"Have you been considering free-to-play for World of Warcraft, and if you did, what would the Blizzard way of free-to-play look like?

PS: I don’t envision us changing the business model for World of Warcraft. It’s been working really well in each of the markets.

The game has been designed in such a way to where we determined the business model to wrap that around what the game experience was. Given that we’re not looking to significantly modify the overall gameplay experience, which is I..."

"An Australian man was arrested recently after he convinced a 15-year-old girl he met while playing World of WarCraft to run away from home to be with him. He even paid for the trip. How sweet.

The 31-year-old Anthony Taylor formed a relationship with the less-than-half-his-age girl, which eventually led to sexual messages and phone calls. The girl’s father found out about the relationship and threatened to kill Anthony, so Anthony did what any self-respecting pedophile would do — he sent ..."

"Video in Link"

"It took just 10 days for video game maker Funcom Inc. to sell 400,000 copies of its newest title, Age of Conan, last month, making it one of the year's most successful debuts.

But for now, you can't play it on popular living-room consoles like Sony's PlayStation 3, Microsoft's Xbox 360, or Nintendo Wii. Age of Conan is available only on desktop computers that use Microsoft's Windows operating system. PC gamers say its success helps debunk a popular belief: That console games have crushed t..."

"You may remember a video posted on YouTube a little while back, where a couple of clever German chaps had managed to surf Google Earth using the Wii Balance Board. Now, in a follow-up video they've gone even further, demonstrating the accessory's uses in Blizzard's massively successful MMO World of Warcraft.

The player is seen controlling the character in the game by shifting his weight forward, while more body-leaning directs the camera around him. There's a promise of more to come, but e..."

"deathknight.info has posted screens from the alpha test for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, revealing the first info on a potential new achievement system for the massively successful MMO.

The posted screens reveal that typing /achievements into the game's console opens up an achievements menu, complete with early achievements which have point values attached to them.

First impressions point towards a system similar to Deeds in Lord of the Rings Online, and the Tome of Knowle..."

"Dan Loton, a Psychology graduate from Victoria University, conducted an honours research project to find out if video game addiction was related to social skills and self-esteem.

"From a clinical point of view, an addiction is a mental illness with very serious consequences," he said.

"In this context, we need to ask whether gaming is responsible for causing people’s lives to fall apart in the same way we see with gambling, alcohol or drug addiction."

Mr Loton's study found that o..."

"Shawn Fanning, best known as the founder of pioneering file-sharing service Napster, has finally earned some money.

Electronic Arts said tonight it had acquired his latest company, ThreeSF, and its video-game service Rupture. A person familiar with the deal said EA had paid roughly $30 million.

Shawn Fanning, best known as the founder of pioneering file-sharing service Napster, has finally earned some money.

Electronic Arts said tonight it had acquired his latest company, ThreeSF, an..."

"Police say Jones drove to Boise from Birmingham, Alabama, and picked the teen around 7 a.m. on May 28th.

The pair was found at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time today and are in the custody of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office in Washington state.

Authorities say Julian appears to be in good physical condition.

Boise Police detectives have contacted the teen's family who are relieved to know she's been found and is unharmed."

""That's actually something we talk about every expansion," Brack admitted when asked about top-end visuals. "I'm positive we'll talk about it next expansion."

"A lot of people continued to play with the original client, because it was faster, or they preferred it, or were just used to it or whatever," the producer said, adding a note of caution. "And so for me as a game developer, the idea that we would spend so much time and energy on something and have people go, 'meh, that's not really ..."

""

"The videogame industry has been one of the hardest hit, with over ten million World of Warcraft addicts alone. That's ten million people chasing the dragon, in the hopes they can kill it and score some epic loot. To peer inside the mind of an addict is to peer into the void, where all the concerns that you and I take for granted – having shelter, food, clothes, and a steady supply of money from our whores – no longer matters. All that matters is the drug. All that matters is the next fix.

..."

"Whatever else negative you can say about Uwe Boll, one thing you can’t criticize him on is his strong love for video games. I mean, there may be over 200,000 signatures on an online petition asking that he stop making movies, but he clearly loves the gamer market, and at least goes into each project hoping to make good films for that fanboy community.

