As you probably know already, if you subscribed to our news by email, or you're simply checking back from time to time, I managed to stay away from World of Warcraft until now, at least as a gamer. Anyway, with each new update, I get drawn more and more to this game, especially since I got to know a lot about it, only from my beer chats with friends, not to mention online sources, and the upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, looks really interesting, despite the fact it's going to be released on a 13th...

Yes, you heard that right - the Wrath of the Lich King release date is no longer something to guess, because it has been officially announced that the game "will be in stores on November 13 in North America, Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Russia, and on November 14 in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The expansion will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18, and the launch timing for China will be announced at a later date."

The best part of it all is that, apart from the standard package, a special one will also be available, as the official site says - "Wrath of the Lich King will be available in both a standard edition and a special Collector's Edition (in select areas). <-250x250 Square - right->The Collector's Edition will contain an art book, behind-the-scenes DVD, exclusive in-game pet, and more."

I hope you weren't hoping to get out of this only with the Wrath of the Lich King release date, so here you have the features:

* Master the necromantic powers of the Death Knight - World of Warcraft's first Hero class.
* Quest to level 80, gaining potent new abilities and talents along the way.
* Learn the craft of spell augmentation with the new Inscription profession.
* Brave the harsh new continent of Northrend, the icy domain of the Lich King.
* Engage in epic siege warfare, deploying mighty siege engines to lay waste to destructible buildings in your path.
* Transform your hero's look with new character-customization options, including new hairstyles and dances.
* Explore perilous new dungeons filled with some of the deadliest creatures -- and greatest treasures -- on Azeroth.
* And much, much more...

Dances? I love dances! If you're not into WoW yet, just check the Archlord Emotes article, that could be a good game for you to start with into the MMORPG world, especially since it's free to download and play. Now, one more thing - if you want to check the details about the Collector's Edition, but especially if you want to pre-order it, go ahead and click the link above to visit the official page, it's going to worth your time, believe me!

If you're looking for video game statistics, you have a lot of chances to grow old going through all the interesting stuff you're going to find, believe me! A few days ago, we were talking about a very important question - "Are Video Games Harmful?," and after laughing a little when seeing the results of those studies we talked about back then, now we're getting really serious, because it's all about money. To be more accurate, we're going to talk about US games sales data released by NPD for the month of July, 2008. Ready or not, here we go...


Since it's all about the numbers, then let's see the video game statistics for July, shall we? Here they are...

1. NCAA Football 2009 (360): 398,000
2. Wii Fit (Wii): 370,000
3. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS): 310,000
4. Wii Play (Wii): 284,000<-125x125 Button - right->
5. NCAA Football 2009 (PS3): 243,000
6. Soul Calibur IV (360): 219,000
7. Mario Kart Wii (Wii): 175,000
8. Rock Band (Wii): 166,000
9. Soul Calibur IV (PS3): 156,000
10. Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (360): 148,000

Even more, when talking about the video game statistics for July, we should also remember that sales topped the $591 million mark, a 41 percent increase over last year's same period. The sales for 2008 so far got really near to the $5 billion mark, but didn't manage to reach it before July's end.

Other than the above, I think the numbers speak for themselves. After all, it's sales that push game series forward or into oblivion. I am sure most of us remember at least one or two great game series that were discontinued simply because they didn't arrive at the right time, in the right place, and the public wasn't ready for them yet...

Less than a day ago, Codemasters' free-to-play MMORPG, Archlord, just got a new free expansion! This takes us into the "third season," since the expansion is called "Episode 3: Spirits Awakening." Since there's not much else to add now, but if you're new to Archlord, maybe it would be a good idea for you to check those Archlord Emotes before anything else. After all, you gotta know how to express your feelings in the game, right?

Now, let's see what's new in this third expansion for this MMORPG, shall we?

