Seems I'm always breaking it, and no one tells me :) Interactive Story is allowing you to add new episodes again. Thanks to mssn_head. (Also note the slight change in link if you've got it bookmarked).

Following their interesting interview conducted yesterday, Computer Games Online has come through again, this time posting an article which lists all of Blizzard's past and upcoming games, and what the Blizzard folk think of them. Here is what they had to say about Warcraft III:

Adham: "It will be very different from any real-time strategy game you've played before, including [the first two] WarCraft games. It will ‘hearken back’ to its lineage, but the play mechanic will emphasize the areas we think are the most fun in strategy games. It will add many new elements to move the genre in a new direction that we think will be even more fun than the first two."
Morhaime: "We are attempting to take the real time strategy genre to a new level and lead a new generation of real time strategy games. We have great ideas, and a great development team. I am very excited that we are returning to the WarCraft universe."
Pearce: "It will revolutionize the genre (hopefully)."

Warcraft3.net has just gotten a hold of a piece of new concept art from a Finnish magazine named Pelit. They have been able to deduce that the name of the unit is "Blackhand," and it will be Orc in nature:



Update: Blood604 informed me that the picture above couldn't be Blackhand, since he had died in Warcraft II. Thanks!

Following a post in the Battle.net forums about a new article (in Korean) about some release dates and other information on Diablo II and Warcraft III, a kind sole has translated some of the article that pertains most to Warcraft III. Here is what he had to say:

It says that Blizzard will support Korean in all games, Warcraft III ,Bill Roper said, will be avaible in the end of
this year( Really? I can't blieve it.. ) and a new game (like starcraft II?) will be introduced in 'ECTS', London, at Fall.

Computer Games Online has just posted a rather unique interview with Blizzard members Allen Adham, Mike Morhaim, Frank Pearce, and Pat Wyatt. It's a good read since CGO goes into asking such questions as "What do you think of your reputation of delayed games," and so on. Here is one of the questions asked:

Do you receive any pressure from the corporate powers at Havas Interactive [owner of Blizzard] to produce more games in a more timely manner?

Allen Adham: After the success of WarCraft II there was a tremendous amount of pressure on us to roll right into WarCraft III. But one of our over-riding philosophies is that we make great games and only great games. That philosophy means never shipping a product before its ready, but rather taking the time to make sure it is well-balanced, highly polished, and as free of bugs as we can possibly make it. It also means that if as gamers we don't feel we have enough fresh ideas to make an exceptional sequel, then we won't do it, even if it means leaving big bucks on the table. Well, after a few years off, we are ready to revisit the real-time strategy world of WarCraft. The proliferation of faster computers and real-time 3D as a viable technology opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for this type of game. We are really going to use the technology and some new thoughts on play mechanics to do some amazing new things.

Morhaime: I think our parent company would love for us to release more games, release them on time and maintain the same level of quality. They also realize that it’s not so easy. Havas understands that the worst mistake we could make is to start making lower quality products that are released before they are ready.

Be sure to give it a look! Thanks to Jai29 for the news.

This is another one of those famously slow news weeks, and so its time to describe to all of you what we are doing to atleast make the site interesting =). We already have an incredible amount of new content completed, but not yet online. Kynes' chapter 1 to his Blood Bond novel has been completed for a week, and is now completing editorial changes. Chains has already finished a second strategy -- expect that to go up this Tuesday. Bloator and Eekbat both have another 5 strategies done between them, and you should see them going up within the next 2-3 weeks. Additionally, Warcraft.org is going to undergo vast changes in terms of our sections very soon. As you all can see, we're planning lots of great things in the coming months, so stick with us while Warcraft news is low.

Blizzard just released a new WarCraft Battlechest, which inlcudes the BNE version of Warcraft2, as well as the official strategy guides. Not too shabby =). This replaces the old BattleChest which included versions of Warcraft2, Tides of Darkness, Beyond the Dark Portal and strategy guides. Since War2BNE incorporates all these, while adding Battle.net support, this is a must have if you're new to the world of Warcraft. Go check the info out here.