Right? Right?!?

the folks over at Blizzard wonder the same thing, since they practically laughed Boll out of their offices when he approa..."

"We really appreciate your taking the time to consider our challenge and put yourself in full view of our baleful eye. It probably sounds strange, but I was very proud of the site while we were sifting through these entries. It felt good to be at the helm of something that attracted such people to it."

"The9 Limited (NASDAQ: NCTY) (“The9”), a leading online game operator in China, today announced that Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft, the subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) has achieved a record peak concurrency of 1 million, the highest concurrency since the game's commercial launch in June 2005, following the launch of its new expansion pack, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, in mainland China on September 6, 2007."

"For our part, this all seems like a bit of a stretch on the part of the article's author. While in-game terrorist tactics with biological weapons do reflect their real life counter-parts in many ways (e.g. hitting big population centers, focusing on travel hubs to maximize spread, etc.), we're not sure what sort of insights this sort of comparison could glean for people who are already experts on the topic. Moreover, when the most prominent group of pan-MMO cyber-terrorists are motivated by "..."

"Bioshock
This atmospheric first-person shooter game drew players in to a unique dystopian setting and broke ground with a storyline that forced players to make moral decisions.

Portal
One of the most original (and funny) games in recent history requires players to solve puzzles using a teleporting "Portal Gun." It also features a hugely compelling character in the computerized guide GLaDOS.

Rock Band
The studio that created toy-guitar game phenomenon "Guitar Hero" cranked the volume ..."

"Blizzard has announced that the most popular MMORPG in the world, World of Warcraft, has reached yet another landmark - 10 million subscribers. The game now has 2 million subscribers in Europe, over 2.5 million in North America, and approximately 5.5 million in Asia."

"General Information - Athene is a paladin on Emeriss, but not just any paladin. His 5v5 team has dominated the realm for quite some time now being number one in the arena ladders. However this is not how Athene became popular. Over the course of one month he published a lot of clips on YouTube, with what some would define as "explicit content", which was not exactly the case. In fact there is nothing explicit in his videos and come to think of it, they are much more original and entertaining ..."

"World of Warcraft commercials are highlighted by the likes of William Shatner, Mr. T, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and now Verne Troyer, who are keen to convey their chosen avatar to the viewer while waxing lyrical about their respective strengths."

"The unsuspecting moose immediately obeyed its territorial instincts and focused its attack toward the boy’s frightened sister. Immediately obeying his own gaming instincts, young Hans recalled that taunting was always a good way to successfully draw a monster away from a weak in-game ally in World of Warcraft."

13 new screens have been released for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. They show off locations such as Grizzly Hills and Daggercap Bay. Go to the source for the rest of the screens.

""1/10 MMORPG Players Develop Physical Relationships With Others"


And no, I don’t mean other people period, I mean with their actual in-game friends, although that would be hilariously pathetic =D . The thought of a Tauren and Orc getting it on though is absolutely disgusting. Sure, I’ve gotten a lap dance in Goldshire before, but we were both human and she needed the gold for college or a mount or something…

Anyways, Nottingham Trent University has done a research study which reveals ..."

"Comedy Central has revealed that those who purchase the tenth series of South Park on DVD will also receive a 14-day trial to the World of Warcraft.

The link between Blizzard's monster of a game and the crappily-brilliant animated show that centres on a group of troublesome pre-pubescent kids is the Emmy-nominated episode, "Make Love, Not Warcraft," which aired last October. It features Cartman and the gang ridding the MMORPG of a hugely powerful Warcraft obsessive intent on ruining the g..."

"The Lich King Arthas has set in motion events that could lead to the extinction of all life on Azeroth. With the armies of the undead and the necromantic power of the plague threatening to sweep across the land, only the mightiest heroes can oppose the Lich King's will and end his reign of terror for all time."

"ANAHEIM, Calif. -- August 3, 2007 -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans for the second expansion to World of Warcraft®, its award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Unveiled at the company's BlizzCon™ gaming festival before an audience of more than 8,000 gamers, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King™ will open the forbidding wasteland of Northrend to exploration by the hardiest adventurers. New levels of power, challenging new dungeons and enc..."

