It seems Wrath of Lich King is a solid expansion. If not, a 15-year old Swedish boy probably wouldn’t have went into seizures during an overly long 24 hour binge play session. Doctors state the convulsions were the result of sleep deprivation and lack of food. The unnamed minor’s father states:

They played all day and all night. Maybe they got a few hours of sleep. They ate a little food and breakfast at their computers. [When the boy went into convulsions] we were terrified and called rescue services…

As Jon Stewart stated on the Daily Show once referring to binge gaming and parents: “As they lay there, I am powerless to stop them.” The media is of course linking it to video game addiction instead of completely oblivious parenting. Pulling the plug, canceling the WoW account, killing the internet connection, or simply talking to the kid were all possibilities. Apparently, that’s all too logical.

Knights of the Old Republic is, in many people’s eyes, the greatest Star Wars game ever made. The extensive RPG could now be set for MMO glory is a rumor turns out to be true. The somewhat cryptic statement comes from EA CEO John Riccitiello who stated in an interview that they have:

“… got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development” including “the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about — in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare.”

Take a note that the only game to ever come from BioWare and LucasArts was KOTOR, hence the reason why just about everyone figured out the announcement on day one. Still, nothing official, but certainly something you can look forward to without much disappointment.

Unschooling, a belief that traditional education doesn’t work and needs changed, has become the basis for University of Wisconsin-Madison Constance Steinkuehler’s study that Warcraft provides actual education value. She gathered up some eight and ninth graders for after school sessions of the game, and lo and behold, it seemed to have an effect. As the report by LiveScience states:

Some of the eighth graders and high school freshmen who signed up for the group couldn’t have cared less about writing or reading in school. Yet those students have gone from barely stringing together two sentences to writing lengthy posts in their group’s Web site forum, where they discuss detailed strategies for gearing up their virtual characters and figuring out tough quests…

So, if they can write detailed strategies about the game online, why is it that they can’t handle and English class again?

If you’re finally ready to give up your addiction to World of Warcraft for something you believe to be less addictive, chances are you’ll be back. Say that “less addictive” activity is Age of Conan. Well, the stats say you’ll be back to Azeroth 68% of the time. Maybe Warhammer is more your speed? Chances are you’ll be back 46% of the time.

Whether that’s the high quality of Warcraft, the low quality of the other games, or simple familiarity with Warcraft isn’t very clear. One thing it does show is how much people love their Warcraft, and what a slim chance any other game has of breaking its spell.

Chances are, you’ve heard of Johnathan Riches. He’s a prison inmate who has filed some of the most absurd lawsuits in recent memory, going as far as suing George Bush, Barry Bonds, and Eiffel Tower (?). This time, his target will be Blizzard, as their addictive World of Warcraft sent him on a crime spree, which in America, is entirely the fault of Blizzard (*sarcasm*). Why is the game at fault specifically you ask? It’s responsible for:

“…. causing [me] to live in a virtual universe, where [I] explored the landscape committing identity theft and fighting cybermonster rival hacker gangs.”

Riiiight. Sound logical. Anyone to start an office pool on how long it takes for this to get tossed out of court?

Still running a PC without a $10 DVD-ROM drive? Still like World of Warcraft? Sorry, you’re screwed. The next expansion will *gasp* require a DVD. Sorry those of you still stuck in a multimedia world circa 1993. It’s either time to move on to something else or pony up the cash to buy the necessary hardware. And no, there’s no 3.5′ floppy version either. If you’re still using those, you’re really screwed.

Or, you could download the expansion whenever it becomes available (there’s no date for the digital version). Look at it this way: Either way it benefits you. It will free up your time if you don’t have the drive and won’t buy one, or it will finally force you into modern technology.

Look at it this way: If you play MMOs, you’re likely not fat. Congratulations. A new study (yes, someone paid money to find this stuff out) that the stereotype no longer fits.

However, the study conducted by the Palo Alto Research Center, does have some other grim news for you. After quizzing 7,000 players, they found many to be headed for or involved in substance abuse. Ouch. Scott Caplan, a team member, figures it’s because they “use the game to help deal with emotional distress.” Also surprising is that while not as many women play MMOs as men, they do tend to indulge in longer sessions.

Note that all of these conclusions were made in Everquest only. There’s an off chance the results would vary, though 7,000 is a solid number to ensure accuracy.

Kudos to PopCap. Michael Fromwiller created an in-game Bejeweled clone in World of Warcraft to pass the time while waiting around for raids or when gold farming. Instead of PopCap dropping a lawsuit in the guys lap, the company instead hired him to do an official version of the puzzle classic. The game, now cleaned up and improved, is available on Sept. 22nd. Oh, and it’s free. Yes, some things are free in this day and age… assuming you pay $50 for Warcraft and then $15 a month. Hey, it’s sort of free.

Korean WWE fans have until 2010 to froth at the mouth for their exclusive title, but THQ has announced they’ll be delivering a PC WWE MMO experience. The game will apparently feature a standard style career mode in which the player climbs the ranks of the WWE with the goal of reaching the WWE Hall of Fame. Could be an MMO as it’s being released in Korea, and done by a developer known for MMOs. The evidence is there for sure.

Microtransactions are supposed to be the business model, so that means you’ll be buying new moves and costumes. Of course, unless you live in Korea (or other Asian countries where the game will be released later on down the road), there’s not much to look forward to.

Ha Ha!

This one goes out to all of the gold farmers out there in Warhammer land.

Ha ha!

Mythic co-founder Mark Jacobs has had enough of gold farming shenanigans. He’s laying down the law, as his “strike team” who do nothing but find the gold farmers of the world and ban them. So far, 400 people are out of shady work that preys on the lazy. This will continue, and won’t end until the last gold farmer finally realizes this isn’t going to work… which will probably be never, but rest assured that the Warhammer team is all set to keep banning them as needed. Kudos Mythic.

Through the years, we’ve all heard stories of gaming dedication. Heck, you probably even have your own (I certainly have my stories of marathon sessions). Mostly though, those stories finish with a happy ending. Not so much for a group of Final Fantasy XI players who recently had the idea to tackle what Square has dubbed an unbeatable boss.

The boss is named Pandemonium Warden, and after a group of high level players battled it out for 18 hours, they still couldn’t beat him. Ego stat -15. On a forum, the guild stated:

“People were passing out and getting physically ill. We decided to end it before we risked turning into a horrible news story about how video games ruin people’s lives.”

Kudos guys for giving it a shot, but the mainstream media would love this story. And if they actually did it? The media could care less. It’s a shame when you think about it.

Apparently, people these days are too lazy to even play the video games they buy, and are willing to pay someone else to do it for them. A Manchester University study has shown the industry is potentially worth $500 million. The business employs close to half a million people, most of them in China. However, not even the study could prove exact number:

… the true size of the sector was hard to estimate - it could easily be twice as big. The quasi-criminal nature of gold-farming made it hard to truly gauge its extent, said Prof Heeks.

It’s not hard to find this stuff either. A quick eBay search for “Warcraft Gold” netted 533 results.