Warcraftiii.net recently obtained six short videos of actual War3 gameplay from a recent Blizzard press conference in Korea. The videos, while not the greatest quality, highlight the upcoming game's immense potential. The download is around six and a half megs... but it's worth it. Get them here.

Also if you'd like to preview before you download, you can view a number of screenshots of the videos here.

In the grand tradition of end-of-the-year awards, GameCenter has finally stepped up and completed their awards for 1999 -- a full two months after their competition =). Unfortunately, however, War2BNE isn't mentioned even once throughout the lengthy article. What's more, in the Mac category, Starcraft missed out on first place.

Despite all this, the GamerX awards (aka dubious awards) were fairly entertaining to read. Here are two which should arouse some interest:

The "Where the Hell Is It Already?" Award
Games take a long time to develop. That's a fact. These days, the hype machine for games seems to start about the same time the design document is created. That's also a fact. Whipping gamers into a frenzy over an upcoming title, especially if that title is based on a successful predecessor, is good business--but delaying the game again and again isn't. Unless, of course, you're Blizzard, and that's why this year's Where the Hell Is It Award goes to Diablo II.

The Worst Game of the Year Award
We see a lot of crap here at the Gamecenter offices, but every now and then a game comes along that makes us wish we would've chosen another line of work. This year, that piece of crap is Spec Ops II: Green Berets. So how bad is it? Get this: It's a tactical action game where your AI teammates will shoot you--and each other--for no reason. So not only must you battle crappy graphics, poor design, and numerous other bugs, but you have to watch your back lest a teammate put a cap in your ass. Gaming doesn't get any worse than this.

Hopefully some real news will start trickling in soon. For those living in the eastern coast, enjoy the snow =).

At first I was a bit skeptical about the validity of this site, but after trying it out, I must say GamersHomepage.com isn't too bad. The newly opened site allows you to set up a sort of start page for your browser which displays quicklinks, as well as headlines from a list of sites you can choose from. Here is what they have to say:

After months of development, the staff at gamershomepage.com is ecstatic to announce that our site has finally gone live! Gamershomepage is the ideal homepage for gamers of all types. Just load GHP and see all of the headlines from all the gaming sites that you select, on one customizable, fast loading web page. GHP is built by hardcore gamers, for hardcore gamers, so if you want all the latest gaming headlines now, set your homepage to Gamershomepage.com.

Here is what Gamershomepage.com has to offer:

- Full customization
- Choose which pages to monitor - just the news you want and no bloat
- Color coded markers - let you know what news is fresh
- Personalized QuickLinks - jump straight to the pages you frequent the most often
- Alternate color schemes - your page the way you like it
- Google WWW Search - unequivocally the best search engine
- Randomized quote - feed your mind
- Streamlined interface - loads quickly to speed you on your way FAST
- Updated every hour on the hour - day or night, rain or shine, our spider doesn't sleep

What's even better is that we are listed as one of the sites you can monitor =).

In the long standing tradition of slow news days..

Hone and I talked about this back in the Kali days, but I was reminded about it the other day when listening to the Foo Fighers album. One of the tracks - "Enough Space" - has lyrics that sound like references to a game of War2 :) Observe:

"I was waiting for something, maybe flying machines." (Dave hasn't got those Gnomish Inventors up yet :)
"That's when I found Lily, the best I'd ever seen." (Don't you hate those games when you get flyers only to find your opponent is at lust already).
"Put her on the ceiling, try to make her my own." (OK, so it gets a little abstract here, but bear with me :)
"People line up to see..." (I guess he's playing with vision on? :)
"But there never seems to be enough space!" (He's playing on a map where there's just not enough room for your buildings).

I think this proves the rumors that Kurt Cobain was actually a SNES addict - the whole heroine thing was just a cover. (And before someone emails me.. no I'm not on crack).

Warcraft.org Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are solely of Mutant's own loony mind. We are aware he requires mental help, and are doing everything in our power to get him it. For now, you can go flame mutant here.

What? There's no news? I didn't notice =). Unfortunately, for now, we're resorting to posts such as these. Bear with us.

100Hot.com, a fairly old site that has a great history of showing which sites are the most popular in their field, has just put up their latest list of top sites. Amazingly, in games, Blizzard scored as the 21st most popular site (and remember that this is in the same category as sites such as GameSpot and IGN). Thanks to Warcraft3.net for finding this.

