For those who haven't booked a flight to Australia yet, then the people from Eminence Orchestra would like to remind you that you still have some time left to go ahead and do so. After all, one of the most popular video game orchestral performances is headed for Sydney and Melbourne in merely a week. That's right, in case you forgot, Eminence Symphony Orchestra's A Night in Fantasia 2007 - Symphonic Games Edition, will be making waves in the Land of the Koalas, via their proven musical talent as well as their skill in performing the music from video games that we know and love.

Set to make an appearance in Sydney on April 20 and 21, then in Melbourne on April 27, the 60-piece orchesrtra will be accompanied by a 30-piece choir and will be conducted by Philip Chu. Meanwhile, tunes that fans can look forward to will include classic video game themes from titles such as Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy XII, FF Tactics and the rest of the FF series, Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Shadow of the Colossus, Tales of Legendia, Metal Gear Solid, WoW: The Burning Crusade, Super Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda, to name just a few.

Those who want a seat for the show can either order their tickets online via TicketMaster, or those who will be seeing the Sydney performance can simply drop by the local Kinokuniya store.

Now, there's just one song request that I'd like to make... please, please, please play Radical Dreamers from Chrono Cross. Either that, or I'll be happy with whatever Chocobo theme that they put in there. So with the days ticking away until the performance begins, what song would you want to hear the Eminence folks play?

Over the past few years, there has been an ongoing battle between game publishers and third-party services which allow players of online games to engage in RMTs, or Real Money Transactions. As it is widely known, such activities go against the terms and conditions which are set by game operators, and are also disliked by some game loyalists as it disrupts the economy within the game. These transactions also provide ample opportunity for scams to occur. Several campaigns from non-gaming websites have also been launched in an effort to curb RMT-related activity.

Despite the negative image that RMT is associated with though, it seems that the people at Sony Online Entertainment may have finally found a way to strike a balance and get something good out of it all.

Last year, SOE initiated a one-year experiment in two of the servers in the MMORPG EverQuest II. Using its own auction system known as Station Exchange, Sony was able to provide a venue for players to trade virtual currency, characters, and in-game items. By keeping these users on its own turf, it was able to earn US$ 274,083 from listing fees and commissions from completed transactions, while spending almost nothing for running the service.

On top of this benefit for the company, the experiment also proved that this method is also beneficial to the players themselves, as the cases of disputes and fraud which were related to virtual property have dropped from 40% to 10%, plus they can trade freely without fear of having their account suspended due to TOA violations.

Another fringe benefit of the whole thing would be the surfacing of correct statistics. For the longest time, nobody was really sure just how many people were trading their virtual goods and just how much revenue this actually generated, as this information was mostly held secret by third-party RMT services. From the data that can be gathered by keeping RMT activity in-house, game designers and operators can then make accurate decisions when it comes to dealing with in-game economy.

John Smedley, President of Sony Online, also commented on this. "I'm a big believer that this whole virtual property thing is a big part of the future of online gaming, so it's about time to shed some light on the facts, rather than the fiction."

One interesting tidbit would be that during the one-year stint of Station Exchange in Everquest, the top seller was able to make a cool US$ 37,435 from 351 transactions. Whether this will start a whole line of people who will follow in Anshe Chung's footsteps still remains to be seen.

After the very successful release of the WoW expansion The Burning Crusade merely a week ago, more and more reasons on why you must have this game are once again cropping up.

Well, besides the fact that most of your friends probably already have it, the new gameplay elements that the folks at Blizzard have added are sure to add to all the fun. So, just to further convince the doubters and the bah-humbugs out there, GameSpot managed to get some pretty nice gameplay videos to show everyone that yes, you need the expansion NOW.

Watch the other videos after the Jump!

To follow up on the very recent and very successful launch of the WoW expansion, The Burning Crusade, Blizzard has released the first of what may be a series of official gameplay trailers.

We're guessing that it may be to convert those who still haven't bought TBC and those who adamantly believe that they can continue without the expansion when their entire guild has already upgraded. Either that, or it's to make players of other MMOs green with envy (and it may actually be working).

So, sit back and bask in the one minute and ten seconds of glory, which is this video.

With the release of the new WoW expansion, The Burning Crusade, a mere few days away, it looks like the folks at Blizzard are still trying to whet everyone's appetite for the game as they have just released yet another batch of screenies for everyone.

Set for release on January 16, the expansion will feature two new races (the Draenei and the Blood Elves), a new level cap of 70, as well as new professions, skills, spells, items, dungeons, and a whole lot more.

