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Diablo “Investigated” for a Console Port

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:42:38 +0000

Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime brought up the possibilty of a console version of Diablo at DICE late yesterday. While noting Blizzard’s preference for the PC’s flexibilty he stated,

“I think you could make an argument that a game like Diablo might play very well on a console. It’s something that we’re actually doing an investigation into to see if that could make sense.”

Morhaime also discussed a “number of issues” that Blizzard would have to solve before bringing Diablo to consoles. Among his major concerns include the ability to patch effectively and add expansions.

When asked if he felt Diablo could be ported to consoles, he nodded “yes”!

Source: Joystiq

Blizzard Suing Starcraft II Hackers

Garrett Hartman — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 12:13:43 +0000

Blizzard started the month of October by banning 5000 cheaters in Starcraft II. Out to show they mean business, the developer is now going after the hackers who created the cheats and taking them to court.

Last week Blizzard filed suit in the Los Angeles US District Court against 3 suspected programmers:

“Just days after the release of Starcraft II, Defendants already had developed, marketed, and distributed to the public a variety of hacks and cheats designed to modify (and in fact destroy) the Starcraft II online game experience. In fact, on the very day that Starcraft II was released, representatives of the hacks Web site advised members of the public that ‘our staff is already planning new releases for this game.’”

The three accused go by the ID’s of “Permaphrost,” “Cranix,” and “Linuxawesome” have been accused of “multiple counts of copyright infringement”. Blizzard is seeking more than just damamges and want a cut of profits the hackers made.

They are further accused of encouraging other to enfringe on Blizzard’s copyright:

“When users of the Hacks download, install, and use the Hacks, they copy StarCraft II copyrighted content into their computer’s RAM in excess of the scope of their limited license, as set forth in the EULA and ToU, and create derivative works of StarCraft II.”

While the hackers reside in othe countries (2 Canadians and 1 Peruvian) the case is set to be heard in a Los Angeles US District Courtroom. While some question what jurisdiction the court has over the accused, Starcraft II’s end-user license agreement specifies Los Angeles as the locale to settle disputes.

Source: Gamespot

Uh-Oh: ESRB Accidentally Releases E-mail Addresses of Unhappy WoW Real ID Grievants

David Oxford — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:24:21 +0000

Recently, Blizzard made it known what their intentions were for the implementation of their new Real ID system, which in all truth sounded pretty cool. That is, except for one thing: removing anonymity from users on their forums.

Fortunately, after taking up broomsticks and storming the proverbial gates of Blizzard HQ, the company decided on a different course of action. With that, it was over as quickly as it began…

Or so we thought.

During the course of these events, a number of people took their grievances to the Electronic Software Ratings Board. The ESRB listened, and responded to those who took the time to contact them.

The problem?

Whoever was in charge of sending the letter apparently clicked “reply to all” or just pasted all the addresses in the “To” field, thus exposing all of the nearly 1,000 e-mail addresses to… well, everyone else on the list. Following is the letter which was sent, which concludes with a now-amusing blurb regarding the company’s privacy policy:

Thank you for contacting the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) regarding the policy recently announced by Blizzard Entertainment which would have required participants in its official forums to post comments using their real first and last names, and for expressing your concerns regarding potential privacy implications.

It is our understanding that Blizzard has provided an update announcing that it will not be implementing the above-referenced policy with respect to its forums, and users will not be required to post using their real names. You can read Blizzard’s announcement regarding this most recent development at http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25968987278&sid=1&pageNo=1.

Separately, if you have questions regarding Blizzard’s implementation of its Real ID option — which by our understanding is unrelated to Blizzard’s plans for its forums — and/or the new capabilities this option offers, they will likely be answered by reviewing the information posted at http://www.battle.net/realid/.

ESRB, through its Privacy Online program, helps companies develop practices to safeguard users’ personal information online while still providing a safe and enjoyable video game experience for all. We appreciate your taking the time to contact us with your concerns, and please feel free to direct any future inquiries you may have regarding online privacy to our attention.

Regards,

Entertainment Software Rating Board

Not to blast someone for what was no doubt an honest mistake, but perhaps the ESRB should bump their own name up the list of companies they help with developing privacy practices.

Sources: WoW.com (via Joystiq, via Game Informer)

World of WarCraft Coming to Consoles!

Dan Landis — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:02:13 +0000

Blizzard announced today that its overly-popular MMO, World of WarCraft, is headed to consoles in a spin-off entitled “The Molten Core”. We here at Ripten are excited about the possibilities of this concept, and I’m putting my money down that this is going to be the best game ever created. Find out why.

One of the first things I heard that made me stiff in the pants was this:

“Blizzard got its start in console gaming, and we’ve always been excited about returning to this arena. Additionally, we’ve wanted to reintroduce the 40-player raid dungeon experience for some time. With World of Warcraft: The Molten Core, we’re able to do both.”

Those words are straight from the mouth of Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. Sounds neat, right? Well it looks even neater! Check this out!

Sorry, that was a very conveniently misplaced ad. Here is the real screenshot:

Awesome, I know. Blizzard rounds out the details by indicating that there will be different shapes and colors to represent the different classes in World of WarCraft. They also have a sweet teaser trailer. Check it out!

[youtube width="480" height="378"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXiQp7oW08U[/youtube]

World of WarCraft: The Molten Core will be available soon for the Atari 2600, with a planned release on other consoles depending on sales. Read more about the 2008 Game of the Year (yes, I’m calling it now) at Blizzard’s site, or check out an exclusive sneak peek at the game here.