According to a recent heads-up by CymanIce, Games Weekly Internet Magazine is running a poll on the most-anticipated games of 2000. CymanIce elaborates:

This time, we've concentrated on RPG-ish games: Diablo 2, Baldur's Gate 2, Icewind Dale, Pool of Radiance 2, Neverwinter Nights - and Warcraft 3.

Want to go vote? Well, go do it!

As promised, the latest strategy from our very own Chains is now online. Entitled Mastering Death Knight Distance Formulas, this article is a very unique one. Most people don't realize the fact that like most units / buildings in War2BNE, Deathknights also have a certain formula that can be manipulated to further enhance your game. For example, using certain techniques, it is possible for a Death Knight to Death and Decay much farther than he should be able to. Want to learn more? Go on and read the entire article, complete with explanatory screenshots =).

Newely refurbished Ogre Den has just put up a new, rather short article regarding NPCs in Warcraft III. Here is a small snippet (which actually acounts to about 40% of the article =):

NPC's will play a large role in Warcraft 3. They are Wandering monsters, weapons and upgrade merchants and even sword for hire. They will provide unique knowledge of the land and the position of enemy encampments. They will also be used for political missions and hero transport missions. Blizzard has always used NPC's in their games. Even if they were just un-playable hero units that you get in the next level. From merchants in Diablo to Critters in Starcraft. NPC's brighten up the battle field and help out the player.

Congrats to War3.com for noticing this first.

Congrats goes out to our sister site, Starcraft.org for winning Infoceptor's Best Overall Site as chosen by viewers. We'll get you next year! :P

As for tonight, a new strategy is going online, and tomorrow comes the first chapter to the incredibly well received novel, Blood Bond by Kynes (arguably the best author in the world of all time :) .

Alright, so there's not too much news brewing =). However, we've got a lot of new content lined up, including two new strategies by Chains and Bloator, as well as an upcoming one by eekbat. Also, Kynes' Chapter 1 to his new novel, Blood Bond, is undergoing editorial revisions, and should be up this week. Finally, our Map of the Week will finally be coming soon =). Stay tuned..

I've just completed compiling an archive of all the questions (along with the answers of course) you've asked our strategy guru (and arguably the best War2 player in the world :) Chains. You can view the archive here. You can expect this to be updated on a regular basis.

If you have questions for Chains, they can be posted in our forum.

The second wave of site awards from Infoceptor have been announced. I'm a little late on this, so you've probably already read the details over at the best news site in the world, Starcraft.org (as voted by *you* :) Go check them out here.

We mentioned this a while back, but now Blizz have made it official - the next fan site chat will be based on WarCraft III questions. Here's the info from them:

First of all, the next Fansite Webmaster Chat looks like it is going to be about two weeks away. My apologies for the delay and for the fact that we are running a little later than our usual timeframe. I will let you know as soon as I have an exact date and time. Also, as we have announced already, it will be a Warcraft III Chat.

Gotta love a game company that'll take the time to give back to it's hard core fans :)

Although not a weekly thing yet, Blizzard has just released the third official War2BNE bonus pud. Entitled Cliffhanger, this is what Blizzard had to say:

The mountain ranges of Lordaeron hold many unique and mysterious treasures, and the valley below Griffon’s Roost is one of the more spectacular. Surrounded on all sides by extremely steep cliffs, the valley was accidentally discovered when a Dwarvish Flying Machine was blown off course during an unexpected storm. Expeditions have been sent overland to explore the valley, but the foreboding crags and horrific ice storms that sweep over the area have claimed the lives of many who would chart this remote place.

This is a 128x128 map on snow terrain, designed for 2-4 players. You can find the minimap (click for a larger version) as well as the logo below. Also, previous bonus maps can be found here.



Download the Bonus Pud from Blizzard! (120k)
Download the Bonus Pud from Warcraft.org! (120k)

Almost in response to the article discussed in our preview news post, Shakuras.com has just put up a section devoted to old Blizzard games, displaying screenshots, lots of information, and even allowing you to download them (although we're not sure as to the 100% legality of this, it has been fairly common for games this old to be released publicly for free). Be sure to give that a visit.

