All's looking good for next week's public launch, as Funcom and Eidos proclaimed that over 1 million people have signed up for the Age of Conan beta, a figure shadowed only by the 5 million unique visitors tracked on the game's official website during 2008. They even believe this represents "the largest ever beta sign-up figure in the [Western] history of the genre", thought admitedly they're still not sure how these figures will convert into sales and, most importantly, subscriptions. I know plenty of people are going to give it a try, at the very least.

And if that's no clear indication of the game's short-term success, World of Warcraft's population is already starting to take a hit, as half of my betraying guildies will tell you. As far as I can tell, no other MMO has triggered such a large exodus of WoW players, over the past three years since Blizzard launched it. LotR Online came close in 2007, but it was a very, very short-lived distraction. The question is, will Age of Conan last long enough to threaten WoW's undisputed reign?

I still have my doubts.

P.S. We have a new Age of Conan 'femme fatale' trailer added yesterday, in case you didn't notice.

Playing catch-up with some Blizzard news while patching WoW to version 2.4.2, I noticed something everyone else must have known about since two days ago: BlizzCon 2008 was announced this week, "now with 50% more hall space for your convention-going enjoyment". This will be the third edition of Blizzard's gaming convention, and for those interested in attending, the venue and dates are Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, on October 10-11. Tickets will go on sale in the next few weeks, priced at $100 per person.

"BlizzCon will offer a wide variety of activities to help all attendees get the most out of the two-day event. In addition to serving as a gathering place for the different Blizzard Entertainment gaming communities, attendees will be able to enjoy:

- Hands-on play time with upcoming Blizzard Entertainment releases
- Discussion panels with Blizzard Entertainment developers
- Competitive and casual tournaments for players to showcase their talents
- Areas and activities devoted to licensed products such as the World of Warcraft - Trading Card Game
- Costume, machinima, and character sound-alike contests with great prizes
- Commemorative merchandise based on the Blizzard Entertainment franchises
- A silent auction
- More exciting activities to be announced"

The press release isn't hinting at any new game announcements during the event, but you never know...

The Japanese have found a rather interesting use for two obsolete air traffic control radars, which had previously been used at the Osaka International Airport. Instead of trashing them, they installed them in a nearby park - built on an artificial hill, go figure - and are now using the radars as gaming platforms of sorts.

Nothing fancy, though, just a simulator game for children, "in which they can control landing planes following guidance on a screen", Mainichi writes today (here's a backup of that page, since their stories have a habit of going M.I.A. real fast). Had it been put to proper use - and by "proper" I mean "hardcore" - this would've surely qualified as the most advanced and realistic flight control simulator.

The only issue that remains is mass-producing real radars for common gamers (who wouldn't want one in their backyard?), not to mention the questioning appeal of a flight control sim. As if flight sims weren't unpopular enough.

The salesmen from Sony Computer Entertainment are over-pleased with themselves, for their impressive achievement of having shipped over 50 million games from the Gran Turismo "racing and car-life simulator" franchise. And because they obviously did all the hard work themselves, they're barely mentioning the series' developing studio - Polyphony Digital - just once in their pompous communique.

The series began in late 1997, so the 50 million shipments, spread over a 10 years (and 4 months) timeframe, would average to nearly 5 million Gran Turismo games shipped every year; and presumably a very solid percentage of that sold, too. It would be interesting to see a similar figure from EA's Need for Speed franchise. Wanna bet which one would come on top?

For old times' sake, here's a list of all the Gran Turismo games and "prologues" released over the years:

Gran Turismo - December 23, 1997
Gran Turismo 2 - December 11, 1999
Gran Turismo 3 A-spec - April 28, 2001
Gran Turismo Concept 2001 TOKYO - January 1, 2002
Gran Turismo 4 Prologue - December 4, 2003
Gran Turismo 4 - December 28, 2004
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue - December 13, 2007

Oh, and a big-big personal thanks from Gran Turismo producer Kazunori Yamauchi, to all the fans out there. I've only been one for a year or so (since the NFS series is going nowhere fast), and I don't have a single shred of regret for switching over to Sony's team.

"I would really like to thank all the fans who have supported the Gran Turismo series over the years, for all their passion and love of the game. We’d like to continue making every effort to create cutting edge, high quality games, so that we don’t disappoint anyone’s expectations."

Yep, it's official. The Suzumiya Haruhi Wii game that was announced last year - along with that PS2 game and a PSP game, both released back in winter - will be a dancing game, and it could come out later this year. Shock and awe.

A random Japanese blog posted a couple of Famitsu scans showing images from the game - see them here and here - and based on them, Sankaku Complex has a brief description of what it will play like.

"The latest Haruhi game for the Wii will be a dancing game, involving timing Haruhi and company's dancing with the Wiimote. (...) there will be a story mode advanced by skilful dancing, a free mode in which you can freely choose costumes, music and stage, and the dancing will be accomplished with three characters, so Kyon is unlikely to feature with Haruhi, Nagato and Mikuru on hand. Apparently, there will also be a version packaged with a figure."

Moar Haruhi dancing? In 3D? With booze? Hell yeah!

Five years ago, this title alone would have been enough to make me hop around like crazy in excitement. Now, I couldn't give a rat's ass anymore. Not because the announcement was innevitable, nor because I've become a grumpy gamer. But simply because my rusty computer may never run Doom 4 at a decent frame-rate. If it will be a PC title at all...

