StarCraft II: It's a Trilogy!

news from the wonderful world of gaming by Renzie Baluyut.

It's official, ladies and gentlemen: Blizzard's StarCraft II is now a trilogy.

You heard it right: three separate standalone single-player campaigns have been laid out for the sequel to Blizzard's best-selling real-time strategy title.

At BlizzCon '08 in Anaheim, Blizzard's Rob Pardo admitted that StarCraft II was already shaping up to be an undertaking far larger than the previous game. Wings of Liberty- the first game in the Starcraft II series- will focus on the Terrans. We just might actually get to see some closure for Jim Raynor and Kerrigan, two of our main characters from the original StarCraft game.

The second and third installments are Heart of the Swarm, which deals with the Zerg, and Legacy of the Void, which is dedicated this time to the Protoss.

According to Pardo, every one is going to be a full standalone campaign (as opposed to two expansions to one standalone StarCraft game) with 26 to 30 missions apiece. Each of the three will still have multiplayer components, and while a game might have its own set ending, but Pardo was quick to assure attendees that the middle part of the game have been designed to accomodate player choices.

No word, however, on when the first game in the StarCraft II trilogy will be out in stores.

So get ready to fork over some more cash to Blizzard just to get your StarCraft fix, ladies and gentlemen.

Cheers, everyone!

Warhammer Online: 750,000 Strong and Growing

a quick gaming update from Renzie Baluyut.

No doubt about it: the whole gaming community's tuned in to the latest on what Blizzard has to offer on BlizzCon this weekend. But Mythic reveals the latest figures on its own MMORPG title- Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning- which hit shelves just last September 18.

At the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, Turbine CEO James Crowley delivered a keynote address, and announced that EA Mythic now pegs the registered player total for the fantasy MMO title at 750,000. That's a full quarter-million up from when Warhammer Online came out just less than a month ago.

Already, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning may be "the fastest-selling new MMO of all-time," as EA Mythic claims. But can it sustain its subscribers after a couple of months?

Funcom's Age of Conan- another MMORPG- racked up a fairly impressive 400,000 subscribers in its first week upon dropping in stores. Three months after launching however, while Funcom may have sold some 800,000 copies of the game, only 415,000 subscribers stuck around.

Both Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and Age of Conan will be up against some pretty stiff competition in a few weeks. World of Warcraft's latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, comes out on November 13. WoW already has at least 11 million subscribers to its name- and those numbers are expected to shoot up once WotLK hits shelves next month.

Cheers, everyone!

Blizzard Acquires 'Diablo3.com' Domain

The blogosphere was abuzz late last week with the news that Blizzard had recently acquired the 'Diablo3.com' domain.

Diablo3.com used to be the domain of a fansite for gamers who are fans of the 1997 hack-and-slash action RPG, its sequel that came out in the year 2000, and its various expansion packs and add-ons.

Now that same fansite has moved to Diablofans.com. Same content, different domain. So now that Blizzard has their hands on the 'Diablo3.com' domain, does this mean that production for a third installment is now underway?

Interesting story: Mockery and Umaro- the two dudes running the site, were approached by Blizzard a few months back- apparently interested in the Diablo3.com domain, which was currently occupied by the fansite. Mockery has this to say:

...while Blizzard is indeed acquiring the diablo3.com domain name, they told me that this shouldn't be considered an announcement for the Diablo 3 game we've been waiting for all these years. They acquire new domains all the time. While this is true, I personally can't help but think that this is a confirmation of sorts that they're working on the next Diablo game. Sure, they can claim it's because they want to protect their intellectual properties 'n what have you, but I can't imagine they would all of a sudden be so interested in the diablo3.com domain if they weren't working on a new Diablo 3 game behind the scenes.

It begs the question: how much did Blizzard pay to acquire the Diablo3.com domain from these guys?

According to what we have read, no money was involved at all. True fans that they are, Mockery just happily gave the domain when Blizzard asked for it- instead of making a huge profit out of the transaction.

Now that's something to admired. More power to you and your new Diablofans.com site, Mockery.

Check out the rest of Mockery's story on his thread here, on Diablofans.com.

Cheers, everyone.

The Burning Crusade is the Top-Selling PC Game of 2007.

No surprise there.

According to the NPD Group, the industry-tracking research organization, The Burning Crusade- Blizzard's expansion to the World of Warcraft (2004)- is the biggest selling PC game of the year.

The Burning Crusade made its debut in January of last year and sold 2.4 million copies worldwide in its first 24 hours on sale, though I remember getting mine much later in June. For the US alone, the game sold 2.25 million units for the entire 2007.

The first World of Warcraft game landed in second place, selling an additional 914,000 copies in the US this year. Blizzard's hugely successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game first came out in late 2004, and has been a bestseller ever since.

While Blizzard has claimed the top 2 slots, EA Games seems to have dominated more than half of the Top Ten. In the list The NPD group released a few days ago, we also see Electronic Arts' The Sims 2 (also released in 2004) and its various expansion packs- The Seasons expansion pack(in third place), the Bon Voyage expansion pack (in eighth) and The Sims 2 Pets (at tenth). Two other EA games- Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (at #5) and Sim City 4 Deluxe (at #6)- land at the top ten.

Activision's Call of Duty 4 was the fourth biggest-selling game of the year, while Microsoft's real-time strategy game Age of Empires III made it to #9.

Best-selling PC Games of 2007, by units sold, as reported by the NPD Group.

1. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Expansion Pack. Vivendi Games. 2.25 million
2. World of Warcraft. Vivendi Games. 914,000
3. The Sims 2: Seasons Expansion Pack. Electronic Arts. 433,000
4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Activision. 383,000
5. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Electronic Arts. 343,000
6. Sim City 4 Deluxe. Electronic Arts. 284,000
7. The Sims 2. Electronic Arts. 281,000
8. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage Expansion Pack. Electronic Arts. 271,000
9. Age of Empires III. Microsoft. 259,000
10. The Sims 2: Pets Expansion Pack. Electronic Arts. 236,000

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Gaming.

That's right, welcome to my world.

Welcome to the world of a 34-year-old self-professed geek- who, by day, slaves away at a regular job and does business like most radio executives, but by night, hunkers down in front of yet another PC and dives into role-playing games.

That's right. I work hard so I can play. I work to pay my monthly World of Warcraft fees. I work to check out Datablitz (the local gaming software retailer) to see if the new game I've been waiting for is already out. I buy gaming merchandising when available. I get other people to play. And now, I'm blogging about it.

This blog- Renzie on Gaming- gives you my personal perspective on games, gaming gear, games marketing, and the gaming industry, and how the gaming industry affects the rest of the world. My personal perspective, ladies and gentlemen. Ultimately, this is all about what I think, and what I care about.

You're all welcome to stick around and poke around if you like. I even encourage you to leave a comment or toss around an idea or two. It's all cool.

See you guys around. Cheers!