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Heroes of the Storm getting new characters, maps, beta in January
Blizzard's MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, continues to evolve and change. During the opening ceremony for BlizzCon 2014, company president and CEO Mike Morhaime introduced a new trailer for the game which revealed characters Jaina, Thrall and the Lost Vikings, as well as two new maps: Sky Temple and Tomb of the Spider Queen. If you want to just skip all these fancy letters and words, that trailer is waiting after the break. Warcraft series fans will recognize Jaina and Thrall, representatives of the Alliance and Horde factions, respectively. Both characters' appearances seem based on earlier versions of themselves rather than their current visage, as Thrall is once more clad in his Warcraft 3 armor, while Jaina lacks the distinct white hair she gained in the latest World of Warcraft expansion. The Lost Vikings, meanwhile, are from an old SNES game called ... well, The Lost Vikings. Thrall will act as a melee fighter, Jaina a glass-cannon mage, and the Vikings as a trio of individually-controlled characters. The game's new maps feature Egyptian-inspired themes, with one set above ground (Sky Temple) and one set in the catacombs below (Tomb of the Spider Queen). Sky Temple encourages players to capture control points which will in turn cause heavy damage to enemies and their base, while Tomb of the Spider Queen rewards players for stealing minion souls by summoning strong monster allies. If you're anxious to try these additions out for yourself but aren't part of the alpha currently underway, you may not have to wait much longer: Heroes of the Storm will move to closed beta starting January 13, 2015.
Blizzard releases The Lost Vikings, Rock 'n Roll Racing, Blackthorne for free
While Blizzard today is best known for its crafts - Warcraft, StarCraft, DemonKillerCraft Diablo - once upon a time it also was a studio represented by three vikings who explored a colorful, albeit dangerous, world. Now, those vikings have come home. The Lost Vikings, Rock 'n Roll Racing and Blackthorne are all available right now via Blizzard's Battle.net service, and they're all free of charge. For those unfamiliar, The Lost Vikings is a sidescrolling platformer featuring three vikings: Erik, Olaf and Baleog. A single player can control all three vikings, though only one at a time. Blackthorne is another 2D platformer, though its tone is far darker and tells the tale of an exiled king returning to his home planet, using a pump-action shotgun to fight off monsters. Rock 'n Roll Racing turns the art of racing into a bloodsport, giving players access to weapons such as missiles and land mines as they race around a dystopian landscape. To access these games, you'll need to log into your Battle.net account and navigate to the "Download Game Clients" page. There, underneath all the clients for games you own, you'll find the trio of treasures just waiting for your loving embrace. Unfortunately, BlizzPro reports that the version of Rock 'n Roll Racing lacks the game's famous music selection, and includes only three tracks. [Image: Blizzard]
Classic Blizzard games available for download
If you've ever attended BlizzCon, you've likely noticed that the classic games section, where they set up some of Blizzard's early efforts for fans to play, is a rather popular destination. Popular enough that I've personally given up on trying to get in there, because I'm not a good "line-standing" person. Luckily for me, and others like me, Blizzard has made two of their early games available for free download on Battle.net. The Lost Vikings and Rock N' Roll Racing are two of Blizzard's most classic classics, published in 1992 and 1993 respectively, when Blizzard Entertainment was still known as Silicon and Synapse. If, as I did, you missed out on them when they were current, now is your chance to experience all their pixelated glory. Unfortunately, they are only available for Windows operating system, so if you're a Mac user, you may be out of luck. To find the new downloads, click on the "Games & Codes" option in your Battle.net account, then click "Download Game Clients" from the drop-down menu. The Lost Vikings and Rock N' Roll Racing can be found under the "Classic Games" section. Thanks to reader SparkysShocker for bringing this to our attention!
Blizzcon 2011 tickets on sale (briefly) in May
Start working out your index finger now, you've only got until May 21 to get into top clicking shape and secure your tickets to the Nerd-vana that is Blizzcon 2011. But there are two bits of good news for slow-pokes: (1) A second swath of passes will go on sale on May 25 and (2) Blizzard has upped prices by $25 to $175. That should knock out some your penny-pinching competitors, right? If you want a start with either the May 21 or 25 batches, start refreshing Blizzcon.com feverishly at around 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. PST, respectively. You'll also want to make sure you can make it to Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on Oct. 21 and October 22, otherwise, what was the point? If all else fails, you could wait till May 28 and pay $500 to gain entry to an exclusive Blizzard charity dinner and the convention. What would the dinner conversation be like with people who have that kind of cash to drop on Blizzcon? We've got no guesses, but suffice to say we'd love to be a Darkmist Silkspinner on that wall.
