World of Warcaft is important. The developers tell Kotaku they even dared to dream that they’d some day get a million subscribers. But to tell the story of the fifth anniversary of WoW, we first have to look at the game that started 15 years ago, Warcraft.

It All Started On Arrakis

In 1992, Westwood Studios released a game that changed the way real-time strategy games were made. It was Dune II, the first RTS to incorporate mouse movement, resource gathering, technology trees, and unique weapons and units per faction, all elements that are still being used in RTS games today.

The game caught the eyes and imaginations of several members of Silicon & Synapse, a game development studio that had mainly focused on porting games from other studios. After a brief stint as Chaos Games the studio took on the name Blizzard Entertainment in 1994.

As Blizzard art director Sam “Samwise” Didier explains it, the team’s fascination with Dune II led directly to the development of its first blockbuster hit, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.

“Back in the Jurassic period we all loved playing games like Dune II. We got inspired and thought this game was awesome and wanted to make something like it. We were all big fans of Dungeons and Dragons and Tolkien, and we wanted to make a fantasy world real-time strategy game.”

Taking cues from existing titles was the norm for Blizzard in the early days. Samwise points to another early Blizzard title, The Lost Vikings, which was born out of the team’s love for PC puzzle game Lemmings from DMA Design, the studio that would go on to become Rockstar North of Grand Theft Auto fame.

So Blizzard took the formula established in Dune II and expanded upon it in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, adding goals beyond simply building your army and decimating your enemies. Players found themselves rescuing friendly forces from enemy camps, assassinating key members of the opposition, and rebuilding ruined towns. It was also the first RTS game to feature hand-to-hand combat and magic.

One more important innovation was borrowed from a decidedly different sort of game – Doom. Inspired by the fun of playing Doom together, Blizzard added the ability to play multiplayer battles via modem and local area network to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, a feature that would become a key feature of the RTS genre.

Expanding The Story

While Orcs & Humans laid the groundwork for games to come, it was relatively light on story. Blizzard rectified that oversight with the game’s 1995 sequel, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, elevating Azeroth from game setting to fully realised fictional world.

The game saw the Orcs and Humans gather allies in the Trolls, Goblins, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Gnomes, laying the foundations for the Alliance and the Horde as we know them today. The game and it’s expansion pack, Beyond the Dark Portal, introduced characters and locations that would play a large part in the games to come.

Tides of Darkness also expanded on the multiplayer of the original game. In 1999, Blizzard released both the game and its expansion as Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition, allowing players to engage in multiplayer matches over the internet using the Battle.net service introduced with 1997’s Diablo.

Class Clowns And Failed Comedians

Along with solidifying the world of Azeroth and strengthening the foundation for the fiction that would grow with each new game in the franchise, Warcraft II also established another signature feature of the series: its sense of humor.

“We had lots of class clowns and failed comedians on the team,” explains Didier. “We never really took it too seriously. We wanted really cool characters and events while making fun classic fantasy stereotypes. We included anything we thought was cool, serious or humorous.”

For instance, clicking on a unit once in Warcraft II elicits a normal verbal response. Click repeatedly on a unit for no reason and they become annoyed, spouting humorous phrases like “are you still touching me?” Samwise cites this feature as a prime example of adding humor to a game without alienating those craving a serious experience. “Only the people who wanted the comedy had to deal with it.”

The Lost Chapter

As Warcraft was inspired by Dune II, Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans was inspired by classic LucasArts adventure games like The Secret of Monkey Island. Development on this adventure game began soon after the completion of Warcraft II. Using a combination of cartoons and point and click adventure gameplay it would tell the story of the Orcs trapped in Azeroth following the destruction of the Dark Portal, and the rise of the famed Orc warchief Thrall, Sadly, the game never saw the light of day.

In a move that Blizzard would later repeat with StarCraft side-story Ghost, the company canceled the game days before the 1998 E3 Expo in Atlanta, despite the game being mostly complete. The animation was finished, the puzzles in place, and even the voice over work had been fully recorded, but Blizzard felt the game wasn’t up to their high standards.

