News

• Faction changes coming to World of Warcraft
  Horde can be Alliance, Alliance can be Horde, cats and dogs sleeping together! It's lunacy!
• Patch 3.2 PTR unveils Tier 9 sets
  The next level of epic armor is coming to the game in the latest content patch...
• Patch 3.2 PTR Tier 9 set names
  ...And it's got a great set of lore names to go with along with it.
• Patch 3.2 upcoming Engineering changes
  Big changes for one of the game's most popular professions.
• Exodus punished for exploiting Yogg-Saron encounter
  After a guild accomplishes a world-first achievement kill, Blizzard determines they didn't quite follow the rules.
  

Features

• Patch 3.2 PTR: Tauren Druid conversation may reveal lore and expansion secrets
  A pair of Druids chatting in the new content patch might hint at the future of the game.
• The OverAchiever: Guide to Midsummer Fire Festival achievements
  Azeroth is heating up with the Fire Festival -- here's how to get everything done this week.
• Arcane Brilliance: More questions than answers
  Our Mage columnist didn't get all his questions answered in Blizzard's recent Q&A article about the class.
• Patch 3.2 PTR: New heirloom items gallery
  A pictoral look at some new heirloom items headed to the game.
• WoW Casually: What Patch 3.2 means for casuals
  Oh, you don't raid five times a week? Patch 3.2 has something for you as well.

Things are heating up both outside and in the World of Warcraft lately, as we're gearing up for a big time content release. Joystiq's sister site WoW.com has all the news you need about patch 3.2, from the latest changes and updates to when we'll actually see it out on the live realms. Read on for more about the biggest and best MMO around.

News

• Patch 3.2 PTR patch notes
  Here's the breakdown on what'll be in the Public Test Realm very soon.
• Crusaders' Coliseum details released
  Blizzard gives out deets on what we'll see in the next big instance added to the game.
• Patch 3.2 changes to the tiered Emblem system
  3.2 will bring both new sets of gear tokens to collect, as well as some tweaks and updates to old ones.
• New Shaman totem interface revealed
  Shamans will have new ways to both watch and lay down their totems.
• Class Q&A: Mage
  Blizzard answers questions on "the iconic caster" class.

Features

• WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2
  Everything you need to know about the upcoming content patch, and then some.
• The OverAchiever: Guide to Midsummer Fire Festival Achievements
  The Fire Festival is back, and so's our guide to get the most out of it.
• Insider Trader: Patch 3.2 profession change analysis
  What's new with professions? Read this column and find out.
• The Queue: Patch 3.2 and beyond the infinite
  Our readers ask questions every day, and we offer up answers just as often.
• Guildwatch: We're not even in his guild
  Another week brings another look at all of the guild drama, downed, and recruiting news from around the realms.

News

• BlizzCon ticket status
  BlizzCon ticket sales took place last Saturday, and things sold out in about 30 minutes. Here's the breakdown.
• Project 62*80: 62 level 80s by Christmas
  A World of Warcraft player wants to create 62, yes 62, level 80s by December 25th.
• Boom goes the servers
  Server issues bring the game down on a Friday night.
• Game Fuel pets for all. Sort of.
  Mountain Dew meets World of Warcraft in the form of a noncombat pet.
• Ensidia gets 10-man Algathon world first
  And yet again, the game has been beaten.

Features

• The Queue: Going to the movies
  You have questions, and we endeavor to answer them for you.
• From our readers: Is my Ulduar-clearing guild holding me back?
  Is it possible to be in a guild that's too good?
• WoW Rookie: Filter out the @#*(!
  How to make sure you only see what you want.
• Ready Check: Casual meets hardcore
  What's the real difference between casual and hardcore players?
• Forum Post of the Day: Be disciplined about healing meters
  Healing meters definitely aren't everything when it comes to raiding performance.

What a week in the World of Warcraft -- we've explored even further into the mysteries of Ulduar, we saw Peggle in WoW and WoW on the iPhone, and the Easter holiday of Noblegarden has arrived (even though it is a little late thanks to Blizzard's long testing periods) in Azeroth. But even though all of this is happening at once, there's no need to fear -- Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider is here every single day with news and views about what's going on in Azeroth. Whether you're a complete noob, you left the game at level 60 (boy howdy things have changed since then), or you're currently rolling through the 80 endgame, we've got news for you.

