blizzcon-2008
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BlizzCon 2008: New Starcraft II gameplay footage and images
Been itching for some Zerg action? Now you have it, in video form. Check out the new Starcraft 2 video above, and the new screenshots down below, straight from BlizzCon. We'll have a full hands-on with Starcraft 2 and the Zerg experience later.%Gallery-34229%
BlizzCon 2008: The Art Gallery
It's not the flashiest place at BlizzCon -- until you step inside. While the gameplay demo areas and the developer panels have claimed most of the attention here at the convention, there are a few hidden treasures inside the booths, one of which is the Blizzard art gallery. The art inside spans across all of Blizzard's games, and though their games are beautiful, the art used in designing them is even moreso.Check out the gallery below to see what's in BlizzCon's art gallery -- from the Barbarian brutes of Diablo to the frozen tundra of Northrend and the starscapes of Starcraft, here is Blizzard's creativity and design mastery put into form on the wall. Whether it's concept art, quick sketches or full paintings, it's really amazing stuff.%Gallery-34291%
BlizzCon 2008: Day 2 class panel
I know what you're thinking. "Didn't we have a class panel yesterday?" Well, of course we did, but as exciting as it was we had to come back for a second helping. We're live on the BlizzCon show floor, bringing you the latest class news and information straight from the developers' mouths and starting... right now! For the details as they happen, read on.
BlizzCon 2008: Diablo III gameplay panel
Blizzard's Jay Wilson and Wyatt Cheng took the stage at BlizzCon for a second time yesterday to helm the Diablo III Gameplay panel, which gave us a few more details about the eagerly awaited third part in Blizzard's mouse-button mashing trilogy. Check out the highlights after the break, which include updates on some of the creatures you'll encounter, and how they're taking steps to mix up the gameplay by inserting "random adventures."
BlizzCon 2008: More Wrath in-game footage
Blizzard has release more footage of Wrath zones and encounters at BlizzCon this weekend. To say this is spoilerish would be obvious and accurate, but we must say it for those wishing to experience these encounters for the first time in-game. But for those who do wish to peek into Northrend, this video is high quality and well-edited.
Joystiq Interview: StarCraft 2 Lead Producer Chris Sigaty
click to embiggen The big announcement at BlizzCon yesterday was the morphing of StarCraft II into a trilogy. I had the opportunity to sit down with one of the people instrumental behind this change, StarCraft II Lead Producer Chris Sigaty. I spoke with him right after the announcement was made, and we talked about how this will impact SC2, what it will mean for multiplayer games, and what challenges the developers are facing in making SC2 the best game it can be.%Gallery-34229%
BlizzCon 2008: WoW Q&A Panel Liveblog
Hello Everyone! The Panel is about to start, and we have a front row seat. Check out the latest updates behind the break.
BlizzCon 2008: The costume and dance contest
One day of BlizzCon is already behind us, and with it came the announcement of the Wizard class for Diablo III, the fact that Starcraft II is going to be a trilogy, and the truism that World of Warcraft players really love their costume and dance contests.Check out the video of the pants-off dance-off above, hit the links below that for some highlights, and then be sure and crawl through our galleries below for all that we've seen so far. Today brings more panels, more Diablo III news (omg wtf?!), and a closing ceremony featuring Patton Oswalt, Video Games Live, and Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain. We'll be bringing you audio and video, so keep watching.%Gallery-34251%%Gallery-34238%
BlizzCon, day one
Were you one of the many who didn't have the opportunity to make it out to Blizzneyland... er, we mean BlizzCon, of course... this year? Never fear, because Joystiq is on-hand to tell you exactly what's happening on the show floor. Enjoy BlizzCon from the comfort of your desk chair, away from the lines and the crowds and the delicious Diablo 3 gameplay... but we digress. On with the show. See our live coverage of: The convention floor, full of all sorts of shiny temptations for your inner fanboy (or girl). The uneventful opening ceremonies. I hope you weren't expecting a big announcement! The many fans attending in costume and the costume contest. Panels on World of Warcraft's user interface, the game's classes, the game's art, and the arena PvP tournament. Diablo 3 news ruled the day, with the announcement of a new class (the wizard), plenty of wizard info in their class panel, new screenshots & cinematic, gameplay video, and hands-on gameplay. The news that StarCraft 2 was being released as a trilogy (with one game for the Terran campaign, one game for the Zerg campaign, and one game for the Protoss campaign) left some people cold, but we've got to say the gameplay Blizzard is showing off still looks incredible. Stay tuned for more news from Blizzneyland... er, BlizzCon... throughout the day. %Gallery-34238%
