Posts with tag Amazon

There's been a lull of Cataclysm info recently, so we're getting repeats tenfold of the kind of emails we used to get before Wrath's official release date was announced -- emails saying that Amazon or Gamestop or other retailers have release dates listed for the new expansion already.

Here's the rub. Blizzard hasn't yet divulged a release date for Cataclysm, probably because they have no earthly idea when it's coming out yet. Until they do, any release dates from stores are, at best, speculation or, at worst, outright lies.

But why would retailers list a release date for Cataclysm if one doesn't exist yet? Simple: to take your money. Many game retailers (Gamestop especially) stock their stores based solely on preorder numbers, only getting a few extra for the teeming masses that never thought to go to Wal-Mart to get a guaranteed copy without putting money down first. In the meantime, you get to ... not have that money. Not a good deal.

Preordering is a process designed to get money from you without getting anything in return for an inordinate amount of time, so wait until Blizzard announces a date before you plunk any of your hard-earned money down. And, again -- we know when the sites say Cataclysm's coming out. You'll know just as soon as we do when it'll actually be available.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.

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While it may or may not hint to the release date of the next expansion, a listing on Amazon has pegged the release of a hardcover novel by award-winning author Christie Golden entitled World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm. While that might seem like one colon too many (insert snickering here), the self-explanatory title actually sounds pretty cool. What sounds uncool, however, is that it's a prelude. Meaning before.

If you're reading into this as much as I am (generally not a good idea), that could mean that the Cataclysm expansion will ship after August 31. After all, you'd think that Blizzard's marketing team would want a book that reveals what happens before the Cataclysm to actually launch before the expansion hits, right?

Well, not really. The Arthas book, which focuses on the Lich King, was released long after Wrath broke out. In short, the novels follow a completely different schedule from the game even though they all share the same lore. So I made you fret over absolutely nothing! You didn't fall for it? Ok, so I made myself fret over absolutely nothing. The book is available for pre-order at $26 on Amazon and should be chock-full of lore and hopefully explain a lot of what will change during the expansion.

Considering how a lot of people (well, okay, at least Alex and Daniel) geeked out over Golden's Arthas novel, this book promises to be a good read. At any rate, we can probably expect it to be free of super-powerful, hackneyed, Mary Sue-ish, self-projected characters like time-traveling dudes who shack up with the hottest girl or multi-racial scions who can wield all kinds of magic. I mean, it's a freaking black dragon, man. It's kind of hard to mess up something innately awesome as that.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.

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It's that time of year again -- I just saw a seasonal costume store opening up near my apartment here in Chicago, and that means that we're almost to October, when all kinds of official and unofficial Halloween costumes from all of the year's biggest brands appear. Last year we had some Orc masks and old-school armor and gear (and we may see some of that stuff again this year), but so far the only new thing we've seen is these latex ears, in Night Elf and Blood Elf style, over on Amazon. For just $12, you too can have inordinately large pointy ears, signifying that you're a magical creature from Azeroth.

Cheesy? Maybe so, but then again, that's pretty much what dressing up on Halloween is all about these days. If you happen to see any other Warcraft-related costumes during the season (either officially licensed by Blizzard or knocked-off by some shady costume designer), make sure to take a picture and send us a tip. And of course if you enjoy seeing real people dress up as fictional Warcraft characters, you'll love our pictures from BlizzCon. Enjoy.

I'll confess that I never had a crush on Felicia Day, the Internet sensation behind The Guild. I mean, I always thought it was cool that she wore her geek cred with pride, but it was just that -- awesome, attractive geek chick. Alright, so maybe it helps a little (ok, fine, it helps a whole freaking lot) that she Tweets about her D&D campaign or delights over gaming dice. But if you're an idiot geek like me who never got into the whole Felicia Day thing, resistance, as they say, is futile. The multi-talented entertainer, who showed her vocal chops in Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, also seems geared to become a pop star with the release of (Would you like to date my) Avatar, a catchy song about MMOs. And man, if you don't crush on her after this, you need to turn over your geek badge (even you ladies).

The song debuted at the recent San Diego Comic-con, with the cast of the Guild sending fans into a frenzy when they took to the stage in full costume. Felicia Day goes wild with MMO innuendo, crooning, "don't care what's in your character bank, how 'bout a little tank and spank?" and "I'm better than a real world quest -- you'll touch my +5 to Dexterity vest." The song, available on Amazon for $0.99, is pure geek pop win. But if you want the full experience, the video features the entire cast of The Guild and their antics -- Vork and Zaboo with a short rap segment, Clara doing some back-up vocals, Tink stepping up with her dance, and Bladezz, well, he looks seductively at the camera.

