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Final Fantasy XIII gets two launch events in San Fran and a mess of new screens
We might normally start a post on a regional game launch event (or events, in this case) by questioning if you live in or around the geographic location in question (San Francisco), but with a game like Final Fantasy XIII, we're not entirely sure if that kinda thing matters -- we hear that FF fans can be a bit ... dedicated. That said, Square Enix is holding two separate parties celebrating the March 9 release of its next in the Final Fantasy series. Both are limited to Square Enix Members, with the launch party on the evening of March 8 limited even further to just 50 Bronze (and up) Members while the day event is limited to "200 Members and their guests." In order to snag yourself an invite, you've gotta have one of those snazzy Square Enix Member IDs and enter the sweepstakes right here before February 23. After you hurriedly enter the contest, come right back here and check out the 20 new screenshots of FFXIII that we've dropped into a gallery below. We command you. %Gallery-85352%
We have an agenda: Global Agenda launch day coverage and play with Massively event
The cat's out of the bag! Or perhaps the spies are out of their hexes? Either way, Global Agenda has gone into official launch mode today! We here at Massively can't help to celebrate by looking back at our past coverage of Global Agenda, as we watched the game go from a little team-based TPS to the MMORTS that it is today. If you like commanding, or if you just like shooting people with hi-tech guns, then this might be the game for you! In any case, we promised you an event to go along with the launch! Tonight, jump in to Global Agenda at 8 PM EST to meet up with Shawn Schuster (Agent Name: Ampersand, Medic) and Seraphina Brennan (Agent Name: Seraphina, Recon!). Both editors will be commanding their own PvP strike teams and will be launching into the queues head first. By the way, don't forget your headset -- it makes team building so much easier. If you don't have one, no worries, just be ready to play. So, without any further delay, let's take a trip down memory lane and look back at the best of our Global Agenda coverage...
Samsung teases Bada at event, questions still outnumber answers
We've just come back from the Samsung Bada mobile platform launch event in London, and frankly the presentation was no more than an app developer and investor magnet -- no hands-on opportunity and no direct answers regarding the hardware. The only mention of a Bada phone is that something's coming out in the first half of 2010. That said, today Samsung did bring in representatives of five strong Bada app partners: Twitter, Capcom, EA, Gameloft and Blockbuster. Needless to say mobile gaming is high up on Bada's agenda, but the brief presence of Twitter's Head of Mobile, Kevin Thau, solidified Samsung's dedication for integrating SNS (social networking services) sites on mobile handsets. Yes, just like many fish in the sea. Read on to see how Bada aims to be "an ocean of endless enjoyment." %Gallery-79857%
New Super Mario Bros Wii launch event in NYC this Saturday
Nintendo is holding a little family-friendly launch fiesta for New Super Marios Bros. Wii this Saturday, November 14, at its flagship store in New York City. The House of Mario will "transform" Rockefeller Plaza into the Mushroom Kingdom, providing demo stations, "costumed characters, trivia challenges, prize giveaways (while supplies last)." The event takes place from 3-7PM and NSMBW is available to purchase early from the Nintendo World Store during that time. The game officially launches the following day, November 15. If getting it a day early seems worth the trip, remember to add NYC's lovely (8.875%) sales tax to your budget.
T-Mobile sending out early November event invites for Bold 2 launch?
We're not sure whether we'll see official PR before then, but it seems that T-Mobile is quietly slipping lucky individuals invites to "executive briefing" events for the upcoming Onyx / 9700 / Bold 2 to be held early next month. Boy Genius Report so far seems to have the inside line on a November 3 date in LA followed by November 5 in the Big Apple, and like pretty much everything else BlackBerry-related, "business casual" attire is suggested. Certainly seems to match up nicely with a November 11 retail launch, doesn't it?
Scenes from the Scribblenauts launch at Nintendo World
Did you miss the Nintendo World launch event for Scribblenauts yesterday due to your inability to spell "transporter beam" (that silent a is a killer)? Well now's your chance to experience it vicariously through three still images: it'll be magical! Above you can see a long line of people wearing the infamous rooster hat in the middle (uptown-ish) of Manhattan, waiting for their chance to purchase the game.After the break, you can see that lucky lady on the far left picking up her copy of the game and there's another image of Scribblenauts' Art Director Edison Yan, Creative Director Jeremiah Slaczka and Technical Director Marius Fahlbusch signing autographs at the event. You can pick up your copy of the word-infused title starting tomorrow at your local gamemonger.
