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Nintendo: Apple isn't a viable gaming platform
When asked about the impact that the iPhone and iPod touch have had on Nintendo's stranglehold on portable gaming, and whether or not there is any concern about the iPad, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said that Apple "is not having an impact on Nintendo when you look at our business, our volume, our hardware, our software." Fils-Aime elaborated on this by highlighting the app store ecosystem and gaming experience. For him, the existence of free games makes it "[clear that] it doesn't look like their platform is a viable profit platform." The iPhone platform also serves up games that aren't even a "mouthful," when compared to the in "between snacks of entertainment and full meals" that Nintendo's portable experience provides. While the availability of lower priced substitutes, and free ones at that, will invariably have an impact on the sales of other goods, many a developer has made hearty revenues from the app store. They range from the large and more-established like Electronic Arts, to the smaller Lima Sky, makers of the the popular game Doodle Jump. As a result, it's no surprise that many developers made a push to get iPad apps ready for launch day, as well as racing out to buy iPads during launch day in order to test out their apps on the device (as opposed to the simulator). Then there's Fils-Aime's take that the platform's gaming experience leaves much to be desired. Here, a snack would be something akin to Brain Age, while a game like World of Warcraft would be like going to Hometown Buffet. While there is many a game on the iPhone that leaves much to be desired, the platform features a diverse library to whet the gaming appetites of many. The iPhone's success as a gaming platform is an offshoot of its wide ranging appeal and versatility, born from the convenience of the app store and multitouch differentiation. However, unlike the iPhone, the iPad isn't something that will always be on the physical person of its owners. One of the distinct exceptions, however, are students. If the iPad makes inroads in the education market and becomes as ubiquitous as textbooks, then it can have a substantial impact on gaming. What better way to pass the time away while waiting for mom to pick you up or when you're in between classes than to use your iPad -- which also happens to house all 5 of your textbooks -- to play some games. This is something that has the potential to impact Nintendo's portable gaming. Picking sides in a Nintendo-Apple fight is no fun, as both are companies that share much in common and have many shared fans. It's like picking between Shaq and Kobe. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) that brought me the joy of The Legend of Zelda and Metroid -- as well as the joy of having to blow on the games for 10 minutes before they'd work -- shared the same room with my original Macintosh. It will be interesting to see how this game plays out. via [Kotaku]
Breakfast Topic: The all nighter
This Breakfast Topic is brought to you by WoW.com's guest blogger program! Want to participate in a future call for guest posts? Read up on how to contribute, and keep an eye on the site for program announcements! Today's topic is one many readers will be familiar with, as we have all done it at one point or another: the all nighter. I remember one time back in vanilla WoW, one night me and my guild mates were bored so about 10 of us decided to climb the mountain that houses Ironforge. This quickly evolved into all of us throwing random ideas out at once of other of places we could go explore that weren't (cough cough) exactly live in game yet. After hours of exploration we finally ended up climbing the Silithus wall to see what was on the other side, cracking jokes and laughing the entire night and taking photos to have a kind of "we shouldn't be here" travel log. I remember finally logging off after having what amounted to one of my most favorite times in the game sitting in front of my house and contemplating what to have for breakfast, sleep deprived but with a stupid grin on my face. So I ask all of you, what is that story for you? What adventure kept you up well past any sane hour playing the game? Was it a raid? A marathon PvP session? What kept you up all night playing WoW?
Breakfast Topic: Game over man! Game over!
This Breakfast Topic is brought to you by WoW.com's guest blogger program! Want to participate in a future call for guest posts? Read up on how to contribute, and keep an eye on the site for program announcements! World of Warcraft has been out for over five years now and if you have been playing since launch it's probably hard to imagine a day where the patches stop coming. It's a scary thought that WoW would someday cease to exist. Sure Blizzard would probably launch World of Warcraft 2 and in that sense the World of Warcraft would still exist, but that doesn't give me any comfort with the idea that some day my current characters will basically be gone. All the time and effort, all the experiences, all the friends, guild mates, armor, addons, slash commands, everything that we have done, will one day end. I really don't like the idea of a world without the World of Warcraft for many reasons. Sure there will be people saying, "It's just a game!" but this kind of thinking truly shows how emotionally connected we have become to something that is "just a game." I am sure Blizzard will keep the servers up for years to come, but the content will one day stop and eventually the servers will go down. Maybe it's so far off no one will care, but right now the idea is sad and scary. Can you imagine that day? How do you feel about one day losing WoW? Could you handle it and just move to another game or do you want WoW to be around forever?
