Crispy Gamer News

This week will see many highly anticipated games, as they like to see in the press releases. Of course, there will also be a lot of highly ignored releases this week that are geared towards casual gamers and tweens - but i’ve omitted most of those from the list below. so what are this week’s big releases. The biggest is the second expansion pack to World of Warcraft - World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. I suspect our fearless leader will be standing in line at Midnight somewhere in Florida so he can get in the action extra early. My prediction: MIA for the rest of the week beginning Nov 14..

Other big titles this week include Call of Duty: World at War, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, the new Pokémon Ranger DS title, and Mirror’s Edge. Honestly, i’m really only excited about the new Call of Duty but I have my doubts about this non-Infinity ward developed shooter. Animal Crossing and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe hit at the very tail end of the week (or the beginning of next week depending on how much importance you place on Sunday’s place in your weekly calendar).

While not every game on the list is a huge title there’s some other interesting releases being rolled out. Atlus’ Eternal Poison slides onto the PS2, Ascaron’s Sacred 2 hits the PC, FaceBreaker K.O. Party lands on the Wii, Pro Evolution Soccer hits multiple platforms. Full schedule after the break. For those of you looking for the new SmackDown vs. RAW game - it’s at retail right now.
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World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King has gone gold, according to word over the weekend from our very own John Keefer - who has survived the annual BlizzCon event and is now safely at home licking his wounds. In preparation for the promising expansion pack, Blizzard will roll out the 3.0.2 patch to servers tomorrow. All players will have talent points reimbursed for reallocation, based on the new talent trees, among other changes.

Get ready for lines at any store that starts selling at midnight on the November 13th. For more info on the patch can be found at www.worldofwarcraft.com and for more info on the expansion, visit Blizzard’s official site.

Blizzard Entertainment’s annual two-day lovefest - BlizzCon - begins on Friday, October 10, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The convention celebrates Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo game universes - and the fans that love these franchises. Attendees of the show (which is sold out) will be able to play the latest versions of Blizzard Entertainment’s games as well as speak with developers in special panels, participate in tournaments and contests, and meet with fellow gamers and friends.

Mediocre comedian Jay Mohr will host the live contests this year, and the show will close on Saturday evening with an epic concert featuring comedian Patton Oswalt, Blizzard’s own Warcraft-themed metal band Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain, and Video Games Live, who will be performing special orchestral arrangements of music from Blizzard games.

For those unable to attend, DIRECTV will be broadcasting the convention live as a pay-per-view event. Visit www.blizzard.com/blizzcon/dtv.

The Lich King is coming in November and he is rallying an army of the undead not seen since Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness. The latest expansion to World of Warcraft will be in stores on November 13 in North America, Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Russia, and on November 14 in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The expansion will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18. A launch and release date for China is to be announced.

Wrath of the Lich King will be available in both a standard edition and a special Collector’s Edition (in select areas). The Collector’s Edition will contain an art book, behind-the-scenes DVD, exclusive in-game pet, and more.

AMD has inked a deal Blizzard Entertainment to bundle Blizzard’s games across all ATI Radeon graphics products. As you may or may not know, AMD is the exclusive graphics sponsor for BlizzCon 2008 in Anaheim, Oct. 10-11, and its ATI Radeon HD 4800 series will be used in all PCs at BlizzCon. AMD does not go into what specific Blizzard properties it plans to bundle with its graphics products.

I could speculate about what products AMD could bundle with its graphics card offerings - Starcraft II, Diablo III, or World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - but why bother? Oh wait, I just did.

Tickets are officially on sale today for Blizzard Entertainment’s annual gaming event, BlizzCon, for the price of $100 each. BlizzCon will take place October 10 and 11 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. As one would expect, the event will showcase all things related to Blizzard’s top properties including Warcraft, World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo.

Naturally anyone attending will be expecting to hear more about Diablo III, Starcraft II, the latest expansion to World of Warcraft - Wrath of the Lich King and some other surprises (hopefully). BlizzCon will also feature developer panels, contests, tournaments, and hands-on gameplay with upcoming Blizzard games.

For those unlucky enough (myself included) to make it to BlizzCon in the United States, you can also catch eight hours of highlights and special coverage via a special Pay Per View event via DirectTV (check your local Dish Network programming for more info on that). The pay per view package will also provide a code for an exclusive World of Warcraft in-game polar bear mount otherwise only available in goody bags at the convention. Current DIRECTV customers will be able to purchase the BlizzCon pay per view package for USD $39.95.

You can buy tickets now at www.blizzcon.com.

It’s official: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King will in fact support achievements.

World of Warcraft’s achievements system will launch with more than 500 individual achievements covering many different aspects of gameplay, including world exploration, PvE, PvP, professions, and character development. Some of these achievements come will reward players with in-game swag like tabards, vanity pets, and titles (all of the rewards are purely cosmetic). The list is also easily expandable according to Blizzard. There are a lot of detailed data on hpw Blizzard is implementing achievements into the world, how you can access and how you can show them off to the world of Azeroth. Find that info at www.worldofwarcraft.com.