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BlizzCon 2008: Diablo III Wizard cinematic and new screenshots
Here's the piping-hot new cinematic video for the Wizard class in Diablo III, straight from BlizzCon. This leads us to suspect that each class will get its own cinematic, possibly as they approach the Sanctuary instance near the beginning of the game. There are several Wizard-specific CGI moments and gameplay shots in a sort of "coming up this season on Diablo III" format.Below you can check out the new gallery of screenshots from Diablo III, featuring new shots of the Wizard, Barbarian, and Witch Doctor. Enjoy the goodies, and keep checking back for more info.%Gallery-34203%
BlizzCon press conference with Mike Morhaime
Mike Morhaime held a press conference earlier this afternoon, which WoW Insider was able to attend. I arrived a little late since it started before I finished up the UI panel liveblog, but I managed to catch a majority of the Q&A. Unlike the various panels, most of these questions were aimed at the philosophy and business model at Blizzard. How they've operated in the past, and how they'll operate in the future.BlizzCon itself came up a lot throughout the conference, the big question being will this BlizzCon be a letdown? There haven't been any major announcements. Announcements, sure, but nothing on the scale of Starcraft II or Diablo III. Mike Morhaime actually seemed most excited about this particular BlizzCon, because it isn't just showcasing one game. All three of their primary franchises have something new on the way, and fans of all of those games are in attendance. Beyond that, he believes the community is extremely important, and gatherings like BlizzCon are important as well. Blizzard themselves were blown away by just how many people were trying to attend the convention this time around. The number of hopefuls completely dwarfed both last year's BlizzCon and the more recent Worldwide Invitational. Will BlizzCon continue to be an annual event? Maybe. They'll focus on this weekend first, and then they'll start talking about next year once it's through.What I found most interesting, though? Morhaime was asked what the most unusual, off the wall concepts they had for a game that simply did not work out. He mentioned a game titled Nomad that Blizzard was developing after Starcraft was first released. A game they had never mentioned or announced until now. It was a post-apocalyptic style setting, but each day they sat down to work on it, it was with a little trepidation. Eventually they asked themselves, "If we were going to work on just one project today, would it be Nomad or would it be something else?" They went with something else. That something else was World of Warcraft.
StarCraft 2 to be released as a trilogy
And here you thought there'd be no big StarCraft 2 announcement after its conspicuous absence from the BlizzCon 2008 opening ceremony. Rob Pardo, executive vice-president of game design at Blizzard announced that the campaign version of the game will be a trilogy, each part focusing on a separate race. Terrans - Wings of Liberty Zerg - Heart of the Swarm Protoss - Legacy of the Void Sure, it's not a release date, but for those still hopeful, there's always tomorrow night's closing ceremonies. We'll get more info on this as we have it, like will it all be in one box? Will we have to buy separate discs? Can we have it now, please?Update: Yes, you'll have to buy separate discs. According to Pardo, "It's a separate product. Look at the next two as expansion packs, but will have the feel of stand alone products." Meaning yes, we'll be charging you more money.
Explore the halls and amenities of Blizzard HQ
Blizzcon is this weekend, and journalists and bloggers the world over are descending upon California to report on everything from Diablo 3 classes to -- you guessed it -- World of Warcraft. MTV's Multiplayer blog counts itself a member of that gaming press Horde, and in addition to your usual Blizzcon coverage, it visited Blizzard's headquarters and took lots of photos.The HQ has a museum, a movie theater, a gymnasium, and a bunch of other amenities, and they're all documented in Multiplayer's gallery. The walls are covered in Warcraft and Starcraft artwork -- basically, it's just as awesome as you would expect it to be. Hit the source link to browse the gallery to your fanboy/fangirl heart's content. 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!
BlizzCon 2008: Class panel liveblog
WoW 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.Right now we're live-blogging the class panel in the main hall. This panel will feature discussion of where the classes are headed, why things are done the way they are, and perhaps even announcements about multispecs and new features.The full live-blog happening after the break!EDIT: Pics added throughout!
