Legendary
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Legendary to open this summer for Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Atari and those wily rascals at Gamecock have announced a release date window for the upcoming first-person shooter Legendary, currently being banged out by Turning Point devs Spark Unlimited. The publishing duo note that Legendary (thankfully having dropped that silly 'The Box' subtitle) will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC this summer. So far this has only been confirmed for the game's UK release, though given that the title is being co-published by both Atari and Austin-based Gamecock, we expect a similar window to be confirmed for North America in short order.First unveiled as part of Gamecock's lineup during E3 2007, Legendary left us impressed with its focus on frenetic action and a compelling story about a thief who is tricked into stealing and inadvertently opening the mythical Pandora's Box, letting loose all of the freakish goodies inside. Details continue to be scarce, though Spark's top banana Craig Allen notes that the developers are taking extra effort to "ensure optimum performance, regardless of platform." This is one we can't help but keep on the ol' radar, and now that we have an idea of when to expect Legendary to drop we can stop climbing the walls and get back to doing something more constructive. Like continuing our letter campaign to Spark to change the name of the game.Update: As suspected, Gamecock reps have confirmed that Legendary is set to be released in North America this summer as well. And we've also added some new images of the game to the gallery!%Gallery-4924%
Legendary ranged weapon confirmed
Like MMO-Champion says, this isn't the biggest surprise, but we now have confirmation (en français) that a legendary ranged weapon will drop in the new 25-man raid in patch 2.4's Sunwell Plateau. Specifically, it will be a direct drop, like the Warglaives of Azzinoth, and not the result of a quest chain, like good old Thunderfury. Still unknown is which boss it'll be from (though Boubouille reasonably supposes that it'll be the last boss, Kil'jaeden).Also unknown is what type of weapon it will be: bow, gun, or crossbow. Vosh makes the guess that it will be a crossbow, because guns would benefit dwarves and bows would benefit night elves trolls [sorry!], due to their racial bonuses, which makes sense, although I wouldn't bet on it either. What do you guys think? What will this weapon be like, and hunters, how excited are you?
The legends of non-Legendary items
Blizzard has a torrid history with the Legendary items in World of Warcraft. The first such item to raise a stink was probably Ashbringer, the sword of Highlord Mograine of the Scarlet Crusade. Though stats have been found in the game (and a Corrupted version is available), the item itself isn't obtainable by players at all (though it still may be in the future). And reader Scott recently brought another one of these not-quite-Legendary items to my attention: the Skull of Gul'dan. This is probably one of the most powerful items in all of Azeroth-- it's been used to close and open the Dark Portal, it's responsible for tearing apart Felwood, and it turned Illidan from just an emo elf into a superpowerful demonic badass. And yet, it's no more than a rare trinket in the game.Shouldn't an item with that much legend behind it be called Legendary? Illidan's twin blades are labeled legendary, but they're hardly the stuff of modern legend-- Illidan took them from a doom guard commander 10,000 years ago, and they've done nothing but sit in his whirling hands since then (heck, they couldn't even take down Arthas). I agree with Scott-- there's no reason those blades should be Legendary when the skull isn't. Sure, the skull might not be as powerful as it used to be, but it's still got a load of legend behind it.And the Legendary debate isn't over yet, because there is one more big item looming on the horizon: when we head to Northrend, we'll all, Horde and Alliance alike, be looking to find the item that kicked off this Arthas trouble in the first place: Frostmourne. Will that be wieldable by players, or labeled Legendary? If Blizzard's previous experience with Legendary items is any indication, the answer may not be what you expect.
