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“World of Warcraft Conventon Update”

 A Six-Day Sellout!   by Pauline Wessa

Tickets for the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational convention and gaming event were sold out in six days! It was announced March 20th and sold out by March 26th!!

The two-day World of Warcraft  convention is scheduled for June 28th and 29th, 2008 in Paris, France, at the Porte de Versailles Exposition Centre. The event, which brings gamers and Blizzard reps together, will feature hands-on play with the latest versions of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and StarCraft II in both competitive eSport and casual player tournaments.

Those lucky enough to get tickets also will have an opportunity to participate in discussion panels with Blizzard developers. Gamers will be given the latest news from members of Blizzard’s game development teams. They’ll also discuss gameplay, lore and art plus they’re offering a Q and A session.

Signing sessions are planned so gamers can have their game boxes, books, artwork and other World of Warcraft memorabilia signed by various artists and developers.

A variety of colorful costumes and dance contests, will give attendees a chance to show their talents and enthusiasm dressing as their favorite characters from any Blizzard game universe. Those interested, will have an opportunity to demonstrate their skills in creating machinima. Other features include a silent auction and live musical performances.

Machinima (muh-sheen-eh-mah) is defined as “filmmaking within a real-time, 3D virtual environment, often using 3D video-game technologies” according to the machinima organization. It combines the techniques of filmmaking, animation production and game development.

Machinima is real-world filmmaking techniques applied within an interactive virtual space where characters and events can be either controlled by humans, scripts or artificial intelligence.

By combining the techniques of filmmaking, animation production and the technology of real-time 3D game engines, Machinima makes for a very cost- and time-efficient way to produce films, with a large amount of creative control.