Ezra Phoenix Chatterton, the young World of Warcraft fan with cancer, died on Monday. I’ve been following his tragic tale since May 2007 when Blizzard Entertainment granted young Ezra’s wish and let him create a character for the game.
I have posted a tribute from his father, Micah, as well as links to the Ezra archive at the Register’s Blizzard Blog. Please read “A father’s tribute to Ezra, the World of Warcraft fan with brain cancer.“
Blizzard Entertainment’s BlizzCon fan convention sold out a long time ago, but the 2-day event in Anaheim will be aired on TV via pay-per view for DirecTV customers only.
It’s not too late to get gouged sign up for the $39.95 PPV package. A DirecTV spokesperson just told me that O.C. residents can still get the satellite TV service installed by Saturday if they sign up today or tomorrow.
I just blogged all the details over at our renewed gaming blog, The Blizzard Blog, at ocregister.com/blizzard, which is now dedicated to all-things Blizzard.
For the rest of my readers who could care less about BlizzCon, DirecTV is apparently working on some new release for O.C. Check back later this week when I find out what that is.
Recent Blizzard news:
**UPDATE 9/30/08** Just learned that this is a show featuring Blizzard artists, not students. See more details in bold below.
The Laguna College of Art & Design in Laguna Beach opens its second-annual art show Wednesday based on the art of Orange County’s biggest gaming company. Irvine’s Blizzard Entertainment, developer of massively popular World of Warcraft and StarCraft games, will be submittinng art from employees, a few who also teach at the school.
[I removed the image here because I was misinformed that it was the official invitation to the show. I will post that as soon as I receive it.]
Last year’s show launched the video-game major. When I spoke to students and faculty last spring, everyone was jazzed about the Blizzard connection. (Who wouldn’t be? Read “Get taught by Blizzard — a perk if you attend Laguna art school.“) The first students to graduate with a gaming degree are expected this school year.
The October exhibit, titled “Art/Studies From Blizzard Entertainment,” features art from students and Blizzard employees who worked on popular games like World of Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft.
**UPDATE, 9/30/08** After visiting the gallery today, I learned that this is a purely Blizzard show. No student art is involved. This is part of a unique partnership between the school and Blizzard, which has loaned the school several original pieces drawn by Blizzard staff. Any fan who can make it to the gallery should plan a visit. Pieces include sketches and illustrations to show the process of creating the final product. I will post a link to my write up about this exhibit soon.
The show starts Oct. 1, but oddly, the artist reception isn’t until near the end of the show’s 27-day run. The college, however, is giving me a sneak peek on Tuesday. In the meantime, here is a slideshow of art created by students who are majoring in game art.
And Blizzard fans, stay tuned on Wednesday-ish when we relaunch the game blog to focus on all-things Blizzard (it’s a work in progress but feel free to watch the changes over the next few days).
::details::
What: Art/Studies From Blizzard Entertainment
When: Reception is Oct. 23, public is invited
Where: Laguna College Art & Design gallery, 2222 Laguna Canyon in Laguna Beach
Exhibit hours: Exhibit runs from Oct. 1 to 27.
Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Related:
Daniel Stultz sketches detailed images that look like they could exist in the land of Azeroth, a place inside the popular World of Warcraft game from Blizzard Entertainment. His artistry is inspired by the massively multi player online game and because of his choice in colleges, he’s closer to Azeroth than most gamers.
Stutz, pictured on right, got a chance to work with artists from game company because he attended the Laguna College of Art+Design in Laguna Beach, just 7.6 miles from Blizzard’s headquarters in Irvine. The Laguna college has 22 students in its brand-new video game major, which ended its first year last week. (This is the same college that hosted a World of Warcraft art exhibit last year.)
Read my story today about the perks of going to video-game school — here’s the LINK.
Thanks to the very connected Sandy Appleoff, the college’s chair of the Game Art major, students also got to work with artists from Dreamworks Animation, Double Helix Games (formerly Shiny Entertainment and The Collective) and, of course, two guys from Blizzard. Specifically, Blizzard’s Ely Cannon and Dion Rogers are on faculty at LCAD. Blizzard also sent a team to scope out talent at last week’s student showcase, which is where I interviewed Stutz.
