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Blizzard Entertainment, creators of the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo franchises, are putting their best foot forward once again for BlizzCon '08. Having attended BlizzCon '05 and '07, I am sure as Diablo's fiery hell going to be there once again. Keep your eyes right here on omgRPG for all the Blizzard related news I can fit, come October 10th and 11th!

The official press release can be found here.

As you may know, the upcoming MMORPG Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has a...well, incredibly curvaceous and voluptuous (and other 'ous words) female character: Keaira, a close associate of King Conan, and a source of secret information throughout the land. If it's me, I'm guessing she gathers information by use of her sparkling personality; but if it's you "nerdcore" junkies, you're probably thinking it's on account of her big, beautiful, bulging, bra-busting, bountiful, buoyant, bitchin', bouncy boobs. But don't sell her short like that.

Whatever though, Age of Conan will most likely rock in its own right, regardless of cup size. However, 1up.com reports that one gamer has started a petition on the official AoC forums, requesting a toggle to turn off the nudity in the game. Which is pretty rare, for a gamer to request censorship.

And here we are yet again, greeted with the why-is-sex-worse-than-violence question. In a game rife with violence, pillaging and such, why turn off the sex, and not the violence, as the 1up writer pointed out.

But before you WTF yourself to death over this guy, take a moment to see his perspective. Violence is a part of gameplay, and has been even before Mario learned to crush Gumbas to death. Part of the rush of playing a game and having fun is the cathartic release in pummeling your enemies into dust. But sex? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a whole OTHER type of cathartic release, one that seems strange when it's so aggressively presented in a game? If games are supposed to be moving closer and closer to an art form (if not there already), then shouldn't they stay a notch above SkiniMax? And it's not like they're hiding her boobs, either. She was included--boobs a'bouncing--in the December, 2007 issue of Playboy, as a part of their "Girls of Gaming" feature.

Don't get me wrong: if you like a bit of MMO with your breast ogling, you are (I think) constitutionally permitted to indulge, and even perhaps further inflate Keaira's jugs to your satisfaction. But there's still something about it that feels like it's moving in the wrong direction.

The way I see it, at the very least, if you don't want to be taken in by that Hollywood-esque manipulation of men to drive sales, you should have the option to play the game sans-wood. So to speak. No? I wonder what others think about this. Feel free to comment.

Unless you were cryogenically frozen until right now as you're reading this, you know that GTA IV was released on April 29, 2008, to very obvious rave reviews and sales. It's the most beautiful and celebratory product for killing, stealing and destroying...with some morality thrown in for good measure. You're probably playing it right now actually, will be for the next week/month/year/next-two-presidents type of thing. In fact the immersive effects of GTA IV on the masses might not be that different from cryogenic freezing.

At least this was the effect on the humble omgRPG staff...we were busy over at Mahalo.com beating, filming and walkthrough'ing the entire single player campaign, making a page on every secret/easteregg etc., and are just now coming out into the light of day with squinty eyes.

Check out our main walkthrough project for GTA IV.

Yes, GTA IV is an RPG in many ways. You assume a role, you gain abilities over time, you navigate a world full of interesting (albeit perhaps clichéd) characters, it's far too long for anyone to ever beat, there's too much extra stuff to collect/unlock, even for two summer vacations when you're sixteen, there are enough cutscenes to fill up Pirates 3, The English Patient and Schindler's List combined, and saving can be a royal bitch.

Anyway, expect omgRPG to once again bustle and bounce with activity.

Pete Hines of Bethesda recently spoke with Eurogamer, citing reasons a demo version of Fallout 3 wouldn't be possible: "When you build it as one thing, there's no way to portion off a section and have it stand on its own without putting the whole game in the demo, which we're just not going to do," he said.

Fallout 3 takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and is an Oblivion-esque free-roaming RPG.

I think I'm fine with this no-demo issue. Demos are overrated and have become somewhat rabid. There's something to be said for waiting until the actual release date, skipping down to your local game store, purchasing your joy, and then tearing into it and experiencing it for the first time. With a game as deep as Fallout 3 (remember, it has 500 endings?), this is one journey I'm fine waiting until June to embark upon.