Most people don't realize that Blizzard even existed before the first Warcraft came out. However, despite their probable denying of it, Blizzard created various other, mediocre games before stumbling upon our beloved humans and orcs =). To address this issue, Haven Games has just put up an article listing and describing these past games. Here is a small tidbit:

Here at HavenGames, our forte is clearly Blizzard Entertainment, as we always have ground breaking Blizzard information. However, have you guys ever thought about what game came before the Warcraft series? No, they didn't just sprout out from nowhere to create the 1995 Game of the Year. They started off like many small gaming companies, created original, although mediocre games, before they made their boom in the gaming industry. In this article, we'll take a look at three games developed by the company in Interplay publishing and pre-Warcraft days.

Covering such beauties as Blackthorne, The Lost Vikings, and Rock 'n Roll Racing, this is a must read.

Zugga, a former veteran of Kali, has just written up a small, unofficial preview of Warcraft III. Obviously, no new information is released, but it's a little interesting to see what another player thinks of Blizzard's decisions instead of a gaming editor. Here is a small blurb:

After all their blockbuster RTS hits, it's hard to believe that Blizzard would move away with that. Instead, it would sound as though they're combining the idea of Warcraft: Adventures with Warcraft II in a 3D world with 3D characters (and some sort of special animations). Instead of massing incredible amounts of Grunts or Bloodlusted Ogres, Warcraft III will have Heroes leading smaller attack parties across RPG style towns and hunting and talking to other NPCs (non player characters). These heroes will also gain experience and "advance levels." It quickly becomes obvious that Warcraft III is more a sequel in name than a sequel of playing style.

Poodoo Site (quality gaming coverage at its best =) has just put up a little mock-article of a fight between our very own loveable peon, and the Starcraft zergling. Here is a small bit:

In all of real time strategy games, only 2 units stand out as the greatest of all time. They are the peon (aka Mr. ZugZug), and the Zergling. Few are witty enough to come up with the idea of pitting these two loveable characters against each other, in a battle to the death, to determine the greatest character of all time. Of course, like every big matchup, this game had its share of pregame hype. We start off, with the pregame interview of THE PEON.

[Smalter] Hi, sir. May I start off by saying it's an honor to meet you.
[Peon] Zug Zug.
[Smalter] Well that's good to know. Tell me, do you seriously think you can beat the Zergling?
[Peon] Dahboo.
[Smalter] That's a bold statement! You say that you will unmercilessly slaughter him? What do you have in your advantage?
[Peon] Shlomu.
[Smalter] I see. I disagree, however. I really don't think that you can use your ax to chop yourself to victory. The zergling claws will own you!! They will make you PEI!!!
[Peon] DIE.

Most of the piece has rather bland jokes, however there are some good ones scattered throughout (most of which can be found above =). Got some time to spare? Give this a chance.

The Infoceptor has just announced the results of their Blizzard fan site awards, with prizes for best StarCraft, WarCraft, Diablo and All Blizzard site. There are still a couple of awards to be announced, but both our ORG Network sites, Starcraft.org and Warcraft.org received first place in their respective categories. DiabloII.net and Blizzard Dynasty also took the honours in their categories. You can check out all the info yourself here.

A big thanks to everyone who voted for us! We put a lot of work into these sites, and it's great to see that you guys appreciate it. :)

Took us a few days, but we've got our first strat of the 'psuedo-lennium' :) It's written by our new strategy writer, Bloator (some of you may have seen his awesome episodes in the Interactive Story - turns out he knows how to play as well :)

The strategy is Part One in a guide to playing on Plains of Snow. It's recommended for intermediate level players, and is geared towards high resources, although many of the principals can be applied to other res or even other maps. You can read the first part here. Stay tuned for the second part, which is already being written!

Bloator has held a top 3 position on Cases Ladder, and is an experienced Kali player. Keep an eye on our tactics section for more from him soon.

The movie that supplied us with a series of low-quality gameplay screenshots is now avialable for download from WarIII.net. It's a minute's worth of MPEG, weighing in at 26.7 meg, but is very poor quality, and is just a camera filming a monitor. If you're like me, you may not actually *want* to see this - I'd rather wait for official Blizzard releases to get a real feel for the game. If you're not worried about being dissapointed, and you just can't wait to get your hands on anything War3, then go download it here.

