World of Warcraft now hosts more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and approximately 5.5 million in Asia.

“It’s very gratifying to see gamers around the world continuing to show such enthusiasm and support for World of Warcraft,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re always pleased to welcome new players to the game, and we’re looking forward to sharing the next major content update with the entire community in the months ahead.”

Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. It was the bestselling PC game of 2005 and 2006 worldwide, and finished behind only World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, the first expansion pack for the game, in 2007.* In addition to being the bestselling PC game of 2007 in both North America and Europe, The Burning Crusade holds the record for fastest-selling PC game of all time, with nearly 2.4 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and approximately 3.5 million in its first month.* Development is underway on World of Warcraft’s second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, which was unveiled at the company’s BlizzCon gaming festival in August 2007.

World of Warcraft is currently available in seven languages, with a Russian version in development and scheduled for release later this year. In addition to North America and Europe, World of Warcraft is played in mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

For further information on World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King, please visit the official website at www.worldofwarcraft.com. To keep pace
with the continued growth of World of Warcraft as well as development on other Blizzard Entertainment games, the company is currently hiring for numerous open positions — more information on available career
opportunities at Blizzard Entertainment can be found at
http://jobs.blizzard.com/.

Smokey passing in April  was by far the worst thing that happened but she is still with me, curled up all warm and toasty around my heart.
Then Muffin wandered in and has got herself firmly attached - shes experiencing her first real christmas (yes the tree is still standing).

A girls aloud/sims christmas :)

I’ll be making the rounds into all the mmos/virtual world I haven’t been into enough of late to give my wishes to everyone.

I hope you all have a great christmas!

Dino on the rceuniverse forums put me onto this little gem. I have not played such an original, fun game for ages!
Portal is from the makers of Half life (Valve) and the concept is very simple (they say the simplest ideas are the best).

You have a machine that fires portals - Left-click to create a blue portal and right-click to make an orange portal. Entering one of these portals teleports you through the exit and your job is to get out of the room you find yourself in.

That is essentially all there is to know.

Getting from A to B

Other notable things are the ability to pick items up, some surfaces don’t accept portals and even velocity/momentum comes into play on later levels etc.

At first I found the female computer voice talking a little bit annoying but slowly you detect changes in the voice until at one key point the whole game changes tone. I wont say any more in case you are looking at this and haven’t played it, but it becomes even more fun!

Thats me looking at myself 0_o

I would reccomend this game to anyone - even of any age (how often can you say that). Its a 10 out of 10 game in every respect (graphics, audio and gameplay).

A trailer for Portal on youtube

Portal is available online through Steam for a measly $20/£10 or its availble as part of “The Orange box” which also contains Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Peggle Extreme for $50/£25.

Activision and Blizzard have said they will form “the world’s most profitable games business” in a deal worth $18.8bn (£9.15bn).

US-based Activision also makes hit console games such as the Tony Hawk series and Guitar Hero.

Nine million people pay a monthly subscription to play World of Warcraft. Seven million of which are the most annoying pricks you will ever have the misfortune to meet.

Blizzard is the biggest player in online gaming and Warcraft is the global market leader of what are known as massively multi-player online role-playing games, or MMORPGs.
It is currently owned by the French media group Vivendi.

world of warcraft

As part of the merger plan, Blizzard will invest $2bn in the new company, while Activision is putting up $1bn.

The merged business will be called Activision Blizzard and its chief executive will be Activision’s current CEO Bobby Kotick. Vivendi will be the biggest shareholder in the group.

Jean-Bernard Levy, Vivendi chief executive, said: “This alliance is a major strategic step for Vivendi and is another illustration of our drive to extend our presence in the entertainment sector.

“By combining Vivendi’s games business with Activision, we are creating a worldwide leader in a high-growth industry.”

The two firms are hoping that their different strengths will combine to form a business which is powerful on every gaming platform and in every territory.

Blizzard is strong in Asia, where its Starcraft series has proved hugely popular.
Starcraft, a strategy game first released in 1998, is played by millions of South Koreans in gaming cyber-cafes, and by professional gamers on television.

Activision has developed a presence on all three new generation game consoles - Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii - with franchises such as Spider-Man and X-Men.

The games software industry has been through turbulent years, with companies changing ownership and going in and out of business in rapid succession.

Activision was formed in 1979 and went through bankruptcy and a series of alliances and mergers before becoming successful.

Blizzard had been through a number of owners before ending up in the hands of Vivendi in 1998.

