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Are you looking for the latest industry headlines? Look no further.

1. Daily Column

Just when you thought it was safe to dip your toe back into the MMOG waters we receive this, WoW surpasses 9 million subscribers.

"IRVINE, Calif. – July 24, 2007 – Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®, its award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has reached a new milestone, with a player base now totaling more than 9 million subscribers worldwide. The company is currently working with its partner for World of Warcraft in China, The9, to prepare the game’s first expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade™, for launch in mainland China and anticipates an influx of new and returning subscribers in conjunction with that event.“We’re thrilled that gamers around the world have continued to embrace World of Warcraft so enthusiastically,” said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. “We’ve worked hard to provide a compelling experience for our players, and we plan to continue updating the game with exciting new content for them to enjoy for many years to come.”

Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. It was the bestselling PC game of 2005 and 2006* and has remained at or near the top of the weekly PC-game sales charts for much of 2007 as well. Blizzard’s Burning Crusade expansion released to critical acclaim in several regions earlier this year and shattered PC-game sales records in North America and Europe, with nearly 2.4 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of release and approximately 3.5 million in its first month. World of Warcraft is available in seven different languages and, in addition to North America and Europe, is played in mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau."

The 9 million subscribers is an unfathomable number. Not so long ago we were singing the praises of EverQuest that boasted 500,000 subscribers. If you read past the number and dig down to the very last sentence of the press release you find something just about as startling. WoW is available in seven different languages. The barriers to entry are so few compared to other titles that the game simply tramples over their subscription numbers. It's playable on a low-end machine, available to Mac and PC users and available in seven different languages.

For all of those negative types who frequent the official WoW boards claiming the demise of the King. WoW is dead! Long live WoW!

--

I knew as I sat at the gate in LAX airport that some sites would be giving out E3 awards. I couldn't answer why they would do it. The show was small and we didn't see anything that we hadn't seen a dozen times before, but I knew, I just knew that the lure of kissing the developers arses would be too much for some of the folks in attendance. Today a site that will remain unnamed gave out 26 E3 awards. Not one, not two, but 26!

Not to be outdone, I give you my E3 awards.

Most Likely Never To See E3 Again - Santa Monica

Best Deja Vu - The power blackout at the main hotels (E3 2005 saw power to a main hall and the media room go out for hours)

Best Quote - "This is where the naked woman buffs the priest." - Jorgen Tharaldsen - Funcom

Best Party - Age of Conan - Chainmail bikinis, need I write more?

I expect big things out of the show that begins today though, Comic-CON is going to be fun, partially because I'm not there. My stormtrooper suit was dirty and I didn't have time to get it dry-cleaned. In my stead, Jeff Woleslagle, Cody Bye, Phil Comeau and Garrett Fuller will be leading the charge, light sabers in hand. Note, it takes four of them to fill my stormtrooper boots.

Check out Cody's preview to see what is in the pipe.

Comment in the blog (now with direct link goodness) or email me directly.

2. New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

• Comic-CON 2007 Preview - Cody Bye
• Comic-CON: Fusion Fall - Premier Trailer - Jeff Woleslagle
• Dungeons and Dragons Online: Guide To Level 6 Cleric Spells - Greg Stanley
• EverQuest 2: Honey, I Shrunk The Patch - Coyote and Tony Jones
• Lord of the Rings Online: Epic Guide - Book Three - Stacy Jones
• Vanguard: Armor Project - Grifter's Armor Sets - Dalmarus
• Vanguard: Pantheon of the Ancients Guide, Part 2 - Machail
• World of Warcraft: Paladin Arena Guide - Gabriel Zamudio
• World of Warcraft: Fires of Outland Preview - The Loot - David Piner
• World of Warcraft: Horde Leveling Guide Update - Byron Mudry

3. Hot Content

• Comic-CON 2007 Preview - Cody Bye
• Comic-CON: Fusion Fall - Premier Trailer - Jeff Woleslagle
• E3: Fury Hands-On Preview - Jeff Woleslagle and John Hoskin
• E3: Mobile MMOGs - John Hoskin
• E3: The Agency: Corey Dangel Video Interview - Jeff Woleslagle
• Book Review: Exploiting Online Games - Jeff Woleslagle
• E3: Tabula Rasa Preview

4. Real World News

• Apple Takes Hit Over Disappointing iPhone Numbers [Thanks Matt]
  Steve Jobs suggests analysts dial -1-800- BITE-ME.
• US Wants Trucks Mounted With Frikkin' Laser Beams [Thanks Matt]
  Dr. Evil demands "One Billion Dollars" for the technology.
• Stupid Headline Tricks
  All of which will be in my new book, "You can't make this stuff up."

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com

John "Boomjack" Hoskin