The Warcraft 2 Tourney being held by The Helper is still going strong. There has been over 40 matches played with each match consisting of three games played on three different puds. To view the standings visit The Helper Tourney Page Here.

Also, if you have ever wished that you could play on a ladder which was team orientated, just head over to IGL.net and sign up with a team or make one yourself. Currently the #1 team is 4:20 which is led by PhucT~.

In addition, I'm back home again and have a few interesting projects on the go which include another game report (obviously), strategies, and a secret project.

On a sad note though, War3.net has closed down. I'm sure they will be missed.

Following up on their discovery of a new Warcraft III preview in a german edition of PC Gamer, WarIII.net has just highlighted the major new findings in the article. Among them include:

The camera can be rotated about the currently selected units by moving the mouse to the right or left edge of the screen, like in Myth.
Units' selection circles rotate around them continuously.
When idle, the Minotaur looks around and wags its tail.
All units' walking animations are very varied, exaggerated, and comical, giving them even more character than Warcraft II's units. Some worried that some of the character would be lost with the shift to 3D, but all of it and more is there.

Not really anything excitingly new, but hey =).

Technoduck (of our affiliates by proxy, SC Infinity) has had a copy of the latest BNE hack for some time. He's posted in our forums claiming the hack is no more serious than any equivilent program available for SC. Any hack, of course, detracts from the game, but (hopefully) this one won't be as bad as some reports have made out so far. You can read Technoduck's post here.

In the latest edition of the german magazine, PC Games, a CD is bundled in that includes a short movie showing gameplay footage of Warcraft III. Although of incredibly low quality and dimensions, the screenshots allow us to see some valuable information. Most important, probably, is the fact that it allows us to see the radar and quick item (?) slots on the bottom of the screen. Nice job to the single man operation, WarIII.net, for securing these first.

Last week, HavenGames wrote up an article about the possibility of War2BNE hacks that could do as much as allowing buildings from high in the tech tree to be built early in the game. Yesterday, they posted a follow up article which addressed more of the issue, and also included a response from Blizzard, in which they attest to the problem:

Our support group has become aware of a hack for Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition. We are vehemently opposed to hacks that negatively impact the experience for other players. Many hacks/trainers/cheats that have been Battle.net specific to date are inherent to a peer-to-peer network architecture. As always, we make our best efforts to prevent cheats and then address them if they do surface. In the future, many of these issues will be addressed with our new client-server architecture being introduced with Diablo II.

Congrats to Warcraft3.net for finding this first.

Also, don't forget to read the prologue for Bloond Bond! =)

GameSpot TV (GameSpot TV???) gave Blizzard a heads-up on their latest show, which not only mentioned Warcraft III, but also included an several blurbs from Bill Roper. Here is what they had to say:

Bill Roper of Blizzard Entertainment says, "People are now really looking to get into this whole gaming community online." Given the ongoing technological advances in gaming, he predicts, "Games are going to be even more impressive."

Blizzard Entertainment's long awaited role-playing strategy game Warcraft III could change the way you look at real-time strategy. In Warcraft III, Blizzard decided to downplay the typical RTS fair of resource management, huge armies, and base building in favor of questing, hero recruitment, interactive environments, and a more integrated story.

Apparently, War3.com has found a anti-Blizzard fansite out there. Basically, they go around making fun of any little thing Blizzard does, while the rest of us see it as good. What's really sickening is they don't have a half bad design =). Go flame them here.

Also, War3.net, one of the oldest Warcraft sites on the net, is apparently closing its doors for good. We wish the staff members there luck in whatever they do next.

Many people seem to think that the teaser four paragraphs of the Blood Bond prologue posted below was the entire thing =). We received many comments like "Great beginning! But only four paragraphs?" Please realize that what was posted below was not the whole prologue. In fact, it's only about 5-10% of it. You can read the whole thing here.