The keyboard itself was really nicely made, and the wrist rest is an extrememly nice padded leather one - the best I’ve seen on a keyboard to date.The first thing I noticed when I plugged it in however was the illumination - which is NOT good.
The purpose of my buying this keyboard was simple - I wanted an illuminated keyboard - i.e I want to be able to see keys in the dark. This keyboard illumination is the purpose of the Reclusa and also its major failing.

The actual problem is something I can only think of calling “light bleed”, a picture is worth a thousand words so take a look at the photoshopped image below which demonstrates what the Reclusa looks like in the dark;

Light bleed

While this may look cool, it defeats the purpose - you can hardly see the letters on the keys because the light between the keys is so bright.
Here is an actual photo of the keyboard in action which shows this effect but is quite hard to see:

Razer’s website however shows that the keyboard light shouldn’t look like this at all - their official images show this wonderful thing;

Razer telling lies

I asked where I bought the keyboard and was told that the Reclusa is exactly like I described - not like Razer’s official images.

Luckily I was able to return the keyboard and I bought the Logitech G15 2007 instead.

This keyboard is exactly the opposite of the MS/Razer one. Bright crisp light from the letters and no light at all between the keys. I was a little dubious of the orange colour but it is really nice in the dark and has grown on me.
This was what I wanted and expected from an illuminated keyboard.

*Note that in the image below it appears that you can see “lines” between the keys - you cannot see any lines in reality, the keyboard is a solid black and the only illumination is the actual letters on the keys.

Yes it actually does light up exactly like this

The G15 also boasts an LCD screen which can be used for a variety of things from gaming info though to media information and you can even program rss feeds to be displayed on it - this is a very nice feature.

summery:

Microsoft/Razer Reclusa
Pros:
Great build quality
2 USB ports
Lovely padded wrist guard

Cons:
Dreadful keyboard illumination
No control of illumination

Logitech G15 2007
Pros:
Excellent keyboard illumination
3 step illumination control
multi function built-in LCD panel
media player keys
2 USB ports

Cons:
hard plastic wrist guard
Would prefer it if the back legs tilted the keyboard up more - even with the legs out its quite horizontal

In conclusion:
The main thing I was looking for in my new keyboard was the illumination.
I wasn’t interested in anything else other that I wanted a cabled one and a decent brand. The Logitech G15 fulfilled all these criteria - The Reclusa failed at its main purpose.
What is more disappointing is that Microsoft/Razer have faked images of their product and what you see certainly isn’t what you will get.

Below are the William Shatner and Mr T ads, enjoy;

William Shatner, the Shaman

Mr T, the night elf “mohawk”

Britain’s biggest and most successful girl band Girls Aloud are currently caught in a very embarrassing situation.

Recently the band announced their new album “tangled up”.
They also gave out many press releases relating to a “fan edition” of the album which would only be for sale to fans via their web site. But it appears that this “special album” is available from several sources.

This version of the album promised (amongst other things) to be “autographed by Girls Aloud” - it doesn’t say the autographs are printed on the packaging as part of the artwork and therefore hold no extra desirability of the item.

Below is the press release text:

Tangled Up - Special Edition
But we know you’ll all be after the Special Edition of ‘Tangled Up’, so without further delay here is all the info you’ll ever need…

Unavailable in the shops, there will be an exclusive fan edition of ‘Tangled Up’ available solely through www.girlsaloud.co.uk
It will be totally different to the one in the shops and will feature…

All the Girls on the front cover. The regular edition will not.
It will be the only place you will be able to get all the album lyrics.
It will also come with three exclusive signed postcards of the Girls.

The artwork as advertised

Here is the link to their on line store for the item:

Description:
This offer is only available through www.girlsaloud.co.uk

Exclusive Artwork
3 Double-Sided Card Set Signed by Girls Aloud and Lyric Booklet
Release Date - Monday 19th November

Track listing
Call the Shots
Close to Love
Sexy! No No No…
Girl Overboard
Can’t Speak French
Black Jacks
Control of the Knife
Fling
What You Crying For
I’m Falling
Damn
Crocodile Tears

Busted!
Earlier this week however, rumours started circulating that this fan edition was being sold at Tescos and also Woolworths.
In fact you can click either of those site links and order/buy the “fan edition”.

Buy it from Woolworths - it is now listed at only £8.97 which is cheaper than through the official site.

So it appears that Girls Aloud’s record company are deliberately misleading fans, trading standards may need notifying about this and any further news will be reported here.

They have lost one fan today!

I picked this game up purely by chance last week. what caught my eye was that it was being billed as an updated/modernised version of the original game which was released in 1996. If memory serves me correctly I had a Sega Saturn at the time and most likely played the original game on that.