In an announcement issued on the 22nd of May, 2008, Blizzard explained the cancellation to fans. “The decision centered around the level of value that we want to give our customers. In essence, it was a case of stepping up and really proving to ourselves and gamers that we will not sell out on the quality of our games.”

When asked if there was ever a chance of Adventures being released, Samwise was skeptical. “We’re not taking the old one and finishing it. It wasn’t up to par and we’d have to polish the hell out of it. DVDs are really popular because of deleted scenes, but when you watch them you can see why they weren’t included in the movie. That’s what Warcraft Adventures is.”

Still, Blizzard felt the story of Thrall too important to gloss over, commissioning Star Trek novelist Christie Golden to write Warcraft: Lord of the Clans, a novel that bridges the gap between Warcraft II and the next game in the series, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.

Further Evolution

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, released in 2002, delved deeper into the lore of the series than ever before. It chronicles the rise and fall of Arthas Menethil, the prince who would become the Lich King; introduces the Night Elves and the Undead; and introduces the Burning Legion, the demonic scourge of the Warcraft universe.

Deviating from previous entries in the series, Warcraft III and its expansion, The Frozen Throne, integrates storytelling into the gameplay itself, rather than feeding the player through mission briefings. This allowed for a more seamless and immersive game, further cementing Blizzard’s reputation as top-notch storytellers.

Warcraft III, like Warcraft II, included a World Editor program, allowing players to craft their own scenarios and maps, and players took full advantage of the feature, creating their own game types. One such custom game, defence of the Ancients, gave rise to a new sub-genre of RTS, in which players control a single champion that gains levels and abilities as it battles alongside computer-controlled units. defence of the Ancients-inspired games like Gas Powered Games’ Demigod and the recently released League of Legends from Riot Games serve as a lasting reminder to the legacy of Warcraft III.

Welcome To Our World

In early 2000, Blizzard’s development team found themselves fascinated by another type of game.

“Everyone here had been playing a bunch of Everquest and Ultima Online,” says Samwise Didier. “It goes all the way back to the whole Lost Vikings/Lemmings thing. It was a genre we enjoyed, and Warcraft was a good fit.”

Blizzard announced World of Warcraft, the massively multiplayer take on the Warcraft universe in 2001, and for three years fans eagerly awaited their chance to take their first steps into the world of Azeroth, unfettered by the rules of the real-time strategy genre.

The game would pick up the story four years after the events of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, with the world split into two major factions – the Alliance and the Horde. Players would experience the battle for Azeroth from an entirely new, more personal point-of-view.

As the 2004 release approached, Blizzard was aware it had something special on its hands, though some members of the development team had more faith than others. World of Warcraft production director J. Allen Brack relates a particularly amusing story about a pep talk given by Blizzard co-founder and lead designer Allen Adham.

“Allen Adham got everyone on the team in a room to talk about how great his confidence was in the game, and how he thought we had something great. He said, ‘One day this game will have a million subscribers.’ No one believed that. We thought it was crazy. We thought, ‘You’re a liar.’ There was no way that any game would have a million subscribers.”

World of Warcraft launched in North America on November 23, 2004. Fan reaction to the release was so massive that the game was plagued with downtime and server queues for the first week, as Blizzard opened new worlds to deal with the exploding population. By December 2005, the game had 3.5 million subscribers. By December of 2008, that number had jumped to 11.5 million.

How does a PC game attract 11.5 million players? World of Warcraft game director Tom Chilton says the game has something for everyone.

“It’s easy to learn, but hard to master, which attracts different sorts of gamers. The hard to master part keeps the hardcore players around, while the casual players enjoy the wide variety of things to do,” Chilton explains. “Ultimately it’s just a really good game.”

Massively Mainstream Appeal

The success that World of Warcraft has achieved over the past five years is nothing short of astounding. It was the best-selling PC game of 2005 and 2006 according to NPD data, knocked from the top spot in 2007 by its own expansion, The Burning Crusade. In 2008 the game’s second expansion, The Frozen Throne, took the top spot.

The success of the game goes far beyond sales numbers. World of Warcraft has become a pop culture phenomenon. It’s been used to advertise products like Coke and Toyota, while its own advertisements have feature pop culture icons such as Mr. T and William Shatner. A 2007 episode of Comedy Central’s cartoon South Park, “Make Love, Not Warcraft,” won the 2007 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.

