It was recently revealed that EA Mythic's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning team will be traveling around Europe to various gaming conventions. This is being done to promote the upcoming MMORPG to those attending these events.

Fans of the game can expect to brush shoulders with the developers and see the latest build of the game in action. If you want to know more, head on over to the full article for more details.

 

Here's some new screenshots from the game that won Best Online Game at the Leipzig Game Convention, Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. The first ever mature-rated game is set to be released on March 8 next year.

In this batch of screenshots (which is safe for everyone to view) showcases big men fighting even bigger monsters, battlefields and slaughters. There doesn't look to be any magic casters in this batch, (at least not from the human side), but there's plenty of magic to go around from the monsters.

The game's looking gigantic, check out the rest of the screenshots in the full article.

   

Alexander Fernandez, founding member and CEO of Streamline Studios, has been named as the keynote speaker in the Asian Games Convention. The convention will be held on September 6 and 7 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Center.

Under Fernandez's directive, Streamline was able to deliver critically-acclaimed video games such as Gears of War, Saints Row, and Ghost Recon 2.

Fernandez's speech will be titled The Rising Value of Content Capital and will tackle the issues surrounding the importance of content-driven games and how outsourcing can help develop the industry.

"We view GC Asia as a key forum for addressing both the opportunities and challenges of the emerging content creation sector in Asia," said the Streamline Chief. "With game development ever more a global phenomenon, it's the perfect time to address the implications for all parties involved: creators and publishers alike."

GC Asia is the regional counterpart of the recently-concluded GC 2007 in Leipzig, Germany where talks about the industry as well as exhibits of the biggest gaming projects today were held. The event covers all forms of gaming from consoles, PCs, handhelds, and even mobile phones.

If you're interested in GC Asia and would like to participate, you can go to www.GC-asia.sg to find more information.

 

The excitement over there in Leipzig just never seems to end. This time, the limelight shifts over to Magtheridon's Nihilum, a very well known European guild in Blizzard's epic MMORPG, World of Warcraft.

Kungen, the guild leader, and Awake, one of their officers, stepped up on stage and gave out introductions about their guild and all the guild achievements so far. They even gave a live performance of what it's like raiding the Black Temple, a feat they were made famous of when they defeated all the endgame bosses from the area.

When asked what their impression was of the upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, they were rather impressed with the new classes and features, as well as the new dungeon and are looking forward to playing it once it hits the commercial servers. Well, we'll just have to wait and see if Nihilum can keep up with their title of being "world's first" when the new expansion comes out.

And while Nihilum has always been well-known throughout the World of Warcraft community, they have had their share of critics now and then, especially from the forums. Awake had this to say to them:

Yes. First of all, once we wrote "no applications by women" into our application form. People got it wrong and flamed us for this, but it was only a joke. Girls are welcome to apply if they have what it takes. We don't discriminate against anyone. We are also not playing 16 hours a day as is often said - we all have real lives and try to find a balance with our hobby, which is World of Warcraft, and it works very well for us.

For the full transcript of the interview, feel free to visit the source link for the full coverage.

Roll out the red carpet! Leipzig Messe has just announced the winners for the "Best of GC" during the Leipzig Games Convention 2007. The awards span across all current generation platforms and other industry-related tidbits showcased during the event, all dispersed under ten respective categories.

Among the list of 85 hardware and software entries, a lineup of finalists have been revealed. And with those finalists, it seemed to be a tough call on which to choose as the winner. Each of the finalists had their own big plus to bring into the table, that's for sure. Regardless, the winners have already been announced.

Here's the full list of winners of the Best of GC, each in their own category:

• God of War: Chains of Olympus (Sony Computer Entertainment) - PSP
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami) - PS2
  
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami) - PS3
• BioShock (Take-Two Interactive) - Xbox 360
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega) - Nintendo Wii
• Eye Training (Nintendo) - Nintendo DS
• Crysis (Electronic Arts) - PC
• Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Eidos) - Online
• Wii Balance Board - Hardware/Accessory/Product

An award was supposed to have been given for the Mobile category, however, there weren't enough participants to have warranted the prize.

In the MMO arena, one of the most wanted men in the Leipzig Game Convention was Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan, lead designer of World of Warcraft. In the industry, he's known more as simply Tigole, and he was kind enough to answer a ton of questions from Curse.com. As if the other GC interviews with him weren't enough already, we have more info for you guys today.

The video interview (behind the Read link below) is packed with around 25 minutes long of content from the man himself. He reveals a lot of new stuff too. Most of the interview focuses on the upcoming WoW expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. For one, there's the announcement of Utgarde Pinnacle. Here are a couple of other things talked about in the interview as well:

• Alliance/Horde starting points
• Patch 2.3 with more powerful items
• More discussion on Guild Banks
  
• The levelling curve, PvP zones
• More details on the new Inscription class

We can't possibly summarize the whole thing, given that Tigole was just so utterly bombarded with questions. Which is good, of course. So, without further delay, the Read link, if you will.