Check out the embed below to see what the video holds for you. If you're a fan of The Guild and headed to BlizzCon, you'd be happy to know Felicia Day and her crew will be making an appearance. Get the song or the video, memorize the lyrics, and who knows, she just might grant you an autograph. If you'll be at home during BlizzCon, just "grab your mouse and stroke the keys" because at least, as Codex sings, "in Cyberspace there's no disease."

The video after the break!

Delks asked...

"What's the point of running old world raids and instances?"

The Guild's second season is now available for preorder on DVD, and apparently it's an Amazon Exclusive -- yes, the ever-more-corporate folks at The Guild are going with the big online retailer to distribute their second DVD collection. But we can't blame them too much -- surely it's a chance at a wider distribution, and probably less work for them in general. You can preorder the DVD set right now for just $12.99, and according to The Guild's site, the set will have commentary tracks, subtitles in English, and Behind the Scenes and Audition footage. If you're as much of a fan of the series as we are, it sounds well worth the purchase.

Amazon has a release date of May 19th, and it also looks like they're doing a re-release of season one on the same day (though we're not sure if that new season one cover demotes new material or if it's the same version of the season one DVD they were selling before). And of course if you're not interested in picking up any extras, you can still just watch the episodes online at their site, or by downloading them in HD from Xbox Live for free.

Aurdon over at I Sheep Things spotted this great collection of comparisons between real-life environs and the in-game places that they inspired. Not all of the comparisons are pitch-perfect, obviously (there are no Nagrand-esque floating islands in the real world, and the Crystalsong Forest picture shows trees covered in ice rather than the mystical wood that grows in-game), but lots of the pictures are really dead-on, and they show you really well how Blizzard uses a kind of hyper-realized version of Earth to create what seems like a very real Azeroth.

We've posted before how the architecture of WoW mirrors real-world places and culture, but even the natural world of Azeroth uses lots of Earth's real-life elements. And it would be cool to know where these pictures actually come from -- some of them are recognizable (obviously, Stranglethorn Vale is based on parts of the Amazon, and The Barrens represents Africa's savannahs), but even Icecrown and Zangarmarsh are represented (in slightly less mythical form) on Earth. It would be interesting to know exactly where.

A few days ago the Collector's Edition went up for sale again on Amazon. A few hours after that post went live it was sold out again. Today the CE is back on sale. This time the price has nearly doubled, and is being sold through Amazon for the site Hubbagames.

As it stands, you can get the Collector's Edition for $129.79 right now. That's up $59.80 from what you could get it for a few days ago. The price hike can easily be contributed to the demand for the Collector's Edition.

Wrath of the Lich King will be released next week at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, November 13th. Amazon and other online retailers are "guaranteeing" that they'll deliver Wrath to you during the day of the 13th.

The regular edition of Wrath is going for $39.99. We have previously covered the contents of the Collector's Edition.

Edit: You can also order the Collector's Edition online at Walmart at the price of $69.82, however your mileage may vary.

We've rounded up a few more Wrath of the Lich King deals if you haven't pulled the trigger on a preorder yet.

• Newegg has the game available for the low price of $36.99 with free shipping, which is a couple bucks cheaper than Amazon. (thanks, Lîlîth of Crushridge!)
• Reader Tyler G tell us that Gametraders, a chain in Australia, will be selling the game with a 60 day timecard and poster for AU$79.95. Usually the game is AU$60 and the timecard is AU$40, so it's a deal.
• Commenter Rey tells us that Canada's Futureshop is offering 40% off if you trade-in two games. We don't see that on their site (there is a $100 costume contest though and a free hat!), but we'll take his word for it. A free hat!
  

A few more after the break.

We've got our first Wrath of the Lich King deal to report, and unfortunately, it's less than impressive. Apparently, if you buy the expansion at Best Buy next week, you'll be able to pick up a strategy guide for the game at 25% off. It's not a great deal, especially since Amazon is offering the guide at 34% off, with or without the game (and since you're a WoW Insider reader, you likely won't need the guide anyway). But it is a deal, and it is for Wrath, so there you go. We'd love to have better deals for you (folks like me who buy Gears of War 2 at Circuit City this week are picking up free gift cards and such), but nothing yet.

