#requiredreading
If leading a large World of Warcraft guild seems like a fun way to spend your free time, then you should probably check out Scott F. Andrews' The Guild Leader's Handbook to see the hellish task it really is. More »
#screengrab
Does size matter? Compare the size of these seven video game words to the amount of enjoyment you got out of playing the game for the answer. Found via Digg. More »
#pc
When the open-world, cops versus robbers game APB hits computers this summer it will include an unusual pricing option that charges per a minute rather than a month. More »
Speaking during a financial earnings call, THQ CEO Brian Farrell said that the publisher is making a big investment with the upcoming Warhammer 40k MMO, but that if the game nets "anywhere near" a million subscribers, it will pay off. Farrell suggested that the company must spend "at the high-end of what it costs to build a core game" just to get the online title launched. But the return could be high, too: "Presuming that the MMO is successful," he said, "we could have a three-, five-, seven-year-long term revenue and profit driver with that very, very exciting brand."
Even if development costs continue to climb as expansion packs and additional post-release content is created, Farrell believes that spending more money on the project is a good sign. Farrell said that "if we're investing a lot over the next five to seven years of the MMO" by adding content, "that means it's doing very, very well."
Success doesn't mean you need to reach World of Warcraft numbers, either, according to Farrell. "We don't need the kind of subscriber levels that people throw around, like a million subscribers, to make a lot of money on this title. If we get anywhere near this level, we'll be making a lot of money."
The EA and Mythic-developed Warhammer Online peaked out at around 300,000 subscribers by last count, so THQ has a steep hill to climb. But Farrell is convinced the company can do it. "I love the game," he told listeners on the call. "Please come by the booth at E3. I think you'll like what you see."
#blizzard
Starting with the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty your Facebook friends can easily become your Battle.net buddies as well, as Blizzard unveils integration with the world's most popular social networking website. More »
#blizzard
Starting with the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty your Facebook friends can easily become your Battle.net buddies as well, as Blizzard unveils integration with the world's most popular social networking website. More »
Although we assuredly could've made the worrisome connection between Gaikai's game-streaming capability, the Apple iPad, and gaming's own methamphetamine, World of Warcraft, it seems the folks at Dave Perry's company are one step ahead of us. As revealed in the image seen above (accompanied by the statement, "Was walking through the office, saw this, thought you'd like to see ... soon I'll be able to play WoW with my Cornflakes!"), Perry reveals our worst fear: portable WoW.
He adds, "We're really interested to see what works well with streaming and will be trying just about every genre of game, on every device possible as we explore server-side computing. This is World of Warcraft streamed from a Gaikai server over regular wifi." Previously, we've seen Perry demonstrate a handful of other games streaming over the service, but never to a handheld device. And though we doubt that it would work over the iPad's upcoming 3G data network, playing WoW over wi-fi on an iPad is an ... appealing idea.
#ipad
Shiny Entertainment founder David Perry shows off a picture of World of Warcraft running on an iPad, made possible by the streaming technology of his newer company, Gaikai. More »
Amidst all the talk of digital distribution versus retail sales at the LA Games Conference today, one big reason arose for game publishers to keep the retail channels open: the midnight launch. While a lot of gamers might tell you that it's a pain for them to schlep out into the cold to pick up the latest game or expansion, publishers actually prefer it. Pascal Brochier was the president of Global Retail at Vivendi Universal Games when it released World of Warcraft's Burning Crusade expansion (one of the biggest retail launches ever), and he says that while Blizzard had the option to digitally distribute that game, it chose not to. "We were patching all the time," he told Joystiq. "It was always in the discussions internally; 'Should we go direct digital or should we go both with retail?'"
In the end, the company wanted the extra exposure that a big retail launch provides. "When you're at the store with all of the events, you actually have people who've dropped [their subscriptions] come back." And being in the stores doesn't just drive return players, it drives new players as well. "The midnight events and all of the functions help people come back who've stopped playing, but also guys who've wanted to try it will be attracted to the event and become new-found players."
A few weeks after launch, says Brochier, Vivendi did enable digital distribution quietly. But even for a game so tied to the online experience, he adds that "retail is a very important critical part. There's also a significant percentage of players who just play through pre-paid cards, and that's retail, that's a retail model. So you've got to find the balance."
