| Blizzard: You May Sell Your StarCraft 2 Maps On Battle.net, Eventually
August 21, 2009 at 7:20 pm
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|  At BlizzCon 2009, Blizzard's executive vice president of game design Rob Pardo revealed plans to allow modders to sell premium StarCraft 2 maps via the Battle.Net service.
Blizzard wants to foster the best mod community in existence, and to that ends they've unveiled plans to single out premium custom-created maps for sales on a StarCraft 2 marketplace. Maps will be split into two categories - normal and premium - with the former free and the latter for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to the map's creators. Blizzard hopes this will lead to more choice for StarCraft 2 players, and more innovative and creative custom maps fueled by the potential financial rewards. Said Pardo, "This is really an opportunity for them to share in the rewards of our success." The feature won't be available at the game's launch, and details are still being ironed out. Blizzard made the announcement today as a way to give modders time to gather teams together and start brainstorming premium content. Mod teams, start your engines! |
| 101 Ways To Decorate Your StarCraft II Space Marine
August 21, 2009 at 6:00 pm
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| Blizzard shows off the countless ways fans can customize the new nOObz vinyl space marine figure, with a gallery of employee-made creations that could very well blow your mind. Warning - huge gallery. 
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| Details On The Monk: Diablo III's Newly Revealed Street Fighter
August 21, 2009 at 5:40 pm
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|  The creators of Diablo III give us the lowdown on the newest character class for the game, the Monk - the street fighter character of the Diablo universe.
According to Diablo III's Jay Wilson, The Monk was inspired by pen-and-paper roleplaying games. They liked the idea of a fast and fragile melee character. He's a contrast to the Barbarian...the slow, tanking character. Another inspiration came from fighting games...as I mentioned in the liveblog of the Blizzcon 09 opening ceremonies, the Monk looks like a cross between Dhalsim and Zangief from Street Fighter. The Monk uses fighting-game like combos and holy magic, favoring speed over toughness. The class will have complementary skills...skills that work together better than they work apart. He will be a tougher character to master, for advanced players. Leonard Boyarsky explained that they wanted an Eastern European feel with an Asian influence. They are the holy warriors of the game, religious warriors raised in spiritual seclusion from childhood to be living embodiments of their gods. The theological motivation gives them a nice contrast with the Witch Doctor. They are part of a highly structured society, answering to their church. The Monks are known throughout the world, respected and feared...holy killing machines. Wyatt Cheng, produder for the game, said that one of the team's goals was to create a fighting game combo system that fits with Diablo III. They want to add depth to the melee moves. They referenced Diablo II's Assassin and World of Warcraft's Rogue. They went over some Monk skills, like the Way of the Hundred Fists. The power features three clicks of the same power that transitions from a single attack to a massive AOE. Then there's Crippling Wave, which first slows the enemy, then reduces damage to the Monk. Each skill seems to have different stages. In Exploding Palm, the first and second hits do damage, the 3rd adds a damage-over-time effect, and, if the enemy dies by this DOT, it explodes. The powers can be combined....so stage one of one power can be switched to stage two of the next and stage three of the next. The different combinations should make for many unique strategies. Julian Love, also from the development team, talked about the Monk's special effects. The goal is to combine martial arts action with holy colors - gold and silver - with a bit of runic knowledge to help highlight the Monk's appreciation of art and form. With those goals in mind, they showed us the Monk's Seven Sided Strike. It's like Chain Lightning from Diablo II, only YOU are the lightning. They took some basic movements, added in bright and flashy, holy golden colors, tweaked up the explosions - "Explosions make everything better." Amen, brother. Then they added in some 2D fighter artwork style, and then used runes to frame the area in which the action takes place. The end result?  We'll be getting some hands-on time with the Monk later this weekend. Stay tuned!
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| The Big Changes In WoW Cataclysm: From Spiky Racecars To Underwater Mounts
August 21, 2009 at 5:00 pm
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|  Via Mike Fahey's absurdly detailed World of Warcraft: Cataclysm liveblog, here are some of the biggest things to note about the new 2010 WoW expansion:
The Cataclysm in question is caused by the reappearance of the dragon Deathwing. One of the two new races, the Worgen, is described as "the Wolverine of the Alliance" by Blizzard. Classes available will be everything but Paladins and Priests. The other race, Goblins, are forced into service for the Horde and use a spiky racecar as their mount. Goblins also have rocket belts and can be, among other things, Rogues.  The level cap will be raised to 85, with Blizzard promising that the new five levels will be hard to get through.
