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The release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade yesterday wasn't the only excitement for gamers; Vice President of Business Development, Itzik Ben Bassat reiterated Blizzard's commitment to not only the hugely successful WarCraft franchise, but also Diablo and StarCraft.

As a Starcraft player I can tell you that I hope it wouldn't go a decade - we launched Starcraft in '98 - I hope it wouldn't go a decade before we stand here and celebrate the next Starcraft together," Itzik Ben Bassat told crowds gathered at World of Warcraft expansion The Burning Crusade's official launch event in London last night

Please follow the links below to learn more information.

Eurogamer: StarCraft Hint?

Blizzard Entertainment

StarCraft

Tricky Software's Armado is now available at Macgamestore.com for $19.95. A free 30 minute demo is available for download from the web site.

Assume the role of Armado the armadillo and embark upon a great adventure to free the Queen of the land. The Queen is a Great Eagle, the last of an ancient race. While on a journey to visit the Queen, Armado learned of a growing darkness from the South; armies of giant ants marching Northward. They moved slowly at first, but eventually overwhelmed and colonized the legendary eagle nests in the mountains. Soon, the Queen herself was captured, and imprisoned.

To check out Armado, follow the link below.

Macgamestore: Armado

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Inside Mac Games has posted a review of RocketBowl Plus. Here's a clip from the review:

A standard bowling game that replicated the real thing would be pretty stale, so the people at Large Animal Games have infused the ten pin pastime with roller coaster attitude. The basics remain the same. You have a ball, a rack of pins set up in the traditional triangle formation, and ten frames to knock them down for a maximum score of 300; but RocketBowl has altered the rules and lanes. Instead of two bowls to knock down each set of ten pins, you get three. Even if you don’t knock down all the pins, you can try a wild shot later in the game to knock down those remaining pins you missed. The flat, straight bowling lane has been replaced with an obstacle course of water pools, ramps, and bridges. If a bowling alley and a putt-putt course had a baby it might look something like RocketBowl.

Inside Mac Games Review: RocketBowl Plus

RocketBowl Plus

Buy RocketBowl Plus

Apple Store Special Deals has exclusive deals on a variety of Apple Certified Refurbished products including: Apple Certified Refurbished 15-inch PowerBook G4 w/1.67GHz processor and SuperDrive for only $1,299!; Apple Certified Refurbished 14-inch iBook G4 w/1.42GHz processor and SuperDrive for only $999!; Apple Certified Refurbished Mac mini w/1.83GHz Intel Core Duo processor with SuperDrive for only $699!; and much more. Get all the details at the following URL: 

http://hotdeals.apple.com/specialdeals/index.php

Small Dog Electronics has deals on a variety of Mac compatible products including: Hot Deals Exclusive pricing on the following four products - Shure E2c Sound Isolating earphones for only $79!; Canon HV10 HDV high-def video camcorder for only $1,089!; Epson Perfection V100 flatbed photo scanner for only $89!; LaCie 160GB Extreme Triple Interface (FW 800/400/USB 2.0) external hard drive for only $124!; and much more. Get all the details at the following URL: 

http://hotdeals.apple.com/smalldog/index.php

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Gamespot and Firing Squad have posted WoW: TBC interviews. Gamespot chats with senior game designer Jon LeCraft on the United Kingdom release of the expansion and Firing Squad chats with game designer Jeff Kaplan.

GSUK: What impact do you think the new, lower raid numbers [25 players instead of 40] limit will have on raiding guilds in The Burning Crusade?

JL: I think it's going to reduce the numbers of some guilds, or they may have to put some people on the sidelines, who may in turn decide to leave and start new guilds. It is going to affect their memberships for sure, because not everybody will be able to go on a raid. But everybody's role in the raid is now more meaningful; that's one of the reasons we did that. In some encounters in the past, you could have about 15 people in the raid that could just about be doing anything, so it should be more beneficial overall.

FiringSquad: World of Warcraft now has over 8 million subscribers and it looks like it will continue to grow. How hard is it to keep up support for all those customers?

