Free StrarCraft II for South Korean World of Warcraft players
The latest issue of Edge magazine has a fun little article abbot South Korea’s obsession with StarCraft. One of the issues the article brings up is: what happens to the game when Blizzard releases StarCraft II next month? Nobody knows! (My guess is that StarCraft will be around forever, no matter how many sequels Blizzard develops.) Along the same lines, kinda, Blizzard plans to give free copies of StarCraft II to Korean gamers who have an active World of Warcraft account.
Blizzard calls the move “a way of giving something back to such a supportive and skilled community of players.”
The Edge article says that Korean StarCraft players are treated like rock stars. There’s no stigma with being a “professional gamer” like I think there is here in the U.S. Well, maybe “stigma” is a bit harsh, but try telling someone you’re a professional gamer and they’ll be like, “Oh, so you’re a professional bum?” Scoff, huff, etc.
Don’t expect the free StarCraft II deal to be available outside of Korea.
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Free StrarCraft II for South Korean World of Warcraft players
Ring of Honor figures out the Internet, launches video download store to discourage BitTorrent piracy
Credit to Ring of Honor, the professional wrestling promotion, for embracing the Internet era. The promotion has launched a new download store that makes its extensive video library only a $10 download away. A legal download, mind you. It’s all a fan could ever ask for.
The process is pretty easy. You visit the Web site, add the video of your choice—I selected Joe vs. Punk II, from October, 2004 (which received a 5-star rating from The Wrestling Observer newsletter)—then buy via PayPal. A link then appears in the Account area of the Web site. In there is a link to a plain ol’ ISO that you then download at your leisure. The servers don’t seem to be too beefy since the download is running only at around 300 KB/s right now (6:30pm). Still, it’s quite a bit faster than waiting for a plastic disc to arrive in the mail.
It should also be noted that Ring of Honor regularly hosts Internet pay-per-view events, including one on April 3. So, “figures out the Internet” may be a bit harsh.
Companies like Ring of Honor have been fighting piracy for quite some time. There’s a couple fairly high profile BitTorrent sites that specialize in professional wrestling, and their DVDs are often ripped and posted and as soon as they’re released. It’s one thing to download a WWE DVD rip, where the company makes millions of dollars every year, but smaller guys like Ring of Honor truly do get hurt every time you fire up uTorrent. (Not to justify downloading WWE DVDs, of course.) But giving people an easy-to-use, inexpensive, and legal method to access their video library is to be commend, and it probably should have happened sooner.
I’d much rather be given the option of paying $10 for an ISO than having to sift my way through this or that torrent site, worrying about whether or not there’s a seeder in the swarm.
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Ring of Honor figures out the Internet, launches video download store to discourage BitTorrent piracy
HexoLight Takes Your Videogame Party From Lame to Tacky [Lighting]
Rock Gear's HexoLight LED-lighting system is supposed to be used with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and other video games to give your living room a super cool night club vibe. Unfortunately the video demo of it only screams super tacky.
Ok ok, I'm being a bit harsh. The lights are actually pretty nifty if you've already got a good atmosphere going on, but they're not going to magically make hot chicks show up at your late night Guitar Hero tournament.
The lights range from $30 to $120 and are available now. [Rock Gear Shop via Engadget]
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HexoLight Takes Your Videogame Party From Lame to Tacky [Lighting]