The best of WoW.com: August 25 - September 1, 2009
We're still reeling from everything we saw at BlizzCon a few weeks ago over at WoW.com, from all the news we heard about the next expansion, Cataclysm, to everything else about Icecrown and the anniversary celebration in the upcoming patch 3.2.2. There's a ton of big news lately over on the site, but here's our most popular posts for you to browse through. Don't forget to hit the costume galleries -- we've got tons more pictures like the gem above. News Patch 3.2.2 Onyxia achievementsAchievements from the second go-round of the big bad dragon fight for the game's 5th anniversary. BlizzCon 2009: First impressions of Cataclysm racesOur staff breaks down their first impressions of the new races announced in the next expansion. BlizzCon 2009: The Guild's Michele Boyd and Jeff Lewis hands-on with the WorgenTwo stars of The Guild webseries take on the playable Worgen demo available at BlizzCon. BlizzCon 2009: The Cataclysm trailerThis is where it all began -- the expansion trailer revealed at BlizzCon's opening ceremony. Battle.net conversion to become mandatory soonWith the onset of the new Battle.net, everyone's going to have to move over eventually. Features BlizzCon 2009 Insider Trader: Cataclysmic professionsThis big feature (here's part two and part three) takes a look at what's new with professions in Cataclysm. BlizzCon 2009: Bingo failOur bingo card for BlizzCon fails again. We need to stop making these so hard. BlizzCon 2009: Costumes, part twoHere's a roundup of all the costumes we saw on the show floor. What does Blizzard have planned for an ingame launch event?We know there's going to be a launch event for the new expansion, but what will it look like? Guildwatch: "ur name is remembered"Here's our weekly look at guild drama, downed, and recruiting news from around the realms.
What does Blizzard have planned for a Cataclysm in-game launch event?
So Cataclysm is coming and Kisirani is already working on an in-game launch event. It's gotta mean something right? Now don't get me wrong, even with my self-confessed zombiephobia, I loved last November's zombie invasion (though, at times, it got really frustrating). So now Kisirani is officially hard at work planning a new event to herald the beginning of an Azerothian cataclysm, I can't help but wonder what she has up her sleeves for us.Is anyone else excited? I certainly am and it gives us something to focus on during the inevitable wait. To be fair, at least Cataclysm's not scheduled for 2012! We don't have that long to wait, we could be rolling Worgen and Goblins in just under/over a year's time. That just about makes it bearable. But it also leaves us with time to think about what Blizzard will do to introduce players to this brave new world.Hit the jump to find out what we think could well happen prior to the launch of Cataclysm.
In-Game Launch event for Cataclysm confirmed
From the "duh, but still cool" news department comes confirmation that there will be an in-game launch event for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, WoW's third expansion.Kisirani, your friendly neighborhood world designer, replied to a comment in the general forms today where a player said he'd be disappointed if there wasn't a Cataclysm launch event. Kisirani replied:*rolls up her sleeves and idly kicks the crates from last launch event under her desk* We're on it.That's confirmation in Blizzard speak.Will it be as badass as the Lich King launching his forces into Stormwind, Orgrimmar, and the rest of Azeroth? My guess is that it'll be at least 37 times as badass.%Gallery-36583%
T-Mobile's myTouch 3G launch event: pre-orders now available
We're here at T-Mobile's myTouch 3G launch event -- quite a bit subdued compared to the G1 launch, but still a T-Mobile extravaganza all the same. In the meantime, you might be happy to learn that the phone is now available for pre-order, with a guaranteed August 5th delivery date if they order before the 28th. Notes from the launch talk with Denny Marie Post and Cole Brodman: myTouch is about "self expression." Like when you did drawings with crayons for your mom: sure, it sucked, but it was the self expression that mattered. Apparently. Cole is talking up the Google love and the Android ecosystem. A "strong Google partnership." Cole says we'll have "more Android devices out this year." Denny sees it as a more desirable device and potentially more attractive to new adopters of smartphones. "Boundless possibilities" for individualization. They're showing a few videos, which seem to be app-centric as far as individualization goes. "If it could sweat for me, it would." A few apps being highlighted: Wikitude, Sherpa, a few exercise apps, imeem, YouTube uploads, Qik (my buddy's iPhone can't do that), Twitter, a ringtone editor. A few Google services mixed in, naturally. They're both showing off their own devices and how they've personalized them. Denny is a big fan of Zombie Run, which she plays with her 15-year-old son at the mall. Best mom ever? T-Mobile, in partnership with Google, will help put a "lens" on the Marketplace to help users find the good apps. Going to offer an "app pack" to highlight a particularly useful selection of apps. One of the highlighted application partners will be Sherpa. Also working on improved payment options: will include a direct bill option to post app purchases directly to your T-Mobile bill. Shipping the phone with a zippered case and a cloth screen-polishing sleeve (like we've seen already). Matching service plan warranty with device warranty, and working on retail experience / consumer training, including in-store appointments. No current plans to bring HTC Hero to the US. And that's it! We're heading down now for a hands-on -- stay tuned!
