In what is perhaps the most shining example of obsession and geekiness I have ever seen, a fella by the name of Bradster has 36 World of WarCraft accounts that he plays on 11 computers simultaneously. He mainly seems to be doing it because he doesn’t like to rely on so many other people to get a raid going, which includes attacking the Alliance capital cities, and on that front I can totally see where he’s coming from.

I hate those Alliance douchebags too, but I’m not about to drop $5711 per year like Bradster is. The best way to get to them is to just live well, right? Well, Bradster doesn’t appear to be letting the Alliance off the hook so easily, as he plans on picking up 36 copies of Wrath of the Lich King on day one, spending around $1500, just so he can have a raid group of level 80 Shamans terrorizing Stormwind as soon as possible.

Read on to see how this crazy man manages to control all of these characters. Read more…

Today in WTF! news, Gears of War 2 is announced as having gone gold (which means the game has been finalized), and just a few hours after that, the game surfaces in the hand of a mysterious figure on the popular Neogaf gaming forum.

Coincidence? Bullshit? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that every time something like this happens the collective butt-cheeks of software executives clench in unison.

Eventually, games will come with remote detonators that sense a premature case ejection. Removing a game from its container before the specified release date will cause it to explode violently, and affected individual will have a hard time convincing anyone that they didn’t deserve every piece of gaming shrapnel they end up having to dislodge from their face.

Hey, I love reporting news and rumors as much as the next guy, but if continuously pushed, it’s not far fetched to think that developers will find better ways to protect themselves and the media they create at the expense of time and resources that could have been spent developing better content. Everything comes with a price.

In other “non BlizzCon related” news, Microsoft has filed a $2 million lawsuit against shipping company DHL over lost Xbox 360 units — 21,600 lost units to be exact. As the story goes, a DHL train carrying butt loads of Xbox 360 consoles derailed in Duke, Texas, causing “impact damage, wetting, pilfering and shortage.”

Microsoft says that DHL is refusing the pony up for damages despite their belief that the company “negligently breached” their duty. Attempts made to contact DHL have been unsuccessful thus far, though I am praying for some ungodly small fine print that reads something like this: Read more…

Blizzard talks about the changes made to Druids in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to World of Warcraft.

Blizzard talks about the changes made to Mages in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to World of Warcraft.

Blizzard talks about the changes made to Priests in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to World of Warcraft.

Word from BlizzCon 08 is that the new StarCraft II single player game is being split into three separate campaigns. According to Blizzard, the game was becoming so large that they felt it would be best to split it into three separate products — each with their own respective ending.

Each of the products is listed out below followed up by its focus. Read more…

Blizzard talks about the changes made to Hunters in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to World of Warcraft.

The Ripten BlizzCon 08 team got their hands on Diablo 3 not long ago, and spent a decent chunk of time checking out the new Wizard class.

One of the first things that they dove into was the talent tree. It should probably be noted that video cameras and photographs were strictly prohibited for both Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2. Just like WOW, there are 3 areas to spec into.

Hit the jump for a brief overview of the Wizard tree. Read more…

The Ripten BlizzCon 08 team wrapped up the Class Discussion panel and shot me over the following highlights broken down by class. By far, the most interesting piece of news that came out of the panel would have to be the announcement of duel specs.

Hit the jump for a full list and make sure to check back later for video footage of each class discussed in the panel. Read more…

Eat lead, you dirty pirates!

Fallout 3, one of the most highly anticipated titles for Xbox 360 and PS3, is already available for illegal download. It seems that PC games are not the only ones to fall prey to the digital cutlasses of piracy.

With only three weeks until the game’s official release (Oct. 28), the leak will only serve as bragging rights to asshole gamers who simply need to play the game before anyone else does. The pirated version of the game is brought to you by the same people that ruined Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Read more…

In a recent interview, Cliff Bleszinski talked a bit about his opinion on Resistance 2, and how it might affect the sales of GoW2. Since the two games will be shipping in the same week there might be a bit of competition in sales, despite the sci-fi shooters being released exclusively on different consoles.

