Just as I was talking to my friend about rolling a new Horde character on Burning Blade, out comes this new WoW patch. Dubbed “The Black Temple”, this 256MB patch will allow players to enter, well The Black Temple! Players can fight Illidan the Betrayer before realizing they have plenty of other goodies associated with this patch to check out. There’s a new PVP arena, new equipment, class updates, and so, so much more. Druids even have a new form! Hit the link below for full patch notes and get updating! If anyone is up for re-rolling on Burning Blade with me, hit the comments up and let me know your character name and if you’ll be playing Alliance or Horde. The Black Temple Opens [Kotaku] Patch Notes → Read More
The NPD Group tracks all sorts of data related to video games and a report due out later today breaks down just exactly the online gaming world looks like. There’s two big shockers right off the bat: a majority of online gamers are console owners (whaaa?) and that girl gamers—excuse me, grrrl gamers—account for 42 percent of all online gamers. I call bravo sierra. → Read More
Oh boy, credit card debt and World of Warcraft, a powerful combination to be sure. Now thanks to Visa, you can get your very own WoW credit card in one of 13 designs. The game-related rewards for using the card include one free month upon first use and 1 percent of every dollar you spend will be converted to free game time that’s credited to your account. (What isn’t specified is what units of time will be given: minutes or hours. Let’s hope hours.) I’d get the card, not only because I have a WoW account that I hardly touch (level 26 even though I’ve had it since October), but because I love cards with no annual fee. It’s liberating. World of Warcraft Visa Credit Card [Blizzard via Boing Boing] → Read More
OK, gamers, now it’s your turn to have your lives turned upside down by hackers. Now that today’s video game consoles are pretty much always connected to the Internet, highly paid analysts are predicting that hackers will increasingly target the systems to cause damage or mischief. Right now, there’s a growing number of hacks aimed at stealing user names and passwords of online characters. I don’t want to imagine a world where WoW kids have their lives taken away from them. They’re better off in the basement. Frankly, this seems like a case of “the sky is falling.” I remember back in my DreamCast days kids would regularly PK (player kill) my character in PSO. Gaming and hacking go together like, uh, things that go well together. Tell me when credit card information is stolen en masse and then I’ll be concerned. And no, that Xbox Live thing from earlier in the week doesn’t count. Bracing for attack [The Age] → Read More
Sometimes dealing with a relationship can be tough. Poor John Harrison, who is a 20-year-old college sophomore, found out recently that his in-game World of Warcraft “girlfriend” was actually a 27-year-old who lives at home with his parents and works used to work at Burger King. For months, John was truly in love with an elf known as Chelxai whom he met through his guild. After Chelxai was “fired from Hooters”, John knew he had to step-up to the plate and support his love. A devastated Harrison has issued this statement: “I just think this whole fake girl thing was messed up. I’m getting away from Warcraft and focusing on my dancing for now. I’d just like to thank my new cyber-girlfriend, Rasuka, for helping me through this difficult time.” Way to stay positive buddy. Just make sure you read the entire article over at Daily Gaming so that you get all the facts. Since the event, both have stopped playing WoW and have moved on to other things – such as lives. Dude’s Cyber Girlfriend Actually a Dude [Daily Gaming] → Read More
http://www.g4tv.com/lv/15576 Minesweeper MMO? Excel MMO? Cats? What wonders will the folks in the gaming industry offer us next? G4 took MMO mania to its next logical level. Clip: Excel the MMO [Kotaku] → Read More
With World of Warcraft soaring past 8 million users, it was only a matter of time before more action figures were concocted up by a marketing team at Blizzard. Through a partnership with DC Unlimited (DC Comics), figures will be available sometime in Q3, with the debut at next week’s Toy Fair in NYC (CG will be there). Says DC, the debut figurines will be between 5 to 8 inches and made of PVC vinyl. Four initial figures will be released with a two-character bonus set. You’ll be able to scoop up a Blood Elf Rogue, an Undead Lock, an Orc Shammy and a Dwarf Warrior, as well as a deluxe edition Draenei Pally and Illidan Stormrage. No word yet on prices, but I’m going to guess you can walk into an EB Games and find some crappy action figures already on sale as a gauge. WoW Action Figures Coming From DC [Kotaku] → Read More
Back when pirating music was in vogue, a guy named Shawn Fanning made a little program called Napster. It enabled P2P file sharing and piracy to skyrocket in less than a year. So after Shawn sold Napster, got some cash, and got sued, he apparently sat down and got really into this game you may have heard of: World of Warcraft. Fanning is now working on a social networking site called Rupture, which is named after a Rogue talent found in WoW. The concept is sound and bringing WoW players together outside the game is a great idea, but what does Fanning want to do exactly? → Read More
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