Palm Pre goes on sale to a select, drenched few
We just got to witness history, folks: Alfredo Rodriguez waited an hour in the miserable New York rain for the privilege of snapping up his Sprint store's very first retail Pre at this evening's invite-only Premier customers event. The man paid in cold hard cash, and after a tedious 40 minute purchase process that involved a bit of activation, some nice tutorials, a quick address book sideload from his old Touch Diamond and whole lot of peripheral upsell, Alfredo was one of the world's first satisfied Pre customers. The last time we saw him Alfredo was still playing with his new phone, and gives the device two thumbs up. He's particularly digging the keyboard -- what Touch Diamond user wouldn't? -- and the flip-up mirror. Word on the street was that there were about 80 units available at the store, but while we couldn't squeeze an official number out of Sprint, they did confirm that they'll have units available for the launch tomorrow as well. Be sure to let us know how your own local launch treats you! Update: We've swung by the Chicago launch on LaSalle Street to scope out the scene -- follow the break for the eye candy! Update 2: There's now also a video from the New York store after the break.
T-Mobile announces April 21st "private launch event" in NYC
Well well well. Well. What do we have here? Apparently the cats and kittens over at T-Mobile have something special planned on Tuesday, April 21st. We've just gotten a very brief email letting us know that something was going down, but without any other detail. Obviously our gadget-alarms started clanging, and the way we see it we've only got a few things to get excited about. Will we see the launch of Cupcake? Could this be the official US unveiling of the Magic? Or perhaps we'll finally get to see the new Sidekick which just hit the FCC. Look -- anything is possible, but whatever happens, we'll be there. What do you guys think is in store?
WoW Insider Show live tomorrow at 3:30pm Eastern
It's that time of the week again, and even though Wrath is out and we're all playing up a storm, we'll be taking some time out of our schedule to put out our weekly podcast, the WoW Insider Show, and you should come join us. We'll be live on Ustream tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm Eastern (time zone calculator), and this week, we'll welcome the site's other co-lead blogger, Dan O'Halloran on with us -- he was live on the scene in Anaheim with Blizzard and about a thousand fans during the launch, and he got to talk to Tom Chilton, so we'll get him to tell us all about that. And Chase Christian, who writes the Encrypted Text rogue column, will be joining us as well to talk about his experiences from 70-72 so far. Additionally, we'll be chatting about Blizzard issues with server downtime and how they've fared post-launch so far (very well, I think, queues notwithstanding), and we'll talk about that first to 80 player and all of our other experiences in Northrend over the past few days.Should be a terrific show, definitely tune in on Ustream, or just come right back to this post, as we've embedded the stream after the break. If you've got a question for the show or something you'd like us to talk about, just drop a note: our email address is the show AT wowinsider dot com. And of course we'll be on for our usual aftershow -- after the show ends, we turn off the recording and chat directly with the people in the channel, so if you haven't listened live before, there's a great reason to tune in tomorrow. See you there!