There is good news, also, for people who are buying the expansion through Amazon -- apparently they're offering release-day delivery in some places, so even if you picked up the game at the online retailer, you could have it at exactly the same time (well, a few hours later, since there are midnight releases going around and shipped games usually don't show up until midmorning at least) as everybody else. That way, you won't miss a minute of the lag and frustration-inducing camping that will surely ensue just after launch.

If you hear about a deal or a special sale on Wrath next week, let us know. We've all spent way too much money on this game already -- every cent we can save is worth it.

Gamestop employees got a memo yesterday that preorders of the Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition may have reached their limit, and we've just called and confirmed that -- the Collector's Edition is sold out already at Gamestop. Looks like Amazon also has also taken down their preorders, instead offering a signup to be notified "when this item becomes available." The thing has only been on sale for two days, and already it seems many retails have run out of their listed units -- in fact, Gamestop told their employees that they may not even have been able to fulfill all the orders taken so far.

Of course, we're still talking preorders here -- just because they got reserved doesn't mean that they'll all be sold, so there's still a chance that you could get one at release (Gamestop, we believe, will hold reserves for 24-48 hours after release, and then sell them first-come, first-serve). And there's a chance that Blizzard could put a larger order in (since the game hasn't gone gold yet, the sets aren't even manufactured yet), which would mean more preorders would be available.

But on the other hand, Blizzard has always wanted the Collector's Editions to be limited, and the guys at Gamestop assured us that there were still plenty of regular copies to reserve. It's hard to believe the CE could be completely sold out in just two days, two months ahead of the actual release, but it's clear that Wrath is going to be one of Blizzard's biggest releases ever.

Update: And now, for some reason, it looks like preorders are back up. Either Blizzard decided to make more or Gamestop figured out how they could sell more, so if you want to get one, better order it quick.

The regular edition of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King will be selling for $39.99, and for only $30 more (total of $69.99) you can get the Collector's Edition. You can now legitimately pre-order the Collector's Edition at many retailers across the country and online.

My local GameStop up here in Fargo, ND has them available for pre-order as of this morning. However as is standard policy with them, you can only pre-order games by going into the store. It has been my experience that in general you cannot pre-order over the phone, but your mileage may vary.

If you're interested in pre-ordering online, the two major sites that I found to have the C.E. listed are Amazon and GameStop. Other sites, such as Best Buy, don't have the C.E. up yet. Remember however, if you want to get the game at midnight you'll most likely need to deal with a local retailer.

We covered the contents of the Collector's Edition yesterday, but just as a refresher, here are the major highlight:

• A 208-page LK art book
• Frosty, the baby frost wyrm (non-combat pet)
• A DVD with developer interviews, commentary on the cinematic, etc.
• Soundtrack CD
• Mouse pad with a map of Northrend
• Two starter decks for the CCG, and two exclusive cards

As much as some Blizzard reps might have wanted to play coy on the official forums, the official World of Warcraft site leaked a link to Pre-order Wrath of the Lich King which will -- according to the page -- indeed come out on November 13, 2008. So while there has mysteriously been no big announcement on the Blizzard websites, this Pre-order page pretty much confirms what Wowhead and Thottbot unveiled earlier today.

Participating retailers include Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City, and GameStop. Interestingly enough, all the official links except for Best Buy peg the official release at November 3, a date leaked out in earlier reports. GameStop words it as "ships in 11/03/08" which could mean that the games will reach retailers over a week before the official release date. [EDIT: Or yeah, it could be that they haven't updated their sites yet. Good morning!] The details include both normal and Collector's Edition versions of the game. The official Blizzard site has, as of this writing, now been updated to reflect the official release date with a splash page.

[UPDATE: GameStop has revised their release date to match the announced date of 11/13/08]

Thanks to Ollie, Daniel A., and everyone else who sent this in.

If I had a nickle for every e-mail the WoW Insider team received that told us when Wrath of the Lich King was going to be released because Amazon or GameStop was selling pre-orders, I'd probably be lounging on a beach enjoying drinks decorated with tiny paper umbrellas instead of enjoying the glamerous lifestyle of a rock star blogger. Trust us, folks, game sellers usually don't know anything more than you or I -- but they're eager to get your pre-orders in and they can't do that without a release date. (Certainly not when we're talking about Blizzard "We'll Release It When It's Done" Entertainment.) These are their best guesses and, who knows, they may turn out to be right, but they're not based on any secret insider info. And, hey, why should retail outlets get all the fun when, really, anyone can play the "Guess the Wrath of the Lich King Release Date" game? So tell us, dear readers, when do you think Blizzard will really release Wrath of the Lich King upon the world?