Mists of Pandaria cinematic to debut at Gamescom 2012

One of my first memories of World of Warcraft is the opening cinematic, shown to me by my wife in an attempt to interest me in playing. And it worked. The cinematic was gorgeous and evocative and did an excellent job of selling me on the world, setting up its conflicts. Quite frankly, that cinematic almost got me to play a mage, because if you saw that dude in action throwing fireballs at infernals, you knew he meant business.

Each cinematic to follow has served as a standard bearer for the expansion in question, and whether or not you liked them as much (my favorite WoW cinematic is still the Wrath of the Lich King opening), you can't say they weren't visually amazing.

So I've been waiting and waiting for this news, and at last it's here: Blizzard is debuting the Mists of Pandaria cinematic at this year's Gamescom. That's right, it's going to debut Thursday, August 16. What does that mean for the idea of a late August launch date? Well, it makes me slightly more confident in it, that's for sure. If you're going to be at Gamescom anyway, you should definitely check this out. If, like me, you won't be, you can anxiously check every five minutes or so until it's posted somewhere online.

[Thanks Bob Borst for the tip!]

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It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

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