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Hellgate to be ushered by EA

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Japanese game developer Namco Bandai is intent on evolving its services to include game publishing. The company has already shipped its first game as publisher, Mage Knight Apocalypse which was released last September. But the real test on it capabilities as a game publisher will come when the much anticipated Hellgate: London is released. The anticipated street date for the game is during the first quarter of 2007.The action role playing game, which was developed by alumni from the first Diablo, is one of the most highly anticipated in gaming circles mainly because of the gameplay elements, which are said to be quite exciting. The milieu too of a devastated modern day London is a big come on for many gamers.

In order to help its first serious publishing responsibilities run more smoothly, Namco Bandai has signed a co-publishing agreement with Electronic Arts specifically for Hellgate: London. The co publishing venture has very specific and very limited stipulations. For example, even though there is a co publishing venture with EA, the company will not have any publishing rights to any future Hellgate: London projects.

EA�s co publishing deal is not the first agreement that the company has entered into specifically for this kind of venture. Only last July, EA and Valve Software agreed on a multi year deal with regards to the distribution of console and boxed retail versions of Half Life 2 and any other future Valve games that will come out.

Namco Bandai�s entry into the publishing business may have an impact in the distribution aspect of gaming. It would be interesting to know if this will be a beneficial or negative effect.

[tags]Blizzard, World of Warcraft, MMORPG, [/tags]

Cheating Guild Banned in WoW

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One of the biggest problems with playing massively multiplayer online role playing games (or MMORPGs) is the fact that there are many cheaters who log on the servers and play the game hoping to find exploits and vulnerabilities within the game in order to enhance the way they play the game. This is obviously a practice that is frowned upon not only by gamers but by the game developer / publisher itself.Very obviously, players hate it when there are cheaters in the game most especially because these guys will attempt to do things the easy way because of a vulnerability that they have found, while the straight arrow players will do it the long and circuitous but legal way. Of course game publishers/ developers have more reason to hate cheaters and hackers in games. These people obviously puts companies in a bad light and also jeopardizes the integrity of the game itself. What sane player would continue to play a particular MMORPG when he knows that some people would likely level up faster, have more money, have higher stats simply because they know of how to take advantage of the game.

This was recently a problem a that Blizzard Entertainment faced when the company discovered a particular guild taking advantage of a vulnerability in World of Warcraft that allowed them to avoid a gauntlet of bosses and go straight to the main boss.

The guild, called Overrated, was discovered to have used a particular exploit that essentially knocked down walls at the level of the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj. This exploit allowed them to avoid a series of bosses that only gave regular items and go straight to the main boss, which is said to drop more valuable items.

Blizzard deliberately came out with this particular bit of news as a way of warning other WoW players never to exploit or cheat in the game or they will face harsh

[tags]Blizzard, World of Warcraft, MMORPG, [/tags]

Warcraft Crusades

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Anyone remotely exposed to online gaming would have heard of the World of Warcraft. The popularity of this MMOG (massively multiplayer online game) has reached such heights that its effects have extended even to the �real� world. World of Warcraft gold has been one of the most valuable commodities in the past years and people have been earning tons of money off it. Of course, that is not to say that this practice is not frowned upon by Blizzard. That topic is off tangent, though, as I would like to look into the newest patch that Blizzard has in store for World of Warcraft fans � the Burning Crusade.

Word has it that the new WoW will have some new zones as well as two new races; namely the Blood Elves for the Horde and the Draenei for the alliance. Both of these races will be able to join the five existing character classes � warriors, hunters, paladins, mages, and priests. With regards to the playing area, the main addition would be the Outlands, which is reportedly HUGE. If nothing else, players would have a lot of land to travel in. Of course, so that the existing zones won�t be abandoned when the Burning Crusades comes out, new raid dungeons are also being opened up in the existing zones. This is certainly something to look forward to for avid PC gamers.

Blizzard is not one for hurrying things up though. They do aim to release the Burning Crusade sometime this year but as they say, they �focus on quality.� For fans of all ages, I guess we just have to wait a little bit more.

[tags]blizzard,burning crusade, warcraft,raids, dungeons,zones[/tags]

New Diablo Coming Soon?

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For years there has been talk and rumors that Blizzard is secretly developing a third installment to its smash hit and cult fave Diablo role playing series. Just this February, these rumors were fueled some more when the company started posting job listings in its website for positions where candidates will join the team who made Diablo I and Diablo II for an unannounced project.Now the rumors are bubbling again largely in part to an interview made with Richard A. Knaak, the author of three Diablo based novels. Knaak is promoting a new Diablo book entitled Diablo: The Sin War: Book One: Birthright. The interview was held online and readers were encouraged to send questions. One reader casually asked whether the new book would impact on the storyline of the Diablo 3 game. Knaak responded that the ramifications of the plot could be used for any future project and that he is not �writing for a dead game.� He reiterated this comment when answering another question, basically hinting that the Diablo world is not yet dead.

It would be exciting to see if, after the release of the World of Warcraft expansion, Blizzard will announce that there is indeed a Diablo 3 coming.

[tags]Blizzard, Diablo, World of Warcraft, Role Playing[/tags]

Burning Crusade Begins Beta

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Millions of PC gamers and MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game, whew!) fans have reason to celebrate as later this year the fictional world of Azeroth, the setting of the tremendously popular World of Warcraft, expands it borders with its first ever expansion.The new Burning Crusade expansion offers players a slew of features including a new territory called the Outland. Unfortunately, not everyone can get the opportunity to visit and explore this new territory until Burning Crusade arrives in stores in November. But a few lucky World of Warcraft fans are already continuing their adventures in that area right now as beta testing for Burning Crusade is fast under way and running on two servers.

Blizzard Entertainment has not disclosed how many people are involved in the beta testing phase but according to some who have had the privilege of participating in the beta testing has noticed that one of the two servers is already very populated.

[tags]MMORPG, Warcraft, World of Warcraft, Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, Azeroth[/tags]