Like Super Mario Bros. or Grand Theft Auto, World of Warcraft is a game that has gained recognition far beyond its already expansive audience. For a fantasy game that is strictly PC-based, that’s no mean feat.

The Future

So where will the World of Warcraft be in another five years? Tom Chilton delivers a blissfully blurry outlook for the world’s most popular subscription-based MMO.

“One of the cool things is: who knows where it will go next? The world itself is filled with so many possibilities. We’ve got outer space demons. We’re about to add little green guys and werewolves (in the upcoming Cataclysm expansion). There are so many different directions you can go in. Magic, guns, machines – anything we want to come up with we can fit into the World of Warcraft with no problem.”

And the continuing success of World of Warcraft doesn’t preclude the possibility of a Warcraft IV. Just don’t expect it any time soon, with teams tied up with Diablo III and StarCraft II.

Real-time strategy or massively multiplayer, the Warcraft universe continues to make its mark on the world, with each new game and expansion adding layer upon layer to a tale that J. Allen Brack believes could go on forever.

“We’ve got quite a bit to do before we run out of ideas. New people are constantly joining the team, bringing their own ideas with them. The full story will never truly be written.”

Check back all week for more stories related to World of Warcraft’s fifth anniversary.

The new Atari.com represents phase one of the company’s internet re-launch, allows fans of the company’s works to browse the latest Atari titles, buy games from the Atari Store, enter contests, and most importantly, play six classic Atari games for free as long as you;d like, unless your boss is watching. The six games currently on the site include Asteroids, Adventure, Battlezone, Crystal Castles, Lunar Lander and Yars Revenge, each retro-fitted with leaderboards so players can keep track of how much they suck at Crystal Castles and how many times they blame it on the lack of a trackball.

“Today commences the first stage in Atari’s ongoing commitment to growing its online business with the re-launch of Atari.com,” said Jim Wilson, President and CEO of Atari, Inc. “Our online roadmap contains a multitude of enhancements and exciting new features which over time will redefine how people play and connect with Atari.”

Yes, yes Jim, whatever you say. More Yars Revenge please.

Well that’s certainly a novel way to make sure you don’t have a huge overpopulation of Jedi Knights and Sith Warriors. The Jedi Consular and Sith Inquisitor are both force-active classes, one fulfilling a support role while the other seems to be more of a DPS class. Note that all of the information here comes from a translation of a scan of the PC Games article from The Old Republic forum member Petrosis.

According to said translation, the Jedi consular can be geared towards a healing or damage role, depending on how useful the player feels like being.

The article calls the Sith Inquisitor a second line fighter, and from looking at its powers (seen below) it seems almost like a crowd controller with some area-of-effect (AOE) damage thrown in.

Check out the descriptions from the translation below, or hit up the link for the full post.

Jedi Consular page:
Image top:
With sword, charm and the force! The Jedi Consular fights from the second line.
Image middle:
The seventh class is the Jedi Consular. Contrary to the revealed Jedi Knight, several weeks ago, is the Consular not to be found in the first line. Although he can swing the lightsaber too, he masters several ranged fighting skills like “Sleep”, “Lift” or “Smash”. The class can be tuned into damage or healing. Thus is the Jedi Consular one mighty support class in the Old Republic. Abilities:
Sleep
Lift
Smash
Force Push
Reflect

Both images bottom:
Beatiful type! The Jedi Consular stretches his arms, focuses his force, and throws the attacking droids with one strike through Force Push on the ground.

Sith Inquisitor page:
Image top left:
I have the force! As a Sith Inquisitor one masters the use of elecricity with ease.
Image top right:
The Sith Inquisitor is the alst of the eight classes tottaly with which SWTOR will launch. The Inquisitor is the opposite of the Consular and is a fighter from the second line. Equipped with force abilities like the “Shock” or the “Lightning Charge” heats his enemies properly, in which we could assure ourselves in one play session. One quest sent us into an ancient Sith-tomb, where crawled with killer worms (K’lor’slug Ravager) and imperial deserters. With the help of the area attack “Overload” near enemies we can not only damage them, but knock them back and stun them for several seconds, and so we cleaned the nest quickly.