Joyswag: Joystiq's Legendary Halo 3 Giveaway
[Update: Our winner is Santo, whose second contest entry humbly admitted he'd least like to fight "any of them. I am but a lowly present day Earthling, and I'm pretty sure anyone from the Halo universe could kick my ass up one side and down the other (whatever that means)." So, if you're Santo, congratulations! If you're not, maybe he'll let you come over and enjoy his haul.]We don't know if you heard, but Halo 3 came out today. Yep, the one with the, um, "master chef" dude. But seriously, if you're like us, you've been counting down to this date -- for years. You've been humming the theme like mad -- for days . And you've been daydreaming -- a lot. You know, the one where you're in a shiny green suit wrastlin' with the fate of the stars in your hands. So here's what we want to know from all you would-be tough guys and gals: Which Halo universe character would you least like to face in a fight? If you tell us, there's a chance you're going to get hooked up -- a lot. Here's the deal: The contest starts n-o-w and ends a week from today, at 8:00 PM EDT (Oct 2). You enter by leaving a comment on this post telling us who (or what) in the Halo universe you'd least like to face mano-a-mano -- no 'nades, no blades, no nothin'. Just your fists. One winner will be selected at random and will receive -- you know what? This prize is so big we're gonna have to break it down bullet-point style: Halo 3 Xbox 360 Console (with controller and headset) Halo 3 Legendary Edition Halo 3 Zune Spartan Controller Covenant Controller Halo 3 Headset Halo 1 (Xbox game) Halo 2 (Xbox game) Halo books 1-3 (The Flood; First Strike; The Fall of Reach) Ghosts of Onyx book The Halo Graphic Novel Halo soundtrack Halo 2 soundtrack Vol. 1 Halo 2 soundtrack Vol. 2 Multiplayer Beta T-shirt Cortana T-shirt Game Fuel Master Chief T-shirt Mountain Dew Game Fuel You may enter once per day, but be careful not to exceed this limit. If you create multiple comments during any one day, be sure to only activate one comment. Violators will be disqualified from the giveaway. One last thing: You must be 18 or older and be a U.S. resident. So what are you waiting for? ... Oh, the official rules? Sure thing, click here.%Gallery-7750%
Halo 3 Legendary Edition bares all
Those (lucky) techies over at Engadget got their hands on the Halo 3 Legendary Edition the other day which came in a promotional army duffel bag send from the marketing folks over at Microsoft. The duffel bag-o-goodies was a survival kit of sorts, featuring every single piece of Halo 3 themed 360 goodness (Halo 3 360, controllers, headset, etc.) and a real life first aid kit for when gaming gets a little too rough. Anyhoo, they opened up said promotional materials and posted pictures of the Legendary Edition unboxing in all its $130 glory, so we advise you check it out if you're curious to see what's inside. Be warned though, that helmet visor is one reflect beast.
Legendary items come and go too
From time to time players who get (or dream of getting) one of those iconic legendary items, such as the Twin Warglaives that Illidan uses, suggest to Blizzard that they should make these items somehow upgradeable so that they can keep on using them no matter what else happens in the game. On one hand, I can understand their point of view -- getting these items can be a legendary amount of work, and naturally one would want to make the reward last as long as possible. Also, it's natural to cling to the glory of wielding the same incredible weapon throughout your character's life. On the other hand, Blizzard's philosophy is that gear comes and gear goes: you only use whatever gear you have until you find something better, and this applies across the board without exception. Besides, allowing any item to truly scale with the player could create all sorts of logistical problems that Blizzard doesn't want to get into; they'd have to scale the difficulty of getting the items, the difficulty of improving them as you level, and a whole lot of other work they'd rather put into making new items for you to replace your legendary stuff with.Some players seem to rally against this philosophy of constant change. Perhaps they feel as though the effort they put in is worth permanent rewards? Or perhaps they feel like their awesome items are a part of who they are, and their characters just don't feel the same if they have to give them up. For myself, I prefer to keep on upgrading my gear than ever to have one permanent item, since it helps to keep things fresh and interesting.