#screengrab
Australia's Connect Furniture targets the loveseat-shopping Warhammer and World of Warcraft crowd, as seen at Ads of the World. Bonus naked fairy furniture shopping marketing after this... More »
#blizzard
What could be more romantic than flying over the moon-dappled snow of Azeroth's northlands with your significant other's arms wrapped around you, straddling the new X-53 Touring Rocket, World of Warcraft's first two-person flying mount? More »
#collectibles
Why spend all day staring at your Blood Elf rogue's ass when you can spend all day staring at her chest? Custom statue creators FigurePrints is now making busts of your World of Warcraft alter-egos. More »
#toys
Blizzard's "n00bz Marines", collectible figures that were once only available to attendees of Blizzcon events, are now available for everybody to purchase via the company's online store. More »
#rpg
Since the majority of video game players in the West are white, when they play a role-playing game, it's not hard to have their character looking and dressing like them. But what if you're not white? More »
#food
If you've ever found yourself afflicted with hunger while leveling your cooking skill in World of Warcraft. Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a set of real-life WoW recipes that are sure to satisfy your otherworldly hunger. Beer Basted Boar Ribs, anyone? More »
#blizzard
While naysayers may think corporate greed is the answer, Blizzard tells Kotaku the real reason World of Warcraft mounts have shown up for sale in the company's online store is because that's exactly what the players wanted. More »
#blizzard
No sooner did Blizzard offer up two new virtual beasts for World of Warcraft players to buy—one mount, one pet—than did the fanbase queue up in the tens of thousands to buy them, netting Blizzard millions. More »
First it was virtual pets, now Blizzard is selling an in-game beast that actually has a function in World of Warcraft. For $25, you can buy the "Celestial Steed," which is an admittedly awesome-looking winged horse with constellations for bones. You don't really get any advantage beyond any other mount, as its performance is tied to your own riding skill -- except for the advantage of not having to take part in any bothersome gameplay to acquire it. Along with the steed, a new pet, the "Lil' XT" is available for $10.
Of course, if this is the kind of thing that interests you, you not only already know about it, but are currently in line for it. Queues in North America alone have reached 15,000, meaning that at one time, there was $375,000 waiting to be poured into Blizzard's coffers. Our friends at WoW.com note that "If queue numbers in the Store are correct, Blizzard is making over half a million dollars an hour on the Celestial Steed." In other words, it's already a resounding success. All we can do is hope that Blizzard finishes developing StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3 before shifting its operations entirely into the fake horse business.
#blizzard
According to an image that briefly appeared in the flash rotation on top of Blizzard's online store, the Celestial Steed mount will soon be joining the World of Warcraft pet store as a purchasable in-game item. Update: They're live! More »
#rumor
According to an image that briefly appeared in the flash rotation on top of Blizzard's online store, the Celestial Steed mount will soon be joining the World of Warcraft pet store as a purchasable in-game item. More »
Activision Blizzard raised its March quarter sales outlook today, expecting approximately $1.1 billion in revenues. CEO Bobby Kotick noted that the company is doing well due to continued demand for World of Warcraft (naturally) and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He also stated that the company benefitted from the "record breaking launch" of the Modern Warfare 2 "Stimulus" map pack, which he claimed was originally expected debut in the June quarter.
Kotick remains cautiously optimistic about the next couple of quarters due to the economy and because "the majority" of Activision Blizzard titles aren't expected to launch until autumn. The company plans to announce the financial details of its better-than-expected March quarter on May 6.
#screengrab
Battle.net gets meme-y when landing on an invalid page, a common theme at Blizzard— amusing if you Know Your Meme. As seen on Reddit. More »
#realworldapplications
Stanford University communications professor Byron Reeves talks to The Washington Post about how the collaborative online model of games like World of Warcraft can help change real world workplaces and empower better leaders. More »
#blizzard
With the release date for the first installment of StarCraft II being revealed in the coming weeks, Blizzard shows off the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector's Edition, complete with art book, soundtrack CD, and in-game World of Warcraft pet. More »
#blizzard
What comes with those extra experience levels in World of Warcraft's Cataclysm expansion? Blizzard will be releasing info on new spells, new skills, and talent tree changes this week for all classes - except the Paladin, because Paladins suck. More »
#deals
So what if Blizzard only has three or four current games - that doesn't mean you shouldn't be excited by a Blizzard-themed Amazon.com Gold Box day, right? Man, no wonder Kotick fired me. More »
#books
Sociologist and director of Human-Centered Computing at the National Science Foundation, William Sims Bainbridge spent 2300 hours entrenched in popular MMO World of Warcraft, looking for look for insights about Western civilization. What did he find there? More »
#books
Sociologist and director of Human-Centered Computing at the National Science Foundation, William Sims Bainbridge spent 2300 hours entrenched in popular MMO World of Warcraft, looking for look for insights about Western civilization. What did he find there? More »
