BlizzCon PPV on DirectTV beginning August 21

Couldn’t make it to BlizzCon 2009 and find yourself crying in your WOW themed tankard of Mountain Dew? Well if you are a DirectTV subscriber then you can at least watch Blizzard Entertainment’s sold-out gaming convention for all things Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft game universes via a televised live HD broadcast beginning on Aug. 21– 22. Direct TV is offering a pay per view event and providing gamers from around the world with access to BlizzCon 2009 via a new live internet streaming option.

The DIRECTV-produced event hosted by Geoff Keighley will deliver 18 hours of live HD coverage from the show floor, including the closing concert headlined by the Ozzy Osbourne. Additional coverage will include exclusive interviews and commentary, main stage presentations, tournament coverage and team highlights, and more.

DIRECTV customers who purchase the two-day event, which is available for $39.95, will receive 18 hours of live HD event coverage, the BlizzCon 2009 exclusive World of Warcraft in-game pet (Grunty the Murloc Marine), free access to the internet stream on both Friday and Saturday of the event, and a fifty percent discount on customizable limited edition BlizzCon 2009 t-shirts available at www.swagdog.com/exclusive.

To order check your local DirectTV listings or check out directv.com/blizzcon.

Rumor: Starcraft Ghost an MMO

An interesting news report on Starfeeder speculates that Blizzard’s secret MMO project is actually Starcraft: Ghost, the cancelled action game that was supposed to be the series’ debut foray onto console systems. The speculation comes from a translated document from the China Court Network, which shows a recently rejected Blizzard Entertainment appeal to register Starcraft: Ghost as an “e-sport.”

According to the translation, the Trademark review and adjudication board denied the request because of the name, which they translated to mean “Astrology Ghost,” which the board felt would cause “feudal superstition.” This is no great shock when you consider that we are talking about the Chinese government, but it’s a little odd considering that Starcraft was one of the world’s first recognized e-sports games - and one of the most popular games in the world still - especially in Asia.

So where does the speculation on Starcraft: Ghost being an MMO come from? Well Blizzard is working on an undisclosed MMO and has not mentioned any other projects beyond Starcraft 2, Diablo II and the new World of Warcraft content it is working on. So in other words a slight leap of faith that could be true or could be wild speculation.. If anything gamers con take comfort in the fact that a Starcraft: Ghost game of some kind is still in the works.

Activision Tops in 2008

 Activision Blizzard posted a net loss for the fourth quarter, but the good news is that most of it was due to accounting rules for deferred revenue. The company did manage to beat the street’s expectations on sales of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Call of Duty: World at War, which were strong performers during the Christmas shopping season. For the quarter that ended on Dec. 31, 2008, Activision reported a net loss of $72 million, compared to earnings of $86 million, for the same period a year ago.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said during the earnings call that followed  that 2008 was the company’s 17th consecutive year of growth and that operating income was up 20 percent from the previous year.  Activision ended the year with $3 billion in cash and no debt.

The company also said that it would only be introducing three new original IPs in 2009:  Raven’s first-person shooter Singularity, an unnamed racing game from Bizarre Creations and Prototype. The rest of the company’s catalog will consist of familiar brands like Guitar Hero, and the next Call of Duty game. The company said that 2009 won’t see a new James Bond game - with talk of this new game being some type of driving - shooting game. Finally it was revealed that Blizzard will release at one title this year, though what it will be was not revealed.

The Rundown: Feb. 6, 2009

The screen above is from the excellent Left 4 Dead parody, Left 4 Speed - you can check it out on YouTube. Just wanted to share. Now onto today’s news:

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Monumental Reels In Activision’s Swordfish

It looks like everyone’s circling around these days for a piece of the Activision Blizzard castoffs. In just the past week, we’ve reported on Atari picking up the Ghostbusters game and Ubisoft’s acquisition of Massive Entertainment, and now comes word that UK-based developer Monumental Games has picked up Swordfish Studios from Activision.

As a result of the deal, Swordfish Studio Head, Mike Delves, will join the Monumental management team to head up the business that will now be known as Monumental Manchester. Commenting on the Swordfish acquisition, Delves stated, “The Manchester team have already been getting to know their counterparts from Nottingham and we’re really excited about working together and all the new opportunities this represents. Monumental have clearly been the ones to watch for a while now, and we’re glad to be playing a crucial part in a new phase of growth.”

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Wrath of the Lich King Midnight Madness Planned

Blizzard Entertainment will have special midnight signing events at retail locations around the country to commemorate the launch of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King on November 13. Each location will open its doors at 12:00 a.m. local time, allowing addicts.. I mean WOW players to be among the first to get their copies of the World of Warcraft expansion. Blizzard Entertainment developers and executives will be in attendance to meet players and sign copies of the game, and increased quantities of the Collector’s Edition will be on hand for purchase. Official launch events will be held in the following locations - after the break:

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Riddick Escapes From Activision to Atari

Ever since the big Activision Blizzard merger, the fate of a number of games has been hanging in the air. Last week, THQ confirmed that it had picked up the publishing rights to 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand. Now comes confirmation from Atari that yet another casualty of the merger has been given a new lease on life.

Early this morning, Atari announced that it has acquired the publishing rights to The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, which will now join the company’s 2009 publishing and distribution line up. Previously announced as a remake of the original Xbox and PC hit, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Atari revealed that The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena will contain a brand new full-length campaign, and an intense online multiplayer combat.

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