Blizzard Entertainment

If any of you are like me (or Alex), you like some of them Blizzard games. Be it World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, or the upcoming Diablo III, there's a Battle.net account sitting somewhere with your whole game stash on it. How can you protect your level 85 Night elf Mohawk from the thieving, grubby fingers of gold sellers and account hackers out there? Say hello to your new best friend, the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator. The Battle.net Mobile Authenticator works just like their separate, keychain authenticator. You attach it to your account, plugging in both the special serial number and one of the time-sensitive codes the first time, then just the time-sensitive code every time after that. If your code gets out of sync, you have the option to resync it to fix things up. New to this version is the ability to restore an account if say, you wipe your phone without removing the authenticator. I had this happen to me a number of times when flashing ROMs, and while the support people will do it, it requires pictures of your drivers license and other annoying procedures. The best part of it all is that it's free and ad-free. If you're an avid Blizzard gamer and want an extra level of security on your account, I'd head straight to the Market for this one. More pictures and download links are after the break.   Read More

By Leanna Lofte, Wednesday, Apr 20, 2011 | Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you! Plastic Bullet Camera: Put the fun, spontaneity, and surprise of plastic-fantastic toy cameras on your iPhone. Just tap to turn your photos into gloriously unpredictable works of art, then tap again to change the look. [$1.99 - iTunes link] Wordfeud: Crossword style multiplayer word game. Challenge your friends or play against random opponents. Play at your own pace. Participate in up to 30 games simultaneously. [Free - iTunes link] Robot Tycoon: Be an entrepreneur! Start by selling robots door-to-door, responding to your customers’ needs. Then, upgrade to a storefront or a factory. Now you can watch your cash and monitor your progress. [$4.99 - iTunes link] QuickPix: Formerly known as QuickCam, this rapid fire photography app now has an even faster burst speed. [$0.99 - iTunes link] World of Warcraft Mobile Armory: Now with Remote Guild Chat! Oarticipate in your guild’s in-game chat channel in real-time, have one-on-one conversations with members of your guild, and more. [Free - iTunes link] Any other big apps or game releases or updates today? If you pick any of these up, let us know what you think! Read More

Are you a WoW player? Know one? Well now you don’t have to be attached to the Computer to get your fix or keep your character’s busy. Blizzard has created an app that allows you to access your account via your android phone, and control things like the auction house! Like a WoW ebay app, you can view any activity on the Auction house, as well as your current bags and banks. Through a subscription setup with Blizzard, the $2.99/month upgrade allows you to interact with the Auction house, both buying and selling. Items can be brought from your banks or bags, and be sold right from the app. Additionally, when you purchase an item, you can move it from the auction house to your banks or bags, including gold from failed purchases or sales. All in all, Blizzard has provided a unique method of interacting with your account no matter where you are. Isn’t that what everyone wants? Grab it here! Russell Holly Russell stood in line for the G1 release, clicked refresh until his index finger bled waiting for the N1 sales page to finally drop, and has been deeply in love with the modding community. He has spent several years deeply involved in using and promoting Open Source over all else and could not be happier with the growing Android ecosystem. Now, however, he aims to contribute. Not just developing but spreading the word to all non-Android users. He has already convinced 3 friends to step away from the iPhone, and doesn't plan to stop! Read More

We've posted about the World of Warcraft Armory app from Blizzard Entertainment before. Now, Blizzard has announced that they'll soon be adding a new, long-awaited feature: the ability to browse and even set up in-game auctions from on the iPhone itself. The Remote Auction House on the iPhone Armory app is just one feature of their upcoming Armory system; they're going to be releasing an update to the official app soon that will let WoW players browse the auction house for free, and for an extra subscription price of $3 per month (in addition to the game's $15/month charge), players will be able to buy, create, and relist items on sale in the in-game marketplace. This is a functionality that a lot of people have wanted ever since Blizzard released the iPhone app in the first place. While at least one other MMO company has planned to use the iPhone in this same way, Blizzard is the first to bring an extra subscription charge for the privilege. The extra fee will also allow players to access the AH on the Web from anywhere, and even without the extra charge, players can get notifications about when auctions are up or sold and browse auction house sales. The update is out now on the App Store, and the Remote Auction House service will be out soon. One thing that the update won't bring (yet, presumably) is iPad compatibility -- this app is still only for the iPhone and iPod touch. Blizzard has been pretty committed to Mac development in the past, though, and it's still not out of the realm of possibility that we'll see an iPad offering from them. We'll have to stay tuned. Read More

For years I've wanted a decent World of Warcraft (WoW) iPhone app from Blizzard. There's an armory app that lets you browse your gear and so forth, but that's not enough. I'd like to track auctions, access in-game email, visit the bank and so on. All of that went out the window when I saw this. It's a screenshot of WoW supposedly being streamed to an iPad via Gaikai. Gaikai is a new service, currently in beta, that hosts and streams any game to your computer via a browser. Basically, you play a game that lives on their servers while watching a streaming video of the action. Their website says that "...the latest Adobe Flash player" is required, so we're not sure how this is being pulled off. Perhaps they're using an unreleased app. More importantly is the question, how in the world are you going to play WoW without a mouse? We second Gizmodo's call for video on this one. Read More

