When the World of Warcraft edition Dell XPS M1730 laptop was first introduced, we imagined that a lot of you guys weren't able to purchase it because of its rather high price. Dell, however, has decided to slash around a thousand bucks from this gadget's price. Know more about this development after the jump!

Looking to make World of Warcraft run much smoother? Then you might want to try picking up a motherboard that supports SLI (Scalable Link Interfaces). According to Community Manager Drysc, this feature is supported by the game and might provide a decent boost to the game's frame rate. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

Here's something for the Christmas list of World of Warcraft fans: in a joint project, Dell and Blizzard brings you the Dell XPS M1730, World of Warcraft Edition, the bigger badder brother of their WoW XPS M1710. The WoW Notebook PC is emblazoned with custom World of Warcraft artwork and comes with a ton of extras. Find out more in the full article.

 

For the fortunate fans that managed to get their very own tickets to the BlizzCon event this August (we won't ask how...), there's much more than just Starcraft II goodies, souvenirs, and other delectable freebies that await you. Blizzard has just sent word of three competitions that are expected to take place at the event: the costume, character sound-alike, and dance contests. And in case you're wondering what's in it for the competitors, the site posted some rather tempting prizes for each event's first-prize winners:

• For the Dance Contest: One Dell XPS laptop with an approximate retail value of US$ 4,000.00, and a two-year subscription to Sponsor's World of Warcraft game service with an approximate retail value of US$ 300.00.
• For the Character Sound-Alike Contest: One Nvidia graphics card, one Logitech keyboard, one Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi sound card, and one gift certificate with approximate retail value of the prize package to be no less than US$ 1,500.00.
• For the Costume Contest: One Dell XPS laptop with an approximate retail value of US$ 4,000.00, and a two-year subscription to Sponsor's World of Warcraft game service with an approximate retail value of US$ 300.00.
  

Full application rules and details should be available at the BlizzCon site (read link). Just check back in case we pick up an update for these upcoming competitions.

 

It can be argued that the entries on the Ataris/World of Warcraft Machinima Contest are some of the best ever done in the genre. If you enjoy Machinima videos, you should have seen the entries by now. If you haven't yet head on over here, you won't be disappointed.

Blizzard Poster/Forum Moderator Nethaera has called for players to cast their votes before the end of this weekend when they close the event. The winners for this contest will be announced on June 30, 2007, with the winners walking away with some really cool prizes such as an NVIDIA GeForce series graphic card.

After watching every one of the ten finalists videos, I can honestly say that these guys put a lot of hard work into their entries and really deserve some recognition for their work. Given that we can't vote for every video, just vote for the one you like best, they'll appreciate it. So before we go here's a big good luck to all those in the finals, you guys rock!

 

Making the most of of the least? That appears to be the discussion at the World of Warcraft forums these days, following the recently announced WoW Music Video Contest being sponsored by the three-way alliance of Blizzard, Nvidia, and Machinima.com.

It seems that some the forum members are in a sour note over the contest rules, which dictate that contestants must use one of three The Ataris' songs ("Not Capable of Love", "Connections are More Dangerous Than Lies", or "The Cheyenne Line"). Many of the thread posters criticized this move, saying that it would only hamper the creativity of any contestant that decided to join the event. And while we've been hearing their side of the current dispute, Blizzard sent in spokesman Nethaera to explain why the contest rules were drawn up the way they were:

The problem we've seen in the past is that some really great videos have been disqualified due to the fact that they used copyrighted music which violated contest rules. By having specific songs that have permission to be used in this way, video creators will not have to worry about that end of their submission.

I'm confident that there are some great creative minds out there that can work on something entertaining with these selections.

Good luck to those of you that take part!

The WoW MV contest submissions began this May 1, and is scheduled to end this June 5, at 11:59 p.m. PDT. The selection of the contest's 10 finalists is expected to take place from June 11, 2007 to June 16, 2007, with voting taking place on June 17, 2007, at 12:00 a.m. PT,  until June 26, 2007, at 11:59 p.m. Contest Winners will be announced on June 30.

