StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Videos

The closed beta test for Blizzard's second version of StarCraft II, called Heart of the Swarm, recently went live, and IGN Pro League has been checking it out. The multiplayer portion of the game is currently available for testing, letting players with access play around with some of the new units added to StarCraft's three armies.

You can see some of the highlights below. For more on what's new in Heart of the Swarm, check out IGN's previous coverage of unit changes and abilities as well as why Blizzard considers Heart of the Swarm to have a higher skill ceiling than Wings of Liberty.

For more you can check out IPL's YouTube channel.

Blizzard also released full match videos of Heart of the Swarm, which are embedded below.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Activision Blizzard Sale ‘Still Under Consideration’

A new report suggests that Vivendi is still interested in selling its majority stake in Activision Blizzard. According to CVG, a credible source says the sale "absolutely remains under consideration" and that Vivendi is exploring its options.

CVG also reports that negotiations between Vivendi and Microsoft, who was once considered as a buyer for Activision Blizzard, “have not advanced,” while Sony “immediately ruled out” the idea of a purchase.

Vivendi owns a 61% stake in Activision Blizzard, which it acquired in 2008. Activision Blizzard’s value is currently estimated at $13.4 billion, making Vivendi’s stake worth approximately $8 billion. Due to Vivendi’s current debt, it’s been considering a sale since early June, but was later said to be finding “little enthusiasm” from buyers including Microsoft, Disney, Tencent and Nexon due to the massive amount of cash required to make the purchase.

Later reports suggested that Activision could partner with investors to buy itself back from Vivendi. Activision has only publicly commented on the sale during its second quarter 2012 earnings call last month, when CEO Bobby Kotick said “While we're unable to comment on Vivendi's behalf, we continue to remain focused on strong execution, the delivery of great games and the provision of superior shareholder returns as we have for over 20 years. Our strategy has served us very well in the past and will position us very well for the future.”

The future of the sale is uncertain for now, but while we wait for concrete information to emerge, read our thoughts on what would happen if Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Mists of Pandaria launch events planned, Chinese release confirmed

Blizzard Entertainment announced today that they will be hosting a special launch event for Mists of Pandaria the evening before it launches on September 25, 2012. 

Beginning at 9pm Pacific Time at the Irvine Spectrum Center in Irvine, California, Blizzard will be hosting an evening of presentations, entertainment, giveaways, and special guests as eager fans converge to celebrate the birth of a new land in Azeroth. 

Members of Blizzard's crew will also be on-hand at launch events in US, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Taiwan. You can check out the official list here.

It was also announced today that Blizzard has gained permission to publish Mists of Pandaria in China, which will gain them access to hundreds of millions of potential customers.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

World of Warcraft 5.0.4 patch hits, setting up for Mist of Pandaria

Blizzard announced today that they've gone live with Patch 5.0.4 today which will set the stage and dim the lights for the arrival of their latest expansion, Mists of Pandaria.

The patch doesn't officially launch the Mists of Pandaria content, that will have to wait until launch day on September 25, 2012. However, as has become tradition, Blizzard is rolling out the major infrastructure changes that will be inbound with Pandaria.

The patch will introduce a new talent point system, a new world event: Attack on Theramore Isle, AoE looting, and a ridiculous number of other changes too numerous to mention in this tiny news post. However, you can check everything out at the official site.

The launch of Mists of Pandaria is certainly going to be interesting next month as Guild Wars 2 is picking up some serious steam following its launch today. 

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Diablo 3 Paragon system will be implemented today

Though it was only announced mere hours ago, Blizzard has revealed that Diablo 3's new Paragon system will officially be going live in the game later today. 

For those of you who missed the announcement yesterday, the Paragon system adds 100 extra levels of achievement onto the current 60 standard levels. They function a bit differently from current levels though. There will be no additional gear or content for Paragon levels, but characters will get stat boosts each time they level up.

Blizzard said the change became necessary because many players complained that due to the randomness of loot drops, they could actually end up losing money after spending time in the game at level 60. If a player received no significant drops it often meant they'd just be stuck with a hefty repair bill and nothing to show for it. The Paragon system at least guarantees that a player will be making progress toward the next level of Paragon.