We are very pleased to announce Blood Bond, a novel written by our very own Kynes, who already has an incredible amount of experience writing stories. The novel, which takes place shortly after the Burning Legion descend upon the humans and orcs in Warcraft III, takes the perspective of our beloved warriors as they try to set aside their differences to fight a common enemy. To get your lips wet, here are the first few paragraphs of the prologue:

The generals from the respective armies stood facing their soldiers at the front of the Great Hall in the city of Driscoll, one of the newly-founded human cities in the reclaimed Orcish Provinces. They each spoke heavily and with force about the event which no man, woman, or child would have imagined in their lifetime: the forging of a tentative alliance between the Knights of Lordaeron and the Orcish Clans.

An alliance, in other words, between humanity and its worst enemy.

Or, as some chose to phrase it, the last hope against an invading enemy far too powerful to be beaten back alone. The invading Burning Legions, as they had come to be called, rained down from the sky on that fateful day that noone would ever forget. Within a matter of months, they had massacred over 75% of the human and orcish colonies. With utter destruction of both races becoming imminent, they had no choice but to call this meeting into place.

Lieutenant Jessica Hansen watched the ceremonies with bitter resentment. "New alliance" this and "bond of trust" that. It didn’t change the facts -- orcs were murderers. She had heard stories of their reforms. Word came of tribes uniting under one leadership. Oaths were uttered to stop the never-ending war with the humans. She believed none of them. To her, it sounded like they’d gotten even more carnal and violent than they were before.

Rear Commander H’tel had to restrain his anger. He watched the ceremonies with loathing, unable to believe that his mighty and proud orcish army was allying with their most hated enemy -- tail between their legs, nonetheless! When had they ever surrendered before? When had they ever needed help before? Never. And now they were associating with the lowest of the low, the most intellectually crippled and ignorant foe H’tel had ever come across.

"Humans," he muttered to himself.

We are very excited about this novel. It opens up a new world of possibilities for us, and the storyline is so intricate and full of possibilities that it will be fun simply to write it. Also, we have already received a great amount of positive feedback about it.

What are you waiting for? Go read the entire prologue! Chapter 1 will be published in a couple of weeks, with each subsequent chapter following the same pattern. Enjoy! =)

We thought GameCenter already finished with their awards by introducing the Spinnies. Apparently, we were wrong. Taking a more non-creative approach than their previously mentioned award listing, GameCenter has gone ahead and listed the Top 40 Games of the Millennium. However, unlike most other lists, instead of giving numerical preference to each game, GameCenter simply lists them in alphabetical order. After all, with the 1000s of games released in the last few years, how do you distinguish between #1 and #2? =P Of course, Warcraft was mentioned, along with Diablo. Yet again, however, Starcraft is missing. Nevertheless, here is what they had to say about our beloved game:

You could argue that Dune 2 was the first traditional real-time strategy game, and that Warcraft was second. But Warcraft II was the one that stole our hearts. Blizzard's nitpicking attention to detail and story were first displayed in this engrossing and amazing game of a war between orcs and humans. Many a late night was spent on multiplayer as well, making Warcraft II one of the great games of all time. Now if Blizzard could just deliver Warcraft III in a reasonable amount of time.

Also (read as "please don't get disgusted that the only news left anymore is mindless 'top' lists, and leave this as well as other Warcraft sites forever" =), later tonight we'll be revealing our surprise we've been hinting at for several weeks. Trust me, it'll be worth it.

Infoceptor, in its ongoing attempt to make sure War2BNE look nothing like War2BNE, has just opened up their Customs Archive. Although only three customs exist at the moment, allowing you to turn gryphons to the Enterprise, a peon into a Glyph, and the blizzard spell into a meteor storm, customs can be submitted by anyone who comes up with an idea. Check that out. Also, don't forget to vote for us in their 1999 Viewer's Choice Awards =). Why? Despite the fact that we've been devoid of original content for a few weeks, we assure you that this is merely due to the holiday season, and we already have a new Battle Report, and two new strategies (one of which is so huge it will be released in seven parts) in the works. Also, another secret project will be revealed in the coming days.

Finally, Gurthaur of Gurthaur Entertainment enhanced our logo at his own whim, making it look 100% genuine. Thanks for the great work, Gurthaur! Be sure to visit his site for more incredible work.