BlizzCon 2008: Dance contest highlights
The dance contest at BlizzCon this year was much like the costume contest: many funny, sometimes inept entries and one stand out that took the grand prize, no question. The winner performed the Undead Female dance, but she did more than just mimic the moves, she wove a spell of rythmic seduction and the 8,000 fans attending the contest couldn't get enough of it. You'll see her at the end of the footage above.There were other entertaining dancers. The ogre dance/striptease (third place) and enthusiastic male troll (second place) were big crowd pleasers. And the many female dancers put their best foot forward going from alluring (female dranei) to raunchy (female orc.) The eight minute video above, generously provided by our mothersite Joystiq, shows you the highlights of the night.Edit: Corrected second place dance description.
Blizzard's Wilson: Some Battle.net features to be 'monetized'
Speaking at yesterday's Diablo III Gameplay panel, Blizzard's Jay Wilson was asked one of the questions that's been hiding in the back of all of our brains, "Is Battle.Net going to remain free?"His response probably wasn't what you'd want to hear. "We are looking to monetize Battle.Net so that we get to keep making these games and updating features," said Wilson. "We kind of have to." He went on to say that they do recognize that everyone loves having it as a free service, and that they don't have a strong desire to make a subscription-based game. What does that mean for our beloved free online gaming service? We're hoping to find out when we talk to Blizzard bigwig Rob Pardo later this afternoon.
BlizzCon 2008: WoW Raids and Dungeons Panel
We'll be blogging the Raids and Dungeons panel live from the floor of BlizzCon, which should prove to be awesome. Full updates will be behind the break, so make sure you keep up! It will be starting in just a moment.
BlizzCon 2008: WoW PvP Panel
We're liveblogging the PvP panel from the floor of BlizzCon. Updates start after the break.
BlizzCon 2008 cosplay collection
Sometimes, just sometimes, words aren't enough to express a person's love for any particular game. In cases where your fan-cup overfloweth, we often recommend playing your favorite tracks from the franchise/game of your choice. While the music is rocking you are to dance around fervently, making jazz-hands and other increasingly faux-street maneuvers until the music finishes. If after this display of (assumed) exceptionally powerful fan dancing you remain wholly unembarrassed, well you know what to do next: dress up like characters from the game!At this year's BlizzCon, we're treated with some fairly impressive pictures of cosplayers thanks to WoW Insider's diligent camera-pointy-clicking (industry term) throughout day one of the event. And while some pictures are more ... akward ... than others, you'll be pleasantly surprised by quite a few. Check 'em out in the gallery below. Gallery: BlizzCon 2008 Costumes
Day 1 BlizzCon 2008 coverage from WoW Insider
Yesterday was the first day of BlizzCon 2008, a cornucopia of awesome for every World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo player on the planet. Though there wasn't the usual megaton announcement we've come to expect, there was a solid round of panels, interviews, and presentations for fans of Blizzard's numerous games. WoW Insider, Massively's big sister site, was onhand to get all the info you want to hear about. So ... here it is: BlizzCon Day 1. BlizzCon 2008 swag bagFresh from the check-in lines at BlizzCon is our gallery of the all the contents of the goodies bag Blizzard gave us. Some real great things in there: special goo, a free authenticator, the special mount card, a beer bottle cooler, and either an inflatable frostmourne or inflatable bubble hearth beach ball. WoW Insider interviews J. Allen BrackHere at BlizzCon, we just got to sit down with the head honcho of our favorite game, J. Allen Brack, lead producer of World of Warcraft. And the biggest surprise of the interview wasn't a nice tidbit about the future of WoW (and its battlegrounds) or how class changes are made, though we did talk about both of those things. Class panel liveblogWoW Insider is doing a lot of coverage today here at BlizzCon in Anaheim, C.A. We've already live-blogged the opening ceremony, the U.I. panel and discussion, and up next will be the live blog of the class panel at 4:30 EDT / 1:30 PDT. BlizzCon 2008: The costumesThe best part of coming to a convention like BlizzCon? Sure, the news is great, and it's fun to meet the devs and fellow WoW players, but let's be serious: everyone comes to see the costumes. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Breakfast Topic: What would you whisper into Mike Morhaime's ear?