StarCraft 2 features 'Lost Viking' arcade mini-game
We've seen reports from a number of day-one strategists who've already sunk a few hours into the single-player campaign of StarCraft 2, all hinting at the existence of an in-game homage to one of Blizzard's earlier franchises: The Lost Vikings. Said cameo comes in the form of a Lost Viking arcade machine located on protagonist Jim Raynor's ship, the Hyperion -- though the puzzle-platforming of the original title has been swapped out for a much more thematically appropriate top-down shoot-em-up. Check out some footage of the shooter just past the jump -- or, if you'd like to try your hand at guiding your poor, misplaced Viking-ship home, just pop down to the Hyperion Cantina with a pocket full of future-quarters.
Breakfast Topic: We heard you like gaming so we put a game in your game so you can game while you game
The release of StarCraft II brought about a surprise for the observant player -- an object in the cantina of ship that lets you play an arcade game called Lost Viking right in StarCraft II. This is a fun little shooter that's a cross between Asteroids and Space Invaders (Alex tells me it's a lot like Touhou, although I've never played that) and easily took up an hour of my night. Just the kind of thing to do while waiting for a raid to begin. The name of the game is a nod to an original Blizzard game called The Lost Vikings which was released back in 1994. In that game, you are a Viking and have to find your way home as you escape the evil Tomator. In the StarCraft II arcade game, you're a mighty Viking on a ship and must fight your way back to Vikingville. And watch out for the evil Terra-Tron; he does not like you!!! I hope that Blizzard sees this game as a success and includes a minigame like this in Cataclysm. Something that can be accessed from the mini-menu would be perfect. Given the awesomeness of Blizzard's newly released Lost Viking (see screenshots below for more pictures), let's give Blizzard a helping hand here and suggest what mini-games they could include with Cataclysm. I'm voting for AQ Tetris. %Gallery-98353%
The Daily Grind: Blizzard's next MMO?
With Jeff Kaplan moving on to the new Blizzard MMORPG, and recent news coming out that Blizzard will indeed be hosting a BlizzCon again this year, it's time for a bit of fun. What fun would that be? Guessing what Blizzard may choose to do for their new MMO, of course! We've heard StarCraft (otherwise why put all that backstory into SC2?) re-imagining StarCraft: Ghost (they did put a bunch of money into it) and even ideas as far-flung as The Lost Vikings (world a bit small, maybe?). Of course, since we're just taking wild guesses, the sky is the limit! What do you think we'll see as the next MMO from Blizzard - and do you think we'll hear about it at BlizzCon this year?[Edited to correct name]
The many MMOs of Blizzard
Blizzard fans are a feisty bunch, we know because we once told WoW Insider that their favorite game was "all right" and they gave us a seriously painful noogie. It's hard to blame them though, since the developer consistently puts out amazing games. In the years since World of Warcraft launched and clutched the coveted first place position with its meaty fist, those fans have only become more frenzied. Sooner or later someone is going to come along and manage to pry that first place glory from World of Warcraft's hands and with the recent confirmation that their next-gen MMO is still being worked on, Blizzard is seemingly gunning to be the one to do it.So we know they've got a new MMO in the works, that's cool. What we don't know is what IP (intellectual property) the game is based upon. So in the spirit of tinfoil hat-wearing fun we've put together a list of all the possible Blizzard IPs -- both past and present -- for your personal enjoyment.%Gallery-27512%
Samwise Didier on Blizzard's art and games
Eurogamer has interviewed Samwise Didier, Warcraft artist and icon, and the man who's pretty much defined the look and feel of Blizzard since even the early days. There's a lot of great stuff for Blizzard fans in this one -- I had no idea that an early build of The Lost Vikings had about 20 Vikings in it instead of the three we know -- and Samwise talks about his influences, including the way that Blizzard makes twists on standard genre conventions.But the guy still stays incredibly humble, and acknowledges that as great as Blizzard's art is, the thing that really brings people back to these games is the fun factor. It's the humor and the enjoyment that Blizzard fans love, and Samwise's (and all of the other Blizzard artists') art make it that much better.[Via WorldofWar]
