PC games in jewel cases aren't just for discount titles at Walmart and Target anymore. Electronic Arts has announced a distribution agreement with 1C Company which will see the latter releasing the former's newer PC titles throughout Russia in jewel case economy packaging. The first titles coming out this fall in the tiny plastic packages will include Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Crysis Warhead, and NHL 09.

"We release jewel games for the first time especially for Russian market. Owing to 1C's optimised distribution system our cooperation will become the next step in expanding EA games on regional markets of Russia and CIS", - says Murad Shapiev, Sales Director for Electronic Arts Russia.

Of course jewel cases means that the folks in Russia, along with Ukraine and Kazakhstan (careful, they're sensitive) will probably be missing out pack-ins like bulky manuals, maps, posters, and other goodies, but considering the giant piles of such items cluttering my apartment that might not be such a bad thing.

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If Russia were a 5-year-old boy wearing overalls he'd be jumping up and down right now laughing hysterically, waving his over-sized lollipop about in glee. (Yes, that's how I picture Russia)

Funcom just announced that they have signed an agreement with 1C to fully localize the voice and text for a Russian version of Age of Conana: Hyborian Adventures. 1C will also operate local customer service, which I believe requires a gun licence, deal with the community websites and in-game support for Age of Conan in Russian. Funcom still plans to take care of the back-end tech and server infrastructure as well as handling all future development for the game.

The companies plan to build a dedicated Russian realm to allow the Russian community the chance to stick together and communicate with each other in their native language. Didn't Czar Nicholas II try to create a Russian realm once? I'm pretty sure it didn't end well.

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They promised it back in December, and now it's nearly here. Blizzard has announced that the Russian language version of World of Warcraft is launching on August 6th, allowing Europeans the chance to purchase completely localised versions of the game and the Burning Crusade expansion, and play on the newly-opening dedicated Russian servers, complete with a Russian-speaking support team.

"The launch of the Russian-language version reflects our continuing commitment to make World of Warcraft even more accessible for gamers throughout the world," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. "We also hope that providing a fully localised version of the game will further enhance the gameplay experience for our enthusiastic Russian community."

The Russian version will also feature a reduced subscription rate based of 359 rubles per month, proving once again that rubles is really fun to say. Ruuuubles. Russian persons on Euro servers will be able to convert their accounts to Russian accounts, with free character transfers available for a limited time.

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Russians, listen up! Warhammer Online is coming. That's right, a fully localised version of EA Mythic's MMORPGH Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning will be released in Russia for PCs early next year. Whew! Make it through the post without a "Because in Soviet Russia, Warhammer Online plays you" joke. Oh. Wait.

Hit the jump for the short press release, which is thankfully free of such tired humour.

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Russian game publisher 1C has its sights set on the global market. The company has announced two multiplatform titles: the in-house developed Captain Blood for Xbox 360 and PC and the outside developed multiplatform IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey. Says 1C Company's International Sales Director Nikolay Baryshnikov:

1C is using cutting-edge technology, including the amazing power of modern consoles, to bring superior games to every market... Our aim is to bring our games to even more players and expand our vision with cross platform development. We are embracing any new gaming technology that will improve our products including digital downloads, consoles, handheld gaming, Epic's Unreal 3 Engine, NVIDIA PhysX and DirectX 10.

Both games will be out late 2009 and will be the first cross-platform titles "from 1C to be developed and published worldwide". Seems like multiplatform is the new, big thing.

1C Announces First 360-PS3 Titles [MCVUK]

It's Kotaku After Dark, which means its time for your regular dose of adult (though nothing NAUGHTY) Silent Hill fan art by a super-talented Russian guy. His name's Mikhail Gluhov, and while his portfolio's worth checking out just for his angry little rabbits, we're here for the aforementioned Silent Hill stuff. Like proactive Pyramid Girl here. Or, after the jump, lesbian nurses.

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Remember when Room 101 griefers issued a flying penis attack on Second Life "real estate" "mogul" "Anshe Chung" during a virtual interview? How could you not? It's just about the only interesting thing to ever happen in Second Life. Now, it has happened in the real world, only on a much smaller, much briefer scale.

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They're taking the Hobbits to Kaliningrad! Russia is a gigantic country with approximately 142 million people, and not enough of them are MMO addicts. The gaming industry is slowly realising this, with Blizzard readying the Russian-language version of World of Warcraft and now Turbine announcing an agreement to bring Lord of the Rings Online to the Hobbit-hungry populace. IT Territory LLC, a major Russian online game publisher, will be handling the publication and operation of the game in their country.

"The Lord of the Rings Online has taken North America and Europe by storm and we are committed to bringing the game to fans around the world," said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "ITT is a major player in online gaming and we look forward to partnering with them to bring The Lord of the Rings Online to Russia."

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Lineage II turned deadly in Russia late last year, where two members of warring clans meeting face-to-face in the city of Ufa resulted in violence and death. A 33 year-old member of the Platanium clan named Albert agreed to me a 22 year-old from the rival Coo-clocks Clan (*sigh*) in persona following a nasty PVP session that left the former dead. During the meeting Albert was brutally beaten, later dying from his injuries on the way to the hospital. Upon his arrest, the young man expressed no remorse - simply explaining calmly why Albert had to die. The alleged killer has now been charged with murder.

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Vy govo'rite po ang'liiski? No? Then this is probably good news for you. Blizzard has announced a fully localised Russian version of World of Warcraft for release in 2008. Russian will be the fifth European language supported by the massively multiplayer phenomenon, joining English, French, German, and Spanish.

"Considering the scale and enthusiasm of the Russian community, we recognised that offering a dedicated Russian-language version of World of Warcraft was the next important step for the game in Europe," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're looking forward to providing an even more accessible gameplay experience to current and future players."

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