  

By Crom! Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (for the PC and Xbox 360) picked up the Best Online Game award at the 2007 Games Convention in Leipzig. This MMORPG beat out other online games from every genre and platform to get the prestigious accolade.

Obviously both Funcom and Eidos were extremely happy that their work on the game did not go unnoticed. To mark this occasion, Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas said that "this is a great honor to everyone working on Age of Conan. These awards really show that our massive efforts are paying off and that the public, the press, and the industry are recognizing the very strong qualities of the game."

The MMORPG was heavily featured at the GC this year, with it being shown at the Microsoft and Eidos booth as well as behind the scenes to select members of the press. The Director of the Game Gaute Godager pinpointed a few of the reasons on why their game has captured the attention of the online community:

Siege warfare and player-versus-player battles are some of the most anticipated features in Age of Conan. We recognize the tremendous importance that Games Convention has in the industry and that is why we chose this to be the arena for first showing off these features, letting gamers play player-versus-player for the first time

Gamers excited to play the full version of this game will have to wait a bit since the developers and publisher decided to push its release back to March 2008. They did this because they believe that the combat system isn't up to par, despite the massive demand from gamers. It's that kind of dedication to quality that may push this MMORPG above and beyond its contemporaries when it comes out.

If you're among the legions of World of Warcraft fans that's been hoping to get a shot at trying out The Wrath of the Lich King, we have some very good news. Blizzard has just sent out a press wire announcing that this much-anticipated expansion will be a playable over at the upcoming Games Convention at Leipzig, Germany.

Visitors fortunate enough to play will be introduced into the frigid territory of Northrend's Howling Fjord region. And from here, players will also get a taste of Utgarde Keep, a dungeon requiring a 5-man level 70 party to accomplish. Fans who've played through Warcraft III may remember Howling Fjord as the same area where Arthas' expedition landed in their pursuit of Mal'Ganis the dread lord.

Another game that's also expected to be playable is Blizzard's much-awaited StarCraft II RTS. To be available in the game's demo will be the Terran and Protoss races, with both single and in multiplayer battles to be playable over six different maps. This year's GCDC opens for the trade on Wednesday, August 22, and will be open to the public from Thursday (August 23) to Sunday (August 26).

 

By Crom! It has been confirmed that Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (PC, 360) will be heading to the Games Convention at Leipzig. Not only will those attending be able to see the game, they might even be lucky enough to play it in the public area.

The developers gave word on the official Age of Conan site that gamers who can make it should "be ready to experience the world of Hyboria in all its savage, sexy glory." Like most major events, they'll be assembling a new press kit with new assets to promote the game. While this normally would go to the members of the media, they've decided to share the love with the rest of the gaming community by debuting a few samples.

Aside from being able to play this highly anticipated MMORPG, you might also get a chance to sit in King Conan's throne as well as get a few pictures in with the booth babes dressed as Hyborian Slave Girls. Another awesome thing these guys have done is  to not have an NDA at their booth. That's right, they're actually encouraging the attendees to bring their video cams and film the whole thing.

Their booth will probably be awesome judging from their description of it. Why don't you check it out to see if it's everything they said it would be?

 

The industry-focused leg of the Games Convention at GCDC 2007 will take place">Leipzig is expected to break its previous record of 650 attendees, after Leipziger Messe GmbH announced through press wire that the registered attendee tally for the 2007 event has hit 850 attendees. The Games Convention Developers Conference (GCDC) will take place on August 20-22, just before the consumer and retailer exhibition.

 

Hailing from 35 countries all over the globe - 60 percent from the North American and UK regions - participants have the opportunity to witness the delivery of more than 80 event keynotes from over 120 speakers. And representatives from their respective industry segments - namely handheld, mobile, console, PC, Mac, and online markets - will expound on visions, themes and issues relevant to the industry's times.

Although much of the planned discussions will be focused on the industry side, there will also be discussions on how society and political bodies can properly recognize the gaming industry, and the significance of associations representing the game industry to the outside world.

And in another note, Leipziger Messe has particularly named Tim Schafer of Double Fine Production (Grim Fandango, Psychonauts) to deliver his keynote speech entitled "Games and Creativity," adapted for the new age of game development. If memory serves us right, Schafer and his studio has been secretly at work on a game project under Vivendi's revived Sierra Entertainment label.

It was claimed to be titled "Brutal Legend", but that has been under question for some time since it was retracted. But if former Leipzig revelations are were groundbreaking, then you may count that fellow blogger Schafer will spill more details on his ambitious "labor of love."

The 2007 Games Convention Developers Conference opening remarks will be delivered by none other than the Chairman of the European Games Development Forum (EGDF), Fred Hasson. More GC and GCDC news coming your way, before the Leipzig-filled week begins next Monday.