Yes, motorcycles in Azeroth. One half of the octopus on a motorbike Druid form is complete! This and many other revelations came to us this week at WoW Insider as the Wrath of the Lich King beta opened up, and all kinds of Death Knight and Northrend news and information came falling out. Here's our most popular posts from the last seven days, with lots of new info about the reason you'll be playing WoW again this winter.
It's E3 week and we were there getting some hands-on time and some eyes-on time with some of the biggest PC game releases in the next several months. Here are the highlights from Big Download for the past week.
When Harmonix throws a party they get The Who to headline that jam; when Joystiq throws a party, we get Harmonix to headline. The generous devs from Boston brought Rock Band 2 to our E3 afterparty in Santa Monica for the 300 plus attendees to prove their mettle. Take Joystiq superband The Blueberry Muffintops who closed off the night with this rendition of Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" – take note: by this point in the night, we'd already blown out the setup's speaker. Rawk!
So really, our heartfelt thanks to Harmonix for making everyone's night. But we'd also like to thank Nyko for the peripherals, Naughty Dog for the great signed stuff, and of course Mahalo.com for the super generous use of their space. Most of all, thanks to everyone that showed up. We put Joystiq together every day for you guys and it was flattering, and humbling, to see everyone turn out today. This one's for you (hit play now!).
Yes, we are actually live blogging our own party -- we have an addiction. Stay tuned for images and updates from the party with special guest The Who [Update: Turns out The Who couldn't make it, but we do have Rock Band 2] and if you're within 100 miles, get over here!
If you're interested in getting your hand on some of our over 200 lbs. of schwaggage, imbibing in free food and drink, and oh, meeting your favorite damn video game bloggers in the blogosphere, then get yourself to our Second Post-E3 Joystiq Meetup and Schwag-Off™. Find out how to get there after the break, and set your GPS to FUN.
Our very own Ross Miller, in his bubbling excitement over tonight's Joystiq reader meetup, was overheard commenting on the Nuka Cola from Bethesda & Fallout 3 that we'll be bringing. "Get nuked at the Joystiq meetup!" We're planning on it, Rosco.
Veronica Belmont, of Qore fame, jams into a van with various Joystiq-network bloggers for this "special episode" of Qore. You'd think that a site owned by mega-corporation AOL would be able to give us more than one van to squeeze into. Just, don't tell the Los Angeles police department how many people we packed into the car (and its trunk).
Le sigh. A sincere question coming from the developers of acrobatic Gears of Civil War shooter, Damnation, once again brings us in direct competition with longtime Joystiq nemesis and mistaken alternate identity, Joystick Magazine. "You guys did a cover for us, right?" asks a member of Blue Omega Entertainment, unaware of our disdain for paper and our geographical avoidance of France.
Being mistaken for Joystick has become one of our favorite trade show traditions (does it happen to them too?), if only for the ironic reminder that the Joystiq with a "q" is the one that isn't French.
There are plenty of reasons to attend tonight's second annual Joystiq E3 afterparty. The first one (pictured above) weighs in at roughly 200 pounds -- masses of game-related clothing, doohickeys, doodads, thingamabobs and pointless junk could be yours! You'll also be able to devour free food, meet your fellow readers and play some video games on our projectors. Which video games? That's a surprise.
As for the drawbacks of coming ... well, you might run into us. If you want to have a good time, be sure to avoid the individuals with pasty skins, bloodshot eyes and a habit of muttering endlessly about some unreleased game.
When: 6pm - 10pm PT on Thursday, July 17th Where: Mahalo HQ, 902 Colorado Ave. Santa Monica 90401 (map) Who: Yes, this event is all ages! RSVP: Facebook
Just like last year, we'd like to give a shout-out to the folks over at Mahalo.com for hosting the event.
After an extremely long day of liveblogging, keynotes, booth appointment, trawling the show floor, writing stories, taking photos, and recording podcasts, an evening of cocktails and parties sounded like an ideal way to unwind. However, we were smacked in the face with a tidal wave called "tired" and we just couldn't keep our eyes open. Next year: portable energy drink IVs.
We vacated Activision's fairly swanky reception and party early last night, with our destinations set on "Bethesda." Jetting from downtown Los Angeles to the Sunset Strip in mere minutes, we arrived like rockstars only to leave like geriatric mall-walkers a short hour later. However, we did witness some things we'd like to share. Check 'em out after the break.
Activision might have dropped out of E3, but that didn't stop them from having a huge party, complete with tiny hamburgers, pork buns, sushi, and other things we couldn't pronounce. We liveblogged it, then got some chow on. Head after the jump to find out the kinds of things Activision has been spending their money on, besides Blizzard.
As we perused Fallout 3 today (more on that soon) Bethesda treated us to some refreshment in the form of Nuka Cola. But did we ingest the only known post-apocalyptic soda? No, dear reader, we did not. We left its dark mysteries bottled up in the hopes that we could pass the bottles along to you at Thursday's Joystiq Reader Meet Up Party.
A similar fate will befall the other Bethesda swag we nabbed, a SimTek 1000 holographic ... OK, it's a ViewMaster. But it's got Fallout 3 three-dimensional screenshots, so you won't hear us complaining. If you want a crack at it make sure you attend the shin-dig.
We were as perplexed as the next gamer when a mysterious Joystiq branded faceplate showed up during Microsoft's E3 keynote yesterday. We spent much of the evening deciphering clues, following up on leads, calling in favors, meeting with shady characters in dark alleys. Basically, we found out nothing.
So imagine our surprise today while we were confirming our facetime with the Fallout 3 Bethesda crowd. It was as if the heavens parted and an angelic hand from heaven lowered said faceplate right into our laps. It turns out we didn't dream it. It's real. Find out all about it after the break, and learn how you can win this fabled item.
Uno Rush has been confirmed for release on Xbox Live later this year. No details on what the game is yet, but we hear that you'll be able to win actual, real-life prizes while playing it, including possibly Xbox accessories, Microsoft Points, or even other games.
We'll keep an eye on anything else we can find out about it -- if old school Uno isn't giving you a Wild Card Draw Four lately, keep an eye out for Rush.
NBC/Universal will be joining the over 10,000 movies and television shows currently available on Xbox Live Marketplace, as they're releasing content today. Television shows like Monk, The Office and Battlestar Galactica will be available on the service from NBC, and Universal will contribute films like 12 Monkeys, The Bourne Supremacy, The Mummy, The Chronicles of Riddick.
Our very own 
Le sigh. A sincere question coming from the developers of acrobatic Gears of Civil War shooter, 