Atiesh and the new Naxx
Considering that Kel'Thuzad is basically "the boss of shipping WoW" (according to Metzen at BlizzCon), then Atiesh, the Legendary caster item that once belonged to Medivh, is the greatest item in levels 1-60. But we're at level 70 now, and when we get to level 80, Atiesh, a Legendary item, might end up looking more like a stick than anything else. So Asheen asks, knowing that Naxx is set to be "repurposed" for our trip to Northrend: will Atiesh make a return?It's a cool idea. Bornakk says, "Maybe." There are a few tangles in the plan: currently, Atiesh requires a trip to C'thun in AQ to get the base (I believe because Brann Bronzebeard put it there), which is a 40 man raid that most guilds don't want to bother with. And of course the stats would need some updating-- it's a nice staff, but not exactly a Legendary level 80 any more. And finally, the staff provides a portal to Karazhan, and at level 80, will that really be as amazing as it used to be?Bornakk also says the lore needs to be set in place, but that's a copout-- Blizzard can do whatever they want (what if the Kirin Tor decided to repurpose Atiesh and combined it with a new base that didn't need to come from AQ40?). But the biggest issue with bringing back Atiesh is that there's so many other good items that could just replace it. Medivh's staff is hardly the most important item in the game any more, and as Bornakk points out, even though Medivh had great power, it didn't necessarily all come from his staff.I can't wait to see Naxx's new purpose in WotLK, but there are too many old items floating around for Blizzard to worry about updating. I'd rather see new legendaries, and maybe even some artifacts, come out of the new Naxx and Northrend.
Halo Legendary tattoo gets shady
We're guessing he's getting ready to *groan* finish the fight. Originally reported on by X3F near the holidays last year, this Halo tattoo features the "legendary level" symbol taking up much of one man's back. The tattoo is slowly coming along as "GothicSlayer" gathers the cash to finish it. The latest installment fills in and gives shading to the Elite skull. Maybe Santa will bring him the cash to finish it before the end of the year.We think if there is anybody who deserves a Halo 3 Xbox 360 from Microsoft it's this guy. The man is a walking advertisement/conversation piece on any beach. Although you probably can't best him, if you've got Xbox related tattoos to show off, X3F is taking submissions. You won't win anything but the glory of internet fame, and isn't that all anyone needs?
Phat Loot Phriday: Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian
Veteran readers of the blog will remember when the world first of this baby dropped, but now that everyone's 70, maybe you too can get a raid rolling in Naxxaramas, and obtain for yourself the legendary (literally) weapon of Medivh.Name: Atiesh, Greatstaff of the GuardianType: Legendary StaffDamage/Speed: 130-243 / 2.90 (64.4 DPS)Abilties: There are actually four different versions of the staff-- Warlock, Mage, Priest, and Druid. You can see all of them over at WoW Wiki-- they all increase spell damage and/or healing of the equipper (the Druid one increases AP in feral forms as well), but they also have a party bonus, too. The Druid gives 11mp5, the Mage increases spell crit strike of the entire party, the Warlock grants 33 spell damage to the party, and the Priest gives 62 healing to everyone in the party. Additionally, all of the versions will do something very special: create a portal to Karazhan. Nowdays, players go to Karazhan all the time, so it's not that big a deal, but back when this staff came out, no one had ever been there, and so cracking open a portal was pretty cool And the staff grants various amounts of Stamina, Intellect or Spirit, depending on the version you have. Unfortunately, the stats are no longer that great-- they're incredible for level 60, but at level 70, it's pretty easy to come by equivalent (or even better) stats, and therefore, not really worth the trouble to obtain the staff. But then again, there is an immense amount of value in the lore of this item, considering that it was owned by Medivh himself. Why, might you ask, does something so awesome look so plain? Don't judge a book by its cover, son-- that model, though plain, matches the models used in Warcraft 2 and 3. This is a legendary item, and real power is inside. Also, spectral birds sometimes appear flying around the staff. So that's kind of cool. Also, the Shade of Aran (who is of course Medivh's father) will be kind of surprised if you show up to fight him with this thing on How to Get It: In many ways, this is the final goal of shipping WoW. To get the item, you have to first collect 40 Splinters of Atiesh, which drop from different bosses in Naxxaramas, which means you need to run the place a few times. Then, once you've got those together, you can combine them to make the Frame of Atiesh. Once you've got that, you head off to Anachronos, the great big dragon near the Caverns of Time in Tanaris.He'll send you in search of the Staff Head of Atiesh, which Kel'Thuzad has gotten his grubby little hands on. He's trying to put the staff back together, and the Argent Dawn is fighting against him, so if you can nab the Head away from him, more power to you. And the Base of Atiesh is the other item you'll need, and it drops from C'thun, the end boss of AQ40. See what I mean about this being the final goal?After you've done all that, Anachronos will reassemble the staff for you, but wait! It's corrupted! (Figures.) You then take it into Stratholme, and run an event in which you can vanquish the evil spirit from the staff. Along the way, you can pick up another legendary item, a 1h sword that's freakin' awesome, but disappears after only a few minutes. After you defeat the spirit, you're then allowed to claim the staff, giving you the world's phattest loot-- of 2006.Getting Rid of It: The Greatstaff of the Guardian! The staff of Medivh himself, shattered when Archimonde destoryed Dalaran! Reassembled from shards dropped by ancient demons and cleansed by the most powerful of Azeroth's heroes! And a vendor will give you 18g 45s 58c for it. Go figure.
