You can't talk about PC gaming without giving a nod in John Carmack's direction, the man behind the legendary FPS games Doom and Quake. In a recent interview about the newly launched id Mobile, he mentions the current state of PC gaming and the enormous role Blizzard's World of Warcraft plays on the gaming platform.

Read more about what John Carmack had to say after the jump!

Blizzard poster Hortus dropped by the World of Warcraft Forums earlier to announce that Voice Chat will be coming to the WoW Public Test Realm (PTR) on August 10... er - today.

Voice chat has come with the new PTR build and is currently available for parties, raids and custom channels only. Those who have been waiting for a cross-server battleground voice chat will have to wait a while. Hortus forewarns:

Please be aware, that this is a brand new feature and although it has been tested by Blizzard QA there are still many outstanding issues and we expect to find many more as we roll it out to a larger test group. Please be diligent in reporting bugs either via this forum or the in-game feedback tool, and be patient with us while we work out the kinks in this new system.

In order to facilitate additional testing, a second PVP server has been brought online, and the server population limits have been increased to lessen queues.

Hortus also provided an update that addressed a known issue in the new build. Apparently, the WoW voice chat doesn't work on PowerPC-based Macs but should work fine on Intel Macs. According to the poster, the PowerPC build problem should be resolved in an upcoming PTR update.

If you're good and ready, you should go on ahead to the PTR and check out the new voice chat. Some players have already noticed that the mic volume has to be cranked up and that the sound quality isn't all that hot. We've got to remember though that it is still on the PTR, and is therefore still under testing.

 

After a good Arena bout with MoB *Turtle Power* at World Series of Video Games China to win first prize, Team Pandemic takes a second victory at WSVG Kentucky for the US$ 10,500 prize money of the World of Warcraft PvP competitive leg. Included with their ten grand-prize is a US$ 3,000 travel wallet, which should cover just about everything else.

Next up in the Intel-sponsored WSVG is a classic Texan showdown in Dallas, this coming July 5, sporting another US$ 10,500 grand prize money (exclusive of travel wallet). Will Team Pandemic be up for a repeat performance and bring home the bacon for a third time in a row? Well it all depends on whether second placer Insurrection brings their game up to par or if the collective of MoB could say otherwise.

The World of Warcraft Final Standings at Louisville, Kentucky

1. [US] Team Pandemic - $10,500 + $3,000 travel
2. [US] Insurrection - $6,000 + $3,000 travel
3. [US] MoB Turtle Beach - $4,200 + $3,000 travel
4. [US] MoB TurtleForce - $2,400 + $3,000 travel
5. [US] Check-Six - $2,400
6. [US] 519 - $1,500
7. [US] Cute Baby Elephants - $1,500
8. [US] Evil Geniuses - $1,500

Tied at 9th place:

• [US] Cloak of Shadow word: Death Coil
• [US] Elitist Jerks
• [US] MoB *Turtle Power*
• [US] The One Shots

Tied at 10th place:

• [EU] Fnatic.WoW
• [US] Sapped Girls Can't Say No
• [US] Serenity Now
• [US] The Challenge

Hmmm, looks like someone was having second thoughts of considering these additional entries for the "Azeroth Exposed" contest. The total number of entries now rises up to 24 (let's see, that's 13 more or less left to go), although admittedly from entry 7 to 17, there's a huge gaping hole of at least 9 entries that haven't made the cut. mrmintel's own entries have also been noticeably removed from the official finalist list.

But lo and behold! GoRemy's "Warcraft: The Rap" and Myndflame's second entry "Druid Epic Flight Form" (although his first entry is missing) is now included in the top finalists! With no more than two days to go, your options for voting your favorite, hilarious World of Warcraft videos just got a whole lot broader. And even before we lead you to the official entry page, we're telling you, it's a lot more difficult to decide.