Are World of Warcraft gamers also frustrated music video artists? Well, this contest could just prove that. Blizzard, together with Nvidia and Machinima.com, are announcing the latest WoW competition for you internet meme-ifying folk. All you have to do is use one of The Ataris' songs ("Not Capable of Love", "Connections are More Dangerous Than Lies", or "The Cheyenne Line") and come up with a music video for it using some WoW machinima.

The contest is open to anyone over 18 years of age, and entries may be submitted from 12 a.m. PDT on May 1 until 11:59 p.m. PDT on June 5. Ten finalists will be chosen, and those finalists who end up on the top three (based on votes) would receive graphic cards from Nvidia and an autographed copy of The Ataris' latest album.

While MTV music videos in teh r3al w0rldz have some booty shaking by the pools and frolicking down the shore, we're thinking you'd get lots of points if you have some of it too in your video, in the form of voluptuous Draenei or Succubi. It's either that, or your music video would involve a naked troll strutting its stuff throughout the animation.

For more contest details, mechanics, and/or to submit your own entry already, head on over to our Read link below!

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.

Nvidia's VP of content, Roy Taylor, said in an interview that good graphics are the keys to good gameplay. And for now, the best gaming machine that could churn out stunning graphics is arguably, the PC. But Blizzard's Itzik Ben Bassat said in a recent interview that "consoles are becoming sophisticated PCs which sit in the living room."

He also speculates that because of the development of the consoles, "maybe in five years you won't need a it (console) because you'll have one PC which delivers content all over your house."

He mentions that they are keeping a close eye on Sony and Microsoft, especially on the online capabilities of the PS3 and the Xbox 360. He also confirmed that Blizzard have no plans of bringing World of Warcraft to consoles. When asked about what he has to say about online console gaming, he said:

Online console gaming is still in its very early stages, and it needs to be developed further to provide opportunities of a scale which will be interesting to us. So when we come to develop a new game we will look at the kind of opportunities that exist out there and what we want to develop, and if it could be interesting on console. We should remember that a 360 is just a sophisticated PC.

The Blizzard honcho also divulged that he has not seen enough of the PS3's online service so he couldn't give his take on it. On the other hand, he has nothing but praises for the Xbox 360's XBLA. He believes that the MS folks have done an excellent job in developing it and that there are "lots of exciting things there".

The final patch for pre-expansion WoW is here. Nethaera and Greyson, two of Blizzard's community managers, posted two different announcements for this latest patch, which sets the scene for the arrival of the long-awaited expansion.

Within the update, perhaps the biggest expansion-related addition is the arrival of Kazzak's subordinate, Kruul. Kruul and his own small platoon of monsters will be appearing near the major cities, as well as in the Azshara, Eastern Plaguelands, Hinterlands, Searing Gorge, Silithus, Stranglethorn Vale, and Winterspring regions. Be sure to look out for these guys and to either avoid them entirely or chase them down to fulfill a new pre-Burning Crusade quest.

In the meantime, here are the patch notes for 2.0.3, which Greyson also calls "The Burning Crusade". Expect the real Burning Crusade next week, and make sure you have a fresh quiver of arrows. You're definitely going to need them.

General

• A stirring of events has begun throughout Azeroth and rumor points to the Dark Portal as its source.
• Mazk Snipeshot in Booty Bay now sells bullets.
• The Auction House now sorts by buyout price first, then by current price. This should filter all of the items with outlandish buyout prices to the bottom of the list.
• Players will now need to be level 58 to pass through the Dark Portal. (The Burning Crusade Expansion must be installed.)
• Collector Edition pets are now blue items and a confirmation dialogue will appear to prevent accidental deletion.
• Pets will no longer attack targets that are under the influence of crowd control (sheep, banish, etc.).
• The title "Scarab Lord" can now be chosen in game for select players.

More patch notes for the humble warrior after the jump. Note: It's 174 MB.