Ouch, the Legendary tattoo is back
Way back in December of aught-six we ran a story about a man known only as GothicSlayer, a man who decided to adorn his back with a legendary tattoo ... literally. Yes, as you can see above, he chose to have the Legendary difficulty icon from Halo -- with its (appropriately) iconic shield, swords, and Elite skull -- permanently etched into his back. It looks like he's gotten the cash to complete the second phase of his tattoo, as the Elite skull is now fully shaded, and looking much more impressive if we do say so. GothicSlayer informs us that the redness of the tattoo is the result of irritation, so it will most likely fade to a more artsy black and white affair over time.If anyone else out their has an Xbox related tattoo, please don't hesitate to share it with us.
Furi of Blood Legion completes Warglaives of Azzinoth
With all this crazy BlizzCon stuff going on, I almost forgot that there's a game everyone's playing. But fortunately I was reminded of it with news that Furi of Blood Legion on the Illidan server has completed the Warglaives of Azzinoth set (possibly making him the only person to wield not one but two legendary items at a time?). Looks amazing.These are of course Illidan's blades, and they both drop from him in the Black Temple. There was a rumor for a while that they could be transformed into one blade, but these blades can't do that-- the combined blade was at one point seen on a GM, or it could be an ability that only Illidan can do. At any rate, it's not like these two need to be combined to be mind-blowingly awesome. Grats to Furi on a world first of the set.Thanks, Derek!
Halo 3 Legendary helmet spotted in the wild
A a few shots of the Halo 3 Legendary helmet hit our inbox today featuring photos from a Wal-mart display and on a Bungie employee's desk. Van Faulk sent us shots of a Wal-mart display showcasing the Legendary helmet in all its glory sitting next to a DVD pre-sell kit which includes a poster of some sort. The DVD case gives a nice size comparison for folks who still think the helmet is the size of a cat's head. The other set of photos comes from ProjectMod who stumbled across the pictures on a Bungie employee's MySpace page. What's cool to see in this set of photos is the black box (in all its cardboard glory) the Legendary edition is packed in. Though, we don't think the plush frog beanie comes in this edition of Halo 3, but we'll ask Microsoft and get back to you on that. All of the Halo 3 Legendary product shots from the "wild" are viewable in the gallery below, so get your drool buckets ready.%Gallery-5355%[Thanks, Van Faulk and ProjectMod]
Joystiq impressions: Legendary: The Box
Legendary: The Box is quite possibly the worst name given to a game with a massive amount of potential. They could have called it Pandora and used one perfect word to describe this first-person shooter in a nutshell -- but they didn't. Thankfully, developer Spark has till Spring of 2008 to change the name. Pandora Legendary: The Box starts with a thief being hired to break into a museum to steal a box. Oops, turns out it's Pandora's box which the thief accidentally activates and all hell breaks loose -- literally. In an incredibly intense scene reminiscent of a Call of Duty or Medal of Honor sequence (coincidentally that's what the developers from Spark worked on previously), the world just plunges into chaos. You'll watch the whole thing happen in real time. From the moment the box is opened you'll attempt to escape the crumbling museum, avoid the griffins, try your best to soak in the insanity that ensues around you, and run away from a golem created from cars and building parts. If your character stops, he'll die.A later piece of the game takes place in an English cathedral infested with werewolves. Yes, the developers are quite aware the issue there and are looking