World of Warcraft hits 11.5 million users

If you are a PC gamer odds are you have played or are still playing the most successful MMORPG title ever offered — World of Warcraft. To many gamers this game is more addicting than all of the Coke and pizza in the land.

Back in October, I reported that WoW had hit an astounding 11 million subscribers worldwide. This week Blizzard has announced that WoW now boasts 11.5 million subscribers thanks in part to the very successful launch of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack.

The newest expansion pack moved 2.8 million copies in its first 24-hours, setting a record for most copies sold in the first day of launch. Blizzard says that the expansion pack has sold over 4 million copies to date. It’s hard to believe that WoW added 500,000 users in about two months. I guess we should expect to hear the 12 million subscriber announcement shortly.

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Two brothers choke and stab one another over Playstation 2

Two brothers choke and stab one another over Playstation 2Two brothers living in Waukesha reportedly choked, cut and stabbed each other when they fought over a Playstation 2 video game controller. Waukesha Police are recommending that charges be brought against both brothers who acted out of violent anger. When family members are freakin’ stabbed by other family members over video games, it reminds us all that despite our various awesome human achievements, there are still some turds floating around in the human gene pool just waiting to be flushed. This is exactly the kind of thing that gets government all up in our gaming bidness, when parenting could have avoided it all, by raising level-headed humans instead of ignorant savages who choke and stab, because they couldn’t get back into their fantasy world fast enough.

The incident took place on Sunday at a home on Whiterock Avenue where the two brothers got into an argument over whose turn it was to play the video game. The fighting went from yelling to one of the brothers choking the other. Apparently, the brother who was being choked pulled out a knife and cut the hands of the choker, after which the kid doing the choking took the knife and stabbed his brother and then fled the scene. The brother who ran then walked to the hospital and suffered from severely frostbitten fingers.

Crazy. Makes gaming look bad, but really people just need to raise better humans.

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Rockstar Games announces free content for Midnight Club: LA

I am a big fan of racing games and driving games, especially those that let you race on the street and do things you can’t do in real life without risking life, limb, and jail time. One of the coolest games this holiday season to meet this need is Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

Rockstar has announced that free download content will be coming for owners of the game. The DLC is called the South Central Upgrade Map and will include a new area of the city that is about 1/3 the size of the entire original map. The pack includes Exposition Park, USC campus, Crenshaw Plaza, and more.

Along with the new and free map will also be a pay update that adds new races, cars, and music along with character competitions to the new map. The new vehicles will include cars, SUVs and a new motorcycle. Pricing is unknown for the pay content and availability is set for early 2009 release.

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Star Wars becomes stage spectacle

The Star Wars stage show will get its premiere at the O2 in London in April

Star Wars fans are to feel the force of the seminal sci-fi films and their iconic soundtracks on stage in a major new show, which will launch next year.

In Star Wars: A Musical Journey, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will play a live score as excerpts from the six films are shown on a cinema screen.

The show has been put together by director George Lucas' company Lucasfilm and composer John Williams.

It will premiere at the O2 arena in London in April before a European tour.

It will not be a traditional musical with actors playing characters from the films, but will feature live narrators.

The six Star Wars films have been edited down to two hours for the show, and Williams has "painstakingly rewritten" the music he wrote for the movies, a statement said.

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Working LEGO PlayStation Posted in lego

Legos are good enough to build a safeand countless statues, so why not a PlayStation?

This mod is the work of a clever high school modder who completed the project one night, instead of chasing girls and boozing it up. See kids, a clean life will yield great Lego geek toys. Looks like this kid basically just gutted his PS and inserted the innards into a custom Lego case. Which doesn’t make it easy, just simple.