Battle.net is currently down for scheduled maintenance, and it is expected that the update will go live once the service resumes at approximately 1pm PST. 

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Diablo 3 to get big end-game boost with Paragon system

Blizzard has been taking quite a beating over Diablo 3's end-game (or lack thereof.) For months now, fans have been complaining that the title's end-game essentially boils down to a never-ending loot grind with no actual purpose.

Today Blizzard has unveiled their new "Paragon" system which will add 100 levels of achievement onto the end of Diablo 3. It will become available after players hit level 60 with one of their characters, and will function similarly to normal level upgrades. While there will be no new gear or skills for the Paragon levels, players will get stat bonuses each time they level up.

Crucially, each level of Paragon will give players +3% gold and magic finding, cutting out some of the randomness of the drop system. More experienced players will now be far more likely to find high-value drops.

Blizzard said on their official blog that the change was made because some players would run into situations where they played for hours but found no gear. Which essentially added up to a net loss for the player because of the repair fees for their gear. 

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Diablo III Adding 'Paragon System'

Class changes and buffs to Legendary items aren't the only changes coming in the 1.0.4 patch for Diablo III. Today Blizzard detailed a new Paragon System on the game's official blog, something it hopes will go along way towards alleviating the issues people have with Magic Find (and more specifically gear-swapping) and giving level 60 players something to earn.

The solution is a set of sweeping changes collectively referred to as the Paragon System. Once it's implemented all experience earned after level 60 will be put toward 100 Paragon levels. Per today's post, each level gives you:

• Core stats such as Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality in amounts similar to what you’d gain from a normal level
•  3% Magic Find and 3% Gold Find

Visually, earning Paragon levels will result in "a distinctive increasingly-impressive border" around your character portrait "[denoting] your Paragon progression."

Game Director Jay Wilson, author of today's post, says "We know that a lot of you out there are level 60 -- maybe on multiple characters -- and this system provides a way to make progress every time you log in to the game."

On top of other bonuses, Blizzard will also be making the Nephalem Valor bonus give a 15% experience bonus per stack, help you earn Paragon levels. As for how much longer you can expect these levels to take, Wilson writes, "The first Paragon level should take about as long as it took most players to get from level 59 to 60, and the experience requirement will rise from there. The time to reach the upper Paragon levels approximates the long-term time investment required to get a level 99 character in Diablo II."

One of the other major goals for the Paragon System is to eventually "transition away" from having Magic Find on items. Eventually Wilson wants to "slowly and gently move Magic Find off of items in the future," but without doing, "so in a way that doesn't flip the entire game end-over end." Magic Find and Gold Find will now be capped to 300% before Nephalem Valor in 1.0.4, which means, "you'll hit the cap when you reach Paragon level 100." Thus as you level in Paragon levels you can start to remove Magic Find items, eventually weeding them out completely.

To see Wilson's words for yourselves, check out his post on the official Diablo III blog.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm beta currently being prepped by Blizzard

StarCraft 2 fans worldwide have been wondering for over a year about when Blizzard would finally begin rolling out the beta for StarCraft 2's first expansion pack, Heart of the Swarm. Today, Blizzard is finally ready to say that the HotS beta is coming and beta invitations will be going out "very soon."

Unfortunately, they did not specify exactly when that will be, but they have said that they will begin by sending out invites to top players, testers of the 1.5 patch, as well as friends and press. 

Heart of the Swarm's multiplayer component is set to introduce a slew of new units that should radically alter the gameplay first introduced by StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. We've got a full breakdown of the new units, changes, and abilities here.

Last month we reported on a quote from an analyst who predicted Heart of the Swarm would not release until 2013 under the rationale that Blizzard always conducts a 3-6 month beta test first. He wasn't wrong, it just seems like he didn't think Blizzard would get the beta out so quickly after he made that comment. If it launches soon, there's still a chance it could arrive before the end of the year. If only because right now Q1 of 2013 looks like a murderer's row of AAA hits that even Blizzard might fear.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com