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To borrow a term from a favorite writer; BlizzCon 2008 was absolutely bat-shit insane! With nearly double the crowd, over 1,200 playable PC’s, Direct TV Camera crews everywhere, and some of the craziest costumes mmolecule staffer’s have ever seen 2008 easily topped 2007. mmolecule staff managed to keep pace with all the events and we wrapped them up in this article. Read on to get all the details...
Thursday - Early Registration
mmolecule staff arrived at the Anaheim, CA convention center Thursday afternoon with the rest of the press and the hardkore Blizzard fans. For the most part Thursday is pretty mundane with the only thing open being the ticket counters. Yes, counters! Blizzard had so many people attending the event that they had to break out the ticket counters by the last 3 letters of the attendee’s last name (e.g. wrx-zzz). Attendees were given a loot bag along with their passes. The bag contained everything from the new security tokens to an intro pack for the Trading Card game to hand sanitizer. Lastly, and most importantly, attendees were also given the traditional game card containing a new Polar Bear mount (with attendant Murloc) and a Beta Key for an unnamed upcoming Blizzard title (though it was hinted at in the presentations that this would be StarCraft II). As of Monday, October 13th the mounts were not yet available. After BlizzCon, the mounts were spotted in the Wrath Beta so we’re betting they’ll be out with the 3.0 Patch.
In previous years things have died down a bit until the conference opened on Friday morning. This year it seemed like everyone was ready to get the party started early. The Hilton bar was packed and stayed open till 1:30am to keep everyone entertained. Certain mmolecule staffer’s, that will remain unnamed, were a little fuzzy come Friday morning... ;)
Friday - BlizzCon Day 1
BlizzCon opened the doors to an excited crowd Friday morning. The line stretched around the convention center towards the rear of the building. Upon entering the convention center, one couldn’t help but be amazed by the mass of visual and audio effects that appear. Whether it’s the 1,200 PC’s lined up for attendees to play Wrath, Diablo III, or StarCraft II, the amazing Illidan and others, or the astounding concert hall; Blizzard truly took it to the next level. There were 3 main halls (A through C) with Hall C holding the concert/panel venue. Halls A and B held vendors, the game PC’s, the tournament stages, and a myriad other venues.
The usual slate of incredibly creative people showed up in costume for the event. The costume contest was hosted by Jay Mohr again this year. There were many participants but no one came close to the winner. A shaman rode (yes RODE) onto stage on a mechanized turtle… (Yes... I must admit I had flashbacks of Burning Man 2008). In short the show was absolutely amazing!
BlizzCon 2008 Videos & Images
mmolecule BlizzCon 2008 Highlight Reel
mmolecule BlizzCon 2008 Wrath of the Lich King In-Game Footage
mmolecule BlizzCon 2008 Diablo III In-Game Footage
mmolecule's Quest Through BlizzCon 2008 with Interviews
mmolecule BlizzCon 2008 Photo Highlights
mmolecule BlizzCon 2008 Blooper Reel
Saturday - BlizzCon Day 2
As amazing as Friday was, the crowd that gathered outside the hall on Saturday had the Press titillated in anticipation. The convention center hummed with the energy of thousands of attendee’s standing at the doors like an old Macy’s commercial going “open… open… open…” When the doors did finally open it took about 30 minutes for everyone to finally get in. mmolecule attended the PVP Panel on Saturday and you can find the write up at the link below:
BlizzCon 2008 - World of Warcraft PVP Panel
Among the items found in the attendee bags was a quest for a special treat. Attendees had to follow the various clues to claim their prize. You can see a video of Deeogee tracking down the prize and interviewing both the vendors and participants here:
When all that was said and done Blizzard wrapped up the weekend with a concert you had to see to believe. Yes, Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftains rocked the concert hall. They were joined by the band behind all the Tavern music in World of Warcraft, two comedians (Kyle Kinane and Patton Oswalt), a piano solo by an amazing young artist, and a stunning concert by Video Games Live. We could go into detail, but quite frankly, the pictures speak for themselves:
Check out more photos here: mmolecule BlizzCon 2008 Photo Highlights
With the close of the concert mmolecule wrapped up it’s coverage of BlizzCon 2008. Blizzard manages to top itself every year and we can only imagine what the next BlizzCon will bring!
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