The expansion offers seven new zones including The Lost Isles, Twilight Highlands and a sunken city that is, naturally, set entirely underwater. All of the game's zones will be revamped with new items and new art. The map has changed, with the Barrens split in half and the Alliance losing control of Southshore. As with Wrath of the Lich King, there will be "phased terrain" that changes during the course of quests. There will also be two new starting zones and a zone for people level 78-85. Rising up through the classic levels has been revamped as well and is being promised to be an entirely new experience. There will be 20 Guild levels, a guild talent tree and perks, such as slower durability loss, cheaper repairs, and mass resurrection. Also added will be a "Paths of the Titans" that will allow class-independent talent progressions. And there's a Mastery System, which offers players more power, the more points they spend in their talent tree. The expansion offers new race class combos, including Tauren and Gnome priests as well as Dwarf shamans. Players will now be able to fly anywhere and everywhere in Azeroth. And they'll be able to use underwater mounts. There will be new Arena maps, rated Battlegrounds and a daily quest hub. For even more details, check out Mike Fahey's World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Liveblog. Also check out these first screenshots of Cataclysm. |
| New Screenshots for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
August 21, 2009 at 3:50 pm
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|  Blizzard just put out 16 screenshots of the faces and places of the upcoming expansion World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Get a look at them in this gallery.
There's much more at the just launched Cataclysm splash site. Check it out. 
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| World of Warcraft Expands Again: Level Cap To 85 For Cataclysm [UPDATED]
August 21, 2009 at 3:14 pm
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|  At Blizzcon today, Blizzard blew the lid off the new World of Warcraft expansion: World of Warcraft Cataclysm. The expansion offers new races: Goblins for the Horde; Worgen for the Alliance.
Blizzard showed a trailer witnessed by our Mike Fahey. Level cap up to 85. New playable races include the Goblins for the Horde. Worgen for the Alliance. New race class combos will be offered: Tauren Paladins, Human Hunters, Night Elf Mages. The trailer promised that Azeroth has been reforged and teased a new character progression. It concluded with the worrds "Deathwing has returned." [UPDATE: Releasing in 2010, via reporter Geoff Keighley] More details as they break. The official FAQ for the expansion is up. Here's a chunk in case you're like the many who can't get access to Blizzard's crashing servers: * Two New Playable Races: Adventure as one of two new races—the cursed worgen with the Alliance or the resourceful goblins with the Horde.
* Level Cap Increased to 85: Earn new abilities, tap into new talents, and progress through the path system, a new way for players to improve characters.
* Classic Zones Remade: Familiar zones across the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have been altered forever and updated with new content, from the devastated Badlands to the broken Barrens, which has been sundered in two.
* New High-Level Zones: Explore newly opened parts of the world, including Uldum, Grim Batol, and the great Sunken City of Vashj'ir beneath the sea.
* More Raid Content than Ever Before: Enjoy more high-level raid content than previous expansions, with optional more challenging versions of all encounters.
* New Race and Class Combinations: Explore Azeroth as a gnome priest, blood elf warrior, or one of the other never-before-available race and class combinations.
* Guild Advancement: Progress as a guild to earn guild levels and guild achievements.
* New PvP Zone & Rated Battlegrounds: Take on PvP objectives and daily quests on Tol Barad Island, a new Wintergrasp-like zone, and wage war in all-new rated Battlegrounds.
* Archaeology: Master a new secondary profession to unearth valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards.
* Flying Mounts in Azeroth: Explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms like never before. |
| Liveblogging The BlizzCon 2009 Opening Ceremonies
August 21, 2009 at 2:10 pm
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|  Join us as Blizzard kicks off BlizzCon 2009. Secrets will be revealed! New products could be outed! The World of Warcraft as we know it could change forever!
