Heads up, Blizzard fans! The Blizzard Online Store is now live in the US, chock full of everything Blizzard from Warcraft to Starcraft. Details after the "read more" link below.

It's usually a good idea to think and to plan ahead. Tokyopop and Blizzard are doing precisely that, in fact. The two have a publishing plan for the World of Warcraft and StarCraft franchises that spans three years. More about what the two companies have in mind after the jump.

After hearing the news yesterday about Halifax not accepting payments from World of Warcraft subscribers due to fraudulent accounts, some of you might be thinking to switch their accounts to a different bank.

However, Halifax made sure that this not entirely necessary. Know more about this after the jump!

It looks like there's too many moochers playing online games: major UK bank Halifax decided to block payments made to Blizzard Entertainment after many instances of people using stolen credit cards to pay for their World of Warcraft subscription. It's quite the troublesome thing indeed, especially if you're a legit banking client and suffering the inconvenience of having to find another way to pay for your WoW fix, like Brit Michael. More details in the full article.

McDonald’s UK boss Steve Easterbrook recently talked about the company's moves in light of the growing concerns regarding obesity.

While Easterbrook was quick to point out the measures they were taking to slim down their food, an off-hand statement he makes indicates that he think video games are partly the cause of growing waistlines. More details up ahead in the full article.

Kevin Zuccato, head of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre, has claimed that "terrorists can gain training in games such as World of Warcraft in a simulated environment, using weapons that are identical to real-world armaments."

This is following the bomb blast that hit ABC's island in Second Life. It was, however, found out later on that the bombing was a computer server error and that plenty of other islands had the same problem. The media just liked the bomb angle. The idea of virtual terrorists might have pressed a panic button among the higher powers though.

An Australian publication recently claimed that there are indeed active terrorists in the Second Life universe, claiming that they use virtual environments as a training ground for real attacks.

There are [...] weapons armouries in SL where people can get access to guns, including automatic weapons and AK47s. Searches of the SL website show there are three jihadi terrorists registered and two elite jihadist terrorist groups. [...] Once these groups take up residence in SL, it is easy to start spreading propaganda, recruiting and instructing like minds on how to start terrorist cells and carry out jihad.

On the one hand, virtual training might be a possibility. The Wii is being considered right now for specialized training. On the other hand, raiding with battle axes and ominous tomes don't exactly qualify as real-life training. ("I have a Tome and I'm not afraid to use it!")

However, the article did suggest that terrorists can use virtual worlds to their advantage by simulating real life scenarios in Second Life. Though to actually do that online may be a step down for terrorists that are supposedly tech-savvy enough to create an exact replica of their target in a virtual environment.

 

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.

We've got the rankings on the top ten best selling games in Australia in the period ending March 18. Final Fantasy XII still sits atop while the Sims 2: Seasons and Sonic and the Secret Rings are second and third respectively. It may surprise some of you but Bratz Forever Diamonds is still riveted at sixth place while Happy Feet and Nintendogs: Dalmatians round up the top ten.

Here are the complete results:

 1. Final Fantasy XII
2. Sims 2: Seasons
3. Sonic & the Secret Rings
4. GRAW 2
5. WoW: Burning Crusade
6. Bratz Forever Diamonds
7. The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
8. Cricket 2007
9. Happy Feet
10. Nintendogs Dalmations

It's pretty interesting to compare the Aussie charts to its UK counterpart. We ran an article on that yesterday and you can check it out by following the link.

 The Burning Crusade has done more than sell like hotcakes, it has elbowed its way across the charts to be the second fastest selling PC game of all time in the UK. What's the first? Championship Manager 4. It's the UK and it's football for heaven's sake.

Last week, TBC took a surprising 30% market share in all PC game sales and sat loftily on the seat as number one on the charts. The rest on the list were pretty much juggled around and the list ended up like this order:

• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
• Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
• Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
• FIFA 07
• Pro Evolution Soccer 6
• World Snooker Championship 2007
• Need for Speed: Carbon
• Call of Duty 3
• The Sims 2: Pets
• Canis Canem Edit

The Burning Crusade's midnight launch at Oxford Street was a success, considering that Blizzard was a bit concerned over it's first launch outing in the UK. An estimated 3,000 people lined up outside HMV's Oxford Street to get their copies of the coveted expansion.

Some have reportedly been on the queue since 5:40 a.m. A few gamers dressed up for the occasion and were given special passes for the Collector's Edition and a free Murlock pet for their trouble.

Itzik Ben Bassat, Blizzard's VP for business development expressed his surprise at the UK launch's success. He gave gamers something else to look forward to as he hinted:

"We'd like to say to our fans of Diablo and Starcraft that we haven't forgotten we have these franchises. We cannot wait to be here in a few years, or however long it will be. It won't be a decade, and we'll be celebrating the launch of [the next] Starcraft together."

Hold on to your hats, the next thing we maybe exploring is just around that Warp Gate. As for now we'll have to content ourselves with entering that Dark Portal.