News

• Val'anyr stats discovered
  A new legendary mace has been discovered in the game's new Ulduar instance.
• WoW Insider exclusive: PopCap releases Peggle for WoW
  Insert joke here about one addictive substance inside another.
• Video teases iPhone WoW client
  Blizzard will likely never let it happen, but a third party says they've gotten WoW running on the iPhone.
• Today's in-game fixes
  Two weeks later, Blizzard is still fixing a few issues from patch 3.1.
• The OverAchiever: Guide to Noblegarden Achievements
  Albeit a little late, Blizzard is finally celebrating their version of Easter on the live realms.

Features

• Varian Wrynn is right
  The Alliance's latest leader really, really hates the Horde. And here's why he should.
• The Queue: Raid goes up, boss goes down
  A little Queue and A about... whatever you want to know.
• Loot, rationality and The Sunwell Effect
  A great essay about what drives us to do what we do in-game, and how Blizzard can use that.
• Lichborne: A Patch 3.1 talent build cookie platter for Death Knights
  So you're a DK and you have no idea what talent build to choose after 3.1. If you're OK with a cookie cutter build, boy do we have a batch for you.
• Eggsellent Guidance: 30 Noblegarden eggs in 15 minutes
  The easiest and quickest way to collect some yolks for the latest holiday achievement.

News

• WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 3.1
  Everything you need to know about the upcoming patch and then some. If you only click on one WoW-related link today, make this it.
• New mounts for Horde fishers in 3.1
  To re-balance the mount outage, Horde will be able to fish up a new mount soon.
• Full Tier 8 armor sets beginning to emerge
  All of the shinies we'll soon be pining for in the game.
• Ulduar achievements unveiled
  Check out what Blizzard has in store for all of the new raid's hard modes.
• Background downloader active for patch 3.1
  It begins. Some parts of the new patch are ready for primetime.

It seems that Nintendo's recently discovered trademark for "The After Years" was, in fact, referencing a Wii port of the cell-phone based follow-up to the SNES role-playing classic Final Fantasy IV. An ESRB rating for the sequel confirms that the game will be hitting North American Wiis, though a time frame for its release, or even its release format (retail? WiiWare?) has yet to be revealed. The ESRB stamped the title with an E rating, as it doesn't classify the frequent usage of the word "spoony" as inappropriate for adolescent ears.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, which was released in an episodic fashion on a number of Japanese mobile platforms last year, follows the exploits of Ceodore (the progeny of FFIV protagonists Cecil and Rosa) nearly 17 years after the events of the original game. It'll also feature appearances from other major characters from the SNES title -- well, the ones who survived, anyway. Those who played the title will recall that FFIV was somewhat Hamlet-esque in its final body count.

Considering that the term "Horse Armor" has become a common idiom when referring to unnecessary, costly DLC, we find it somewhat surprising that people are still purchasing Oblivion's equestrian plate mail. However, a recent Bethesda Blog post which ranked Oblivion's available add-ons by their total sales figures claimed, "even Horse Armor continues to sell daily." While pondering the type of folks who would drop two-and-a-half American dollars to trick out their virtual ponies, check out how the rest of the DLC measured up:

1. Wizard's Tower
2. Thieves Den
3. Mehrunes Razor
4. Spell Tomes
5. Vile Lair
6. The Orrery
7. Knights of the Nine
8. Shivering Isles
9. Horse Armor
10. Fighter's Stronghold

It's not every day Square Enix decides to release new Final Fantasy XIII media. In quite a change for the company, a new trailer has been released simultaneously worldwide. It showcases new scenarios and characters, unseen even in the infamous "Closed Theater" TGS presentations of yesteryear. It even shows -- wait for it -- real-time gameplay.

The hype machine for the game is just beginning, as this is but the first of many countdowns to come in the future. However, will Final Fantasy loyalists be able to handle the long wait to 2010?