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3D Game Textures: Create Professional Game Art Using Photoshop by Luke Ahearn

"As well as the design angle of creating artwork for games, this book also tackles the business side of creating artwork for commercial purposes, making it a wonderful insight into the world of the professional games artist. After reading this you'll have a far better understanding of what it takes to become successful in the games world, and it will give you the opportunity to begin building a stunning profolio." - Advanced Photoshop

"Discover how to design bullet holes, flames, windows and walls - all the effects that are an essential for today's videogame - with easy-to-follow tutorials. There are a variety of different themes explored throughout this book, covering anything from urban street scenes to the fantasy genre." - Advanced Photoshop, April 2006

"This book can help anyone become a better texture professional...Ahearn's book can and help you become a much better artist, even if you never did much texturing before...The details are simple, but they give anyone who has no Photoshop experience a better idea of what to do. A more experienced reader can gain an in-depth look at how to add improved texture to his projects. 3D Game Textures is a great book for beginners who would like to learn about textures for 3D art. No one should have a problem understanding and using this easy-to-comprehend information." - Apogee Photo Magazine, August 2006
More Information | Mirror | Mirror

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Mario Kart R/C racing set

The Mario Kart Pullback toys were cool, so was the giant r/c Mario Kart racer, but this set of Mini Mario Kart rc cars from Brando gets it right. Each car is rechargeable and about the size of the iPod shuffle. Each comes with a 6-direction IR controller and shell and banana accessories. That’s what I’m talking about. You need accessories to really play Mario Kart outside of the Wii. They are available in Mario, Luigi, Koopa and Yoshi. Available for $24 each. Finally you can have real life Mario races.

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Clue goes geek with Dungeons and Dragons Edition

Say you’re a Clue fan who finds the game a little stale after so many years and you also really really love D&D. Here’s what you need to get yourself this Christmas. Find out who killed the Archmage. Any of the 6 players could be the evil doppleganger.

Was it Tordek the Dwarf Fighter with the Flaming Battle Axe in the Library of Arcane Tomes? Or maybe it was Lidda the Halfling Rogue with the Dagger of Venom in the Magical Armory? Or perhaps Nebin the Gnome Wizard with the Mace of Disruption in the Chamber of Tricks & Traps?

It’s as if thousands of geek minds suddenly cried out, at the prospect. But in agony or ecstasy? The game is like standard Clue but with a D&D twist. All the rooms, weapons, and characters have been changed to a D&D theme. You also get a deck of Wandering Monster cards. When you draw one you have to fight one of the six monsters. If you do this and win, you gain an advantage and can look at your opponent’s deck or get an extra turn. Lose your battle with the monster and get sent to the maze in the middle of the board where you have to roll a die to get out. Comes with six pewter characters and six pewter weapons.

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Commodore’s MLB-themed gaming rigs

MLB fans will love these MLB-themed gaming PCs from Commodore. Whether they will hit a home run with them is hard to say, but Baseball fans now have their own fancy machines. The officially licensed desktops feature an exclusive C-kin high-definition paint job and a Core i7 inside.

Don’t expect them to be cheap. The paint job process alone is much like the one on your car. Not some vinyl sticker. It’s baked on. The MLB range of Commodore Gaming computers is being launched now with a choice from four teams, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets. Additional teams will be added in the coming weeks.

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ALCNON humanoid bot picks on bots not quite it’s own size

In the video above, this gigantic ALCNON humanoid robot picks a fight with a miniature opponent, showing off a combination of his swift punches and dance moves. The little bot is pretty scrappy and comes at him again and again, sadly to no avail. It’s all pretty sad, yet strangely satisfying.

Despite ALCNON having a name that sounds like a substance abuse meeting, he’s presumably pretty adapt at picking on robots his own size, not that you’d know it from this video. He sports a creepy cyclops eye, and two pincers for hands. ALCNON was a big star at the recent ROBO-ONE robot battle in Japan.

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BBC NEWS | Business | US video games sales hit record

Halo 3 helped boost sales of Microsoft's Xbox console

Blockbuster titles and the success of Nintendo's new console helped make 2007 a record year for US video game sales, according to a research group.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7195511.stm

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BBC NEWS | Technology | State of Play: Violence and video games

Puzzle Quest is a hypnotic 'violent' game

The debate around video games and violence rears its head every few months. But are the right questions being asked?

Like most of the electrified world, I am currently hypnotised by Puzzle Quest.

