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Here’s What Diablo III Looks Like On The PS3

Zach Walton — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 20:50:56 +0000

During Sony’s big PS4 reveal show, Blizzard popped up on stage to announce that it was returning to console development. The prolific developer announced that it would be porting Diablo III to the PS3 and PS4, thus crushing my hopes of ever seeing a return of The Lost Vikings.

Casting my own bitterness aside, I recognize that Diablo III coming exclusively to Sony’s platform is a big deal. As such, there will be a lot of scrutiny applied to the project as many PC players didn’t exactly have high praise for the title. The game was already suspected of being built around consoles, however, so console players lacking a PC gamer’s superiority complex may get a kick out of it.

In other Blizzard news, the developers crushed the dreams of Warcraft fans everywhere by announcing a trading card game instead of a proper installment of the venerated real-time strategy series.

Blizzard Returns To Warcraft With A Trading Card Game

Zach Walton — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:40:47 +0000

For years, fans of the Warcraft franchise have pestered Blizzard for a new entry in the real-time strategy series. After nine years of World of Warcraft, Blizzard is poised to deliver a non-MMO title in the Warcraft franchise, but it’s not exactly what fans are expecting.

Blizzard announced today at PAX East that its new Warcraft game will be titled Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. It’s a free-to-play collectible card game for PC, Mac and iPad. The game will be supported by the sale of booster packs for players to expand their digital card collection.

If you want to see more behind the scenes stuff, check out this making of video:

Check Out StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm’s Launch Trailer

Zach Walton — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:18:23 +0000

For the past several weeks, Blizzard has been showing all the new features that will make their way into the upcoming StarCraft II expansion – Heart of the Swarm. Now the game is almost upon us, and Blizzard has just one more message for its fans. It’s time to get hyped.

Players can look forward to playing through Kerrigan’s, and by extension the Zerg’s, campaign on March 12. Blizzard will be hosting launch parties around the world for the game’s physical release. Those who purchased the game via Blizzard’s online store will be able to start playing at midnight.

Diablo 3 PS3, PS4 Releases on the Way

Sean Patterson — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:48:43 +0000

One of the most surprising moments of last night’s big PlayStation 4 unveiling was when Chris Metzen, SVP of story and franchise development at Blizzard Entertainment, took the stage. Though he wasn’t at the presentation to announce a new franchise, since Blizzard has been producing PC-exclusive content for years now, his announcement was one that is sure to shake-up the gaming community.

Diablo III will be coming to both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 consoles. Metzen mentioned that the game is already up-and-running on the PS3, and that a playable version will be featured at PAX East.

“Diablo III looks and plays great on the PlayStation,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard. “We put a lot of care and thought into the PlayStation version to make sure it would deliver an authentic Diablo gaming experience, and we’re really pleased with the results. We can’t wait for players to try it out at PAX East.”

The user interface for the game will be very different in the PlayStation versions, adapted to suit a console controller. The game will also feature a “new dynamic camera perspective” for console gamers. The local and online co-op will be available and some of the newest additions to the PC game, such as the Paragon leveling system and epic Legendary items, will be included.

Blizzcon Returns To Anaheim On November 8

Zach Walton — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:28:03 +0000

Blizzard fans were understandably distraught last year when the beloved developer announced that Blizzcon had been canceled for the year. Some feared that the annual show was done for good, but fortunately, that is not the case.

Blizzard announced today that Blizzcon is coming back in 2013. The show invites Blizzard fans from around the world to the Anaheim convention center on November 8. The event will promises to be bigger and better than ever, with fans of the company’s franchise, except for Lost Vikings, invited to take part in all the fun.

“BlizzCon gives us a chance to connect with our players and share our latest projects in a very personal way,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Members from all of our gaming communities have helped make this event bigger and better every time, and we look forward to meeting up and celebrating with them in November.”

Blizzard is remaining mum on the specifics of Blizzcon 2013, but fans can expect to see the latest and greatest games from Blizzard. There might even be some unannounced games shown off as the developer doesn’t really have much beyond the third StarCraft expansion and the codenamed Titan MMO in their official pipeline.

Those interested in Blizzcon will want to keep their browsers pointed at the event’s official Web site. Tickets to the event in 2011 sold out in seconds, and that’s likely to be true again this year.

Blizzard Talks Up New Features In StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm

Zach Walton — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 15:16:03 +0000

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, the next game in the StarCraft II trilogy, is quickly approaching. Some players may be content to keep playing Wings of Liberty, but others will want to jump on board the latest title to see where the story goes or check out the newest additions to competitive multiplayer. Those who fit into the latter category will want to check out all the new features coming to matchmaking as detailed in a new trailer.

In a new “Ways to Play” trailer, Blizzard walks players through all the new features coming to matchmaking in StarCraft II. This is what players will be spending most of their time in. As such, Blizzard wants to make it super accessible for new players, while keeping the same highly competitive environment that made Wings of Liberty so popular.

Competitive players will definitely want to check out next week’s video as Blizzard will be going through all the enhancements its making to the multiplayer portion of the game, as well as what it’s doing to support the eSports community.