UPDATE: Apologies, when we said "June" indicating the release date of Fallout 3, we actually meant Q4 2008. It's a strange code we use sometimes, where June means Q4...anyway...

Recently at the Namco Bandai Editors' Day event in San Francisco, the company showed off the newest wild attempt to create an RPG for the Nintendo Wii: Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. The title is fitting, because creating an RPG for the Wii is dangerous, exciting experimentation into the new. It's a shame more funding doesn't go into this sort of fringe research, because it's brave. Baroque recently tried to get the Wii-RPG ship off the ground, but failed, so we'd like to have high hopes for Namco's journey of adventure.

But having looked at the screens, observed glassy eyes, flashy on-screen hit point notifications, quirky cliche characters galore, I'm baffled and bored. It looks laughably derivative, like are-we-in-1995-derivative. And worse the Tales series is practically ragged with overuse already. While I'm ranting, who wrote the rule that says that any RPG on the Wii must feature four-year-olds with huge eyes and cutesy smirks? Or punchable Chocobos with big eyes? I'm tired of Nintendo assuming RPGs are for itsy bitsy babies. If Nintendo wants to impress the hard core RPG fan in me (and you? am I alone here?), they'll bring the darkness in the Fallout 3 sense, no one will have big eyes, everyone will be in their thirties, blood will spray and the music will make the soundtrack from Silent Hill sound like Sigur Ros while you're in Hawaii on your honeymoon in heaven. That's what I'm talking about. Until then, Nintendo/Bandai walk away from the RPG table with your Tales between your legs. I need to play Oblivion now.

Last time we checked in on Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, we didn't know much. Just that it was turn-based, Knuckles was kidnapped, and other small things that didn't really make us look passed the WTF feeling of BioWare making a Sonic RPG. I'm over that part now though, and just want to know what's up with the game.

Here's what up: BioWare recently showed off what it called a "pre-alpha" build of the game at the Nintendo Media Summit in San Francisco. Below are the raw details of how the game is shaping up. Still no word on the little furry creatures being harvested/skinned/sewn into powerful, thick armor, as has been my one wish of the game.

Leveling up System
-New abilities can be purchased 5 skill points
-Every time you level up, you get 5 skill points
-Upgrading existing abilities costs 10, and 15 points
Party and Abilities
-Tails abilities: flying, gadgetry manipulating
-Big abilities: temporarily invincible
-Rouge abilities: sneaking/thievery, flying
-Can have 4 characters in your party
Misc. Details
-Rings act as currency in the game-world
-Conversation system (a-la Mass Effect) will let you choose different moods of responses; you can end it quick, find out more info, or lay down some smart alecky Sonic quips.
Combat
-The combat is turn-based, with some "perfect timing" elements for power attacks
-Speedy Stylus-circling results is faster spin attacks by Sonic

1UP.com recently did an interview with Bethesda's Pete Hines up in SF, reporting that the game developer/mad scientists behind Oblivion have done something kind of insane. The upcoming Fallout 3 will have a staggering 500 different endings, each dependent upon the actions you take throughout the course of the game. The gigantic, sprawling-in-the-Oblivion-sense game. 70 hours, reportedly. The game is so long it actually begins with you exiting your mother's womb, dumps you into the desolate post-apocalyptic world of Fallout, whence begins the RPG tutorial: learning about the game's features via crawling around, examining toddler reading material, etc. And will all of those decisions add up in some sense to one the 500 endings, perhaps? Given that these guys are responsible for The Elder Scrolls games, it's possible. Anyway, well keep our eyes on this one, as it's shaping up to be something dark and devastating.

1. First up, and perhaps the most grave news today, is that Grand Theft Auto IV might be delayed. Until Xmas, 2008. Seriously. If EA buys out Take2 successfully, then EA would find it more profitable to wait until the holiday season to release the game. Just wild. The game is still currently slated for its scheduled release date later this month, April 29. Pray.