Abilities:
Saber Blow
Shock
Execute
Overload
Lighting Charge
Whirlwind
Dark Gift
Call a fare(?)
Dark Meditation

Image middle:
Bad chance! In close combat has the Trooper against the Inquisitor the bad cards
Image bottom:
Electricuted! With electrical hit one does not only damage but stuns the enemies

PC Games article fully translated [The Old Republic Forums - Thanks Venom!]

The rumour sprang from an article on German website Heise Online, which posted a story about an interview with IBM’s vice president of deep computing, David Turek, in which he indicated that the development of the next version of the Cell processor with dual PowerPC processors and 32 SPEs (Synergistic Processing Elements) had been halted. This led to many articles declaring the Cell processor dead.

Our immediate concern upon reading this, was the fate of the Sony PlayStation 3, so we dropped a line to IBM. Spokesperson Ron Favali returned our call and immediately assured us the PlayStation 3 was safe.

“As long as we have a contract with Sony we will continue to manufacture Cell processors for use in the Sony PlayStation.”

So don’t worry about Sony running out of chips anytime soon. IBM has them covered. As for the fate of the Cell processor technology? Well that will live on as well says Turek. “The core technology of the Cell processor will continue to proliferate throughout the IBM product line.”

Turek wouldn’t comment on upcoming product announcements regarding the future of the Cell.

SC09: IBM lässt Cell-Prozessor auslaufen [Heise-Online via Fudzilla, Gizmodo]

There’s been post-apocalyptic MMO games in the past, but the apocalypse in those games has never been of an undead nature. Undead Labs is looking to fix that with the first MMOz, and the Z stands for zombies.

ArenaNet co-founder Jeff Strain, who’s resume includes Blizzard and NCsoft, formed Undead Studios to build a new MMO game from the ground up for consoles. He assembled a crack team of zombie-loving developers in Seattle, Washington, and set about creating a game that quite frankly begs to be created.

“Every time I see a good zombie movie with friends, we spend days debating our strategies for surviving the zombie apocalypse,” said Strain. “The police station or the supermarket? Garden rake or staple gun? Bach or the White Stripes? I’m a game developer, so I’d probably be useless for anything other than ghoul bait, but I’m excited to have the opportunity to build an MMOZ that lets us put those strategies to the test and find out for sure.”

This is the single best idea for an MMO game that I’ve heard in the history of the genre, and I’ve played a lot of MMO titles. To be able to work together with other players to survive a zombie apocalypse, without having to worry about the government simply nuking everything before the credits roll? That’s love right there.

Undead Labs plans on being pretty transparent throughout the development process of the game, so you might want to keep an eye on the official website for further apocalyptic developments.

Bethesda is bringing out a line of Fallout-themed avatar wear to the Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace this Thursday, giving players six new ways to show off their love for Fallout 3 and its creators, Bethesda Game Studios. There’s three t-shirts priced to move at 80 Microsoft points apiece; the standard Vault 101 suit, complete with PipBoy, for 240 points; a Vault Boy suit for 240 points; and the pièce de résistance – a Vault Boy head that covers up your avatar’s goofy cranium.

My advice? Just buy the head and play Vault Boy dress up. It’s simply the right thing to do.

Fallout 3 items hitting the Xbox Avatar Marketplace this Thursday [Bethesda Blog]

Not only have a slew of new, blockbuster titles come out for the emerging platform, Apple finally realised that maybe they should wake up and start touting the gaming benefits of their smartphone and media player.

This is by no means all of the iPhone and iPod Touch games we reviewed this year, but it’s a quick look at some of the more memorable ones. Don’t forget, just because they’re download only, doesn’t mean you can’t present a list with the iTunes card you give someone.

Any we missed? Any you would suggest for a friend?