Nemo Blizzard To Blanket the Northeast in Snow

Sean Patterson — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:14:36 +0000

Forecasts for a potentially “historic” winter storm in New England have not improved since yesterday’s winter storm and blizzard watches. More severe warnings have been issued for a wider swath of the Northeast, including New York City.

The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) is warning that the storm will blanket the Northeast in snow, including states from the Great Lakes area to New England. The storm will begin sometime today, Friday, and continue well into Saturday. Some counties in Massachusetts are predicted to receive as much as three feet of snow . The NWS warns that whiteout conditions are anticipated and that travel will be severely impacted.

From an NWS forecast:

The pieces will come together for a major…maybe even historic…snow storm across the lower great lakes and new england states during the short range period. Energy from a surface low crossing through the Ohio Valley should begin interacting with energy from a costal low tracking Northeastward along the mid-Atlantic coast early Friday. As the systems merge…conditions will quickly deteriorate over the Northeast on Friday while the costal low rapidly deepens offshore. Widespread heavy snows and strong winds will expand across the region and should last through Saturday morning. Heavily populated areas from New York City to Boston could measure more than a foot of snow from the event…with locally higher amounts possible.

Though yesterday New York City was under only a winter storm warning, that has now been upgraded to a blizzard warning that expires at 1 pm on Saturday. The NWS forecasts that the city and costal portions of Northeast New Jersey could see strong winds and heavy snow – some 10 to 14 inches. Temperatures in the area could dip into the 20s by Friday evening, and the heaviest snowfall will begin at that time.

New England Blizzard Could Potentially be “Historic”

Sean Patterson — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:09:16 +0000

The U.S. National Weather Service is warning residents of New England that a coming winter storm could be a record-breaker. The storm will hit the Northeast and New England sometime on Friday and continue into Saturday.

The storm will bring heavy snow and blizzard conditions to those areas, and temperatures could drop to 10 or 20 degrees below average. Snowfall rates of up to two to three inches per hour are predicted for some areas of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Wind gusts of up to 60 or 75 miles per hour could also present an additional headache for the transportation and power industries.

A statement from the National Weather Service in Massachusetts read: “A potential historic winter storm and Blizzrd is expected to drop 1 to 2 feet of snow across much of the region Friday into Saturday.” Winter storm watches are in effect through Saturday afternoon for much of the Northeast.

In Boston the winter storm watch has been upgraded to a blizzard watch, meaning whiteout conditions are possible. A blizzard watch has also been issued for some parts of New York, though the city is still under a winter storm watch. Six to ten inches of snow are expected in the city along with “a trace of ice” and temperatures in the lower 30s.

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Officially Released

Sean Patterson — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:09:42 +0000

The fourth expansion for the wildly popular MMO World of Warcraft is now available in North America, Europe, Australia, and select South American countries.

The expansion chronicles the discovery of a new continent in Azeroth. Players can take on the role of a character of the Pandaren race, fight as the new monk class, and explore the new continent as they level up to the new level cap of 90. The expansion also includes a new type of cooperative PvE trial, challenge modes, and, of course, the new pet battle mini-game.

“Mists of Pandaria takes players back to the roots of World of Warcraft – exploration, discovery, and the epic conflict between the Alliance and the Horde,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “It also contains the widest variety of content that we’ve ever added in an expansion, and we’re excited to be able to share it with players around the world this week in our first truly global launch.”

To celebrate the launch, Blizzard held a massive launch party in cities across Europe, including Paris, Moscow, London, Stockholm, and Milan. The festivities were streamed on YouTube, but if you missed the live-stream a replay of the events can be seen below.

Change Your Password: Blizzard’s Battle.net Service Was Hacked

Zach Walton — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:43:15 +0000

Nothing is secure in today’s digital world. You can implement the most powerful security that money can buy, and somebody will still find a way around it. Blizzard probably thought they had some of the best security in the world, but hackers made short work of it this week.

Blizzard’s Mike Morhaime announced late last night that Blizzard and it’s Battle.net servers were hacked. Thankfully, no financial information seems to have been stolen in the attack. The hackers did manage to make it out with some info that might lead to compromised accounts.

Morhaime says that the hackers were able to extract email addresses for global Battle.net users. Outside of the email addresses, it seems that North American players were specifically targeted as their security question answers, mobile authenticators and cryptographically scrambled passwords were also taken. Morhaime notes that the passwords are extremely tough to crack due to their encryption, but you should still change your password nonetheless.

As Blizzard works through this mess, they will be sending out notifications to players over the coming week to change their security questions. They will also update the mobile authenticator software so that it can’t be accessed by would be hackers.

As Morhaime suggested, you’re going to want to change your password. While the change of your account getting hacked is low, the chance is still there. It’s always better to be safe than be sorry over your account getting billed for purchases you didn’t make.

Like with all other hack attacks, Blizzard is now working with the authorities to find out who was behind it. They may never find out who did it, but we’ll keep a look out for any groups that claim responsibility.