A variation on the classic task of matching three gems, it integrates role playing game elements into a simple puzzle game, producing something that has all the short-order appeal of Tetris, and all the long-term pull of Final Fantasy.

And hypnotised isn't a word I use lightly. The gentle clatter of gems and the steady whirl of primary colours soon become all-consuming.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6943835.stm

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BBC NEWS | Technology | What exactly is a next generation game?

The Outsider is due for release at Christmas 2009

The term next-generation is used a lot in the video games industry but what does it actually mean? How are developers taking advantage of new gaming hardware and what are the challenges and next steps for the industry?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6937058.stm

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BBC NEWS | Technology | The golden age of videogames

Bioshock is one of the most celebrated games of the year

Edge magazine is notoriously parsimonious when it comes to handing out 10 out of 10 review scores for video games but in the past three issues there have been three of them.

Halo 3, The Orange Box and Super Mario Galaxy have all been awarded one of the highest accolades in gaming - a perfect score from Edge. And plenty of other games have been given near perfect scores also - from Bioshock to Crysis, Drake's Fortune and Call of Duty 4.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7107144.stm

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BBC NEWS | Technology | State of Play: Killzone 2 hands on

Killzone is set in a futuristic dystopian world

Killzone 2 has always been about delivering on a promise. When the first trailer for the game emerged two years ago the sounds of jaws dropping to the floor reverberated around the industry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6929484.stm

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BBC NEWS | Technology | Games 'to outsell' music, video<

Hugely popular titles such as GTAIV have boosted sales figures

UK sales of games will outstrip music and video for the first time in 2008, says a report from Verdict Research.

A huge shift in consumer attitudes has turned video games into the UK's most popular form of entertainment, say the retail analysts.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7709298.stm

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Star Wars Bowling Balls geek up your game

Jedi can bowl a perfect game every time by using the force, no balls are necessary. But since you haven’t apprenticed under Yoda, you could use some help. These Brunswick Star Wars Viz-a-Ball bowling balls may be just what you need to give your game a boost while simultaneously getting laughed at by those around you.

Or maybe not. You may just be trading a plain gutter ball for a fancy gutter ball. They’ll cost you between $92-$120 each. There’s Yoda, C-3PO, Darth Vader and even a Darth Maul ball. Who knows, before you know it you may be joining the Bespin Bowling League and low-fiving Ugnaughts. (I apologize for that nerd joke and regret that I even know what an Ugnaut is)

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GoLive2 announces MMO driving game for Stix controllers

Over the summer, an unknown company called GoLive2 announced what at first glanced sounded like a cool product called Stix. Stix was basically Wii-like motion controls for the PC. I tested a set of the Stix 200 controllers and found they weren’t that good.

GoLive2 is back with a new MMO racing game designed for the Stix controller titled GoLive2 Racing. Let’s be honest about this, the chances of the game being decent are slim to none when you consider how poorly the Stix controllers themselves functioned.

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Custom-made Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3

Konami’s limited edition Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 seems absolutely plain when compared to this custom-made system built by Morpheon Mods. It’s absolutely drool worthy and available for auction on eBay. Some of the features include a laser-cut, stainless steel MGS4 marquee, a laser-etched image of Solid Snake himself, a carbon fiber Fox Hound logo on the back, and 14 white micro LEDs to light it all up. That’s Hideo Kojima’s autograph as well.

It’s a fully backwards compatible 60GB PS3. You know it isn’t going to be cheap. Bidding is already up to $2,550.00 with six days left. You’ll also get some other Metal Gear goodies with it, and 15% of the proceeds will go toward the Child’s Play charity. That is one beauty of a PS3. Go bid.

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Xbox 360 Hybrid Mobile Phone, All in One

If you are craving for something different and funky, then Xbox360 mobile is surely for you. A talented artist of British Magazine T3 has put together his innovative ideas for bringing out this sexy Xbox360 Mobile. The idea is definitely interesting and attractive for all game-lovers as the name itself involves a gaming world. The proposed design is pleasant and including everything in it starting from games to music and a mobile phone. It has 64 GB of memory and with amazing graphics. So, now you can have your iPod, PC and Mobile phone…. All in one.

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