Fallen Earth is a respectable postapocalyptic MMO -- I've never played it (one MMO is enough for me, and the gigantic World of Warcraft is still claiming my time), but it's grown pretty popular since release in September of last year. And now the game is set to pick up another chunk of audience, as the owner Icarus Studios has announced that they're releasing a Mac client for the game. It's currently in beta (and was made using Wine), but if you're interested in trying out a new MMO with a postapocalyptic twist, head on over, give the client a download (you'll need a game account, though there's a free trial available), and give the team a good Mac welcome. That's not all, though -- Icarus is also working on their very own iPhone app, and I got to play with it this week at their GDC 2010 booth. For Fallen Earth players, it'll be a must-get, but even if you're not currently a player of the game, the app is a shining example of what's possible with a "supplementary" game application -- it allows for all sorts of in-game functions directly from Apple's handheld device. The app is pretty barebones in terms of main screen UI -- there's simply a menu that leads you off to all of the app's various functions. But the functions are what's most fascinating about this: almost anything that you can do outside of combat in the game can actually be performed using the iPhone app. It works as a full gear and inventory viewer -- Icarus has replicated the game's UI for the player character's gear and inventory, so you can browse and examine your gear within in the app just like you can any time in the game. That's not unheard of in the current MMO space (Blizzard has a similar viewer app for WoW), but this is: Fallen Earth's app goes beyond just viewing to actually acting and interacting with items in the real game. Logging into the app is just like logging into the game, so you can check the ingame mail system directly from the app, and even send mail out to other players from the iPhone. You can craft items directly on the iPhone, assuming you have the items in your inventory -- and even if you don't, you can access the in-game auction house to both buy and Read More

Blizzard forum poster Bornakk recently mentioned as a part of their efforts to increase the functionality of the World of Warcraft Armory that players will soon be able to access in-game auction houses through the web site itself, as well as an app that's in the works to manage your auctions on your iPhone. Features and functionality of the app are still in the process of being worked out, and Blizzard admits that since this is a fairly complex addition to the integration seen with both the armory and the iPhone so because of this they don't have any kind of release estimate yet. Also mentioned is that parts of this service will be "premium-based", and more details on what exactly that means will be revealed at a later date. Blizzard isn't exactly shy about charging players for in-game services between character server changes and sex changes, so it's anyone's guess as to where the "premium" will come in to play with this new app. Previously released Blizzard iPhone apps, World of Warcraft Mobile Armory [App Store] and Battle.net Mobile Authenticator [App Store] have been popular amongst our community, so we will be keeping a close eye on the development of the auction house app. Thanks to everyone I used to play World of Warcraft with relentlessly IM'ing me about this today. Amazing game, and I have played (and deleted) most of the games in this category. Currently Crime City is the one I have spent most time and the only other one left on my phone, but I think this is the new champion. I have IAP disabled and I am currently level 90 in Crime City and extremely competitive against all but the biggest real money spenders. I hope this game will be the same way where a little time and attention is all you need to be competitive (I don't need to be the best in freemium games like this to have fun). Pros: +Incredible graphics, best for a game of this type yet, so many great animations on your buildings, not a stagnant town like Crime City. In fact I think this is the best graphics in an iPhone strategy game +Like Crime City, you build out your area graphically, but you have to manage housing, food, resource harvesting and much more +Amazing campaign for a game of this type, great characters/back story/humor for quests +Best combat Read More

Recently, my boss at my day job was considering getting a Mac and asked that fateful question: So, what about games? A few years ago, any response to that question would have been met with an awkward silence and an embarrassed look and a rush to change the subject to the weather. Now a days, thankfully, the answer is: Not that bad, actually. The switch to Intel processors, along with TransGaming’s Cider, has allowed companies to port their games to OS X. The bad news is, almost all the games on this list require a Mac with an Intel-based processor to run, and most of them either do not work on the old GMA 950 chip, or are severely limited. I’ve got a weak spot for these enormous time sinks. They do come with a not-so-hidden cost of a monthly subscription fee and potential dirty looks from your spouse as you’re up until 3am trying go get “just one more level.” Warhammer OnlineDerived from the old Warhammer miniatures war games, we’ve covered this one previously. It’s still a good choice for someone who also likes bashing their fellow man in the face as well as computer-controlled monsters. You can download the endless trial, which will let you play a portion of the game for free, or you can also buy the retail Windows version for about $20 — you don’t need to install it, and the Mac version isn’t on the disc, but you can use the account key to create the account and then download the Mac client. Eve OnlineA space-themed MMO where you pilot your own ship is a nice distraction from the chicks-in-chainmail you find in fantasy games — really, that bikini has a high armor rating?  Riiiiiight. While my experiences with Eve are limited, from what friends have told me, “once you get over the learning curve, it’s quite fun.” So, if you’re tired of burly elves and svelte dwarves (or is it the other way around?), Eve Online might be worth a look. As with Warhammer, you can either download it online or pick up a box set at a retailer. It’s hard to mention a gaming roundup without talking about the 800 pound gorilla of the gaming market. Recently celebrating its fifth anniversary and over 11 million subscribers, WoW shows no indication of slowing down this decade. Blizzard has always been a staunch supporter of the Read More

Ein spielbarer ‘World of Warcraft’-Client hat es bislang nicht auf das iPhone geschafft. Für ‘Mobile Armory’ (kostenlos; App Store-Link) hat Blizzard jedoch kurz Onkel Dagoberts-Geldspeicher verlassen, und präsentiert die erste offizielle WoW-Anwendung. Damit können bürokratische Tätigkeiten wie die Raid-Kalender-, Charakter-, Item-, und Gilden-Verwaltung durchgeführt werden. Das Foren-Feedback der Zielgruppe klingt, trotz limitiertem Programm-Umfang, durchaus zufrieden gestellt. Read More