Even back then it was a ground breaking game and I spent hours and hours playing it.
From my own point of view I lost interest in the series as more shooting encounters were added to the game - I enjoyed the puzzle solving aspect of it. So it was with some trepidation that I bought this.

Some stunning graphics

I am pleased that I did buy it, when you first run the game its hard to see where the connection to the original is but once you get further into it though you start recognising some places like the Damocles room with the hanging swords and the coliseum.

This game does bring back a lot of memories but is very enjoyable in its own right for those who never played the original. There are some very frustrating and time consuming puzzles - which is what you expect (and want) from a game like this and in a market that is swamped with bloody war games (no pun intended) this is a very refreshing change.

Lara swinging

Interestingly the game features built-in cheats which you can unlock as you progress through the game. Some of them are typical, such as infinite health/ammo etc but there are also different outfits you can unlock that Lara will wear such as a shiny black rubber catsuit :s

Lara in rubber
Other bonuses include things such as a texture-less play mode, game commentaries, music and an art gallery.

The art gallery was quite interesting for me as you don’t appriciate how advanced the anniversary edition is from the original until you see some of the side-by-side game examples.

A direct side-by-side comparison with the original game
Its definitely worth buying if you have a lot of free time and like puzzle solving.

Girls aloud have announced their new studio album - titled “Tangled Up”.

The first thing you need to know is that ‘Tangled Up’ will be out in the shops to buy at 9am Monday 19th November. For info about the ‘Special Edition’ keep on reading.

Here is the track listing for the album;
‘Call the Shots’
‘Close to Love’
‘Sexy! No No No…’
‘Girl Overboard’
‘Can’t Speak French’
‘Black Jacks’
‘Control of the Knife’
‘Fling’
‘What You Crying For’
‘I’m Falling’
‘Damn’
‘Crocodile Tears’

The girls have been mentioning their favourite tracks;
Cheryl - ‘Call the Shots’
Nadine ‘Can’t Speak French’
Nicola ‘Crocodile Tears’
Kimberley says, “Even though it’s really difficult, we all have a favourite track on the album. It’s been so great working with Brian and the team again. We really hope everyone loves it as much as we do and really hope the fans will let us know what they think of it! It’s not long to wait - promise it will be worth it!!”

Tangled Up - Special Edition
But we know you’ll all be after the Special Edition of ‘Tangled Up’, so without further delay here is all the info you’ll ever need…

Unavailable in the shops, there will be an exclusive fan edition of ‘Tangled Up’ available solely through www.girlsaloud.co.uk
It will be totally different to the one in the shops and will feature…

All the Girls on the front cover. The regular edition will not.
It will be the only place you will be able to get all the album lyrics.
It will also come with three exclusive signed postcards of the Girls.

Call the Shots
The Girls’ next single, ‘Call the Shots’, is out 26th November, the week after ‘Tangled Up’ and we can now bring you the final track listing for both CD singles.

Maxi
‘Call the Shots’
‘Call the Shots (Xenomania Club Mix)’
‘Blow Your Cover’
‘Call the Shots (Video)’

Mini
‘Call the Shots’
‘Rehab (from BBC Radio 1 - Jo Whiley Live Lounge session)’

Taken from Killing Jokes official site: http://www.killingjoke.com

Jaz Coleman:
Our beloved Paul Raven died unexpectedly of a heart attack in Geneva in the early hours of Saturday October 20th 2007. Paul went to bed and did not wake up.

All of Paul’s family and extended family are in a state of deep sadness and shock at Paul’s unexpected passing. Paul has been sadly taken from us early in his life and his passing will leave behind a void that only Paul’s amazing and unique character could fill. Paul was full of life and anyone that knew him well enough loved him deeply and admired him greatly.

Paul brought something special with him wherever he went and we will all miss him greatly. Rest in peace.

Geordie Walker:
“We are all deeply stricken with grief at the unannounced departure of possibly the funniest man on planet Earth and a brother to us all. Paul Vincent Raven unimaginable sadness is felt by all”

Dan Raven Paul’s Brother :
”We are in deep shock and we miss him a great deal. We love him”

If you wish to leave a message of respect and condolence, please do so at the Killing Joke MySpace: www.myspace.com/killingjokeofficial

A funeral will be held in the next couple of weeks for further information on where to send floral tributes etc go to www.killingjoke.com and www.myspace.com/killingjokeofficial

You will be missed by us all gooner, thank you for the time you spent with us - Matt Luxon.

What a sad day :(