Here’s a friendly reminder that tickets for BlizzCon 2010 go on sale tonight at 7PM Pacific Time. If it’s anything like the past few years, tickets will sell out fast. If you’re on the fence, I suggest buying tickets anyway. You can always get rid of them later. Anyone planning on going?
Game Designer Paul Barnett (Warhammer Online: Age of  Reckoning by Mythic) was recently recently spotted purchasing a few iPads at an Apple Store. There’s nothing too unusual about that; Barnett is a cool guy and I expect him to have fine taste in consumer electronics. However, an industry source told me that the reason for his purchase is that Mythic is working on an MMO for iPad. I contacted EA for an official “no comment” and was told that there’s nothing like that in the works.
What do you ladies and gents think? Was he simply buying a bunch if iPads because they’re awesome? Or do Barnett and Mythic have something in the works that they’re not yet ready to talk about? Wouldn’t a Mythic iPad MMO totally rule?!?
Attention Blizzard fanboys and fangirls — tickets for BlizzCon 2010 go on sale starting June 2. Sadly, the event is still in Anaheim (aka Anaslime) and not in Las Vegas. Here’s a snippet from the official announcement.
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that tickets for its fifth BlizzCon gaming convention will go on sale in two batches on Wednesday, June 2 and Saturday, June 5, 2010. BlizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft game universes. The event will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on October 22 and 23. Live coverage of the event will be available as a DirecTV Pay Per View package and as a multi-channel Internet stream, allowing viewers online to switch between coverage of multiple panels and activities during the show.
If you’re thinking about going, please let me know. It would be great to see you there!
While Final Fantasy XIII is hitting Japan like a tsunami, Square Enix has announced that it is accepting applications for Final Fantasy XIV. If you want an early glimpse at this MMO, head on over to the official site and sign up.
Any of you going to give this game a shot?
Attention Blizzard fans: BlizzCon is apparently heading to Las Vegas in 2010. Wow.com has reported:
According to the Las Vegas Convention Center website, Blizzard will be holding BlizzCon 2010 in Las Vegas July 30th and 31st. Upon inquiry, the Convention Center was able to verify the dates and that Blizzard is running the event. However, Blizzard has yet to announce this themselves. We have contacted Blizzard, and we’ll post anything they have to say on the matter.
I’m a huge fan of this move. Las Vegas is a brilliant place to hold a convention. The convention center is big, there are plenty of hotels at a variety of price ranges, the restaurants are fantastic, and it’s easy to get around. Plus, it will totally freak out the “normal” Vegas vacationer. I remember covering an EverQuest event at The Bellagio. The normals were totally shocked by the elves, warriors, and mages walking around the place. It was awesome.
According to Katie Melua, there are nine-million bicycles in Beijing…and soon there will be zero money from foreign game investors. Reuters has reported:
China’s video game industry regulator the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) and copyright watchdog issued a circular on Saturday prohibiting foreign investment in domestic online gaming operations through joint ventures, wholly owned enterprises and cooperatives.
The new directive also disallows foreign firms from indirectly influencing Chinese gaming firms through agreements or technology support.
Hundreds of game companies have been trying to take advantage of the billions of people (millions of gamers?) in China. It looks like the government has put a stop to that, at least in the online gaming space.
I have a few friends in Shanghai attending GDC China. Hopefully they’ll be able to dig up some more info on this development.
Source via Game Politics
The sequel to Planetside is coming and it’s called…(wait for it)…Planetside Next! Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley wrote about the game on his LiveJournal. Smed said:
To me, Planetside Next means we get a chance to take the essence of everything that was fun in Planetside and make it a lot better. Massive battles on a scale no other FPS will touch. None of this 64 player stuff. REALLY MASSIVE. With much better organization, and a tight focus on making sure the action is always going on, with awesome graphics.
Damn I love Planetside. I really do.
I was never into the game, but I have a bunch of friends that swear by it. Any of you psyched for this one? Do you think Planetside Next will make an impact? Or is it an old(er) franchise that has no place in today’s gaming world? Maybe a game like MAG is the future and Planetside is the past? Or perhaps being a sequel is enough to help it succeed. So many questions! Someone answer one or more (please!).
