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WoW on iPad via streaming
World of Warcraft on the iPad? Apparently, thanks to an interesting service called Gaikai. Gaikai, currently in beta, is a new technology that will let you play any game online in your browser. Here's how it works -- Gaikai hosts the games on their servers and worries about the hardware and software updates, then they stream the games to you through your browser. They call this technology "Streaming Worlds." What does this mean for the average WoW player? Well, when you have a computer that otherwise looks seemingly impossible to play WoW on such as the iPad, you can use Gaikai to stream the game via Java, Flash or Silverlight to your computer, resulting in the screenshot shown above. While the screenshot is amazing, there are doubts to its credibility since iPad's browser doesn't support Flash. Unfortunately no video of the game in action was provided. However, the concept surrounding Gaikai, and the implications for browser-based games that are graphically intensive like World of Warcraft are fascinating.
Penny Arcade: The (WoW) Appocalypse
We (and the rest of the geek world) loves ourselves some Penny Arcade, and today's comic is worth mentioning given its commentary on Blizzard's latest plans for a premium iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad auction house and armory application. First it starts with a simple auction house app, then a rogue app, and then the iHeal. Yes, there's an app for that. So for your required geek reading today, you must go read their blog post, then read the comic, and then pass it along to ten friends or guildmates. After that you can call yourself a nerd, but not before. For more comics, check out our weekly roundup -- Sunday Morning Funnies.
Blizzard announces upcoming premium AH through Armory feature
It's fairly common knowledge that Blizzard has kept updating the Armory with new features and new apps. Now, Bornakk comes forth with news of an app that will be to the armory what a giant Steve Allen pog was to pogs: behold, the ultimate feature! In the glorious future, we'll be able to work our auctions from the Armory itself or apps for the iPhone and iPod touch. Yes, one more step closer to actually living full time in Azeroth. I have my eyes on a nice cottage outside of Elwynn, myself. In all seriousness, I know a lot of people who would probably club me over the head and hand me over to a cabal of secretive necromancers for this feature. No news yet on exactly how it's going to work, and Bornakk does point out that with the amount of work it will be to develop, you're probably going to have to pay extra for it. This is a fairly complex service to develop, due in large part to its unprecedented integration with the game, so we don't have an exact release date yet. It's important to note here that certain elements of the service will be premium-based, which we'll go into more detail on once the service functionality is finalized. As with all of the services we offer, we plan to integrate the Auction House and Armory in a way that won't disrupt the gameplay experience, and we won't release it until it meets the quality standards that we've set for our other features and services.See the rest of the announcement after the break.
No mention of WoW on the Apple iPad
Obviously today's news from Apple of the iPad is the hottest thing since, well, the iPhone. One of the big things Apple was showing was the OpenGL 3D games on the iPad. OpenGL is the technology that allows advanced 3D graphics and games to function (DirectX is the Microsoft Windows equivalent, although OpenGL works on Windows too). For a long time people have been clamoring over the ability for WoW to run on an iPhone, and the iPad looks like the ideal touch device to let it run on. And many of you began writing into us as soon as the iPad announcement was made, asking if we knew about WoW running on the iPad. The answer is no, we have no information, and there is no indication that WoW will run on the iPad. The armory app should work automatically (as well as all your other iPhone/iPod Touch games), and there is certianly room to make the armory app even better on the iPad -- but we don't even know if such a plan is in the works yet. The iPad, especially with its dirt cheap data plans for $14.99 and overall cheap starting price of $499, can obviously have an impact on guild websites and keeping abreast with WoW news, but that's all that the WoW community will get from it, for now. So again, just so we're clear: No WoW on the iPad right now.