While we're certain the point-and-click enthusiasts among us would like to get their paws on Joystiq's favorite game of 2008, Fable 2, it looks like they'll be waiting for a while longer -- on a Lionhead forum post asking whether or not the Albionic caper would be making its way to computers, community manager Woody swiftly answered, "We're not working on a PC version of Fable 2." As far as we can tell, no winks, nods or suggestive elbow nudges were included in the dispatch.

Woody's statement seems contrary to a report which made the rounds late last week -- a report which claimed that a Lionhead rep confirmed that a PC version of Fable 2 was "likely imminent". Why the discrepancy? We contacted Lionhead's senior community manager, Sam Van Tilburgh, who explained that the quote embedded in said report wasn't legit. Get comfortable, WASDers -- it's looking like Molyneux's hero sim won't be hitting your platform of choice in the near future.

[Via VideoGamer]

Fallout 3's Operation Anchorage DLC is now available to scav from the Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 ($10, 50 caps or 100 pieces of scrap metal). The VR mission takes place in the land of Palin, as a force attempts to liberate Anchorage from the Chinese. Once downloaded, keep an eye out for the "Outcast Distress Signal" to find the new content.

If you're sitting on the fence about the purchase, bear in mind that we'll have a review available later this week. And don't forget, the next couple of months will feature two more DLC packs for the post-apocalyptic adventure. The big change arrives in March with Broken Steel, which will increase the game's level cap and get rid of that pesky (abrupt?) ending.

When the third DLC scenario for Fallout 3, "Broken Steel," hits Xbox 360 and PC in March, it will replace the game's current ending, which doesn't allow players to keep on exploring the Capitol Wasteland post "end-game." This is something we've known since last November; what we didn't realize is that PS3 players -- already missing out on any DLC action -- will continue to be stuck with the current "brick wall" ending.

When asked by MTV Multiplayer if there were plans to patch the PS3 version of Fallout 3 for end-game play, Todd Howard, the game's executive producer, responded, "Not at this time, no." Howard has also remarked that Bethesda "really underestimated how many people would want to keep playing [past the ending]," and that Fallout 3 was "probably the last time we'll do something like that."

Source - Bethesda Won't Commit To PS3 Fallout 3 Getting Ability To Play Post-Ending [MTV Multiplayer]
Source - Bethesda Reacts To Three Major Fallout 3 Criticisms [MTV Multiplayer]

Hellgate: London will apparently continue on as a free-to-play title according to IP owner HanbitSoft, reports Gamasutra. Namco Bandai planned to pull the plug on the servers January 31, but HanbitSoft asserts the game will push forward. Forward and upward, allegedly, as the Korean publisher plans to update the game and strengthen community features.

The first patch HanbitSoft plans to release "soon" will combine the game's two modes, along with balancing game and class issues. Could the title that helped bring down Flagship Studios find an audience in the nurturing arms of the Korean developer?

Square Enix sent word by Moogle mail today that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time should arrive punctually at North American retail on March 24. Echoes allows Wii and DS gamers to play alongside one another with a bit less hassle than the original Crystal Chronicles. Remember all those link cables?

The game will cost $40 on either platform and will allow Wii players to use their Miis, some of which no doubt already look like Final Fantasy creatures.

If you enjoyed the older Final Fantasy games but always wished they included more navel-gazing reflections on love, loss and (possibly) the atomic bomb, brace yourself for stellar news: Jonathan Blow, the mind behind last year's surreptitious hit chronoplatformer Braid, recently mentioned in a Gamasutra interview that he's currently working on a new 2D role-playing game. He revealed few details, but did mention that dialogue is "very closely related to the core mechanic" of the game. Consider us intrigued.

However, don't get your hopes up quite yet -- by Blow's own concession, the guy's got the attention span of a fruit fly. He explained that he's worked on several projects since wrapping up Braid, teasing, "you never know. Next month, it could be a Pac-Man clone or something." Ah, yes -- a Pac-Man clone, in which the circular, titular hero takes copious amounts of drugs and is chased by the ghosts of his past in a futile attempt to reclaim the affections of his female, bow-headed counterpart. Hey, we're down with that too.

[Via X3F]