Blizzcon 2011:Day One Announcements

Don't you love waking up to a pool of new information about your favorite Blizzard games? Blizzcon kicks off today and on the first day they revealed tons of new information for Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, Diablo 3, yet another expansion for World of Warcraft, and more!

I didn't realize it was Blizzcon already. Time sure flies, hopefully it stays that way so that we can get Diablo 3 out the door. That game has been in my 'must buy list' for the longest time. Anyways enough of that, here's what Blizzard announced on the first day of Blizzcon 2011.

Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm preview trailer

Blizzard released a trailer giving us a glimpse of whats to come in Starcraft 2's first expansion. Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm is the Zerg campaign of Starcraft 2 and you play as Kerrigan who is now on a manhunt to take out Arcturus Mengsk. She lost most of her powers but obviously she has enough left to control a zerg army. Not only do we get a sneak peek at the campaign, we also see the new units for each race that will change the meta game of Starcraft multiplayer. Instead of giving you full details of each unit, here's a link giving you detailed information on the upcoming changes in multiplayer when Heart of the Swarm gets released. Thanks GamesRadar for providing detailed information of the new units for us gamers.

Diablo III Black Soulstone Cinematic Trailer

Blizzard cinematics have come a long way. The graphics in this new trailer are just amazing. The latest trailer sadly has no release date for Diablo 3 at the end but at least we get an idea on the story for Diablo 3. The woman in the trailer is named Leah, and is said to be the adopted daughter of Deckard Cain. Why is she alone with all those demonic creatures I have no idea. She will have a major role in Diablo 3 since Leah will be assisting the player as he/she progresses in the game.

A new trailer isn't the only news for Diablo 3 coming from this year's Blizzcon. Blizzard also reveals Diablo 3's Collector's Edition which will be released when they actually give us a damn date for the game. Click this link for a detailed information on what this Collector's Edition contains. If you ask me, this is a winner! hopefully it doesn't get overpriced, but it most likely will be since they did it when Starcraft 2 was released. Will you get it even though it costs like close to 3 new games?

There's one more bit of news for WoW players that's linked to Diablo 3 but I'll mention that in a bit. Next up is...

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria preview trailer

No matter what people think of World of Warcraft, this game will keep going as long as there's internet.  World of Warcraft : Mists of Panadaria is the next expansion for one of the biggest MMORPG's out there. We had Cataclysm just last year but with how fast WoW players finish content, expansions are coming out faster now. It's only a matter of time when they finally release the final fight against Deathwing and complete the content of Cataclysm.

This new expansion will be adding and changing a lot in World of Warcraft. Here are the features of World of Warcraft's fourth expansion pack:

• New Playable Race -- Pandaren: Adventure through Azeroth as World of Warcraft's first neutral race and decide whether to side with the Alliance or the Horde.
• New Playable Class -- Monk: Unlock the secrets of pandaren martial arts and do battle as a damage dealer, healer, or tank.
• Level Cap Increased to 90:Learn potent new spells and abilities while exploring uncharted zones and taking on challenging new content.
• New Zones:Explore the lush Jade Forest, treacherous Kun-Lai Summit, and other exotic areas of Pandaria designed for high-level characters, and uncover the mystery of the Wandering Isle.
• Scenarios: Join up with some friends to achieve a common goal, such as mounting a defense against invading monsters, in a flexible new type of PvE challenge.
• Dungeon “Challenge” Modes: Master the ultimate five-player time trial to earn prestige rewards in a new dungeon mode that will put your resolve and coordination to the test.
• Pet Battles: Challenge other players’ companion pets with your own collection in a new tactical mini-game, and find out who's king or queen of the pint-sized battlefield.
• New Talent System: Customize your character to suit your play style with the newly overhauled and improved talent system.

Pet battles are going to be hilarious. From how their explaining it, it's literally Pokemon World of Pokemon. There will be masters(like gym leaders) to fight, three attacks for each pet, pets are tradable, and the gameplay will be turn-based. No demonstration yet, but with the number of pets and creatures/monster that could be implemented into this new system, there's going to be a huge variety if choices.

World of Warcraft Annual Pass

Get the Annual Pass and you get a 12 month subscription to World of Warcraft. If you actually do get this promo, YOU GET DIABLO 3 FOR FREE! sorry for the caps but damn that deal even shocked me. Aside from getting a free copy of a game that's not even out yet, you get a Tyrael Charger WoW Mount, and an instant spot at the beta test of the next expansion.  This is still not enough for me to get back into WoW, but it's a hell of a tempting offer. If interested, head over here to join the dark side.

Blizzard Dota Trailer

Last but not least, we have Blizzard's take on Icefrog's Dota. umm, with Dota 2 on the way thanks to Steam, is there enough to get excited for both? The game looks pretty similar as expected but I like the fact that their using actual Blizzard characters. It's like Blizzard's Smash Brother's, Dota style.

More to come.....I hope

It's only day one, we'll see if Blizzard has anything more up their sleeves. I'm still eager of hearing news from Blizzard's new MMO called Titan. They say it won't make an appearance or even an announcement. We'll see when Blizzcon 2011  closes.

