World of Warcraft''s Wrath of the Lich King expansion is sure to usher in an epic new era in the virtual world forged by Blizzard. One of the new things in this expansion is the implementation of Achievements that will give players bragging rights. Lead game designer Jeffrey Kaplan tells us a little something about it in the full article up ahead.

There's a pretty pretty quirky guy in World of Warcraft''s Sen'jin Village named Witch Doctor Bom'Bay who can do all sorts of crazy stuff to you. Have you encountered him in Blizzard's game yet? If not, this video will show you just what the guy does. It's a nice Easter Egg that packs some Banjo Kazooie flavor in it.

When Vivendi and Activision merged recently, everyone in the gaming scene got a jolt. Everyone, it seems, except for third-party software leader Electronic Arts. What does EA have to say now that it has such household franchises as Diablo, Warcraft and Starcraft to worry about in addition to the Call of Duty and Guitar Hero franchises? Find out in the full article.

Blizzard's World of Warcraft realms promised with voice chat but don't have it enabled yet will have to undergo restarts tomorrow to get the ball rolling. As of this moment, 42 realms already have the feature active and whines have yet to be heard.

Rolling restarts are part of the process that everyone will have to deal with if they want to switch to talking from typing. Quality seems to be at a lofty level in the realms where it's active, and we'll see soon on the other realms how it turns out.

Don't worry because the restarted realms will be back online by 2:00 PM PDT (5:00 PM EST). Will it replace text chatting or will it prove to be more of a nuisance? Tell us what you think by commenting below.

The full list of realms with the voice chat feature enabled and those that will be affected by the restarts can be seen by following the Via link.

The online gaming industry is rising fast and could be worth US$ 11 billion in a matter of four years, says research firm Strategy Analytics. Gaming online leads the trail and is poised to be a boon for the proliferation of downloadable content.

The online gaming industry was worth US$ 3.8 billion when fiscal 2006 ended and analysts say that a 25 percent growth rating is likely when fiscal 2007 wraps up.

Blizzard's World of Warcraft is unquestionably spearheading the online charge with a huge subscriber base worldwide enjoying its popular massive multiplayer online (MMO) RPG. Martin Olausson, Digital Media Research Director at Strategy Analytics states:

The rapid growth of the addressable market for digital distribution of both PC and Console games will help clear the way for distribution of mainstream hit titles which has up to now been restricted to the physical retail channel.

Console gaming taking its players online (PSN, Xbox Live), along with music, video, and game downloadable content are pushing growth for the industry that could boom exponentially within the next several years.

David Mercer, Strategy Analytics' Principal Analyst says that the continuous outreach of broadband services around the world is making it possible for more people to avail of the industry's services. "The very lucrative revenue opportunity in both the massively multiplayer segment and the electronic sell through market will continue to attract new entrants into the online games market," he concludes.

The on-going BlizzCon yielded a lot of great surprises for every major Blizzard franchise. The insanely popular World of Warcraft is getting a lot of attention, especially from the Apple community as they prepare to receive the Burning Crusade expansion set.

These are screens displayed in Blizzard's big bash and they're looking as impressive as the Windows version of the game. The biggest MMORPG in the world is already a few years old, but it still turns heads every time something happens to it.

The Mac version of The Burning Crusade will have all the goodies as its Windows counterpart. Adventuring should be more fun than ever to the Apple platform for everyone who wants to get lost in another world.

A few more screenshots available right after the jump!

Tomorrow may be a big moment on the history of gaming as broadcast giant CBS formally becomes the first network of its class to show a video game tournament as a regular sporting event like other athletic spectacles such as the Masters and March Madness.

"There are an enormous amount of people of all ages who play video games these days, so we’re going to try to see if video games’ popularity can translate into a viable television audience," says CBS Sports Vice-President Rob Correa as he explores the possibility of people looking at this moment as a poignant event after a decade or so.

