Cryptic will be unveiling the new ST Online game at the ST Convention in Las Vegas. On top of this, they have apparently gotten Nimoy himself to present the new title. It is not clear if Nimoy will play any other part in the game's creation. The ST Convention kicked off yesterday, so head on over to the official site for more info.

As if there were not enough players in the juggernaut World of Warcraft, Blizzard has now begun a "Recruit a Friend" campaign. If a player can successfully convince a friend to sign up and play, they will be rewarded with a free mount, faster XP accumulation, and other rewards. Another benefit of the RaF program is that buddies will be able to summon each other from anywhere in the world, and you can grant your friend one free level as well. Blizzard is getting greedy, it seems -- they not only want the sons and daughters playing, but it sounds like they want the parents and grandparents playing too!

The struggling MMO Fury has finally capitulated to the truth, and decided to shut down operations. It is always sad to see an MMO go, but the simple fact is, with the WoW juggernaut taking up most of the world's players, there are just not enough MMO fans to go around anymore. In the good old days, players could fill up as many MMO games as came on the scene. These days, though, players not only want more, but the simple fact is when you already play one MMO seriously (WoW), you are not going to start another.

NCSoft has revealed their new game, it is called Blade & Soul, and it is a new MMO (of course), inspired by martial arts. The game is from the creators of Lineage II, one of the top teams over there at NC, so we are in for a treat. You can check out the trailer that includes gameplay over at EurogamerTV. It looks pretty graphically impressive for an MMO, wow.

Jeff Kaplan, lead designer of Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, revealed that the MMORPG’s forthcoming achievement system will eventually contribute to an account holder’s “Blizzard Level,” a Gamerscore-like system which collects points from the developer’s other titles. All three of the highly anticipated upcoming Blizzard games will be part of this cross-game point tracking.

In the latest edition of the "Ask Cryptic" developer blog, it is revealed that there are plans for user generated content in the new Champions Online game.

"As time passes and our features become set, we'll certainly be introducing them to Champions Online players," he continued. "While at the moment, Champions Online scratches the surface with the Nemesis system, costume creation, power selection and power customization, look to see us continue to open the door for more player-generated material."

Not only has Blizzard sent us a reminder that BlizzCon tickets will be on sale August 11, 2008, but they also have released information regarding a special DirecTV coverage arrangement. For those who wish to pay, there will be a special HD Pay-Per-View event for BlizzCon, only on the DirecTV service. Tickets to the event will cost $100USD, and DirecTV will be running a promotion for new subscribers, offering the coverage free for those who sign up. No word on the PPV price for regular subscribers.

PRESS RELEASE

IRVINE, Calif., Jul 29, 2008 - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that tickets for its third BlizzConTM gaming convention will go on sale August 11 and that live coverage of the event will be available as an exclusive DIRECTV pay per view event. BlizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard Entertainment®'s Warcraft®, Diablo®, and StarCraft® game universes. The event will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on October 10 and 11.

The countdown on the official Project M website will end on July 31, 2008. We are fairly sure this means that NCSoft's latest project, M, will be revealed then. Stay tuned!