Asphalt 5
Price: $8.99
Rating: 9+
Genre: Racing
Subject Matter: Gameloft brings Burnout’s adrenaline-amping crashes and Ridge Racer’s wind-in-your-hair thrills to the iPhone with Asphalt 5.
Value: A strong competitor to the PSP’s racing games, Asphalt 5 offers three modes-quick race, career, local and online multiplayer, 33 cars, 12 tracks, vehicle customisation and unlockable stat-boosting babes.
Buy it for: Gamers ready to go vroom.
Read the Full Review

Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Price: $12.99
Rating: 9+
Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Subject Matter: EA brings its over-the-top real-time strategy series to the iPhone, allowing on-the-go gamers to wage war wherever they please.
Value: While things like C&C’s cheesy cinematics didn’t make the leap to the iPhone, the platform’s touch screen display is ideal for RTS style gaming.
Buy it for: RTS players looking for a mobile strategy game.
Read the Full Review

Doom Resurrection
Price: $3.99
Rating: 12+
Genre: First-person touchscreen shooter
Subject Matter: Loosely based on Doom 3, Resurrection is an impressive port of the demonic sci-fi FPS that’s easily controlled with the iPhone’s accelerometer.
Value: As iPhone games go, Doom Resurrection is priced almost right, offering a solid campaign, but not much more.
Buy it for: budding space marines who enjoy killing hellspawn between phone calls.
Read the Full Review

Dungeon Hunter
Price: $5.99
Rating: 9+
Genre: Diablo-esque action.
Subject Matter: Dungeon Hunter has gamers play as a fallen prince back from the dead to save the kingdom from his evil wife. Plenty of dungeon crawling, loot gathering and virtual button-mashing in this game.
Value: A single play-through of the game can take 25 hours, and there are three character classes to play with. This is probably the best value you’ll find on the iPhone or iPod Touch.
Buy it for: fans of adventure games like Diablo and light role-playing titles.
Read the Full Review

Madden NFL
Price: $12.99
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: EA Sports delivers its best-selling Madden franchise to the iPhone for the first time.
Value: Fully licensed, with all of the teams, players and game modes from the console version of the definitive NFL video game title.
Buy it for: A great stocking stuffer for any football fan with an iPhone or iPod Touch.
Read the Full Review

Metal Gear Solid Touch
Price: $1.19
Rating: 9+
Genre: Third-person touchscreen shooter
Subject Matter: Metal Gear Solid Touch brings 20 stages lifted from Metal Gear Solid 4 but focuses more on arcade-style touchscreen shooting than the stealth gameplay that Solid Snake is famous for.
Value: MGS Touch offers a decent amount of replayability and cool items to unlock.
Buy it for: the serious as a heart attack Metal Gear fan who doesn’t have access to a PlayStation.
Read the Full Review

NBA Live
Price: $12.99
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: The NBA goes mobile in EA Sports’ first port of its popular pro basketball simulation.
Value: All teams, all players, plus season, playoffs, and pick-up-and-play modes, with customisable rosters.
Buy it for: Any hoop-head with a gadget fixation will love having a full basketball sim in his or her pocket.
Read the Full Review

Resident Evil 4 Mobile Edition
Price: $8.99
Rating: 9+
Genre: Shooter
Subject Matter: Resident Evil 4 Mobile Edition is a screen-tapping, stop-and-pop, suspense shooter.
Value: With a dozen settings and two dozen timed stages, this iPhone title is worth the money.
Buy it for: Resident Evil fans, shooter fans, anyone interested in gaming on their phone or Touch.
Read the Full Review

Rock Band
Price: $8.99
Rating: 4+
Genre: Music
Subject Matter: It’s Rock Band. It’s on the iPhone. Yeah!
Value: Packed with 20 tracks, Rock Band has a set list that boasts the likes of Foo Fighters, the Pixies and Joan Jett. Players can jam on all four instruments. Multiplayer supports up to four.
Buy it for: Music game lovers on the go.
Read the Full Review

Rolando 2
Price: $5.99
Rating: 4+
Genre: A charming side-scrolling puzzler.
Subject Matter: This sequel to last-year’s must-have iPhone game, Rolando 2 introduces more story, character development and challenges.
Value: This is the first time Luke has ever played an iPhone that felt truly substantial.
Buy it for: fans of LocoRoco, Rolando or cute, cleverly-crafted puzzle games.
Read the Full Review

