard]

The Real StarCraft II Beta System Requirements Have Arrived [System Requirements]

Blizzard has revealed the real minimum PC requirements for playing in the StarCraft II beta test, and while not quite as low as the imaginary ones we posted last month, they’re still relatively modest. Last month Blizzard accidentally posted what looked like World of Warcraft system specs as ones for the StarCraft II beta test, causing a brief flurry of excitement from players with older machines. The good news is that all hope is not lost. You’ll need a slightly beefier processor, a little more memory, and a more powerful video card, but much less hard drive space. Here are the official beta requirements. Keep in mind that these are for the beta only, and won’t necessarily be the same for the final release. PC Minimum Requirements: • Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1/Windows 7 • 2.2 Ghz Pentium IV or equivalent AMD Athlon processor • 1 GB system RAM/1.5 GB for Vista and Windows 7 • 128 MB NVidia GeForce 6600 GT/ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video card • 1024×768 minimum display resolution • 4 GB free hard space (Beta) • Broadband connection Starcraft II System Requirements [Blizzard Support - Thanks DeadDuck!]

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The Real StarCraft II Beta System Requirements Have Arrived [System Requirements]

Pandaren Monk Generates $1.1 Million Worth Of Wishes [Charity]

In November, Blizzard released a Pandaren Monk in-game pet for World of Warcraft on the company’s online store, with half of the proceeds from the sale pledged to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The $10 item generated $1.1 million for charity. The Pandaren Monk, an adorable little anthropomorphic panda that follows players around as they explore Azeroth, was one of two in-game pets Blizzard introduced in early November, the first virtual items for World of Warcraft offered in the Blizzard store. Both the Monk and Lil’ KT were priced at $10 apiece, but only the panda man there would split his proceeds with the Make-A-Wish Foundation until the end of the year. Doing a quick bit of math, that means that Blizzard sold 220,000 Pandaren Monks between the release in November and December 31st. That’s some impressive numbers right there. “We’ve had a long relationship with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and we’re proud to support the priceless work they do for children,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “This donation also reflects the spirit and generosity of our players – their enthusiasm for World of Warcraft and for supporting a good cause made this possible.” Let’s keep in mind that this promotion also generated $1.1 million in sales for Blizzard, who I am certain didn’t spend that much creating an in-game pet. Everybody wins! Blizzard teasing aside, this is a tremendous show of support from World of Warcraft players, adorable in-game pet or no, generating an impressive amount of money in a short period of time for those who need it the most. “Thanks to Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft players around the world, we will be able to grant the heartfelt wishes of even more courageous children with life-threatening medical conditions,” said David Williams, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America president and chief executive officer. “This generosity is helping us bring hope, strength and joy to children when they – and their families – are facing an unimaginably difficult time in their young lives.” Well done, WoW fans!

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Pandaren Monk Generates $1.1 Million Worth Of Wishes [Charity]

The Official StarCraft II Beta FAQ Answers Your Every Question* [Blizzard]

*Well, almost every question, as the final StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty release date and the system specs required to play the StarCraft II multiplayer beta on PC are missing. But if you have other questions, Blizzard’s FAQ has answers. Almost everything you’ll need to know about the StarCraft II beta, arriving this month , and the massive changes to Battle.net are now online in handy FAQ form. Burning questions like “How do I use my BlizzCon beta code?” are answered (Use it on the beta sign-up page.) as are details about what you’ll be able to play during the multiplayer beta (Multiplayer ladder quick matches in 1v1, 2v2, and free-for-all (FFA) modes and unranked matches, but no single-player). Just about everything you’ll need to get up to speed on this month’s beta is here. StarCraft II Beta FAQ [Battle.net]

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The Official StarCraft II Beta FAQ Answers Your Every Question* [Blizzard]

Diablo III’s Female Barbarian Is Rather Well-Armored [Blizzard]

Barbarians are traditionally known for their lack of practical armor, but Diablo III’s newly-revealed Barbarian female has managed to protect herself pretty well, while still showing off her amazing toned physique. It looks as if Blizzard is slowly rolling out the opposite sex choices for Diablo III, beginning with last week’s reveal of the female Monk . Now we get our first look at the female Barbarian, an imposing figure of a female if I’ve ever seen one. It’s refreshing to see a well-muscled barbarian female, as opposed to the Playboy model in a loincloth version we’re used to getting in our fantasy fiction. Here is her in-game model, seen in motion on the Barbarian class page: And here’s a full-body picture of the concept art: Now that we’ve seen the Monk and the Barbarian, we anxiously await the reveal of the female Witch Doctor and the male Wizard. So far the male Witch Doctor is the most scantily clad character in the roster. I bet the male Wizard is only wearing a star-speckled Speedo.

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Diablo III’s Female Barbarian Is Rather Well-Armored [Blizzard]

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