Big news coming in for Europe, as we announce that preparations are underway for this year's London Games Festival. Wondering exactly when 2008's celebrations begin? Visit the full article for the rest of the details!

 

Kicking off the Golden Joystick Awards' (GJA) 25 years of honoring gaming excellence, the organizers have announced the current short list of nominees for Publisher, Innovation, Retailer and UK Developer of the Year categories, not including several Game of the Year awards for mobile, PC, online, PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, Ultimate (with the inclusion of Blizzard's World of Warcraft), Handheld and Family types.

Other categories include Girls Choice of the Year, All Nighter Award, The One to Watch, and Soundtrack Award, each displaying their respective set of nominees for public scrutiny and voting. These nominees are survivors of the first round of voting, and this time around they will need your every support to make the Golden Joystick grade.

So head over to the Read link provided below to vote on one game per category (click the big Vote Now button), each set of votes earning you a chance to win some secret prize that the organizers have in store. And if you're up to the (financial) challenge, you can also head over to the Hilton Hotel in London's Park Lane this October and witness this year's winners rise to the occasion.

This is part two of The Burning Crusade launch coverage. Sadly, Gnomeregan Gnews Gnetwork correspondent Wendy Breeze was covering the California launch, that's why they didn't have any reporters covering news on the other side of the world.

Anyway, the video features major European launches, from London to Paris to Berlin to Stockholm. While they didn't have the class dance contest, they did look like they were having a heck of a time. A lot of cosplayers (dressed up) showed up and stood in the cold for a number of hours.

As one would have it, it seems that Europeans are pretty big on dressing up as their favorite WoW character. Plus the crowd is pretty diverse. A mother and daughter were standing in line, a girl with funky fuchsia hair, and a student who admitted to giving up his classes for the day to attend the launch.

Download: [The Burning Crusade launch part 2]

We told you The Burning Crusade is going to have launch party. As busy as the players and the developers are, they just can't do without them. Anyway, we've just spilled the beans about the different U.S. locations of the said gathering and our readers from other countries are wondering if they get to have a party too.

Don't worry druid friends, we've got you covered! And no, we're not only referring to the 150 Oxford Street in London. Aside from that one, there are other launch parties as well in France, Germany and Sweden. If you are not sure if there's a one near your location, here are the complete addresses:

• France: FNAC (74 Ave des Champs Elysées; Doors open: 0:00 – 04:00, January 16)
• Germany: Media Markt (10627 Berlin-Charlottenburg Krumme Straße 48; On sale: 0:00, January 16)
• Swden: EB Games Gallerian (Hamngatan 37 Stockholm; Doors open: 0:00, January 16)
• UK: HMV (150 Oxford Street London W1D 1DJ Paris 8e; Doors open: 11:00PM, January 15)

Blizzard also mentioned that the World of Warcraft expansion will be available by midnight in most areas. The ones included in  the above mentioned list are just the official venues, meaning members of the development team will be present to meet gamers and sign copies of the game. Finally, Blizzard is suggesting for everyone to ask their local dealers if they will be open by midnight.

When Blizzard Entertainment confirmed the other day the Burning Crusade launch party at 150 Oxford Street in London, we so want to be there. But we're stuck here, hoping to get in the mix when the much awaited World of Warcraft expansion finally arrives. So you could only imagine our excitement when a heads up came our way today.

Well, not exactly a heads up. It's more of a rumor but we're sharing it with you nonetheless. One employee from Fry's Electronics named Evan sent in this tip to game-dedicated blog WoW Insider:

Fry's Electronics in Anaheim will be hosting a Burning Crusade midnight launch event with the Blizzard team. We will open the doors at 12:01am and will have the Team from Blizzard signing autographs. This is the same type of launch in Fountain Valley Fry's a few years back, but will be held at the Anaheim one this year.

So there. We're banking that this could be semi-legit since the original WoW and Warcraft III releases also had a midnight event a few years back. But then again, we will be on the lookout for further confirmations. Tell us if you hear any, okay?

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.