Video Games Live is adding music from the score of Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix to its line up for the upcoming performance in London. The score was composed by British composer James Hannigan and was the first to use the theme from the original film score created by John Williams.

VGL has just recently announced the continuation of its world tour dates and incorporated music from Halo 3, BioShock, Conan and Star Craft II into the program. It will be playing London’s Royal Festival Hall on October 22 with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

via Music4Games

Video Games Live has annouced 25 new concerts for the US and UK. In addition to the fantastic performances with local orchestras set to technically brilliant lighting and game graphics on huge screens, the show has integrated new compositions from Halo 3, BioShock, StarCraft II and more into the line up. Here are the announced dates.

Buffalo, NY	October 14, 2007	Kleinhans Music Hall	Buffalo Philharmonic
Los Angeles, CA	October 19, 2007	Nokia Theatre	E for All Expo
London, England	October 22, 2007	Royal Festival Hall	London Games Festival
Columbia, MO	October 28, 2007	Jessie Auditorium	University of Missouri
Calgary, Canada	November 9, 2007	Jack Singer Hall	Calgary Philharmonic
Calgary, Canada	November 10, 2007	Jack Singer Hall	Calgary Philharmonic
Orlando, FL	January TBA, 2008	TBA	Otronicon
St. Louis, MO	January 26, 2008	Fox Theater
FT. Wayne, IN	February 15, 2008	Embassy Theatre	Ft. Wayne Phil
Milwaukee, WI	March 1, 2008	Riverside Theater	Milwaukee Symphony
Phoenix, AZ	March 7, 2008	Maricopa Center	Phoenix Symphony
Ogden, UT	March 27, 2008	Browning Arts Center	Utah Symphony
Salt Lake City, UT	March 28, 2008	Abravanel Hall	Utah Symphony
Salt Lake City, UT	March 29, 2008	Abravanel Hall	Utah Symphony
Austin, TX	July 11, 2008	Long Center
Austin, TX	July 12, 2008	Long Center

Tour dates for Atlanta, Boise, Las Vegas, Nashville, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver will be updated when they become available.

via GameInformer

Back in May, we got to see the Protoss units in action. Now Blizzard brings us a 12 minute video showcasing the Terrans in StarCraft II. The video, again, focuses mostly on some of the newer units found in StarCraft II. The Thor unit is exceptionally cool looking. Looking like some big hulking mech, the Thor is lugging around some serious firepower on its back. And of course, the StarCraft fans get to see the old Ghost with some new tricks to boot. Sorry, no glorious nuclear finishes in the video this time.

I don’t know about you, but this game looks done. I know Blizzard likes to polish games until they have a molecular-aligned space-mirror finish, but Blizzard should go ahead and release the game already. I’m afraid if they wait too long, the graphics will become dated. Critics are already calling it StarCraft I with prettier graphics. Next year, they’ll be calling it Starcraft Dust Redux. Not that the critics will have any influence on sales. StarCraft II will sell billions, regardless. Half of them Korean.

Via Starcraft.com

Samsung will once again be hosting World Cyber Games (WCG), the world’s premiere gaming tournament as well as the Malaysian WCG Championship 2007. Halls 2 & 3 of the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre, Kuala Lumpur will host WCG on September 8 and 9, 2007 where gamers will compete in these six games:

• FIFA Soccer 2007
• Half Life : Counter Strike
• Need For Speed : Carbon
• Command & Conquer 3 : Tiberium Wars
• Starcraft : Brood War
• Warcraft III : Frozen Throne

Samsung is not only sponsoring the tournament, it’s offering exclusive prizes and free gifts to both contestants and spectators at its booth. Exclusive Samsung WCG 2007 offers include a special pre-order offer for the new Samsung U3 MP3 player, a Samsung monitor promotion, and discounted mobile phones.

Gamers that can’t make it to Malaysia for the tournament to visit the Samsung booth can sign up at the Samsung WCG 2007 microsite for an exclusive gift. Click on the “Visit Our Samsung WCG 2007 Booth” link get to signed up.

via Tech ARP

The official Starcraft II site has just been updated with a new unit for the game, the Terran Banshee. The new air combat units are similar to the Wraiths of the previous game — able to cloak and fly around — but with more powerful air-to-ground attacks. Rather than sporting the laser cannons of the Wraiths, these units are equipped with devastating missiles that provide firepower that is comparable to a Siege Tank. The trade off for this though is that the Banshee has absolutely no air-to-air combat abilities, making it extremely vulnerable to flying units. It looks like the folks over at Blizzard are on the right track to creating a balanced game that will provide an in-depth strategy experience.