Bleszinski shoots down the speculations that this might be cause for bad blood between himself and the CEO of Insomniac Games, Ted Price, stating: Read more…

Blizzard wasted no time in updating their official site with a brand new trailer showcasing the newly announced Diablo III Wizard class. We will be hitting you with some talent tree info on this class shortly, so stay tuned for more of our BlizzCon 08 coverage. In the mean time, hit the jump for the new Wizard trailer. Read more…

Activision has announced Secret Service; a brand new tactical first-person shooter, for release on XBox 360, PS2, and PC. Secret Service puts players in the role of– guess what?– a Secret Service agent, tasked with protecting the President of the United States at all costs, in all manner of world famous locations.

It is interesting to note that Daniel Arey, who has worked on Uncharted, the Jak series, and Crash Bandicoot, has contributed to both story and level design. As a huge fan of everything Naughty Dog has produced, it is exciting for me to see Arey working on a new project outside of these main franchises.

In terms of gameplay ideas, this is shaping up to be worth keeping an eye on. See the full release and screens after the jump. Read more…

Ripten’s official main tank, Robert Hernandez (aka Battlerob), prepares to aggro a giant statue of Illidan on display at BlizzCon 08. Sorry loot whores — it appears that a crafty rogue has already pick pocketed the Warglaves.

Find out exactly what Blizzard has crammed into this years BlizzCon 08 swag bag, as Ripten’s Donne Ingalls gives you a first hand account of all the goodies inside.

Highlights include a “bind on equip” Blizzard Authenticator to protect your account, trading cards, a Paladin bubble, Horde mask, QQ tissue box, and a Blizzard branded beer can sleeve for the drunken dwarf in us all.

Hit the jump for a virtual rummage through a mountain of swag. Read more…

Valve’s Gabe Newell today confirmed several details pertaining the demo of the much anticipated Left 4 Dead to EDGE-Online. The level featured in the demo supports up to four players, and it to be a section of the “No Mercy” campaign.

Newell also stated that the estimated release date for both the PC and XBox 360 demos is “early November”; looks like we’ll be able to start shooting zombies before the game even releases. We know we’ll be trying out the demo as soon as we can, but how do you feel? Will you be downloading the demo the day it’s released, or will you wait for the full game?

Are you even looking forward to the game? Let us know in the comments.

BlizzCon 08’s opening ceremony revealed the third of five Diablo 3 classes — the Wizard. Get a first glimpse of the sultry female as she hurls lighting, fire, and icy gobs of destruction at her would be enemies. Read more…

Ripten is so prepared!

Our swag is in hand, and we just got done watching the opening ceremonies here at the Anaheim Convention Center. The game plan was to live blog it all, but it was essentially over before we knew it.

The BlizzCon 08 opening ceremony was short, and to the point. A Diablo 3 Wizard class was revealed, and a brief demonstration was given. Lightning bolts took over the stage, and the crowd erupted with an overwhelmingly positive response.

“A wielder of the elements and a master manipulator of time, the wizard can hurl environment-shattering lightning bolts, channel explosive arcane energies, and create pockets of space outside the normal temporal flow.”

Blizzard founder, Michael Morhaime, closed out the ceremony by instructing everyone to “have fun”, and we plan to do just that. Step into our consecration and hang out for a while. We’ll be bringing you news as it happens throughout the day.

Konami revealed a next-gen Castlevania teaser trailer at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show. We reported on it yesterday, and now have video footage of it, so you can view it yourself.

The video features an ominous Dracula Slayer complete with glowing red eyes and a flame laden sword. It also clearly states that the game is slated for release on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. No other information is known about the game or its format at this time, but if I had to guess, my money would be on a 3D format of some sort.

Watch it quickly, before the scary figure with the red eyes slays you. Read more…