So we're just wondering how exactly the voting will go... can we vote on all our favorite ones or do we have to make a single choice and support the best in our books? That, we're afraid, will have to be revealed on April 1, 2007 when the voting starts. The entry list now stands at:

• Snacky's Journal - Episode 1 by wasteofaces
• Jimmy: The World of Warcraft Story by Rurikar
• Druid Epic Flight Form by Myndflame
• I am a Warrior! by dem0ndeath
• Warcraft: The Rap by GoRemy
• 10 Second Warlock by Xorco1
• My life in World of Warcraft by Chrisislikeagod
• The Murloc by Flurd70
• Unidentified by Triodin
  

Best one? It's a tough choice. But it looks like "Unidentified" by Triodin is a sure win, if Myndflame's latest entry can't garner enough votes. Ultimately, the fans will decide who'll get to grab the Intel Core 2 Extreme gaming PC from Intel, Blizzard and Youtube.

Finally, more than three entries can now be voted on at April Fool's Day (that's a Sunday folks!) and these two new entries follow up on Myndflame's approach to conjuring humor in World of Warcraft: telling interesting stories of avatars in-game. Not only do they fit the rules of the contest, they also look professionally polished.

As covered last time, there were reportedly 37 entries submitted (could be more now), although those suggested at the World of Warcraft Forums have yet to make an appearance on the finalists' list. So don't forget to reward these guys for making the cut and vote on your favorite video starting April 1 all the way up to April 15. Remember: the grand prize winner gets to take home an Intel Core 2 Extreme gaming PC.

But if you're looking to add your own entry, we've got bad news for you: the deadline for submissions have already passed. Still, you can enjoy these videos from wasteofaces and Rurikar (in that order).

Snacky's Journal - Episode 1

Click on Full Article to view the sixth entry for the World of Warcraft Youtube contest.

Of the 38 suggested videos submitted in Nethaera's World of Warcraft Forum official sticky, only one seems to have made it into the finalist videos. Aside from mrmintel's first video, Myndflame's own masterpiece has great elements of musical score and video coordination, even ending in a funny finale. Unfortunately, there is no official word out yet about the other entries, or whether or not they will make the cut.

As we've reported a couple of weeks ago, the Youtube contest sponsored by Intel, Blizzard and Youtube had been accepting entries for hilarious World of Warcraft videos (or Machinimas) for a chance to win a super souped-up gaming rig powered by Intel's Core 2 Extreme processor. Deadline for submissions is today, March 20, 2007, and voting for the finalist entries will begin on April 1.

Now while this video is old, Myndflame, famous for another hilarious video on World of Warcraft, still has the style and concept that fits within the rules of the contest while still being able to squeeze a little humor out of it. In fact, he has about four funny WoW videos that could qualify, although we're not sure why the other three haven't made the cut either. We'll be checking for more updates on other entries, so stay tuned folks!

 

Latest from Youtube is the announcement that a World of Warcraft video contest will be held, called "Azeroth Exposed". The contest is sponsored by none other that World of Warcraft and processor giant Intel. The theme of the contest has everything to do with bloopers, laughable pranks and in-game jokes that you and your buddies could spruce up.

Remember: it's got to be funny and it's got to be captured while playing the game. If you think you can capture the funniest WoW in-game video around, you'll be more than compensated with a monster gaming PC stuffed with Intel's newest Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor.

The contest dates are as follows:

Submissions
March 1, 2007
March 21, 2007

Voting
April 1, 2007
April 15, 2007

Click on the "Read" link provided below to view the announcement, plus a crafty little video.

Every single World of Warcraft addict player is either a member of the Alliance or of the Horde. But regardless of allegiances, every player wants to get the best possible gameplay experience by having the best hardware system possible. In this case, AlienWare PC units are probably one of the most suitable systems out there today.

No, we're not selling AlienWare items, and no, they're not paying us for this. It's just that the company has teamed up with Blizzard on various occasions now whenever the latter comes up with contests and competitions. Anyway, AlienWare recently announced that these units have been customized for players depending on the side they're playing for.

