Last week, Blizzard Entertainment launched a new site with some pretty radical changes, namely the introduction of a digital download store. For the first time, gamers can purchase digital copies of Warcraft III, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and StarCraft Anthology. More games (Diablo) are promised to be added later on.
This is just what I needed. As someone who has lost or destroyed three copies of StarCraft, I can’t justify buying physical copies anymore. Now I don’t have to deal with awkward store clerks and waste gas when I need to get my Craft on.
Read: Blizzard Gets Its Digital Download On.
Chun “Sweet” Jung Hee has retired from Warcraft III, ending his career as one of the strongest Undeads to compete in the realm of Warcraft. He played since the days of MaDFroG on the SK Warcraft III team, wrapping up his career in BeT with the FoV and Winners.
Now, Jung Hee will enter the Korean military, fulfilling duties required for Korean citizens. At the age of 22, Sweet ends his time in the Warcraft III with a great number of accomplishments under his belt.
The current status of BeT is unknown, with some speculation that powerhouse FoV may also be retiring, and Winners following his teammate Check to mTw (currently mTw has only four players on its roster, indicating more roster additions are incoming).
More info as it comes.
World of Warcraft addicts everywhere celebrated this morning as the highly anticipated 2.4 patch, dubbed Fury of the Sunwell, was released.
The new patch introduces adventurers to Sunwell Isle. Here new quests can be found, along with new 5-man dungeons and a 25-man raid where gamers get to battle Kil’jaeden.
The rest of the patch has less noticeable changes. All the details can be found here.
Read: Blizzard Unleashes Fury Of The Sunwell.
Don’t break out the champagne yet; Blizzard hasn’t officially stamped the 1.22 patch for standard play.
However, the development teams has been hard at work pulling data together and gathering input from pro players. The players have been selected to test the patch before its public release, soon publicly accessible for testing by anyone who wants to give it a whack.
Players have been itching to see the newest balance changes and maps for ladder.Test servers will be up with the patch, as well as forums for reporting bugs and feedback.
Karune’s progress log can be found here
After much input from the community and game experts, WCG has unveiled the lineup for 2008. Some new faces in the lineup, while the classics sit down for another round of competition.
Warcraft III
Starcraft
Counter-Strike (version not specified, 1.6 perhaps?)
FIFA 08
Need for Speed
Command and Conquer 3
Age of Empires 3
Carom3D
Red Stone
Project Gotham Racing
Asphalt 3
Halo 3
Guitar Hero 3
Virtua Fighter 5
Quite an interesting selection of games this time. WCG does not include Dead or Alive 4, currently used by the CGS as one of its staple games. The Guitar Hero 3 competition could be pretty intense too. Overall, the game pool looks heavier towards racing games.
For more information, go to WCG’s website.
Gamesports.de has released first person VODs of top Warcraft III Players contending at the NGL-One finals. These are not just someone watching and doing commentary, it’s the actual move by move point of view from the players.
Currently, only the first SK vs. mTw and MYM vs. mouz matches of the first round have been posted.
First person VODs are an amazing tool for any player trying to learn how to play. Unlike previous releases, these feature both the winning and losing players’ points of view. If you’re smart, you could play them both at once and see the game play out both ways.
All VODs up so far can be found here at gamesports.net.
Will we ever see a Blu Ray drive on the Xbox 360? Bully had no QA. Zif Davis has filed for Bankruptcy. Spore is coming to your iPhone! Will we see a Call of Duty MMO, and if so, can it beat WoW? We review God of War: Chains of Olympus. The guys at Bukaku are at it again, this time their paychecks are at stake! We take a look at th Guitar Hero Air Guitar, and give a little concert for you. Lastly, djWheat shows you how to use your Playstation 3 to download Japanese games.
Fnatic picked up Clan Go in a move restoring their status in the Warcraft III world. Clan Go has had trouble finding a stable organization in the past, parting ways with NoA after their absence from the NGL-One Finals. Fnatic had to separate from its Warcraft III team not too long ago, creating a mutual interest for both teams.
Focus and Shy rejoin Clan Go after some time at MYM. Both players are top notch and produce great results, bolstering the team’s status even more. Unfortunately, Ohjie was pulled into the Korean military. Expect some good results now, with Clan Go backed by a great sponsor and with a great lineup.
Their current roster:
- fnatic.Shy
- fnatic.FoCuS
- fnatic.Space
- fnatic.MinHyuk
- fnatic.Kei
- fnatic.YanGe
Juha-Matti “Satiini” Bäckström and mTw have separated after Satiini’s absence at the NGL-One finals. The two parties broke on good terms, reaching a mutual agreement to end their partnership. Satiini is a Warcraft III Night Elf player among the best in Europe.
However, personal issues prevented him from attending major LAN events, often being replaced after online qualifiers by another player. Before the problem was brought to light, Satiini was often accused of maphacking or cheating since he never played against another player in person.
Currently, mTw’s roster consists of Protois, hanf, KiWiKaKi, NightWOlf, Rainbow, and Pato. They finished fourth in the NGL-One finals last season.
GGL is hosting a Frontlines Tournament, if an Epileptic Gaming team wins djWheat will hook you up! djWheat thinks your an idiot for playing Tribes. How can chatting in Mario Kart get any worse? A World of Warcraft killer could cost billions, what makes World of Warcraft so great and every MMO so bad? The font, that’s what. We take a look at a new Street Fighter IV video, straight from GDC. The crew reviews Patapon, Devil May Cry 4 and Fifa Street 3 live!
Warcraft III’s NGL-One Finals are underway, showcasing four top tier teams colliding and trading spells at the offline finals to prove their power.
The NGL format is unique, using a king of the hill format instead of WC3L’s individual match tally. Each team selects a player to play a match, with the loser being eliminated. The loser is replaced by a teammate to play, with the process repeated until a team loses four players.
What does this mean? Managers/team leaders have to be very selective of who plays when. Before matches even begin, captains have to strategize. Should they send a player for an all kill? Do they match players for each match, picking off the other team’s powerhouses with surgical selections? Multiple factors enter the process, putting more pressure on everyone.
NGL-One’s finals run today, Feb. 22 through tomorrow, Feb. 23.
Contending Teams
Meet Your Makers
An outstanding lineup of players that seems to take more second place finishes than first. Moon is the epic Night Elf hero, with more victories in each year than some pro players could make in a lifetime. His strategies revolutionize the game, but with his reported hiatus, will he be in shape to play in NGL? Lucifer rose up in 2006, but has yet to be in the same shape since. Susiria plays on par with Lucifer, meaning MYM might have to struggle to take the win. Continued…
