The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has placed another feather in the positively avian cap of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. A final list of the nominees and winners from AIAS’ 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards has been released, and of the five shortlisted games in the Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year category, it is the WoW expansion in particular, The Burning Crusade, that took the top honor (as Mike Schramm predicted when the nominations were first announced). Blizzard executives also gave speeches on the strategies behind their success — unrelated to the award — at the D.I.C.E. Summit, where the awards took place.

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For the navigation impaired that means you click the link and then look in the right menu.The 453rd edition of Loading… is brought to you by Maple Story: Let the fun begin! With old-skool graphics, online multiplayer and a massive built-in community, click here to download Maple Story for FREE and kickstart your social life!We have the gremlins out of the new mailing list software. If any of the folks who read this via e-mail are having problems please drop me a line.The most visited stories from yesterday were:First Look at “The Burning Crusade” beta. [Exclusive MMOG Content]Vanguard beta slot giveaway. [Exclusive MMOG Content]Official contact with aliens to take place in four months. [From the real world]WoW Halloween Events [Exclusive MMOG Content]10 costumes not to wear to an airport [From the real world]A pal of mine sent me a link to a very, and I underline very funny fake letter written by the NFL player with the lowest rating in Madden NFL Football. Before I give you the link to this comedy gold nugget I have to warn you that it is filled with naughty words and politically incorrectness. Here’s a snippet:”It’s also pretty wonderful that my awareness rating was 59. You make it sound like I wake up in the morning, helplessly shit and piss myself, then lose three of my teeth before I discover that I am trying to eat a rock for breakfast.”Here’s your link. You were warned. Honestly, if I hadn’t known it was about Madden Football I would have immediately assumed it was written by Jack Thompson. Send me another letter Jack, get one of the interns at your law office to help you with the big words like “breakfast”.The LotROSource.com team are getting settled in as a TenTonHammer.com community. Stop by the site, say “Hello”, and welcome them to the fastest growing MMOG network on the planet.Seque to our other Turbine Entertainment community, Dungeons and Dragons Online. I’d tell you how many DDO articles and guides that they have posted, but I can’t count that high. It’s in the hundreds and I got confused at 17. If you haven’t tried this game you really should. It is different than anything you will have tried before and though it isn’t for everyone, it deserves a look.I’m in one of those, it hurts me just to login to WoW for screenshots modes. I would squeal like a schoolgirl if a new game came out that caught my fancy, but that doesn’t appear likely. Gods and Heroes is one that I would like to see sooner rather than later. With Christmas just around the corner and The Burning Crusade the undisputed hottest purchase in the genre are you looking for something different?For the first time in a long time I went out and purchased a real-time-strategy game. I thought Dawn of War was a huge leap forward for RTS games and the expansion “Dark Crusade” is more of the same. I’ve only played three or four hours so far, but it’s been more entertaining than listening to Coyote tell stories about soiling himself, and boy there are a few of those circulating around the office.Is there something new on the horizon (Pre-Christmas) that you just can’t wait to get your hands on?Do tell, either in the forum or at the bottom of this blog. If you are shy (or female and sending in naughty pictures) you can E-Mail me.Every good guild needs a home. A home free of gold ads and secondary market farmers. Look no further than GuildPortal.com.Exclusive new TenTonHammer.com Content! Let us entertain you or at the very least waste some of your time at work.10.20.2006 Exclusive Content Dungeons and Dragons Online: Scoundrel’s Run Quest Guide”We at Ten Ton Hammer encourage you to bring a reliable rogue for The Scoundrel’s Run. This dungeon has some vicious fire traps that are not to be taken lightly. Once the rogue has done his job, you’d better have a good cleric, too.”EverQuest 2: Everything I’ve Ever Needed To Know I Learned in EverQuest”Coyote presents a somber, reflective piece that for once does not contain the word “boobies”. Look upon his wisdom, and fear the fact it exists.”EverQuest 2: Updated Ranger Guide”Savanja becomes one with the forest and updates the Ranger Combat Art list to reflect the current level caps, and all combat revamp changes. Find everything you’ll about Ranger abilities here!”EverQuest 2: Not Another Echoes of Faydwer Preview”Ten Ton Hammer not satisfied with the standard Echoes of Faydwer PR tour, set out on it’s own to see what the expansion was really like. Join RadarX as he traverses the new zones, and get a look at some exclusive screenshots!”Vanguard: Saga of Heroes – Monk Class Preview”The next in our ongoing series of class guide previews brings us to the Monk, offensive fighter and martial expert of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Sigil Senior Game Designer Darrin McPherson has said, “Monks are badass!” Zinn’s complete guide to all the monk information we know so far will prove it.”World of Warcraft: A Brief History Of Azeroth”This is a very brief summary of the history of the World of Warcraft races, the formation of the Horde and Alliance factions, and the threat from the Burning Crusade.”Vin Diesel Fact of the Day – Vin Diesel taught the Kool-Aid mascot how to break through walls.Now from the real world. You can’t make this stuff up. NASA Sponsors “Space Elevator” ContestI believe Bugs Bunny has already done this with barber chairs.Article Source: www.tentonhammer.com.

a href=”http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73130″>Fridaywas opening day of Blizzcon 2009, the largest and most ambitiousBlizzcon to date. Despite the hike in attendance fee and the relativestreamlining of the badge process, it still feels, like WoW, to havesomehow cheapened itself to sell out to the masses.  Lastyear’s con, even with its much maligned ticket purchasingfiasco, felt more cohesive and well run. Don’t get me wrong,the staff here is pretty amazing and much more patient than I couldever be, but the sheer volume of people is too large for the venue andit shows. I anticipate that with the coming revamps to existingfranchises and release of the two newest iterations of existing onesthat Blizzcon may have seen its last year in Anaheim, unless we movedown the road to the baseball stadium.

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Japanese publisher and RPG specialist Square Enix has revealed that it was at one stage in talks with Sony regarding a PS3 port of its still popular MMO Final Fantasy XI.The game’s producer Hiromichi Tanaka told 1UP at the recent Fan Fest event in Hollywood that: “Initially we were in talks with a representative from Sony, but it appears that that person quit.”Tanaka also went on to explain that it would also be hugely difficult for the firm to release any kind of work-around to get the PS2 version to work on all but Sony’s first-generation PS3s:“Current PS3s don't have PS3-side PS2 emulation, and it doesn't look like Sony has any plans to address that issue. For that kind of thing to even be conceivable, it would have to be on a disc. Digital downloads wouldn't work for this. The disc has to be in the system for the emulator to work.”FFXI is currently available on Xbox 360, PC and North American and Japanese PS2s with a hard drive.Article Source: www.mcvuk.com.