Space Invaders Infinity Gene
Price: $5.99
Rating: 4+
Genre: Shoot em up
Subject Matter: Space Invaders Infinity Gene is a re-imagining of ’70s classic arcade game Space Invaders.
Value: One of the most played games on my iPhone, Space Invaders Infinity Gene offers you 19 levels with a number of interesting new weapons. But almost more importantly, the game can create levels on the fly designed around music played from your iPhone or iPod Touch’s music library.
Buy it for: fans of Space Invaders, fans of shoot-em ups, fans of fun.
Read the Full Review

Star Defense
Price: $1.19
Rating: 9+
Genre: Tower defence
Subject Matter: Defend a planet outpost from an amazingly orderly bunch of aliens walking there way along the paths that lead from landing port to your base.
Value: It’s cheap, and it’s a ton of fun.
Buy it for: Fans of tower defence and globes.
Read the Full Review

Streets of Rage
Price: $5.99
Rating: 12+
Genre: Genesis brawling side-scroller
Subject Matter: This is a straight-up emulation of the Sega classic for the Genesis with chop-socky music and over-the-top tiny graphics.
Value: Not much of a deal here even at $6. It’s a straight, troubled port.
Buy it for: With a bad frame-rate and problematic controls, only hardcore fans of the game and nostalgia freaks should get this.
Read the Full Review

Waterways
Price: $1.19
Rating: 4+
Genre: Puzzler
Subject Matter: Winner of the 2008 Japan GameGam Competition, Waterways is a puzzle game with cows, ducks and water.
Value: For just over a dollar you can’t go wrong with this portable game.
Buy it for: Puzzle enthusiasts who want a some brain teasing on the go.
Read the Full Review

Zenonia
Price: $3.99
Rating: 9+
Genre: Adventure role-playing game.
Subject Matter: Zenonia follows a young man named Regret as he searches for answers to the mystery surrounding his birth after the sudden death of the man who raised him.
Value:With about 20 hours worth of play and the ability to choose good and evil paths, this is a no brainer.
Buy it for: fans of The Legend of Zelda.
Read the Full Review

Where to start? This week is pretty packed, especially in the DSiWare department, with five more Electroplanton to play with at 200 points a pop. There’s also a notepad application called myNotenook Blue from Nnooo (200 points), which allows users to jot down notes and features 18 unlockable paper styles, which is nearly too much excitement for me to stand. Add in Gameloft’s Castle of Magic (500 points), a platform adventure that uses the Nintendo DSi Camera to transform your character into powerful new forms, and you’ve got enough DSiWare goodness to have you in leftovers for weeks.

The Virtual Console gets two new old games, and they’re both relatively big ones. Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo is still one of the best racing games around, and at 800 Wii points its an absolute steal. It is accompanied by
the NES original A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia (500 points), which should be a treat for those who’ve played the recent re-imagining without having played its inspiration.

Rounding up this week’s Nintendo Download are four new entries to the WiiWare service. We’ve got Bit.Trip Void, another entry in Aksys’ colourful rhythm-centric series (600 points); Harvest Moon: My Little Shop (1200 points), which allows players to grow and sell things, building their Clover Town store up from nothing; Little Tournament Over Yonder from Gevo Entertainment (800 points), a strategy game for 1-2 players; and Learning with the PooYoos: Episode 1 (500 points), a brain trainer for children aged 3-6.

Check out the full list below to see if you spot anything that will keep you occupied once Thanksgiving dinner ends and awkward family time begins.

BIT.TRIP VOID
Publisher: Aksys Games
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii Points™
Description: The third installment in the retro-arcade BIT.TRIP saga is a synesthetic exploration of rhythm and music as they pertain to our everyday lives and moods. With a control scheme that’s new to the series yet wholly familiar to gamers, players have complete freedom to move about the screen wherever they desire, interacting with the music in brand new ways. The classic game-play aesthetic remains as colour – and the absence of colour – are explored to the fullest. Trip out in four-player co-op and get lost in the beat with a friend. See if you can survive the onslaught of Beats and further your own BIT.TRIP.