Ok, so this is the part where the "real" news begins, normally. Except that there's not much left to say, other than "production has begun on Doom 4", as id bluntly puts it. Sure, they have more filler text in their announcement, but they don't give any estimate release date, no target platforms, no nothing. Just a tiny, subtle hint:

"DOOM is part of the id Software DNA and demands the greatest talent and brightest minds in the industry to bring the next installment of our flagship franchise to Earth", said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software" (ed. - our bolding)

Bring Doom back to Earth, eh? Well, why not. It's not like it matters if we're shooting demons on Earth, Mars, or some other planet, as long as we're locked inside dark buildings most of the time. Damn, I really hope they'll shed more light on Doom 4, literally, and bring back the bloody colorful massacres from the early days of Doom and Doom II.

If all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, you can imagine how we feel after our overly-extended leave of absence, most of which we so shamelessly spent by playing WoW day in, day out (well, that and doing various other highly-enjoyable and equally-unproductive activities). We're still not entirely prepared to get our asses back to this thing we call "work", but - as cruel as it may be - subscriptions don't pay themselves, neither does the booze, nor the cabs you have to take for drinking too much, nor the tons of milk you have to drink the next morning for similar reasons. Because it's no fun farmin' an' grindin' with a nasty headache. Heed my words!

So, time to start making some money again. I mean, time to follow our unending passion for writing about this rotting rotten industry that we vaguely recall having admired, once upon a time. But it still has its moments, every now and then, so we're not about to give it the finger just yet. Not when id announces Doom 4, giving us the perfect reason for getting back in the pseudo-journalistic game. Right then, let's make this quick: my SSC raid is starting in an hour!

A new press release has come up on the Internetz, giving us some insight in the much anticipated (by desk secretaries) Sims 3. Along with a brand new engine that is bound to rock our stinky socks one way or the other (and which seems to be in development for almost three years), EA’s simulation success brags at everyone with the following things, which we will detail a bit, to give you a much deserved shade of Aran light on the matter:

New Seamless, Open Neighborhood - Explore the Neighborhood Freely.
So, you will be able to leave the house, stalk your neighbours’ daughters any way you see fit. Hopefully, such an open neighborhood means fewer locks on the little girls’ bedrooms, and more instant action for us.

New Create A Sim - Create Any Sim You Can Imagine.
…and I certainly don’t mind being a God, also in the virtual world. Sticking to different Sim personalities, like whores, pimps, serial killers and sisters of Ilidan should be a nice addition to the whole game universe. Size is also included here – you can make them small, big, fat, thin, and most especially, white.

New Unlimited Customization - Everyone Can Customize Everything!
And the blah-blah part about “OMG U CAN CHANGE IT ALL!!!!”. Fascinating. They say I can even modify window shades. Or sofas. Now that is really groundbreaking. I can always feel the urge to play this game, over and over again, while my (presumptive) girlfriend is playing around with that new wireless Nunchuk I bought her, to leave me alone.

Despite the usual trend when it comes to recent games, it seems that Prey 2, along with all those asshole-like doors and… wall grafitti, will not come to all the consoles and their mother, when it will eventually ship. More exactly, the guys at Radar Group stated that the sequel to the 2008’s would-be-shooter will find its way to the PC and Microsoft’s X360. So no PS3, at least for a while, though it is hard to believe that such a title would not take advantage of some sales boost with Sony’s console being so overrated.

Details on Prey 2, Earth No More, Incarnate and other two “unknown” projects can be very well spotted on Radar’s website, along with Casey Linch’s statement on The Game Reviews, according to which the game’s developer is still Human Head.

Well, if you are interested in a FPS that denies you DEATH in any possible way, Prey may be a thing for you. And I bet that Prey 2, too.

Can you say… Cnet? Hell yea, I bet you can. This little company has been responsible lately for all sorts of scandalous decisions regarding (so far) the online gaming press. We all know they have acquired major known websites to do their dirty work, one of which is some’s favorite Gamespot.

Problems started appearing when the likes of Eidos (and other bullshit producers that cannot face the reality that their games SUCK MAJOR ASS) let Cnet know that… well, the site’s review for Kane and Lynch, one of the biggest failures in the gaming universe so far, was rated… too low. This, after Eidos spent tons of money painting the whole fucking Gamespot with Kane and Lynch commercials.

The quick follow-up was awesome – in a very bad way, at least for us gaming journalists – Mr. Gerstmann, the one responsible for the said review, was fired without notice. Because, you see, If Eidos tells you to rate its game high, YOU MUST RATE its games high. Otherwise, go work in the fucking construction department. It was a surprise for all, but not quite that big, considering we all know Cnet is a money-hungry bitch with absolutely no respect for gaming journalism.

After that, people came and went from Gamespot, with other sound and good names leaving the sinking boat because of the same reason – the absolute lack of freedom of speech. And now another Senior Editor, Brad Shoemaker will kiss the crew goodbye and will travel to, we hope, better places, where people can actually say what they think about a game. We wish you good luck, Brad, may your writing days be long and prosper, and Eidos bashing days even more prosper.

What a fucked up industry we have, for Christ’s sake. It is becoming like politics. You can listen to the related Hotspot here.