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.

The Chinese Government has taken steps to curtail the selling of virtual goods for real money. Their main concern, according to the press release, is the remarkably popular "QQ coin" issued by Tencent.com, which has about 220 million registered users. The ruling makes it illegal to use virtual currency to purchase real items, although people will still be able to exchange virtual money for virtual items. Since gold farmers in games like World of Warcraft frequently trade virtual goods for cash, the measure is bound to have some effect on them, but it's hard to say whether even the Chinese Government can effectively squash the gold trade industry, or force it to move elsewhere. (Thanks Gamasutra.)

EA's light-hearted shooter, Battlefield Heroes, is now in open beta and freely available to anyone who wants to give it a try. If you haven't already heard, this is a major departure from earlier Battlefield releases. It has a cartoon-inspired look, comical characters, and installs through a Web browser. They're hoping it will appeal to a more casual audience than hardcore shooter fans, so they've kept system requirements low and made Heroes very accessible. It remains to be seen whether or not they can make it pay.

In a surprise restructuring move, EA has decided to combine Mythic Entertainment and Bioware into a new RPG/MMO development team, led by Ray Muzyka of Bioware. We also learn from the announcement on the Warhammer Online Herald that Mark Jacobs, who co-founded Mythic back in 1995, is leaving the company. Given that both of these studios are working on MMOs, it likely makes sense to merge them, but there could be implications for some of their games, particularly WAR, which is losing its Lead Designer.

Tower defense games have been growing in popularity at a rapid rate ever since the success of Flash Element Tower Defense and Desktop Tower Defense in 2007. Of course, the basic concept for these games goes back much further than that, bearing many similarities to old arcade games and mods made for StarCraft. Essentially, you have to destroy multiple waves of oncoming hostiles (creeps) by placing defensive towers on the map. These towers can typically be upgraded and in some games, used to force the enemy to take a longer path. Here are my favorite free browser-based tower defense games.

This week the U.S. Army launched America's Army 3, the third installment of their free shooter designed to introduce possible recruits to military training and combat. The latest version has updated graphics using Unreal Engine 3 and can downloaded over Steam. Oddly enough, the development team was disbanded the following day, along with the closure of the studio based Emeryville, California. Apparently future development of America's Army will take place at the program office in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. They've already put out a patch for AA3 addressing some performance issues and bugs.

The next content patch for World of Warcraft will include a new 80-player Battleground called The Isle of Conquest. Blizzard has put up a preview on the official site, and the word is, "To win, your team will need to make use of the island's unique strategic locations including an oil derrick, a siege workshop, and a fully equipped airship hangar. You will deploy devastating siege weaponry on the field; Light have mercy on anyone caught between you and your ultimate target, the general holed up in the enemy keep." It's nice to hear that they're adding another large Battleground to the game, but I hope the mechanics of it work a little better than Alterac Valley.