If you want the full day one wrap of Blizzcon 2011, head over here to see the official wrap up coming from Blizzard. Let's see what Day two brings...

Soul Calibur V - Meet Ezio Auditore

Namco Bandai always tends to add famous characters outside the Soul Calibur world. Past games have added famous characters like Darth Vader, Yoda, Link, and with this new trailer it looks like their staying true to the tradition by adding a character that just got famous a few years ago. For the latest installment in the Soul Calibur series, we have Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed joining the fray. Here's first look at Ezio in Soul Calibur V.

Ezio won't be an exclusive character, the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 version of the game will both have the famous Assassin. Soul Calibur V will be out on February 3, 2012 on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Buy Battlefield 3 and you get early access to Mass Effect 3 demo

With Battlefield 3 only a couple of days from release, EA is making sure that you won't regret buying Battlefield 3. Need another reason to get Battlefield 3? hows early access to Mass Effect 3's multiplayer demo sound?

The early access will only give you access to the multiplayer portion of the game. They have not given a date for the demo but you will be informed via the in-game ticker in Battlefield 3 when you can access the demo. The news broke out with a video unboxing the limited edition copy of Battlefield 3 revealing the early access notice.

If you don't feel like buying Battlefield 3 for the early access of Mass Effect 3, be patient. Mass Effect's Facebook page and Twitter announced a demo coming January of 2012. The demo will have single player and multiplayer portions of the game.

Not really excited for the multiplayer of Mass Effect 3 but since I'm definitely grabbing Battlefield 3 on day one, it's a good plus. I'm more excited of the demo giving access to a portion of the single player campaign.

Mass Effect 3 is coming on Playstation3, Xbox 360, and PC on March 6, 2012.

[Source: Gameinformer]

PS Vita will be available on February 22, 2012

Japan has a release date, now the rest of the world has one too. The PS Vita will be available for US, Canada, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East Australia Europe next year February 22. During the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, they announced the released date and informed the rest of the world in their official blog.  The price of the Vita will have two kinds of prices because of the 3G capability. Without 3G you can get it at $249.99, with it will cost $299.99. No official list of game for its Feb release but the blog post do mention games like Uncharted, Call of Duty, Marvel vs Capcom 3, Assassin's Creed, and more which is said to be announced in the following months. If you want an idea, check out the full list of games coming out together with the Vita release in Japan this december.

[Source: Playstation Blog US, Joystiq]

UMvC3 laywerin in style

Aside from his signature blue suit, Wright boasts a series of alternate colors as is the style of the Capcom vs. games with each set paying tribute to certain games and characters from Capcom's library.

The first set being the original look that Phoenix Wright is known for. The blazing blue suit and pants and with Maya donning her original Priestess wear.

For every great defense attorney there is also a great prosecutor. The 2nd color scheme for Wright pays tribute to his childhood friend and rival, Miles Edgeworth. The character is very well represented with this color scheme, even down to that silver highlights on Wright's hair. Maya gets a color change too. Her colors now represent that of her deceased sister who is also Phoenix's mentor, Mia Fey. Missile's color for this set is style after Amaterasu's 2P color design.

In the 3rd set, Wright gives a nod to everyone's favorite bumbling detective, Dick Gumshoe. Strangely enough, Wright's color seems to match Gumshoe's pants more than his signature green trenchcoat but hey, Gumshoes' coat was originally brown so I guess green isn't really his real color. Maya's color reflects another strong prosecutor, Franziska Von Karma who is another thorn and sometimes ally in Wright's serch for Justice. *Wah-kish!*. Missile gets Ammy's 3P color.

If something smells it's usually the Butz. Wright steals another color scheme from one of his childhood friends. The bright orange top and black pants of Larry Butz is present and accounted for in UMvC3. Maya, bringing sexy back with the colors of the maid costume from when she helped out in Tres Bien in Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations. Missile gets Ammy's 4P "Strawberry" color design. Noticing a pattern with Missile's colors.

Ah, the fragrance of dark coffee. Wright dons on Godot's colors pretty well if you ask me. The green sleeves, the silver hair, black pants, and even a white tie. Very nice. Maya whips out the colors of Edgeworth's new female assistant from the Ace Attorney Investigations series. The colors of the little thief, Kay Faraday. Missile gets a unique alternate color this time by being meant to look like a stone statue.

And finally, the last color sets that made me go "kyaaa!~" with excitement. From Shu Takumi's latest creation. Wright takes on the colors of Sissel, mister "Ghost Trick" himself. The bright red suit, the blonde "Johnny Bravo"-esque hair, right down to the white tie and shoes. I am loving it. Maya takes the colors of my favourite video game ginger. Sissel's female assistant from Ghost Trick too, Lynne. Missile gets a very nice color design in this set. This time it's of Amaterasu's original design, complete with those orange swirls.

The only thing missing is a color scheme for Apollo Justice and Trucy Wright. DLC perhaps?

Thanks to @estimater to the tip.

Source [Gamespot]