So, have you gotten your copy yet?

More screenshots after the jump.

Uh-oh. Trouble brews in Azeroth as it has recently been announced in the WoW Forums that the Beta-test realm for World of Warcraft will be split into two new realms. Blizzard's reason for this is to balance an overpopulated realm by splitting it into two instead.

The good news is that all your items will go with you once the realm is split. The bad news is that your Friends and Ignore list may go pfft unless the characters in the said lists happen to migrate with you to the same realm.

Blizzard is of course taking measures to avoid this by raising the level cap once The Burning Crusade is launched, and also by initiating free character moves to designated realms. However, if these don't work, then the split is imminent.

Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with Blizzard's plans as splitting a realm would also pretty much mean splitting guilds, groups of friends, parties, and so on... all of which took about two years to establish. At the moment, members of the WoW community are protesting the split, so it is still uncertain if Blizzard will go ahead with the drastic measure they are planning.

Tyren from the World of Warcraft forums has recently posted an announcement which clarifies that: YES, those "Are you ready for The Burning Crusade?" email that you have been receiving are indeed from Blizzard, and are therefore legit.

According to him, the emails were targeted towards inactive or trial account players, reminding them that if they want to play The Burning Crusade, that they better download the necessary clients and patches early to avoid the rush when TBC launches in a few weeks' time.

In any case, the header of the official email reads:

While you've been away, something monumental has been happening in the World of Warcraft. Beyond the Dark Portal, the sinister agents of the Burning Legion have been waging their demonic crusade to consume the magic of the universe and lay waste to all in their path. On January 16th, their Burning Crusade will come to Azeroth.

Blizzard Entertainment proudly invites you to return to the World of Warcraft on January 16th and journey beyond the Dark Portal, where an infinity of new experiences await you. Given the high volume of returning subscribers we expect when The Burning Crusade expansion goes live, if you are planning a return to Azeroth, we recommend reactivating your account as soon as possible in order to avoid the expected rush of launch-day activation.

With the release of the much-awaited WoW expansion coming up this month, and even with all the trailers, screenies and what-nots we've already seen, it seems that everyone still can't have enough of The Burning Crusade. And what else can they not get enough of? The Collector's Edition of the game, of course.

Containing the game discs on both CD and DVD, a DVD of behind-the-scenes footage, a hardcover artbook, an exclusive in-game pet, WoW TCG starter packs and exclusive cards, a Map of Outland mousepad and a soundtrack CD, people are just clamoring to get their hands on one of these. We just didn't know how much.

So, upon checking Amazon and eBay, we were surprised to see that copies of the Collector's Edition of WoW: The Burning Crusade were going for prices of up to US$ 150, or even up to a shocking US$ 400. Both price tags are still way more than its original retail price of only US$ 79.99.

Well, I guess everyone just wants their WoW...

Time to dust off that old Photoshop icon sitting on your desktop!

As a way to celebrate the coming of the WoW expansion, The Burning Crusade, WoW Insider is holding a contest for fans who have talent and little time to spare.

At the moment, three contests are open, and the call for lyrics, fanart, and Machinima entries (have I mentioned that we just love Machinima) is loud and strong. In the meantime, the lucky (and talented) contestants can expect to receive anything from a Logitech G15 keyboard, to the trademark Green Linen Shirt.

Think this is the contest for you? Then just head over to WoW Insider for the full set of rules and the full list of prizes.

To end the year in a good light (or start it, depending on where you're reading this from), as well as to spread happiness, cheer, and maybe a giggle or two, we decided to put together some of the WoW videos that have been floating around the internet for the past year. These videos have been selected under the requirement of you-really-should-watch-it-at-least-once, and so we present to you some of our favorite picks which we can look back on and truly smile about.

The Ballad of the Noob

For those who haven't seen this classic piece of WoW fan-made goodness...where have you been? Seriously though, since we're just trying to add a bit of fun into everyone's lives, since it's the Holidays after all, here's something which was originally created by the people from Stone Falcon Productions.

This video is still worth the laughs despite its age, and it teaches an invaluable lesson to both the noobs and the ubers: ubers should remember to take the phone off the hook should they decide to let anyone hit them for any reason, and noobs should remember to not get too cocky as not everyone has got an ex-wife who loves talking on the phone.

"... and so he boldly left town even though he was only level 1."

See more fun videos after the Jump!