UT@golfers was just recently interviewed by the infamous CannonBalls of Blizzard Dynasty fame. UT, who is also a member of 24-7, recently won the the latest War2BNE ladder season. You can read the interview here. A little snippet for you, as always =):

BLD: I understand what you mean. Don't take this the wrong way, but on many of Blizzard's ladders, those high up have been accused and caught of cheating. How do you respond when someone accuses you of cheating?

UT: Well, I play the ladder system. That means that I only play people who I think it's in my best interests to play. If I know a player is strong, yet rated substantially lower than they should be, I don't play them, or I only play them on a map and resource setting highly in my favor. I don't see that as cheating at all, and if Blizzard or enough other people think that it is, then they should change the system, and not blame it on the person smart enough to play effectively within it.

For three consecutive days since the (fake) new millennium has been ushered in, three new awards lists have reared their heads. First came GameSpot UK's apparent result of a really bad new year's hangover (read that here). Then came RTS Nation's list, which although better, still faltered a bit by having a C&C game three times throughout. Finally, today, GameCenter released their first ever Spinnie Awards.

Now, don't get me wrong -- GameCenter isn't the best place to find all the reviews or previews you'll ever need. But, they do come up with some really great articles, and the Spinnie Awards are no exception. By far my favorite awards list in some time, they were also apparently sober, unlike some awards lists before it: Blizzard walked away with two magnificient awards:

The Game We All Wanted to Be Playing By Now Spinnie goes to Diablo II. Damn, hurry up already, Blizzard!

The Game Company of the Millennium Spinnie also goes to Blizzard. It doesn't put out a lot of games, but everything it does is awesome. No one ships a more polished product, and the games are always extremely fun to play.

Other awards that deserve mention include:

The Funniest E3 Comment Spinnie goes to the guy from Scottish Games, who was walking around in a stilts costume that made him about 10 feet tall. I asked him what he had under his kilt, and his reply was, "Whatever it is, it's too big for you, laddie!"

The Brass Balls Spinnie goes to Gathering of Developers for coming up with a game publisher acronym that spells God. I did like their booth babes at E3, who were dressed like Catholic high school girls.

The Gravity-Defying Breasts Spinnie goes to Trespasser for that always present pair at the bottom of your viewing area. Good thing the game didn't have Lara Croft in it--half the screen would have been permanently obscured!

The Best Santa Egg in a Game Spinnie is awarded to Heavy Gear II. The gears started appearing in the game with Santa caps on near Christmas time. Of course, no one actually saw this, because the game sold about 17 copies.

Enjoy =).

RTS Nation, which has always enjoyed doing what we do, only for every strategy game ever made, has just compiled its Top 10 Strategy Games of all time. Not surprisingly, Warcraft made it to an incredible #4 spot, narrowly beating out HomeWorld (which is an incredible game as well). What pleased us the most, however, was that unlike GameSpot UK's Top 100 list, Starcraft wasn't left out in the cold. Awarding it their #1 strategy game of all time, Starcraft finally got the honor it deserved (as our good friends Kahsa'torr and Nocturnal pointed out, Planescape: Torment wasn't on the GameSpot lists as well, not to mention the grandaddy of shoot-em-up games, Quake!). Here is a quick blurb of what they had to say about Warcraft:

Despite the success of Dune, many game developers were still apprehensive about entering the Real-Time Strategy scene, Blizzard had no fears and their debut, Warcraft game sold millions worldwide, was the first multiplayer RTS and spawned a world of sequels, add-ons and compilation packs and even sparked off a RTS war with Westwood. Tides of Darkness, the 2nd instalment of the popular franchise, managed to deliver the goods as well as its predecessor and like most games on this list, will always be regarded as a classic.

Warcraft 2 was another big step forward for the Real-Time Strategy genre, almost guaranteeing it supremacy over its Turn-based Strategy cousin. It transported gamers to extended boundaries of fantasy worlds in times of chaos and bloody warfare between the good Humans (hmm) and the evil Orcs.

We know we haven't been the best when it comes to Public Relations (answering emails, etc.) in the past, but we're cleaning up our act =). We apologize to all those who have asked us questions in the past, and that we did not have a chance to answer. Starting today, all email se