One Shots: Orgrimmar under attack
World of Warcraft players have known that Blizzard was building up the Wrath pre-launch scourge event to a crescendo. After all, precedent was set with the buildup of the Dark Portal opening for Burning Crusade, and even with the server-crashing events for the launch of Ahn'Quiraj. Last night those questions were laid to rest as both Orgrimmar and Stormwind were invaded by abominations and giant flying Frost Wyrms like you see above. This blogger was on-hand to see the battle between Thrall and Garrosh, and the ensuing invasion madness. The event then repeated approximately every 20 minutes until the servers went down for maintenance, giving people who had missed the first appearance a chance to particpate in the event. As the servers are just now coming back up, we'll have to wait and see if it continues until launch - or if there's something even larger in store. If you've been part of a large pre-launch story event in your favorite MMO, we want to see it! Whether old or recent, those are still interesting and cool postcards that say "I was there." Just gather those server event pictures up and send them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and a quick description of the event. Yours could be the next one showcased here on One Shots! %Gallery-9798%
WotLK launch events announced -- meet other fans, get your copy signed, etc
Blizzard has announced midnight November 13th store opening events for World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King expansion in 13 cities across three continents -- Los Angeles (by way of Anaheim), New York, San Francisco, Austin, Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Taipei, and Seoul.If you're close to one of those cities, chances are you can pick up a copy of WotLK and mingle with developers or executives -- at least in the U.S. cities. Blizz has also promised that extra Collector's Editions will be available at those locations, cause you know folks who go to these sorts of events are diehard and will settle for only the best!No word on whether or not Arthas plans to make a dark, icy appearance, but if he does, we're betting on Stockholm for the location.
Product manager gives an inside look at the AoC launch
Ten Ton Hammer spoke with Funcom product manager Erling Eddison about his experiences at the company, the Age of Conan launch, and ... his vacation plans!Apart from a few vague hints about future patches, there's not much information about the game itself in this interview. However, it does contain an inside look at what the Funcom team went through in the days leading up to AoC's launch. For example, on May 17th (the early access launch day), there was a large screen in the Funcom offices that showed how many players were logged on to the servers. When the servers opened to the early access players, and the numbers skyrocketed, the team broke out the champagne.Eddison plans to take a nice, long vacation -- possibly to Egypt -- before continuing to promote AoC and The Secret World.
Everybody wanted a piece of Advance Wars
It turns out people are big fans of Advance Wars. How do we know? Well, folks don't just hang around in the bitter cold for nothing, and from the massive line outside of the Nintendo World store in New York, we're guessing people might have been a little enthusiastic.
My Burning Crusade launch experience
If you're tired of reading about midnight launches and what people would do to get a Collector's Edition, then move along. If instead you want to read about the trials and tribulations of a man who's closer to the arctic circle than is necessary, stay with me. So, being in Saskatoon, we didn't get a midnight launch. Maybe it's because both of our EB Games locations are in malls and our Walmarts close at 10pm like everything else in the city, and that's it really is too dark and too cold for people to be out that late on a Monday night. Whatever the reason, a midnight launch was a no-go. I watched my guildies leap through the Dark Portal with the giddy giggles of four-year olds at Christmas. I kept saying "Grats" to every ding from a newly created Draenei. And then I went to bed, falling asleep in a puddle of tears. No, not really. Earlier on Monday evening, five of us had piled into my car to hit every shop in town to see a) If they had any Collector's Editions in stock and b) If they could be bribed to sell them to us a little early. While a fun experience, it proved unfruitful. It seemed like hope was dwindling for me and my dashed dreams of a Collector's Edition.
Send us your launch event photos
Are you heading out to brave the thronging masses at your nearby midnight launch event tonight? So are we -- so tune in late night tonight and tomorrow for some tales from our launch event experiences. If you snag any great pics from your own local launch, send them to us and we'll publish a compendium of the best Burning Crusade launch event photos. If we use your photo(s) we'll credit you and link to your site or blog, your guild's site, your Myspace page -- whatever you want us to link to, just send it along with your photos. Send your images in JPG format to countdowntobc AT wowinsider DOT com -- you can send multiple images per email, but no single email may be over 10MB in size. Please put "launch event" in the title of your email or emails, thanks!
Lost Planet San Fran launch event recap
Last week those happy folks over at Capcom held a launch party for Lost Planet in San Francisco. Over 1,000 people showed up for the fun to play some multiplayer, get their drink on, eat a little, and just have a blast. Over at Brian Dunn's blog he posted a nice recap of the event including photos and an analysis of the multiplayer tournament. All in all it looked like a blast and we wish we could have attended (ice sculptures are our weakness). We posted some of our favorite photos after the break and you'll find lots more after the jump. Nice launch event Capcom, now don't forget to throw a similar party when Dead Rising 2 comes out.