to tweak it. The controls are your standard FPS stuff and the weapons we saw are based on modern weaponry. You get ammo off the fallen soldiers belonging to the private army of the man who hired you to "steal" the box. Also, the box infuses you with the power to suck life force from fallen beasts to recover health. The game uses the Unreal Engine 3 and considering we're still a little under a year from seeing the final product, the game is already looking fantastic. The developers say where they invested time was in enemy recognition of objects and surroundings so that the experience is never the same twice. The werewolves don't take the same path to a target every time and they'll crawl walls, drop from the ceiling, jump over boxes and the only way they'll stay dead is by shooting off their heads.The developers also said that multiplayer will be different, utilizing the creatures into various multiplayer types. Humans vs. creatures already sounds like a good and obvious multiplayer experience. We're excited to see more of this game as it comes along. It's still way too early to tell if the game will be any type of good, but a game that utilizes Call of Duty intensity with a modern tale of Pandora's box sounds very cool. Now somebody please change the name of this game to accurately convey how great this title could be when it releases.%Gallery-4924%
E3 '07 trailer roundup: Day Minus One
E3 hasn't even officially started yet, and the trailers are already ankle-deep from Monday's appearances alone. Just wait until it's raining assets later in the week and you can't keep up with anything. You'll feel a bit like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. You won't want to watch anymore, but you won't be able to help it.Viddy everything that popped online Monday after the break, with the added bonus of the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare E3 trailer. Even though it came out a couple of days ago and is a total mouthful, it's well worth a second look.
E3 opens up trailer for Legendary: The Box
Seriously, Pandora's Box ... why do people keep opening that thing? Unless there's a sign taped to it that says "Free donuts inside!", it's hard to understand why anyone would want to open this up. Plus take a look at how nasty Spark has made the it look. It's not exactly the kind of box that screams for you to open it up. We're getting a distinct vibe that it's not too appealing to the touch.Of course, there's always a troublemaker somewhere in the group. Check out the nastiness that invades after someone takes a peek inside in Legendary: The Box. Mystical creatures and beasties attacking a modern-day world? Sounds like what the single player version of Shadowrun could have been. "Coming soon for next generation console and PC" ... just one console. But which one?!The game will be out sometime in Spring 2008. Check out the press release after the break.
Producer of '300' talks World of Warcraft film
During his keynote at the Hollywood & Games summit, Legendary Pictures chairman and 300 producer Thomas Tull discussed his company's upcoming film adaptation of the mega-popular World of Warcraft (no, not that "adaptation"). Blizzard is working very closely with Legendary, according to Tull (via Gamasutra). "They're sitting right there at the table with us as we develop the story and the script, and I think we're nailing the story and what's compelling about it," he said. Tull also spoke of the need to capture an audience beyond the WoW subscriber base. "Sure, there are 8 million people playing WoW," he said, "but even if all of those people saw the movie multiple times, we'd still be screwed." He also showed optimism in attaining that audience, remarking that the MMO "has the right stuff to make it happen."Legendary Pictures was also recently tied -- and quickly untied -- to a Diablo film adaptation.
