lizzard has begun allowing EU based World of Warcraft subscribers to register for the beta of the upcoming WoW expansion Wrath of the Lich King.
The ability to “opt in for a chance to participate” currently appears in your account page as the bottom option.
unsurprisingly the website is extremely slow at the moment.
Good luck everyone 
Well the streaming video has fell over as the world and his or her dog try to watch, but already they’ve officially announced Diablo III for PC & Mac
I managed to get a glimpse before the stream stalled, and it’s looking good.
Edit.. Official Diablo III site is up
Includes both cinematic and gameplay trailers as well as more info.
Blizzard have announced the new Keychain Authenticator to try and improve World Of Warcraft account from hacks. Similar devices are used for banking and security networks and it could end the days of account hacks. The optional security device will be available at the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational, which takes place in Paris this weekend.
The Authenticator will be made available for purchase via Blizzard’s European online store in the near future priced €6.00 plus shipping.
You can find out more about the device at the following Blizzard sites:
Edit: Pic now available
The Authenticator is currently out of stock at the Blizzard EU Store 
With all the debate about Phorm and it’s spyware plans, I must say I was refreshed by the new Nintendo Channel, which became available to EU Wii owners today. After downloading I was asked a number of questions, and given full information on what those choices meant. I had the ability to opt in or out of both sections.
You can find detailed information on the ability to opt in or out of receiving messages from both Nintendo and 3rd parties to your Wii messageboard on the official Ninendo Channel Customer Service page
There is also detailed information on what information you share with Nintendo (which you can also opt out of) when sending details to the Nintendo Channel
Well done Nintendo, while you’re still competing for sales, you don’t stoop to the levels of some organisations to do so.
The new Nintendo Channel will hit UK Wii consoles tomorrow, the channel gives you an interactive guide to what’s new in the world of Nintendo gaming. Having previously launched in Japan during November of 2007 and in the US of May 2008, the UK finally get the channel on 30th May 2008.
It will allow you to download trailers and videos of upcoming games, get info on Nintendo titles and will also have downloadable demos of DS games to upload to your DS.
To get it on your Wii you’ll need to go to the the Wii Shop and download it for free. You can read more about the Nintendo Channel on the official website here.
The new downloadable games arrived for the Wii yesterday, unlike the Virtual Console games, these are not the old classics but new titles from both some top names and some small independent developers. Here in Europe Wii Ware (which you’ll find in your Wii Shop channel) launched with 8 titles which I mentioned in my post on the 13th here
Having read some great reviews, I decided to download Lostwinds which came to Wii Ware thanks to Frontier, those of us of a certain age will know of the man behind Frontier, he’s David Braben, who was the Co-author of the classic space trading game Elite.
Lostwinds is a beautiful 2D platform adventure game that revolves around the main character named Toku, who is given the task of saving his homeland from an evil elemental spirit called Balasar. To help him in his quest Toku has guidance from a wind elemental named Enril.
The player controls Toku using the nunchuck controller, but Enril can help Toku improve his abilities by using the Wiimote to draw paths on-screen that control the wind. The wind spirit is used to enhance Toku’s jumps, defeat or immobilize enemies, and solve puzzles. The game opens with Toku snoozing under a tree filled with cherry blossom, Enril then tells you to wake Toku up by waving the Wiimote over him to use the wind to wake him up. As you progress through the game Enril gets more powers which of course benefit Toku.
After an hour or so of play, I can say that Lostwinds is a great game, even more so when you consider that it’s only 1000 Wii points, the music is so relaxing and the graphics are pleasing, it may hark back to a bygone age of gaming, but the Wii controller makes the interaction between Toku and Enril quite a challenge in some of the more tricky areas. A game of this quality is more than welcome on any of the consoles, and Frontier have made a really great start to Wii Ware. The Frontier web sites hints at a possible sequel, which I’m sure will go down just as well as Lostwinds has.
The only thing that I would say might be needed for Toku and Enril’s next outing would be a map (please!)
If you have a Wii please give Lostwinds a try, there’s some great puzzles in a very Zelda-esque style, and for a game of it’s size is far better than some full price 3rd party Wii titles.
Wii Ware will be launching in Europe on the 20th and the line up has been announced today, it’s slightly different to the recent US launch titles.