Rob Pardo speaks about Blizzard game design
The tenth annual Game Developers Conference is in full swing in San Francisco, CA -- and yesterday included a panel by Rob Pardo, Executive Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard Entertainment. Pardo spoke about design philosophy and how Blizzard approaches it, sharing not only Blizzard's success stories, but where they failed along the way, and what they did to fix it. Blizzard's design philosophy follows some key elements: Gameplay First: Before anything else, you want to concentrate the game on the fun. All aspects of the game -- the design, the mechanics of encounters, the quests and story are focused on making the game fun to play. Not only fun to play -- but fun to play for players, not developers. The challenge is to keep players jumping through the correct hoops, while making those hoops fun. Sometimes this involves making some changes -- for example, only night elf males could be druids in Warcraft III, but for the sake of making the druid class, something that sounded like all kinds of fun, they had to be made accessible to both genders, and both sides. So the lore was adjusted so that females and tauren could both be druids -- otherwise they couldn't have introduced the class at all. And that wouldn't be any fun.
Creative's new headset keeps WoW gamers engrossed in all-night raids
It's a little late to be jumping on the World of Warcraft bandwagon, but it's safe to say that there are still quite a few addicted dedicated players out there in dire need of a headset. You know, to keep their roommates from going batty as they stay up all night congregating with digital friends and "leveling up." Anywho, Creative Labs has just put its latest headset up for pre-order on Amazon, with a wired version listed at $119.99 and a wireless rendition priced at $40 more. According to the product listing, the latter relies on a 2.4GHz signal, and both of 'em utilize THX TruStudio PC technology in order to split your mind wide open with pure aural bliss. There's nary a mention of a ship date just yet, but you know you're fixing to get your pre-order in now to avoid missing out. Er, you will right after you slay one... more... enemy....
Around Azeroth: Fly by night
Of the two new races, Worgen may be causing more excitement among furries Alliance players, but goblins also bring something to the table for the Horde. For instance, they've donated some lovely stealth bomber technology to Garrosh as a gesture of friendship. Yves of Dunemaul-EU sent in this screenshot of a well-camouflaged shadow priest on a ... shadow wind rider? Okay, I guess that works. Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. %Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Why must we always fight during the holidays?
Oh, man, yesterday's Around Azeroth title would work so well with this picture. Curse you and your clever wordplay, Tim Burton! Anyway, this screenshot comes from the righteous dudes behind Horde Review, and features a pumpkinhead, a skeleton, and a floating skull arguing over who has the best Halloween costume. Little do they realize that they've already been beaten by the dude I met in Chapel Hill one Halloween night dressed as Hard Gay. Hooooooo!Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Everyone hail to the pumpkin song
Hallow's End started off with a bang and a flood of Halloween-related pics. Dylan sent in this screenshot of festive but snowy Venomspite, located in Dragonblight. The undead really have the best architecture for this time of year. Those shiny new blood elf and draenei buildings can't compare to rotting, gothic cities full of zombie poisoners and green goo.Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: The nightman cometh
Not-quite-level-80 crimefighter Tyis of <Tempest> on Argent Dawn-EU writes, "Ever since the introduction of Pengu and recently Oswald Chilly, crime had seen a rise. The people of Azeroth were no longer safe in their towns from the countless lackeys of these villains. That is, until one day. Preying on gold sellers, ninja looters and scammers, the streets are no longer safe for those with a guilty mind. The Bat Elf is here." Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Hello, sailor
You sure have a pretty mouth, Mister North Sea Kraken. Mind if I put a hook in it? Cabrillo of <Epoch Veil> on Moon Guard writes, "I was goofing off while doing my Argent Tourament dailies, and decided to hop off the boat after completing <Rescue at Sea>. Always wondered what a Kraken looked like from underneath, so swam down to the bottom and pointed my camera up. Got a fright when he submerged and came straight at me!"Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Dream in blue