The tournament concerned is the World Series of Video Games which will be held in Louisville, Kentucky. Edited footage from the event will show highlights of face-offs between players in games such as Fight Night Round 3, Guitar Hero and other non-violent titles. First-person shootouts in Halo and Quake will sadly not make it on air because of the nature of the content.

The idea of the tournament and the coverage by CBS is pegged on the South Korean model which has an entire nation embracing gaming and making it a part of pop culture. A full-time coverage in the manner that ESPN covers sports isn't possible for video games just yet but for now, this is the biggest step game broadcasting can take in the US.

The CBS coverage is also a pilot test of sorts on how game programming in cable TV initiated by G4 and Gameplay HD can work in a bigger scale. The response of viewers will determine future plans on the coverage of electronic gaming as a sport on the network.

We've had a lot of fun reading the Blizzard blogs and we thought we'd share with you the question and answer portion where the organizers of this year's Blizzcon answered queries on what can and cannot be brought to the shindig. Here they are:

• MP3 players - iPods and any player of the sort are welcome to be brought into the event at any time. Just don't plug them into the computers because the staff will really, really get upset with you.
• Laptops - Laptops and desktops for that matter are strictly prohibited in Blizzcon. Blizzard advises everyone to keep their laptops anywhere EXCEPT the premises of the venue.
• Video Cameras -  Blizzard is pretty cool on these in the exhibit galls and the tournaments. However, the Finale Concert is another thing and they'll have to be kept away from that segment.
• Bags - Bags are fine as long as they're 20x 10 cm or smaller. In essence, that's about as big as your granny's purse. Anything larger is not allowed inside the venue and admission will be refused to those who do not comply.

On a final note, if you're bringing a costume, weapons that go with the wardrobe are only allowed it they are inflatable ones and wooden staves. And no, you can't bring a ballista either as projectile weapons, loaded or otherwise, are banned. Strangely enough, there's no mention of pets. Maybe we can bring a friend dressed as an Ultralisk and have him pose as one.

 

Those of you in Blizzard's WoW expansion,Burning Crusade, are already familiar with this dark, dank little spot called the Serpentshrine Cavern. For those of you who haven't visited it yet, this screen is for you.

Serpentshrine Cavern is the inner sanctum of Lady Vashj and her astute cohorts. You can't walk right into this place, as you may guess, but it's very doable. Players just have to find Skar'this who is a naga renegade found in Slave Pans' heroic version. After getting acquainted, you can set on a quest to dispose of Gruul the Dragonkiller in Blade's Edge Mountain.

This screen was sent in from Europe. The location is far into the cavern's innards and it's where Hydross the Unstable should have been if he was still among the living. Adventurers should check out this place sometime to get a feel of dungeon-dwelling at its best.

Italy's Gamestore Magazine has announced annual winners for the Italian Games Awards and it dished out laurels to all the areas of gaming be it in terms of products, communication and accessories. Here are the big winners for this year.

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION:

1) Best Trade AD Campaign
Electronic Arts - Fifa 07 Evolution
2) Best Print AD Consumer Campaign
Nintendo - Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training
3) Best TV Spot
Microsoft - Gears of War
4) Best Radio Spot
Electronic Arts - The Sims 2 Pets
5) Best Online Campaign
Vivendi - World of Warcraft
6) Best Packaging
DDE - Guild Wars Nightfall Collector’s Edition
7) Best POS Material
Vivendi - World of Warcraft
8) Best Budget Line
Activision - Best Of Activision
9) Best Launch Event
Scei - PS3 Dome
10) Best Co-Marketing Activity
Konami / Halifax - PES 6 with Gazzetta dello Sport
11) Best Charity Iniative - Ex Aequo:
Nintendo - Nintendo for Abio
Halifax with Bible and AMREF

The winners were selected by consumers and industry insiders according to the organizers. QJ congratulates all the winners and we're hoping to see even greater stuff next year!

You can check the whole roster behind the Full Article link below.