Harvest Moon: My Little Shop
Publisher: Natsume, Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 1,200 Wii Points
Description: Welcome to Clover Town, where you’ve just taken over your grandparents’ farm and shop. The town has fallen on hard times, though. People are leaving, businesses are struggling and the magic of the Harvest Sprites is gone. Can you turn Clover Town’s fortunes around and restore its missing magic? Raise crops and animals, then use what you farm at your shop. Keep your customers happy by making wild fruit juices, towering ice cream cones and extravagantly decorated eggs in a series of fun and fast-paced activities that use the Wii Remote™ controller to its fullest potential. Chop vegetables in midair, shake your Wii Remote controller to match your cow’s moves, roll eggs through tilting mazes and more. Use your hard-earned money to buy new crops and animals or expand and decorate your shop. Along the way, you’ll meet and befriend lots of new and interesting characters, as well as several familiar faces from the Harvest Moon series.

Little Tournament Over Yonder
Publisher: Gevo Entertainment
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: In the world of Little Tournament Over Yonder, play as a young Prince or Princess and lead your team through numerous battles. Plan and deploy your units to gain strategic advantages. Launch real-time battles between units and fight hard, fast and smart. Build your team, hire new units with different powers, then groom them with battle experience to gain level. With strategic planning and real-time, fast-paced fighting, this game is for the complete warrior – one who works his mind and his muscles. Go for Single-Player Tournament glory or challenge your friend in a 2-Player Versus match.

Learning with the PooYoos: Episode 1
Publisher: Lexis Numérique
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: EC (Early Childhood)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Welcome to the world of the PooYoos, the first fun, poetic brain trainer for children aged 3 to 6. With the PooYoos, a merry band of adorable baby animals, children will have fun while learning the developmental basics: numbers, letters, lateralization, shapes, colours and more. Children get to dance with their new friends and enjoy lovely interactive rewards. There are two levels of interactivity, so children can play according to their age and level. This game has been designed for use by children who have not yet grasped reading.

Virtual Console

Super Mario Kart
Original platform: Super NES™
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Get in, sit down, buckle up and experience frantic kart racing in the game that started it all. Select one of eight characters from the Mario series – offering a variety of driving styles – and take on three championship cups in three different kart classes. Win enough and you’ll unlock a fourth circuit: the ultra-tough Special Cup. Crossing the finish line in first place isn’t an easy task, though, as each track has unique obstacles to conquer. Racers can obtain special power-ups that boost them to victory. For a different kind of challenge, take on a friend in multiplayer races or go head-to-head in a Battle Mode arena, where the object is to pop your opponent’s balloons before you lose your own. With more than 15 tracks to master and nearly endless replay value, Super Mario Kart is classic gaming with some banana peels thrown in for good measure.

A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia
Original platform: NES™
Publisher: Majesco Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Blob has come from the distant planet Blobolonia in search of an Earth boy to help him save his world. Join him on this fantastic adventure, searching for treasures in mysterious caverns beneath the earth, then travelling to Blobolonia to battle the evil emperor. Discover Blob’s amazing appetite for jellybeans and the different transformations that occur with each flavor. Use these shapes to overcome even the most outrageous obstacles. A Boy and His Blob is a fantastic journey filled with constant surprises and humorous characters.

Nintendo DSiWare

Castle Of Magic
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Be prepared for anything as you try to save your friend from the clutches of the horrifying magician Nefastax. Stand up to wild monsters in environments that directly influence your movement. As you navigate this universe, the ground will make you stick, slide, sink, swim, levitate and even walk on the ceiling when gravity disappears. A never-before-seen use for the Nintendo DSi Camera application lets you transform yourself into powerful new forms. Visit an in-game Photo Cabin and search for a real-life object that matches the colour of the character you want to transform into. Take a picture of a blue object with your Nintendo DSi system and…presto, you’re transformed into a swordfish. You can customise game items – from coins to enemies – with pictures of your choice. Our cute hero’s adventure is just too big and immersive for one screen, so he’ll have to jump between the top and bottom screens of your Nintendo DSi system. Ready to dive into the adventure?

myNotebook: Blue™
Publisher: Nnooo
Players: 1
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: myNotebook allows you to take notes wherever you are. Just pop open your Nintendo DSi system and jot down your thoughts. Make a list and cross it off or play your favourite pen and paper games (games not included). You can even personalise your notebook by drawing on the cover and changing the paper type with 18 unlockable paper styles. Use the pen or pencil to make notes or doodles, then erase the bits you don’t like. With five ink colours, you’ll always be able to make your notes and doodles look stylish.