BlizzCon 2008 UI panel liveblog
12:00 PM: The gang just showed up on stage. Hellos answered with... silence.12:02 PM: Tom Thompson and Derek Sakamoto introducing themselves, lots of applause.Check the rest behind the cut!%Gallery-34226%
BlizzCon 2008: The first day of mayhem
The crowds have been let in to the main convention center floor, and it is an absolute mad house of Blizzard fun here. BlizzCon 2008 has started in earnest, with a full day of panels and gaming ahead. Knowing Blizzard, it should be truly epic. If you weren't able to join us here at the Anaheim Convention Center, have no fear. As the day progresses, we'll share many of the sights of BlizzCon 2008, straight from the front lines. So if you're hungry for more of what's going on here, be sure to check back, as we'll be updating the gallery throughout the day! %Gallery-34201%
Watch: Diablo 3's Wizard
We've always admired that certain finesse -- a commitment to craft, if you will -- about the wizard that's missing from the careless hacks of a barbarian. Well, just see for yourself.%Gallery-34209%
BlizzCon 2008: Opening ceremonies liveblog
10:55am: Waiting anxiously for the show to begin. The crowd is excited and ready for a big announcement. WoW movie announcement? Mobile game announcement? Your guess is as good as mine.More after the jump.Update: It's over, and the only real announcement we heard was that Diablo 3 has a new class: the Wizard. Stay tuned all day for more news from BlizzCon, including the WoW UI/Addons panel, a classes panel (always fun), and lots of news from the show floor. And have you seen the costume gallery yet?
Joystiq hands-on: Diablo 3 and the Wizard class
Click for full, hi-res gallery var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Hands_on_with_Diablo_3_Wizard_class'; That's right, Diablo III. We jumped on one of the machines made available to the press, and hacked and blasted away until the intense stares stabbing daggers of "GIVE ME A TURN" forced us back. We'll spend a lot more time with this over the weekend, but for now here's the skinny.First up was the "Choose Your Class" screen, which made us pee our pants when we first saw it. Six classes! Right?! Well, no. That's a male and a female of each class. The male wizard was ghosted out and nonselectable for some reason, leaving (from left to right) female wizard, female Barbarian, male Barbarian, male Witch Doctor, and female Witch Doctor. The other classes will be revealed (we hope) this weekend, and they seem to look like (we think) an Amazon and an Assassin for the other two unrevealed classes.%Gallery-34203%
Diablo 3 Wizard class revealed [update]
Click for full, hi-res gallery Blizzard has revealed the third (of five total) classes for Diablo 3: the Wizard. According to the press release, "A wielder of the elements and a master manipulator of time, the wizard can hurl environment-shattering lightning bolts, channel explosive arcane energies, and create pockets of space outside the normal temporal flow." The class, along with Barbarian and Witch Doctor, will be playable this weekend at BlizzCon. Update: We originally stated that six classes were shown on the character select screen. A pox on us, it was just the male-female counterparts. Image of character select after the break.Update: Check out our hands-on of the game and the new Wizard class -- plus the first gameplay footage.%Gallery-34203%
BlizzCon 2008: WoW Insider's second annual BlizzCon Reader Meetup
We had our second annual Reader Meetup last night here in Anaheim at The Lost Bar, and it was a blast. Tons of people showed up (maybe 200?), and every single reader we met was completely awesome. We introduced all of our bloggers (Adam Holisky, Daniel Whitcomb, Alex Ziebart, Krystalle Voecks, Elizabeth Harper, Dan O'Halloran, and myself were all there), we drank plenty of libations (the bartender, unfortunately, wasn't moving as fast as we would have liked), and we gave away a bunch of swag, to all kinds of readers, for everything from answering trivia questions to just saying hi.The Horde, I have to say, seemed to have the higher population, but Alliance made a good showing as well. And a few full guilds came out to see us: shoutouts to Thee Unforgiven on Destromath (the good folks above), Keine Neuen on Malganis, and Dread Pirates on Blackrock, not to mention all of the other awesome readers and guilds that stopped by. They're all in our gallery below -- thanks to everyone who came out for making it such a great time.%Gallery-34196%
New details on upcoming 3.x patches
Curse is running an excellent story about their time spent last evening with Blizzard developers Jeff Kaplan and Tom Chilton. There's a few things we didn't know before that are in the article. The major ones are: Patch 3.1 is already done (says Kaplan). Will release Ulduar 10-man and 25-man raids. Patch 3.2 will contain a yet to be announced raid instance. Hopefully more on this over the next two day. Release date / timeframe is unknown. Patch 3.3 will continue the Ashbringer storyline. Release date / timeframe is unknown. Dance studio to be released after WotLK. Guild ratings, where guilds get a rating based on PvE/PvP achievements. The idea is being "tossed around." The other interesting note is that the development team is three patch cycles ahead of the live game. That's amazing, in my opinion. And beyond that, they're also working on the next expansion. Doesn't that raise your eyebrow just a bit? Perhaps we'll hear something major in the next few hours... Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.
Loot within swag: TCG cards that make you smile
I woke up at 7:00 this morning to get ready for the day at BlizzCon. The team is meeting at 8:30 to head over to the convention and start covering all the fun that's happening there. But of course before I finish my morning rituals, I have to peek into the swag bag again. This time it's opening up the packs of WoW TCG - Heroes of Azeroth.Much to my surprise I find a loot card! A Thunderhead Hippogryph, pictured above from the Upper Deck site. Of course the cards are inserted completely random into the packs, and the bags are given out at random too – so no way I bribed someone a million billion dollars for this.