 Here now are the specs of an AlienWare WoW PC:

• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
• Dual 640MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
• Exclusive AlienFX lighting control
• 2GB DDR2 PC-6400 SDRAM at 800MHz
• 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM
• Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
• Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse

Also, these systems come in either blue or red. Just imagine being with the Horde and playing with a blue unit. It just feels weird. Anyway, try your luck in those contests and you might win one of these. If you aren't so lucky, you can still get them for £ 2,499.22 or US$ 4,870. These AlienWare PCs will be shipped starting March 5.

So you've been wanting to visit the Outland (on a more regular basis), or you want to try out being a sexy Horde member (read: female Blood Elf) for a change, or you're thinking about riding to the danger zone on a flying mount. The only question you need to ask now is, can my computer take all of that (and a bag of chips you're bound to be munching on in the process, eh, Cartman)?

Well, Blizzard has recently announced, through its FAQ pages, exactly what Outland, sexy female Horde members, flying mounts, and everything else packed into The Burning Crusade expansion will take. So check what you've got under that casing of yours, and see if it can grind to the following stats:

For Windows-based PCs:

• OS: Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4); Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
• Processor: Intel Pentium3 800MHz or AMD Duron 800MHz
• Memory:
  • 512 MB RAM,
  • 1GB RAM is recommended
• Video:
  
  • Minimum: 32MB 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting, such as an NVIDIA GeForce 2 class card or above.
    
  • Recommended: 64MB VRAM 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability, such as an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 class card or above.
• Sound: DirectX compatible sound card

For Macs:

• OS: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or newer required
• Processor:
  • 933MHz G4/G5 processor,
  • 1.8GHz G5/Intel or better recommended
• RAM:
  • 512MB RAM,
  • 1GB DDR RAM is recommended
• Video:
  • NVIDIA or ATI graphics processor with 32MB VRAM,
  • 64MB VRAM recommended
• Controls: A keyboard and mouse are required. Input devices other than a mouse and keyboard are not supported

Blizzard expects to release The Burning Crusade late this year in Europe, Korea, and North America, with their regions quickly following suit. Further details will be released by the company in the months ahead. No word on whether the Sword of a Thousand Truths will be included in the final release package.

Intel has announced that their upcoming major event on the World Series of Video Games circuit will be called the "UK Gaming Championship" and will be held at the London Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus. In store for attendees are a tournament area where they can watch the world's top gamers work their magic on gameplaying, an experiential zone for free gaming and walk-on tournaments, a music and games party, and tons more.

The said event will feature professional gaming tournaments in Warcraft III: Frozen Throne, Counter Strike 1.6, and the Xbox 360's Quake 4. Those who decide to attend the event can choose to compete, or just simply watch the world's best players strut their stuff and battle it out for over £40,000 (that's roughly 76 grand for us) worth of cash and other prizes.

The top gamers from around the world including Fatal1ty, Stermy, Toxic, Team Fnatic, and England's own 4 Kings, will be flying in for the event, where new games and technologies will also be featured, with prizes and free giveaways from sponsors including Intel, Fatal1ty Brands led by Creative, and ATI.

The music and games party will be held on Saturday night from 7pm-10pm, featuring a DJ and a contest for the “Miss World Series of Video Games.”  If you wanna join in on the partying, all you have to do is link the World Series of Video Games as one of your top 8 friends at the said event's Myspace page.

The UK Gaming Championship will be featured as a part of The London Games Festival, and will showcase the hottest games, seminars, and prominent people in the gaming industry.  The World Series event will also feature the World’s Largest Joystick, which measures 3 metres, and is actually playable. Now that's definitely something worth checking out, don't you think?
 
The UK Gaming Championship will run from October 6-8 and hours of operation will be 10-10 on Friday and Saturday, and 12-5 on Sunday. If you and your friends do decide to grace the event as a spur of the moment thing, all you have to do is pay a two-dollar door fee.