GameTrailers is getting really good with their game franchise retrospectives. They’ve done a Zelda retrospective, a Metal Gear one and their latest is of Blizzard’s beloved franchise Warcraft.
Ya heard? StarCraft II is being divided into three parts. StarCraft II is now a trilogy! This certainly doesn’t sound very Blizzard-like. In fact, it sounds like a move to get the game out faster while milking it for all its worth. Here are the names of the three campaigns:
We are assured that parts two and three of the trilogy will act like standalone expansions with enough content to justify the cost. They’ve even said that each campaign will be very different from one another.
Sure. I’ll believe it when I see it.
I’m guessing this setup will be similar to the Company of Heroes where you’re given both the Axis and Allies to play with, but only the Allies had a single player campaign. So all the multiplayer fanatics will simply purchase the Terran campaign and be happy with all three races in the box. Cool, hmm?
I wonder how much these expansions are going to cost. I’m assuming the Terrans campaign will serve as the full retail title with a $49.99 CAD price tag to match it. Is it safe to assume the expansions will be $29.99 CAD each? $110 CAD for the entire StarCraft II story? That’s just mean. They know there are folks out there who will fork that amount over.
I’m one of them.
Lookie here, kids. BlizzCon 08 is happening right along with the Tokyo Game Show, but that’s not stopping Blizzard from announcing some new things. Like this wizard class for Diablo III. Spiffy, isn’t?
I’m not excited though. There are plenty of other games coming out this year that warrants my attention. It was still nice to see that class in action though.
$15 per month or so for WoW isn’t much, but wouldn’t it be great if it was lower? Don’t say it’s to help create content and maintain servers because according to Blizzard’s analyst conference call: WoW’s upkeep costs only $200 million since 2004.
Talk about profits!
Monolith Productions announced they’ve acquired the F.E.A.R. license and name from Activision Blizzard. Now, Project Origin will be known as F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
So, no more confusion. No more spiritual successors and no more sequels/expansions by developers other than Monolith Productions. Well we can only hope…
Anyways, here’s the celebratory press release:
Update #2: Looks like DoubleFine’s Brutal Legend is going to be fine.
Update: Apparently, Ghostbusters is still rolling.
So Activision-Blizzard decided to put out a list of franchises they’ll be publishing from the Vivendi Games branch:
Great! Oh wait! What happened to the rest of the Vivendi Games? The following games are now publisher-less and will stay that way until somebody comes along and forks out the money to distribute them.
Was this against all odds? Was it anticipated? Was the worst kept secret of the month? Yeah.
There’s the teaser, there’s the gameplay video demonstration and a lot more on the official website. Just go there and be amazed.
It looks like great simple fun which I’m sure will generate millions in sales. As always, no release date yet.
That is the date U.S. retailers GameStop, Circuit City and Best Buy have set for StarCraft 2. Amazing if true.
With Wrath of the Lich King rumored to be released in the fourth quarter as well, the end of the year PC sales could belong to Activision-Blizzard alone. Remember, this date was chosen by the retailers and it’s not uncommon for retailers to pick a date for unreleased titles. However, what are the chances that three retailers picked the exact same date?
I guess we’ll have to wait for the Worldwide Invitational for more confirmation and details.
Diablo3.com is now Diablofans.com. Why? Because Blizzard acquired it. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Diablo 3 is coming anytime soon, but it should be considered as some indication. Am I excited? Not yet. Not even close.
Another unsurprising decision was made earlier this week with Crysis and FarCry developer, Crytek, announcing their intentions to go multiplatform. The president of Crytek blames piracy. Perhaps they’ve become envious of all that cash the other developers are making. I would. I just don’t believe that they based their decision on piracy alone.
Finally, there’s this little Metal Gear Solid 4 “spoiler” trailer showcasing something very dear to Metal Gear fans. Watch it if you don’t care about spoilers. I watched and I was all giddy.
Blizzard has been known for including new fixes and modifications to the game within its PTRs (Public Test Realms) without necessarily including it in the patch notes. The latest change will make casual WoW players happy.
First, Primal Nethers and Nether Vortex (used for crafting items/enchants) won’t be bind on Pickup (BoP) anymore. Expect them to sell for a hefty price on an Auction House near you!
Second, you will now be able to buy some Nether Vortex with Heroic Badges. On the PTR, the Vortex is sold for the price of 15 badges and 7 gold 20 silver. The price might change once the patch 2.4 goes live.
See WoWinsider’s story.