"If rumours are to be believed, World of Warcraft developer Blizzard is to use next month's BlizzCon event as a platform to announce the second expansion to its hugely popular Massively Multiplayer Online game - an opening up of the continent of Northrend.

The speculation is based on a leaked music sheet with scores named Northrend 1, 2, and 3, which are to be played by the Video Games Live orchestra at BlizzCon this year."

"When a human is found unconscious on the shores of Kalimdor, with no memory of who he is or how he arrived there, how will he survive? Enslaved by an Orc Shaman, he must fight for survival against members of both the Alliance and the Horde. Will he strike the uneasy balance with the other races he'll need to find the secrets of his past?

Now the best part of this new info is that you can already subscribe to get your paws on this new World of Warcraft Comic Book series by Wildstorm / DC C..."

"Alright you princes of Azeroth. You kings of Aiur. Naturally Blizzard Entertainment did show its face at E3, with press kits bubbling afresh with fancy screenshots and sparkling glimpses of what's to come in both World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade and the much anticipated Starcraft II. Sadly what they had to say about Starcraft II wasn't nearly enough to get your pylons in a twist, but to see what Blizzard had to offer for both Starcrafters and Warcrafters alike, hit the jump."

"Talking to Gamasutra, Frank Pearce, founding member and senior vice president of product development for Blizzard revealed that the company has a third team hard at work on a new title, separate from World of Warcraft and StarCraft II.

The comment came amid discussion of the company's current workforce. "Our global headcount is 2,700," said Pearce, "And most of that is customer service for World of Warcraft! In terms of development staff it’s probably around 350. World of Warcraft is about..."

"While many game developers don't throw a lot of love in the direction of Mac users, Blizzard isn't one of them. In fact, they declare their love for Apple users in many ways. The release their games on CDs that'll run both the Mac and PC version of the game (since Diablo II: Lord of Destruction), have Mac-specific patch notes and bug fixes, and built-in iTunes support. Now, in the upcoming patch for World of Warcraft, 2.2.0, they've added in-game video-capturing utility for Macs."

"AN AUSTRALIAN woman has been arrested in the US for trying to lure her young internet boyfriend to Australia.

It is believed Tamara Broome, 31, might have been set up by the boy's parents.

Ms Broome told her housemate they paid for her to travel to the US this week so "they could sort it all out".

Instead, Ms Broome was met by three detectives as she tried to board a train near the teenager's home town in North Carolina.

She was charged with attempting to abduct a child after a..."

"Long ago on Draenor, the Temple of Karabor was the center of draenei worship. But the devout priests who prayed there are long dead, slaughtered by marauding, demonically corrupted orcs. In the massacre's aftermath the warlocks of the Shadow Council seized the structure and bestowed upon it a new name: the Black Temple.

The most difficult new challenge that awaits players in Patch 2.1 will be the hunt for Illidan in his own dark citadel – a quest to bring the reign of the evil overlord to ..."

"In our continued efforts to combat cheating in World of Warcraft, more than 114,000 accounts have been closed across Europe in the month of April for the use of “bot” programs. The banned accounts were taking part in activities that violate the World of Warcraft Terms of Use, specifically, using unauthorised third party programs to automate game-play. Such behaviour not only negatively impacts the game’s economy, it diminishes the achievements of those who play legitimately.

It is our goal..."

Blizzards hit MMORPG, World of Warcraft and Visa have teamed up to bring to you 13, yes 13 different WoW styled credit cards for your spending needs.

The offer an introductory APR rate of 0% and then 9.99% after that. Also, with your first purchase on your new World of Warcraft Visa you will get a free month of game time. So, signup for a credit card, buy a bag of chips with your visa, get a free month of WoW. Cancel said credit card and not only do you have a nice looking WoW credit card ...

""The robust performance we're seeing in PC game sales can be tied to several key titles across several genres," NPD analyst Anita Frazer told the Times. "But we'd be remiss not to address the continued success of World of Warcraft."

To underline WOW's success, the Times cites NPD figures showing a 43 percent increase in MMORPG sales. However, nowhere does the article mention the main reason for the genre's 2007 spike--the release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade."

"The public test realms are live! Players can now try out some of the changes and additions coming in World of Warcraft's next patch, Patch 2.1.0, which features the Black Temple!"