Via Starcraft II Official Site

On April 1, 1998, Starcraft was released. Nearly a decade later, Battle.net is still releasing patches supporting the game, trying to make it better. Now that’s dedication.

I would have to call that admirable, especially since we see other companies like EA dropping their games and cycling through them like one huge crappy wheel.

The update for Starcraft include the following bug fixes:

- Fixed a replay saving bug that occasionally crashed games.
- Fixed a bug where the map download progress was not shown.
- Pressing alt-f4 while in Starcraft and logged into a league now logs you out
of the league.
- Updated some of the localization for the league page.
- Fixed an exploit that allowed nukes to fall anywhere on the map.

Kudos to you, Blizzard.  And of course, you can get this patch from FileFront HERE.

via Battle.Net

Yet another new unit has been revealed for the sequel to the widely popular RTS, Starcraft. The Dark Templar is a Protoss unit that can cloak at will — rendering it translucent like the Predator — and use some additional powers that have yet to be revealed. They’re pretty powerful though, as a video on the Starcraft website shows two of them taking out an entire squad of Terran marines and a Viking on their own. I’m just waiting for an update though that has the words “release date” and “confirmed” somewhere in it.

Via Starcraft2.com

StarCraft II continues the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg sagas. These three distinct and powerful races will clash once again in the fast-paced RTS sequel to the original, StarCraft. Legions of veteran, upgraded, and brand-new unit types will do battle across the galaxy, as each faction struggles for survival.

Featuring a unique single-player campaign that picks up where StarCraft: Brood War left off, StarCraft II presents a cast of new heroes and familiar faces in an edgy sci-fi story filled with adventure and intrigue. In addition, Blizzard will again offer online play through Battle.net, the company’s gaming service, with several enhancements and new features.

FEATURES:

• Fast-paced, hard-hitting, tightly balanced competitive real-time strategy gameplay that recaptures and improves on the magic of the original game
• Three completely distinct races: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg
• New units and gameplay mechanics further distinguish each race
• Groundbreaking single-player “story-mode” campaign
• Vibrant new 3D-graphics engine with support for dazzling visual effects and massive unit and army sizes
• Full multiplayer support, with new competitive features and matchmaking utilities available through Battle.net
• Full map-making and scripting tools to give players incredible freedom in customizing and personalizing their gameplay experience

When will Starcraft II be available you say? Well, according to Blizzard: “At this point, it’s too early to provide an initial estimate on the release date. As with all Blizzard games, we will take as much time as needed to ensure the game is as fun, balanced, and polished as possible.” EB Games is now taking pre-orders, and has a shipping date of October 1, 2008 listed, but stay tuned and we will give you more updates when they are announced.

MORE SCREENS

Bioware’s Patrick Weekes (Baldur’s Gate, NWN, KOTOR) jumped in to answer a question about the Sentinel character class on the Bioware Community forums. Weekes says that at first he imagined the Sentinel to be like a “DnD wizard or Sorcerer”, great at support but lousy at stand up combat. However since play testing them, he’s impressed with the flexibility of the character and recommends the class for skilled players that know when to fight and when to take cover.

What’s cool is that the Sentinel is so incredibly flexible. Whether I’m fighting a mob, a big boss, or creatures with special attacks and powers, I’ve got something that I can use to mess with the enemy (or help myself and my buddies).

Weekes goes on to say that players should playthrough with a class with advanced weapon skills for at least two weapons to experience all the cool combat options, but should also playthrough with a tech or biotic class to experience the spectacular effects.

Blizzcon sold out faster than most people anticipated, leaving a lot of people in the dust. So now the only way to get in is to win contests like the one being put on by WoW Statics at their forums. Right now their sponsoring a World of Warcraft “Funny Screenshot” contest. To enter, all you have to do is get a humorous screenshot in WoW, give it a good caption, and post it to their forums. If you win, then you get the chance to enter the exciting world of people dressed as orcs and elves and such. Other than the Night Elf cosplayers, the other main reason you’ll want to be at Blizzcon is to be among the first to play Starcraft 2. Be sure to check out the forum for the rules and get your entry in before July 2.