Electroplankton Luminarrow
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Luminarrow plankton are famous for their habit of perfectly following arrow-shaped formations. The plankton spin as they move, changing directions as soon as they come in contact with an arrow that’s pointing in another direction. The pitch of the sound they make will change depending on where the arrows are positioned. There are four types of Luminarrow: red, yellow, green and blue. Each type floats at a different speed and makes a distinctive musical tone. The four types of Luminarrow drift together to create beautiful melodies. Completely alter the direction of the arrows to change their sound dramatically.

Electroplankton Sun-Animalcule
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Sun-Animalcule plankton get their name from their tendency to emit light in a sphere around them. The plankton begin as eggs and gradually grow, emitting light and fascinating sounds throughout their entire life cycle. The sounds they make will change as they grow from infancy to maturity, growing very quickly until they disappear completely. Sun-Animalcule plankton only emerge in the morning, noon and evening. They lose strength as the night wears on; that’s when the crescent-shaped Falcato plankton take their place. The pitch of the plankton changes depending on where they grow.

Electroplankton Lumiloop
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Lumiloop plankton are curious, donut-shaped aquatic creatures. While stationary, they have the ability to spin at a very high rate of speed. As they spin, the Lumiloop emit unique sounds and a fascinating ring-shaped glow. Lumiloop plankton seem to always grow in clusters of five. They produce sounds at different pitches as they spin together, creating a beautiful harmony. This is called a pentatonic scale. Depending on where they live, Lumiloop plankton that produce several different sounds have been identified.

Electroplankton Marine-Crystals
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Resembling delicate snow crystals, Marine-Crystal plankton float elegantly on the surface of the water. The plankton get their name from their distinctive snowflake shape. They grow in clusters of 35 and line up in very orderly formations. When stimulated, Marine-Crystal plankton spin and produce vibrant sounds. While the plankton do grow in size if they are repeatedly tapped, they gradually return to their original size over time. They are born in four polygonal shapes: triangle, square, pentagon and hexagon. The ends of the crystalline protrusions also take on the same shapes. The tone of the sound they make will change depending on the shape of the Marine-Crystal plankton’s body.

Electroplankton Varvoice
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Varvoice plankton memorize the sound of human speech and repeat it over and over. They accomplish this amazing feat by oscillating the long flagellum that extends from their heads. By resonating the vibration with their water-droplet-shaped body, the plankton produce sounds that closely resemble the human voice. The body can expand and contract at will. By changing shape, they can easily manipulate the sound of the voice. Words that the Varvoice memorize and play back in reverse have a particularly strange ring to them. Researchers refer to this phenomenon as Varvoice inversion.

Not only can you send your friends to one of the nine circles of hell in the Facebook Go To Hell app, you can also vote to punish or absolve them, or simply torment them with lovely activities like beast massage or succubus castration. Oh those kids these days, with their succubus castration.

“This app is awesome! Not only will it be a blast to see who the world sends to hell, but it’s also a great opportunity to take Dante’s notion of the nine circles of hell and make it current and relevant for people who may not be familiar with the poem,” said executive producer Jonathan Knight. “Let the damning begin.”

Now in the interest of fair play and science or something, I went ahead and sent Crecente to hell. I am not saying you should click on this link and go torment him, but I am certainly not going to stand in your way.

And here you thought you’d have to wait until January to get your hands on PlatinumGames’ saucy hair witch. Not so! On December 3, PS3 and 360 owners in North America and Europe will get their chance for a little hands on before the main event on January 5 and January 8, respectively.

Bayonetta has received perfect scores from both Famitsu (sort of) and Edge Magazine now, so we should be in for a pretty good time.