“I can’t play Warcraft anymore,” confided Stutz, who has been drawing and playing Dungeons & Dragons since he was four. “The options were I play Warcraft or I finish school.”
He finished school. Now, he’s looking for a job. (All images are from his portfolio, btw…)
“I talked to Blizzard. That was a huge deal,” Stutz told me. Blizzard reps told him he needed a bigger portfolio with more 3D art, which is basically what every game studio wants these days.
He wasn’t the only Warcraft fan at the art school.
Blizzard Entertainment just announced that it will host its third BlizzCon fan fest at the Anaheim Convention Center on October 10 and 11. Need I say more?
Okay, I will. The Irvine company continues to have fantabulous success with its Warcraft and Star Craft games. This year, the event will occupy three convention halls, instead of two.
I’ll post details as soon as I get them. More information should be posted at Blizzcon.com, but the page still has last year’s information.The $100 tickets, which aren’t on sale yet, do sell out fast so you’ve been warned…
To get in the mood, check out coverage from last year’s show:
The Simpsons have Halloween. The tech community has April Fools Day. Here are a few humorous ones worth pointing out:
Blizzard Entertainment, a long-time AF prankster, has introduced a new Hero class for its update to the massively popular World of Warcraft: Guitar Hero! Say’s the stats page, “… only a true hero can vanquish evil with the power of ROCK!” Check out the company’s elaborate visuals, including the punk and metal talents HERE and more pranks linked on its homepage HERE.
Tech-friendly retailer ThinkGeek has quite a few, including the eww-gross Super Pii Pii Bros., a parody of Nintendo’s Wii (video included). Also, Spazztroids, caffeinated cereal; and the USB pregnancy kit, on left.
Google’s “Custom Time” service to send e-mails in the past; Microsoft and Yahoo agree on a price; plus a slew of fake stories from InfoWorld and another round-up from ITPro.
And if you’re bored, get advice from Wired’s “Top 10 April Fools pranks for nerds.“
One expects a World of Warcraft developer to play the game quite a bit. But what about the dad of one of those developers?
Such is the case with J. Allen Brack (in image by Kevin Sullivan, at right), senior producer of World of Warcraft. As we sat down with Brack during the first press tour of the company’s new headquarters, he admitted that his dad is hooked.
When Brack started working at Blizzard two and half years ago his dad asked about the game. On a Saturday, Brack showed his dad the land of Azeroth.
“He’d never played a video game,” Brack said. “He had no clue on how to move or control the camera.”
It started with Brack showing his dad how to walk, control the camera and do other basic tasks. By the end of that first day, his dad’s mage character was at level 2.
“From that humble beginning, he sort of took off,” Brack said.
Now, Brack says his father’s mage has is at Level 70 and the father-son duo play together in the same unnamed guild. In two and a half years, his dad has played over 190 days (24 hours each) as his main mage character — an average of five hours per day.
Blizzard is still turning high profits on World of Warcraft for parent company Vivendi, but the latest revenues statement shows Blizzard is paying more right now to
keep its current employees and to develop the Wrath of the Lich King and StarCraft II.
In Vivendi’s 2007 earnings released, Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy says that the company’s expenses increased because of Blizzard.
Levy said that Blizzard’s “higher compensation costs related to retention plans and by the current development of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and of StarCraft II” meant higher expenses for the company. No specific figures for Blizzard’s expenses were given.
After leaving Blizzard, some workers went on on to create their own gaming companies — including Carbine Studios and Red 5 Studios, both in Orange County.
 To view local listings CLICK
HERE
Or visit your TV provider: * Cox Cable * Time Warner Cable * DirecTV * Dish Network * AT&T U-verse * Verizon FiOS *
Watch a show online HERE. |
|---|
 The North Orange County Computer Club answers your tech questions. Visit the PC Club page and the Stump archives. |
|---|
More O.C. Tech News
Here's a list of TV/mobile companies helping consumers one tweet at a time. 