Jeff Kaplan: It's been a learning experience for all of us. We didn't quite anticipate the degree of popularity the game has reached. We've had our growing pains and learned a lot about how we needed to build our infrastructure to support our growth. We've been very busy upgrading our hardware over the period leading up to the release of the expansion in order to anticipate the growing populace and prepare for the launch.

We certainly recognize that with all the success comes added responsibility to our players, so we've also continued to grow our staff in order to maintain the best possible support and service for our community.

Gamespot: Interview

FiringSquad: Interview

Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

Buy World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

Electronic Arts has announced a new line of Sims related games focusing on engaging characters and easy to play storylines. Players will have a choice of either following the new directed Story mode with predefined characters and storylines or create their own Sim in Classic mode and enjoy open-ended play. Designed with PC laptop users in mind The Sims Stories line will feature simple shortcuts and an auto pause feature upon closing the laptop.

The first game in the new series, The Sims Life Stories, introduces a unique storyline complete with romance, dramatic twists, and unlockable content. It is scheduled to hit the shelves for PC users in February 2007. Two other games, Pet Stories and Castaway Stories, have yet to receive a target release date.

The first of these games, The Sims Life Stories, introduces an all-new Story Mode with two stories that follow the lives of Riley Harlow and Vincent Moore, two very different characters who have reached similar crossroads in their love lives. A comic romantic plot centered around engaging characters guides players through twelve chapters of this one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. Players can take their Sims through unique and entertaining storylines filled with romance, intrigue and dramatic twists. Will female lead character Riley ditch beau number one to marry and have kids with beau number two? Will successful entrepreneur Vince ever find love, or the culprit who’s been foiling his heart-earned efforts to find it? Players can discover these answers and more, or enjoy classic open-ended Sims gameplay.

“Everyone loves a good story. The Sims Life Stories gives players two wonderful romantic comedies to enjoy,” declared Rod Humble, VP Head of Studio for The Sims Division. “For those who are interested in The Sims, The Sims Stories are accessible and fun for everyone.” According to Humble, the world of The Sims provides the perfect place for these romantic comedies to unfold. Built around virtual people called Sims, daily activities — from sleeping and eating, choosing outfits and decorating the house, even cooking and getting a job — are controlled by the player. The Sims celebrates the choices that we make in life. What’s more familiar than being confused by life and love?

Click on the links below for more information.

The Sims Stories

Life Stories

Electronic Arts

Stray Bullet Games recently posted some new information about its upcoming Massively Multiplayer Online game project. Although the announcement only gives general information about the game itself, it does reveal that the company will be relying on middleware "whenever possible" rather than creating its own engine.

With this new project, Stray Bullet is committed to creating a fully-realized, ongoing online conflict that combines furious action with tactical and strategic game play. In the game to come characters, guilds, and global factions will engage in meaningful, exciting, and fun mass combat. To realize this vision the team is drawing upon our experience, the lessons learned developing and supporting Shadowbane, and is looking outside the MMO genre to strategy and tactical games for inspiration.

“While it is still too early to release extensive details on the game,” says Frank Lucero, Vice President of Product Development and COO, “we have a firm hand on what the game will and will not be. We have taken what we’ve learned and applied it to every aspect of the design and development of the game.”

Stray Bullet has already decided not to create its own game engine. “We are dedicated to using middleware technology solutions whenever possible,” says Ala Diaz, Stray Bullet’s Technical Director. “This lets us minimize risk by focusing developer efforts on fun game play and entertaining experiences instead of new technologies and MMO infrastructure.”

Head over to the Stray Bullet Games site at the link below for more information.

Stray Bullet Games: Taking Aim At The Future!

Stray Bullet Games

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In conjunction with the release, Apple Games has posted a feature of World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade.

A new world, Outland, highlights the many additions to World of Warcraft found in the expansion pack The Burning Crusade. Travel there with your existing characters or create fresh ones based on two new races, Blood Elves and Draenei, and work your way up to the new level cap, 70. The Burning Crusade also features plenty of new dungeons, monsters, items, and environments scattered throughout Azeroth, along with the addition of flying mounts, new talents and abilities, and a new profession, jewelcrafting.

Apple: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

Buy World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

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