From Azeroth with Love
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The new Trekkies
There's only one thing that can be worse than a Star Trek convention or a gathering of Star Wars fans at the premier of a new Star Wars film, midnight launches of World of Warcraft expansions. The diehard fans were out in full force last night, dressed as their favorite heroes and villains from Azeroth. Eager and willing to shell out a few bucks for the latest installment of the Blizzard treadmill, everyone wanted to be the first to login and create the first Death Knight, a new "Hero" class available to players who purchase the expansion. Wrath of the Lich King promises more of the same for World of Warcraft. It includes more raids, more dungeons and more gear that most people who play the game will never see because they don't have the ability to invest the time required to obtain those items.
John Smedley speaks about about new Star Wars MMORPG
In a recent interview on Massively.com, SOE President, John Smedley finally breaks his silence about the newly announced Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG being developed by Bioware. While Bioware and John Smedley both agree that there are plenty of Star Wars fans for both MMORPG's to succeed and that each game is a unique and different Star Wars experience, John Smedley does suggest the possibility to sunset the much troubled Star Wars Galaxies should subscriptions drop significantly. At this point, if somebody hasn't quit Star Wars Galaxies by now, chances are they never will and shutting down the game will be the only option for them to realize their dream had actually died two years ago.
Just in case you weren't paying attention
The ESRB, concerned that people do not fully understand or appreciate simple ratings similar to the Motion Picture Association, have followed suit by adding additional paragraph explanations in addition to the existing ESRB ratings. In some cases, the writing could be over 100 words long in description detailing vivid accounts of game play possibilities.
For example, the descriptive text for Resistance 2, an M for Mature game reads "Resistance 2 is a first-person shooter set in an alternate 1950's environment where the Earth has been overrun by aliens. Players must shoot their way through hordes of aliens, large-scale bosses and sometimes robots, using a variety of guns and grenades. Aliens and humans get blown up, torn apart, shot, impaled and killed in gushes of red blood and body parts. During cutscenes, team members are killed by aliens, and in one instance, executed by another character. Characters use strong profanity (e.g., "f*ck" and "sh*t") during gameplay and cutscenes. "
While the ESRB goal is to create additional roadblocks for kids trying to con mom or dad into a game, they are essentially giving them more reason to by the game. In the future we may even see publisher's advertising their games and bragging about the total word count given by the ESRB to gauge a game's cool factor.
Those crazy guys at Apple are at it again
After failing to capture the PC market and succumbing to the will of Microsoft, Apple has found its niche in the mobile phone and gaming business and has once again issued a challenge to current leaders Nintendo and Sony that it will probably not win. While at a convention recently, Iphone product marketing president Greg Joswiak claims that the Wii-esque abilities of the new iPod Touch and iPhone, packaged with their ability to play 3D games, motion video, email and yes, telephone services will eventually conquer the handheld gaming market.
At last check, iPhone and iPod Touch start out over $200, may require additional purchases and subscriptions, the Nintendo DS is a cool $129 and has a complete line of Mario games. The major market audience for handheld gaming systems does not require email, motion video or cell services. While they may beat the PSP in the long run, its because the PSP has been a lukewarm failure. As a parent, I won't be buying my kids an iPhone any time soon, but I will fully support their Nintendo DS addiction and until Apple markets to the requirements of parents, iPhones will just be the coveted gadget for teens and the middle aged professional.
Blame it on the market
This week, Circuit City announced that is has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing a slowing economy and decline in overall sales. While the company feverishly tries to renegotiate their way out of leases for proposed new stores and draws up a list of December 31st closures and layoffs, they did manage to secure a 1.1 billion dollar line of credit to be used for restructuring. While the market and economy could very well be factors in the company's demise, competitor Best Buy, while recognizing a softening consumer base continues to stay afloat. If you have ever been in a Circuit City or Best Buy, I'm sure you know the real reason for Circuit City's woes.
IGN bitchslaps Halo 3 Recon
In a surprise move, IGN slams the $60 price tag on the Halo 3 recon standalone expansion. Citing sources that claim the expansion is at most a 6 hour game play experience. IGN can usually be found cuddling every free game they receive. This move is unexpected and may hurt their future abilities to get their hands on other future Bungie releases. Ok, so maybe that's not such a bad thing.
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