Welcome to the final article of our E3 recap series here on ZAM!
Yesterday's last E3 main event (3 of 3) was the PC Gaming Show. It was a brand-new event, and likely the start of a new E3 tradition.
All Events: Bethesda, Xbox, EA, Ubisoft, Playstation, Nintendo, Square Enix, PC Gaming
If you're one of the many Blizzard fans lining up for access to Heroes of the Storm–or if you're already playing and want your friends to join in on the action–you may be in luck. Heroes Community Manager, Vaeflare, posted that in addition to access granted from Blizzard, the team will be introducing two new ways to gain access to the game's Technical Alpha.
Yesterday, legendary heroes clashed on the fields of the Nexus as Blizzard's upcoming MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, began its Tech Alpha testing phase. In order to help players who are just getting into Heroes get accustomed to the early stages of the game, the team released a "Tech Alpha Walkthrough" video that shows off the tutorial, quests and other important key features that will help you become a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
The time is finally approaching! Today Blizzard Entertainment announced that the Technical Alpha for its upcoming MOBA, Heroes Of The Storm, would soon be on its way and a select number of players would be invited to partake in the testing. Get ready to enter the Nexus!
It was 1998. The table I sat at in eigth grade math class was considered the "geek" table, and there was always one thing on our minds when we gathered 'round before class began: Starcraft. As a game that was considered a common late-night or weekend venture, none of us cared much for any activities indoors besides Blizzard's futuristic RTS game. Fast-forward fifteen years later and the one memorable line from Starcraft II's trailer that resonates in everyone's mind is "It's about time." Indeed it is about time, because who would have thought such an IP would have solidified itself for a decade and a half? Now nine months after the first expansion, Heart of the Swarm, there's no sign of this game stopping in terms of popularity.
If you happen to be in Shanghai China, you're in luck - you get to see the Battle.Net World Championship live and in person! For the rest of you however, there is another way...
Major League Gaming has a major league weekend planned! The MLG Fall Championship kicks off today in Dallas, Texas, with a huge event - over 1,500 gamers will be competing for more than US$180,000 in prizes!
The Blizzard Creative Writing Contest is back this summer, offering one lucky (and talented) fan the chance to visit Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine, CA and spend an afternoon with the company's own writing team. As if hobnobbing with Blizzard's lore masters isn't reward enough, the grand prize winner will also receive his or her choice between a Diablo III "OVERTHROWN" barbarian diorama or a Frostmourne sword. Seven runners-up will each receive prize packages from the Diablo Archive, the Warcraft Archive, the StarCraft Archive, and the Warcraft: War of the Ancients Archive, "all signed by Chris Metzen, the cover artists, and Blizzard's writing staff," according to the official contest page.
This year fans from anywhere in the world can enter the contest (with the exception of a few states and provinces), unlike the 2009 event. Blizzard is calling for creative fiction based in the Warcraft, StarCraft, or Diablo universe, written in English and composed of 2,500 to 7,500 words. Entrants are instructed to submit their work at the official contest page, using this entry form. Rules and eligibility information can be found here, or visit the main contest page for all the links and info. The deadline for entries is August 23, 2010. To help you get an idea of what kind of writing the judges enjoyed in the past, visit the 2009 Blizzard Creative Writing Contest page to read last year's winning entry and excerpts from some of the finalists' stories.
Blizzard finally has set a date for it annual fan convention. Mark your calendar for Oct. 22-23 and be prepared for updates and panels on StarCraft, Diablo and World of Warcraft. They probably have a new biombshell announcement planned as well.
The following editorial contains views that are the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of Allakhazam.com
Depending on where you live and where you come from, you’ve probably heard of the growing community of 
professional e-gamers; cyber athletes who rake in the cash by playing the games that they love (or end up hating because they play them so much). I say depending on where you live and where you come from in this case because if we imagine that you hail from, say, Korea, the country that invented the “I-can’t-see-your-fingers-they-are-moving-too-fast” syndrome and the ailment known as “I-can-micromanage-better-than-a-computer-itis”, then you’re probably more than well aware of what I’m talking about. If, on the other hand, you’ve just emerged from your rock, blinking and confused at this internet substance, then I’m willing to bet that video game athletes aren’t something that you saw coming.
Either way, this article is not aimed at discussing the growing market that comes from professional FPS or RTS gaming. Rather, it is aimed at the new, acronym-awkward professional MMO PVP athlete (I might as well just say World of Warcraft e-athlete). In particular, this article is aimed towards answering the real question: is MMO PVP a viable path in e-athleticism, or is it simply an awkward date-my-daughter scenario being forced on us by some very influential people? I say influential people in this case because it’s very difficult to ignore a path that is being padded and endorsed by guys like Intel, Blizzard, Dell and NVIDIA. The awkward daughter-date, of course, is our charmingly self-titled “30 second lifespan” World of Warcraft Arena PVP.