BlizzCon 2009 Opening Ceremonies Live Blog |
| Korean Diablo III Site Reveals Fourth Character Class
August 21, 2009 at 2:09 pm
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|  It looks like the Korean-language version of the official Diablo III website may have jumped the gun a bit on confirming another character class for the upcoming Blizzard title.
The page dedicated to the game's character classes showed the Barbarian, Witchdoctor, Wizard and Monk, though the final, still unconfirmed class, didn't show any additional information when it was clicked on. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the Monk appears to be coming to the latest iteration of Diablo. The Monk was a playable class in the Hellfire expansion for the original title along with the Barbarian, Bard, Rogue, Sorcerer and Warrior. I suspect we'll be getting some sort of official confirmation on this in the coming hour or so with Blizzcon just moments from going live. [Thanks Jason] |
| PSP's Metal Gear Solid Will Require "Hundreds of Hours" to Complete
August 21, 2009 at 11:40 am
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|  In an open letter to fans, MGS designer Hideo Kojima says that Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker will be a "full-featured" sequel that will be so full of content it will "require hundreds of hours to complete."
"The main team from MGS4 is participating in the development of this title and I am involved in all aspects of the game, ranging from design, direction and scenario writing," Kojima writes in the latest issue of Konami's internal magazine On Screen, which is being handed out at Gamescom this week. Peace Walker will be set in the Costa Rica of the 1970s, ten years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3. The story will have Snake and his crew questioning their purpose as they battle to defend a nation without a military from foreign invasion, Kojima writes. The developer also says that the game will be a graphically beautiful title. "Despite being on the PSP, we don't plan on making any compromises with the graphics," he writes. "The art team is used to producing PS3-level quality and the results will make you wonder if this is really a PSP game." Peace Walker will also include many features unique to the PSP platform, he writes, and a new gameplay system. |
| Sony, GameStop Indicate PS3 Slim Available In U.S. Before September
August 21, 2009 at 11:20 am
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|  We expected the PS3 slim to reach American gamers on September 1. Wrong. Sooner.
A listing on GameStop's website indicates that the new 120 GB PlayStation slim will ship on August 25, a full week earlier than the September 1 date that Sony ballparked for Kotaku earlier this week while discussing the system's U.S. launch. Kotaku contacted Sony this morning to learn whether GameStop was in error or if the Slim is shipping early. "Sept 1st isn't an official street date," Sony spokesperson Patrick Seybold explained over e-mail. "We expect most retailers to have 120GB PS3s by then." Earlier this week, PlayStation chief Kaz Hirai indicated that the Slim would be available in some regions prior to September 1, but a subsequent Sony-Kotaku interview had suggested that Sept. 1 was the U.S. date. We now understand things are more fluid. It seems like some gamers will have their Slims in August. BestBuy.com lists the slim as "coming soon." Amazon does not provide a date. Wal-Mart.com doesn't list the product. |
| What's Inside The BlizzCon 2009 Swag Bag?
August 21, 2009 at 12:40 am
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| Too excited to wait until I got back to my hotel, I grabbed a seat at a table outside of the Anaheim Convention Center and sorted through the contents of my BlizzCon 2009 swag bag. The swag bag this year is dominated by a box, and inside that box is the nOObz StarCraft II Raynor figure. The urban vinyl figure is simply gorgeous, tempting me to pick up a few friends for him tomorrow during the convention. Other than that, the code for the Grunty the Murloc Space Marine World of Warcraft in-game pet, and the ever-present hand sanitizer, this year's bag is rather limited, but the quality is definitely top-notch. If you'll excuse me, I am going to go curl up in bed with Raynor now. 
The magical bag of hope and wonder.
YAY flyers!
A little black box. What could be inside?
Hand sanitizer. Extremely important at BlizzCon, especially with so many elf cosplayers running about.
Inside the mysterious black box...a mini preview version of the World of Warcraft magazine, with a coupon for a free murloc with subscription. Bah.
Gaze upon the glory of the nOObz Raynor figure.
Steel Series is giving out a key that could unlock treasure, or coupons or something.
He begs for fondling, but I resist him.
The Grunty card and code was tucked inside my badge holder.
The back of said Grunty card.
Raynor in teh box.
Really, you just want to lick him.
The back of the limited edition Blizzard Authenticator
And the front!
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