Tom sent in this lovely screenshot of the orange clouds in Dragonblight, as seen through the ceiling holes of the Azjol-Nerub entrance caves. The sky in that zone always reminds me of snowy nights back in Wisconsin, when the lights of downtown would reflect off the clouds and make the whole city glow. When I lived near the State Capitol in Madison, the aura was so bright that it made it hard to sleep sometimes. Now I'm in North Carolina, where it never snows. But on the plus side, we have hurricanes and a surprising number of lightning strikes, so ... yay?Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Delicious and nutritious
Waiter? I changed my mind. I'll have the Mediterranean salad instead. Just ... just get it out of here. Take it out back and shoot it, or let it go off into the woods, or do anything to get it out of my sight. Those eyes ... those eyes will haunt my dreams tonight. (Thanks to Zhiva of Anachronos-EU for the pic.)Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Sons of banarchy
Drayy of <Symbiosis> on Bladefist writes, "While waiting for a PUG raid to finish the preparations for a Flame Leviathan run, I angled my camera to look up at the floating Pyrite and noticed the license plate. I have always played with the camera zoomed out during the vehicle portion of Ulduar, so I had never noticed the amusing license plate digits before. This glowing picture was the only good thing to come out of this PUG run."Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Don't you ever change
Onxyia's been wiping raids since November 2004, but judging by the look of surprise on her face, this is the first time she's been confronted by an angel as a tank. She learned too late that ectoplasm wreaks havoc on a dragon's digestive system. Congratulations to Jashj and <Defiance> of Tanaris, who recently took down the great brood mother on 25-man!Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Why your healer is laughing at you
Jim, formerly of <Game Over> on Perenolde, sends in this years-old shot straight from the WABAC Machine. Just after the opening of Ahn'Qiraj, <Game Over> ventured into the temple in search of glory and epic loots. Jim snapped this picture of warrior Ata battling an oversized Anubisath warrior. Remember, tanks, turning off your "show helmet" graphic leaves your head vulnerable to attacks from giant hammers.Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: A cause to remember
Grizzleton writes that his guild, Ex Cinis Cineris of Farstriders, has changed its tabard to pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. "One of the guild's officers is a breast cancer survivor still in treatment, and many other guild members and their loved ones have had experiences with this disease. In the public forum on the Ex Cinis Cineris website is a very helpful thread dealing with this issue. As the aforementioned officer put it when the guild rallied behind supporting this cause, "We may be gamers and geeks, but we have hearts!" For their first event, the guild formed a pink ribbon with their avatars on the Stormwind Harbor steps. ECC has also planned a Farstriders serverwide Pink event for Friday October 16th in Stormwind Harbor. Check the Blizzard Farstriders forum for details."Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Spawn of a mad god
I am quite a fan of all things slimy and gelatinous in the deep sea, as evidenced by my current and former desktop wallpapers. I could happily fill this column with nothing but screenshots of the various uses of the Vanquished Tentacle of C'thun and go to bed satisfied that I had made the world a better place. But the stained glass window on the left side of this room before General Vezax in Ulduar disturbs even me. Are those half babies, half tadpoles? Do the raid leaders need to keep an eye on our human ladies to make sure they don't sneak off and procreate with the Old Ones? Ick. (Thanks to Haides of <INSIDIOUS> on Cairne for the screenshot.)Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Ooh, shiny
Enterprising draenei mage Mynnx of Alonsus-EU has crafted the world's largest Lustrous Star of Elune. Unfortunately, just like in the auction house, no one is willing to pay more than two gold to buy it. Mynnx might want to consider moving her operation to Wintergrasp and building something with plus stamina. That'll attract the PvPers.Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Some wonderful mechanical man
Brewfest may be over, but as long as Thongar of The Underbog is dual-wielding his icy enchanted beer steins, his personal party will never end. Not even when his feet turn into bird claws and he starts trying to mate with a mechanical squirrel. And then the guards have to step in to protect him from himself. What's the Dalaran version of a drunk tank, anyway?Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Assassination vacation
Altaïr, is that you? Swinbo of <Voluminoso> on Garona does his best Assassin's Creed impersonation by jumping off a cliff in Grizzly Hills. He then followed it up by diving into a pile of hay, accidentally alerting four guards, and snapping his controller in half in frustration before tossing it out the window.Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes any race at all, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.%Gallery-1816%