"Episode 3: Spirits Awakening adds 30% new game content to the existing game including three extensive new zones and over 80 new skills and abilities. <-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->

ArchLord Episode 3: Spirits Awakening adds a number of new features and free game content including:

Expanded world – 30% all-new game content
All-new zones – 3 new zones for players to explore
New class skills – Over 80 new skills
ArchLord abilities – New ruling ArchLord skills and abilities
New armour & items – New collectible armour sets with unique stats
New monsters & enemies – New monsters and zone bosses

Available now, Episode 3 is available either through an automatic patch for existing players when logging into the game or included within the full free game download on the game's official website for new players at: www.archlordgame.com"

Regarding the automatic update, you should know it takes a while, so if you have the game installed already, and didn't update it yet, you'd better start the update and go out have a pizza and a few beers. That's not what I did, but I think the beer and pizza sound better than firing up the program and going to sleep while it downloads the patch and updates the game files...

According to Ed Relf, Director of Marketing at Codemasters Online, "This is an exciting time in the ongoing development of ArchLord. ArchLord has never been more popular with almost 750,000 players now playing with this number increasing almost 20,000 new players each week! ArchLord is going from strength to strength and we are assessing the need right now to open new servers just to cope with the increased levels of demand for this great, free MMORPG."

I know Archlord didn't get high scores in the reviews published so far, but I also think there are a lot of extremely bad and boring MMORPGs, and this one doesn't go that low. After all, Archlord is my perfect MMORPG - you log in, play 10-20 minutes, finish one quest or two, then get out, since it becomes boring. ;)

If you ask me about Lineage II, all I can say is that I like its looks, and my wife was crazy about it a few months ago. Other than that, as you already know, probably, I am trying to stay away from games that may cause addiction, and since this proves to be true with most MMORPGs, I try to stay away from Lineage II, just as I managed to avoid WoW or Eve Online so far. Anyway, it's always a pleasure to talk about such games, and browse through some of the latest screenshots, because they always look great!

Obviously, we're not only going to talk about screenshots. After all, there's much more to MMORPGs than screenshots. Yes, I am talking about those regular updates that keep such games alive. After all, no virtual world is large enough yet to be self-sufficient from the release of a massive multiplayer online title, and today the time has come for Lineage II to receive a new update, called "Gracia."<-125x125 Button - right->

NCsoft Europe just announced the release of the Gracia - Part 1 update, and the promises that come with it sound pretty well, and I am thinking about leveling up at almost twice the speed previously possible here. After all, we all know that time is money, right?

According to Tim Tan, NCsoft’s North American producer, "Gracia represents a huge change to Lineage II. The increase in levelling speed allows players to create new characters and advance nearly twice as fast as before. This will allow players to experience the meat of Lineage II quickly, giving them the ability to visit new and exciting areas and cool high-level content much quicker than before."

Apart from the great idea of speeding up leveling, Gracia - Part 1 also comes with a selection of "new and improved skills, many new items, and improvements to the Cruma Tower, as well as other hunting zones," so now you have a few more reasons to give this game a try, if you're not into it already!

I know some people that wouldn't watch adventure films in a thousand years, not even with a gun to their heads. Considering that this genre produced a lot of bad movies, I can't blame them, but I am not against adventure movies either. After all, look at the Pirates of the Carribean series! While guys go crazy about Keira Knightley, most of the opposite sex audience surely dream about Johnny Depp and
Orlando Bloom, but I am sure all of them enjoy the overall feeling you get from this movie, and the story. Anyway, if you watched the movie, did you ever try the MMORPG?

If you hear about the Pirates of the Carribean online game for the first time, here's the story...

"Set sail on the vast blue waters of the Caribbean in search of adventure, fortune, and fame in the world of the infamous Jack Sparrow and the evil Davy Jones. <-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->Create and customize your own pirate, build and outfit your own ship, and assemble a crew of your fellow rogues. Set your own course, your own adventure, and truly live the Legend!

In Pirates of the Caribbean Online, a massively-multiplayer online game for the PC and Mac platforms, you, alongside thousands of other players, will be able to fully experience the adventure of the films and explore beyond these boundaries to discover new myths and untold stories. Forge alliances, hunt for buried treasure, battle evil undead forces, and use cunning and strategy to outwit your foes - all to become the most legendary pirate on the high seas."

Leaving the above aside, the story is that Disney will be holding a free play weekend for the game between the 15th and 18th of August, so Basic Access players will be able to enjoy the Unlimited Access otherwise available to those paying the $9.95 monthly fee, while those paying already will be able to buy all customizable items for half the price.

This is folks, so if you have some time to spare this weekend and become a pirate...enjoy the Pirates of the Caribbean online game!