A sneak peek at the BlizzCon floor
Our good friends at the Orange County Register were lucky enough to be let into BlizzCon yesterday (we'll be on the floor in just a few hours here), and they've got a preview gallery of what it's like in there up on their site right now. There's nothing super revealing in there, but there are lots of pictures of vendors setting up, and the various stages they'll have at the event. The Illidan statue from last year is making a re-appearance, and he's joined by someone Starcraft fans will want to see.We can't wait to get in there -- Diablo 3 will be playable, and of course we'll have coverage from all the panels, tournaments, and booths inside the convention center all day today and tomorrow. The Opening Ceremony starts at 11am PST, so stay tuned here to watch our coverage as it goes down live.
BlizzCon 2008 Breakfast Topic: We need your questions
Today's the day! BlizzCon 2008 is underway in Anaheim, and WoW Insider is of course here -- stay tuned all day today for news from the panels going on all morning and afternoon. We're going to see Blizzard, talk to Blizzard, listen to Blizzard, and if we can get close enough, we may even smell Blizzard, too (Bornakk probably has a musky Old Spice kind of odor, right? Chris Metzen probably smells like bourbon and granite).And we need your help -- let us know what you want us to ask Blizzard. Is there a class question you need an answer to, or something that's been bugging you since launch? Want to know something about Wrath of the Lich King that we haven't heard yet?And let us know if there's anyone else you'd like us to talk to -- FigurePrints, Upper Deck, and DC Comics are all here, and we'll be talking to the folks from The Guild later today, so let us know what you want to know and we'll make sure you get to know it. Thanks, and enjoy the show -- we definitely will.
BlizzCon mount not usable until after BlizzCon
Another quick note here, which I'm posting because the team at BlizzCon is at the Lost Bar right now (I make absolutely no promises as to the sobriety of anyone involved); we've found out that the polar bear mount plus attached flag-bearing murloc given to all BlizzCon attendees and DirecTV subscribers isn't actually going to be usable until after the convention ends. I've just confirmed this with a friend of mine at the con who's logged into the game from his hotel's wireless as well, so this answers a few questions we've gotten about where are on earth all the mounts are with so many people attending BlizzCon or how to get them working ingame.So if you're headed back to your home or hotel and you've been hoping to get your mount (or, like me, you've just been waiting to see it), hang tight for a few days. With BlizzCon ending late Saturday, hopefully we'll see them active in the following week.
Overheard at BlizzCon 2008: A real, live Blue
Scene: Just outside the BlizzCon badge pickup area, the Thursday before BlizzCon, 10 minutes before 4pm badge pickup.Crowd: (Mills around, is huge, waits patiently, talks occasionally about everything from the Protoss to the weather. Throws out a random "WoW Insider rocks!" yell as we pass by -- thanks for that!)BlizzCon Employee: (Steps out of Convention Center to address the crowd) Hi everyone! We're going to open up the doors here in just a minute, but we will not be giving out badges until 4pm. So when we open the doors, in about five minutes from now, come on in and line up, but we won't give out badges until four.Crowd: (Various murmurs of excitement, until, from in the back:) Why aren't you wearing a blue shirt?(Laughter from all sides.)Employee: Ha, that's funny. No, I'm wearing a black shirt today, not a blue shirt. Ok, so in five minutes we'll let you in, and then we'll give out badges at 4pm. (Turns and heads back inside.)Crowd: (Follows immediately, calmly flooding inside without waiting, while convention center employees stand and shake their heads.)
BlizzCon 2008: Fun in the badge pickup line
We've all got our badges for BlizzCon now -- badge pickup was a little less chaotic than last year, if memory serves us correctly (though they really need to split up the "S" names -- our line was longer by three times as much as any of the others). There were lots of people waiting outside right before they opened the convention center at 4pm, but once they opened up the doors, things moved quickly. We didn't notice any recognizable Blizzard staff around, but we've heard rumblings from vendors that they're setting up inside, and there's certainly plenty of activity going on back there.None of the rest of the center is open until tomorrow, obviously, but we also grabbed some pictures of the art we could see posted inside. No, there aren't any big exclusive reveals, but there is a particularly nice piece of the Diablo III Witchdoctor that we hadn't seen before. Enjoy.%Gallery-34144%
BlizzCon 2008 swag bag
Attention: Do not comment here for the swag bag giveaway! Fresh 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. Right now WoW Insider staff is outside the convention area, and we're watching the line to pickup tickets wrap around the building, then inside the building, and then take a couple hundred twists and turns. There is a ton of people here. Looks like everyone wants to pickup their tickets early. Amazing crowd and amazing goodies. Stay tuned all weekend for more!After the cut, a breakdown of what's in there. %Gallery-34142%
