I've posted a few more screenshots of the Scout and Warrior archetypes in Aion, NCsoft's latest MMORPG. The class system is a little different, starting you out with 4 general roles to choose from, then allowing you to specialize at level 10. Aion uses the Crytek engine and the graphics are impressive. The game is scheduled to launch in North America on September 22 of this year.

_{Image © 2009 NCsoft}

The biggest tech news of the day was Google's announcement that they are preparing to enter the operating system market with Google Chrome OS. The open source, Linux-based OS will be aimed largely at netbooks and will be streamlined for running applications over the Web. I think they've got a good shot at winning over their target audience - people that mostly want to check their email and browse - but it's unlikely to have a big impact on gamers. Most PC games use DirectX, which is a Microsoft product that probably won't be supported by Chrome OS for many years to come, if ever.

VideoGamer.com has posted a lengthy interview with World of Warcraft's game director, Tom Chilton, about where the ever-popular MMORPG is going with patch 3.2 and beyond. In part 1 they talk about the upcoming Isle of Conquest Battleground, the possibility of leveling through PvP, and balance changes to the Death Knight class. Part 2 looks with further ahead with speculation about additional expansions, new races and classes, and whether there will be a World of Warcraft 2, among other things. The game is almost five years old now, and they've done a pretty good job of keeping it interesting so far.

Blizzard certainly ruffled a few feathers recently by confirming that StarCraft 2 won't have LAN support. Given the popularity of the original StarCraft at LAN tournaments and parties, most of us took for granted that StarCraft 2 would be LAN ready. The word is that all multiplayer will go through Blizzard's revamped Battle.net, in part to reduce piracy. LAN play probably isn't as common as it used to be, but it's still fun to have a get-together with a few computers on a lag-free network.