2. Baroque, a rare RPG on the Wii (also the PS2, but still...), has been released today. And to somewhat sour reviews. Well really one review, Nintendo Power, who spats "All in all, Baroque has few redeeming qualities, and your money is better spent elsewhere." Ouch! I was sort of looking forward to the magical potential of that one. Despite the fact that it has perhaps the blandest, most indistinguishable title out of any game in years. Is the follow up sequel Classical next? Guess we should instead push forward to Chocobos beating things up in dungeons on the Wii.

3. Ikaruga is out on XBLA tomorrow at 9 A.M. You might be saying that Ikaruga is not an RPG. You'd be wrong though. It skillfully puts you in the role of the most tortured, defeated and yet somehow entertained gamer on the face of the planet. The plush and frantic top-down shooter was first in Japanese arcades in 2001, then the Dreamcast in 2002 and finally the GameCube in 2003. Ever since, it's been the obscure-awesome-title-scoured-for-on-eBay-and-used-stores, and now it arrives in its glory for 800 MS points. Get it.

4. City of Heroes Issue 12 has entered closed beta, titled "Midnight Hour." But it's extremely closed. Friends/family/pets, sort of thing. There are no patch notes, and the WarCry source even mentions that you can't view Epic Villain Archetypes yet either. A torturous bit of news, really.

5. According to a recent survey in the Korean Times, MapleStory has 63 million players worldwide. That's just a staggering number. Waaaay more that WoW, for instance, which clocks in at a dwarfed 10 million. Just thought that was pretty crazy.

6. CVG has some compelling quotes from Warhammer 40k Online MMO creative director Joe Madureira, who boasts that the characters will have "tons of cool stuff hanging off of them, weapons, scrolls... we are going to have the coolest looking characters of any MMO, ever. Once we begin releasing images, feel free to call me on that." Which is such a good idea we're shocked it's going to take two years to arrive.

It's becoming common knowledge that unless you're offering some sort of retailer "goody bag" along with a purchase of a game at launch, well then you don't have a cool game launch. The Simpsons Game offered a little Homer/Katamari ball; Burnout Paradise offered exclusive unlockable cars.

And now, the highly anticipated and tragically delayed Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning MMORPG is going ape-sh#$ with preorder mayhem. The official preorder page claims the following:
-Preorder the Collector's Edition ($78.99 on Amazon.com) and get early access to the open beta
-Also be a part of the "Live Game Head Start" thing, which will let you play the full game several days before the full launch.
-And, here's the real treat folks, receive all this magical in-game swag: Rittenbach's Portable Camp, Sentinel's Amber Band, Guardian's Iolite Band, and Champion's Sapphire Band. We have no real clue what all that does, but it sounds expensive. I wonder if on launch day kids wearing this stuff will get beat up; like the kid wearing Air Jordans on the first day of sixth grade.

The only hitch is that Massively reports that the retailers have their heads up their respective hind quarters with actually delivering on the unlock codes for all of this. Your best bet is to head over to Amazon.com, buy the game there, and then go into Your Media Library/Downloads. Your codes are safe and secure there, far away from some Best Buy 'tard who'll shove you out of the store without your bleeping codes. Can't have that.

In what seems like a match made in heaven, Square Enix has announced today the furry cooing Final Fantasy mascot, the Chocobo, will be coming exclusively to the Nintendo Wii on July 8 in the form of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.

In a land where the inhabitants have lost their memories, the game revolves around Chocobo and Sid, featuring turn-based RPG dungeon crawling, mini games, a Final Fantasy-esque job system, and enough sugary cutesy squawking to make even the staunchest Wii fanboy's teeth hurt.

What's unclear to me, is whether from the title we are to infer that the Chocobo's maintain and operate dungeons, or that they are imprisoned and are being contained inside of a dungeon. Thoughts?

In any case, we're glad to see a decent RPG make its way to the Wii. Maybe there will be a "blood code" in the final version? Probably not, just as long as we get some Chocobo's throwing down in some dungeons and tearing stuff up, a'-warking like mad, we're happy.

[via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]