You walk into the Anaheim Convention Center, the lights are low and the mist is criss crossing the floor with patterns shining all around the venue. To your left and right are some your best friends from your guild who have joined you at BlizzCon 2008. Looking forward you spot an unassuming yet influential man in jeans and a black and blue Blizzard shirt. You're gazing upon none other than Mike Morhaime, the president and co-founder of Blizzard. With a grin on your face you tell your guildies you'll be right back. You walk up to Mike and wink at him. Leaning to his ear you being to whisper...If you could whisper anything in the ear of Mike Morihame, what would it be?And be creative. I hear that they read the site...
BlizzCon 2008: The schedule for day 2
It's day two of BlizzCon 2008 in Anaheim and it's going to be even bigger than yesterday. And WoW Insider has you covered. Here's the schedule of what we are liveblogging today: 10:30am PT/1:30pm ET - WoW PvP panel 12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET - Raids and Dungeons 1:30pm PT/4:30pm ET - WoW Q&A 3:00pm PT/6:00pm ET - WoW classes (round two!) 5:30pm PT/8:30pm ET - Closing ceremonies Plus, be on the look out for video from the dance contest, more costume galleries and more!
BlizzCon 2008: Costume Contest
This year's costume contest entrants ranged from the exceptional (hello Thrall!) to the ridiculous (goodbye Rick Astley), but in the end the winner was clear. A female Dranei on a motorized turtle mount stole the show. More than that, she won a replica Frostmourne. Check out her fantastic ride and the way it moves in the video above, and a gallery of the entrants below.%Gallery-34252%
BlizzCon 2008: Starcraft II gameplay panel notes
Rob Pardo and Chris Metzen hosted the Starcraft II gameplay panel here in Anaheim this afternoon at BlizzCon 2008 -- they showed off, for the first time in public, some of the adventure-based gameplay and ingame cinematics that will come with Blizzard's next RTS release (or next three RTS releases, as the case may be).After the break, what we saw of Starcraft II's Terran campaign, and Rob Pardo explains the reasoning behind Blizzard's decision to turn Starcraft II into three separate games.
BlizzCon 2008: WoW Insider interviews J. Allen Brack
Here at BlizzCon, we just got to sit down with the head honcho of our favorite game, J. Allen Brack, lead producer of World of Warcraft. And the biggest surprise of the interview wasn't a nice tidbit about the future of WoW (and its battlegrounds) or how class changes are made, though we did talk about both of those things. No, the biggest piece of news we got out of him is that he loves WoW Insider -- he told us that Blizzard is paying close attention to what not just us bloggers but you commenters are saying on this site, and that the community plays almost as big a part in directing the game's development as the developers themselves do.But the WoW Insider love didn't stop us from grilling him on what's next for the Wrath release and the game beyond. We talked about what changes Blizzard aims to make to battlegrounds, what kind of ideas Brack and his team have for after the second expansion, and even what he wants WoW to do that it hasn't yet. And yes, we got the story on dance studios, and why we won't be cutting a jig quite yet in Wrath.Click the link below to check out our exclusive interview with J. Allen Brack.