Warglaive of Azzinoth dropped
Previously thought to be a mere rumor, or possibly used in the Illidan fight (like the many legendaries used in the Kael'thas fight), Forte (A-Kazzak-EU) have looted the first drop of the (right) Warglaive of Azzinoth, from their world-third kill of Illidan. Here's the lowdown on the weapon: Name: Warglaive of Azzinoth Type: Legendary main-hand sword Damage/Speed: 214–398/2.80 (109.3 dps) Abilities: +22 Agility +22 Stamina Classes: Warrior, Rogue Equip: improves hit rating by 21 Equip: improves attack power by 44 Set: The Twin Blades of Azzinoth (2) Set: Your melee attacks have a chance to increase your haste rating by 450 for 10 sec. (2) Set: Increases your attack power by 200 when fighting Demons It has an ilvl of 156, and sells for (apparently) 24.3g. The other weapon in the set is also called the Warglaive of Azzinoth, and you can see its details here. It's a safe bet that it drops from Illidan as well. This is, to my knowledge, the first take-away legendary anyone's gotten in BC. The Twin Blades of Azzinoth are, of course, Illidan's own weapons.[via MMO-Gaming]
Diablo movie in the works? [Updated]
No, this isn't the latest World of Warcraft news, but since I think many of you are as much Blizzard fanboys/girls as I am, this tidbit may be of interest. Rumors are starting to circulate about an upcoming Diablo film in partnership with Legendary Pictures (yep, the same folks we know are working on the World of Warcraft film -- though, no, we don't have any recent updates on that project). How did this rumor get started, you ask? Well, if you check Legendary's home page, you'll see a project called "Diablo" listed under their in development section (in the "Films" section on the lower left, you have to scroll down a bit to see it). And how do we know this is Blizzard's Diablo and not something else? Blizzard holds the trademark to the name "Diablo" for films and games, and they've taken steps to protect the trademark in the past -- the Vin Diesel movie A Man Apart was originally to be called El Diablo. However, Blizzard sued, claiming they trademarked the title and intended to make a movie based on their game, and the title was changed. And since Blizzard has already partnered with Legendary to bring World of Warcraft to the big screen, this seems plausible, though I imagine Blizzard is going to be saving any big announcements like this for BlizzCon.[Via BlizzPlanet]Update: Legendary has removed "Diablo" from their in development section. A mistake, perhaps?
Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta event - San Francisco
Located in San Francisco's Mission District, where the trendy mingle with the low-income (or at least cross paths), the swank Foreign Cinema is playing host to the West Coast's Halo 3 event tonight. Much like our friends out East, we've got a few open bars, lots of random milling around with other game writers, and tiny, fancy hors d'eouvres. (You know the only thing better than mini-hamburgers? Regular-sized hamburgers!) People who got to the event early or rushed the multiplayer area after check-in landed a spot with a 360 controller and a giant HDTV. And they're still going strong, hours into the Halo 3 multiplayer beta. The rest of us (read: losers) are getting to know how many drinks it takes our neighbors before they start leaking... secrets. San Francisco has played host to several individual game events in this anniversary of E3, and the assembled crowd is a who's who of gaming dorks journalists. %Gallery-3089%
More Legendary weapons from the Kael encounter
Our good friend Boubouille over at MMO-Champion has posted pictures and stats of all the Legendary weapons found in the Kael'thas fight. Last week, we posted about that crazy axe, but it seems there's more-- seven weapons in total, and they're all amazing.There's a shield that gives +40 defense and can shield the user for 100,000 damage. There's an uber dagger for rogues, and an awesome bow for hunters. There's even a staff that not only increases both spell damage and healing by 325, but also adds over 1000 attack power to Cat, Bear, Dire Bear, and Moonkin forms.Nihilum is so far the only group to take on Kael'thas (and let us know about it), but they haven't spilled too much information about exactly how and why these weapons are used. We do know they're meant only for the encounter, and that when you die, the weapons disappear. But how and why they're obtained isn't quite clear yet-- I've heard the weapons are given to the raid when Kael's advisors are killed, but does that mean these weapons replace the raid's weapons or do they have to be looted and equipped? And what exactly is Kael doing during all of this that requires so much crazy power?As of this writing, Nihilum hasn't yet downed Kael, so they're probably more concerned with going after him then telling us about it. But once they down him (I predicted this past weekend, but we haven't seen anything yet), maybe we'll get some clearer answers about what the encounter is actually like.
