Guest Post by AMP 2-11
Blizzcon Day One. We descend on the convention center like Walking Dead on a farmhouse full of southerners, only a lot more animated.
Blizzcon is a massive undertaking filling all four halls and the arena area of the convention center. Even without the crowd it takes about 5-10 min to walk from end to end. The space is dominated by stages showcasing Blizzard’s slew of e-sports that rival Gotterdammerung in terms of design and scale.
Huge video screens displaying the various Blizzard games hang from the ceiling above thousands of state of the art gaming consoles in a space reminiscent of the storage room at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. There are full camera crews, lighting techs and crane operators in each room, as the entire event is broadcast live on DirectTV. There is smaller stages for commentators and hundreds of vendor booths of all shapes and sizes.
The scale of everything is immense.
The opening ceremony begins to thunderous applause. It is the 10th anniversary of The World of Warcraft and the 20th anniversary of Warcraft itself.
Blizzard is now a multi-billion dollar corporation. But it all began with imagination of a handful of friends over twenty years ago. Stop and think about how truly awesome that is. These guys aren’t just rich corporate guys, they are US, people who love games, who sit around and have discussions that start with, “You know what would be cool?” And they really do listen to what the players have to say.
Yes, they depend on us, the paying public, to keep them afloat. Yes it is a business. But when you meet these guys, when you hear them talk it is obvious that they are just as big a fan of it all as we are. That is one of the things that makes the Blizzard community just that — a community. Like the biggest extended family in the world. That ganks each other regularly.
Blizzard wastes no time in pulling out the big guns. There is mention of things we know about…the new Warcraft expansion, the upcoming Heroes of the Storm. The big news, something that Blizzard has managed to keep entirely under wraps during it’s development (no small miracle in the tech age) is the announcement of a brand new game. One completely separate from the already existing franchises.
Overwatch is a team based first person shooter. I stink at FPS but I enjoy them and this one looks fantastic. I’m not going to go into much detail here, the internet will be stuffed with information on it. But I will say graphically it looks mighty pretty and the game play is smooth, even at this early stage.
For me the highlight of the day is the panel on the upcoming Warcraft film (forthehorde.com orforthealliance.com) announced for March 2016. The film itself was announced last year shortly before it went into production. Principal photography has been wrapped and a rough cut has been finished. Now it is in the more than capable hands of Industrial Light and Magic who are completing the sure-to-be-extensive effects.
At the end of the presentation we are told that in the film there are scenes where the armies of each faction cheer. And they are going to record us, the Blizzcon crowd, for the sound. We are going to be in the movie! For a Blizz fan, a movie fan and an audiophile this is nearly transcendent. I’m not alone. Our yells of “For the Horde!” reverberate through the building like the footfall of Godzilla. When you see the movie, listen for me, I’m the 700th Orc on the left.
Guardian of all things LOUD! Defender of everything with blinky lights! Champion of full frontal nerdity! Zombie by day, Rockstar by night (blatant plug: www.eyesopenmusic.com) AMP 2-11 loves taco carts, anything featuring David Grohl and long walks on the beach.