WiiWare are downloadable games and applications for the Wii video game console which you can buy from the Wii Shop channel. You’ll need Wii Points to purchase and download the games. Pricing details for Europe haven’t been revealed yet, but the US launch saw games costing between 500 and 1500 Wii Points.
Here’s the European launch line-up:
Well here’s a few screens of various Mario Kart characters about on their bikes.
Peach heads through a dodgy part of town on her 70’s style racer, see girls bike too!
Peach waves to a fellow biker, who’s trying to tell her she’s just been caught on the speed camera, hence her look of surprise.
Bowser decides as the sun is shining he can get his 1100cc superbike out and head off round a few lanes.
And finally, during his midlife crisis Waluigi gets on his Hardley Ableson for a trip to the supermarket
My copy of Mario Kart Wii arrived at 8.45 this morning, I was up nice an early for our regular Royal Mail parcel postie and he was in his usual cheery mood
Opening the large box from Amazon revealed the Nintendo packaging.
And here’s the box contents.
And finally the Game disc.
I popped the disc into the Wii and as soon as I did it wanted to perform a system update, which of course I let it.
Having played Mario Kart since the SNES version, I was wondering if it would compare with the great game that SNES version was, the N64 version was good, but the Cube version Double Dash had lost some of that MK magic. Mario Kart’s first online venture was on the excellent DS version, one which many think recaptured some of the original SNES magic.
Which camp would the Wii version of Mario Kart be in? Read on and find out how it fared during my first days play.
First of all I decided I’d give the Wii Wheel a try, and starting on the 50cc races at first I was all over the place, but after a few races the wheel was working well, I really am surprised how well Ninty have implemented it. Since getting the hang of the wheel, I’ve not tried the Wiimote or gamecube controller to play.
So after getting addicted to the new tracks, some of which are beautifully detailed, and they’re also challenging, no Baby Park from the Cube version here, underground mine carts to avoid, dodging cattle and bouncing on giant mushrooms are just part of some of the new courses, and the new Bowser Castle course is great.
So after getting addicted, I cleared the 50cc Cups and unlocked a new Kart, Diddy Kong (eww) and the 50cc bikes
Ohh did I mention it’s got bikes?
Well it’s got bikes.. in the 100cc cup series it’s bikes only initially, and they really change the dynamics of the game, leaning on corners, doing stunts to gain a boost, but also like a bike you’re more likely to come a cropper than you would in a kart.
So after extensive play testing today, I can reveal that Mario Kart Wii is wonderful, it seems faster than the cube version even in 50cc, and it has some of the grit of the Snes version there too.
Around 11pm I thought I’d give the online racing a try, dreading lag and waits for races, just selecting Europe I was in a race within a minute, and no lag, just pure concentrated fun, as humans are far more unpredicatable than the cpu players, you can come last in a race and still have a great smile on your face, Mario Kart has always been about multiplayer and without any doubts whatsoever the online feature is excellent. The USA get Mario Kart on the 25th April and I’m sure that it will be a huge hit for Nintendo over there too, and it will be great to welcome some of our US friends to the online races.
It’s now 2am, and after a few hours online racing there’s only one thing left to say and thats if you own a Wii and enjoyed any of the Mario Kart games, then for the pure fun then you MUST add the latest edition to your collection of Wii games, it’s a cracking price with the Wii Wheel too (mine was around £34 quid including shipping)
And I must thank Nintendo for taking Mario Kart Wii back to the top.
I’ll add some in game shots to an entry in my blog later, as I suspect I may just be playing MK again later today, but now it’s 2.30am and i’m off to my bed.
Before the Wii gets one of Nintendo’s greatest games. Of course I’m talking about Mario Kart. With only a day to go before it’s released in Europe, the reviews have been favourable and with the prospect of online play it has most MK fans salivating.
I’ve been a fan of Mario Kart since the SNES version, and had many happy hours playing against friends and being called a F**king Bitch for using that saved red shell just as your friend is on the last corner, so you can zip past and take the win.
A new first for the Wii version is the inclusion of bikes too!! I’m a happy bunny with that.
Now I hope that my pre order arrives tomorrow morning, or I’ll have to throw a tantrum
