A Bad Day For Gaming News.

It's only 2:00 PM on the East Coast, but that's been enough time for the gaming industry to hit me twice in my nether region.

First off, Blizzard announced that World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, their first expansion for the MMO juggernaut, is delayed until January. They're going to extend the closed Beta and continue on combing things over, which is understandable. Still, it sucks for anyone who was hoping to play it next month. Honestly, I don't need it next month considering the console and game releases we'll be seeing then, but I was still hoping to gank fools with a Draenei warrior, or something of that nature. Atleast by then Blood Elves racial abilities won't be so good that everyone will want to play as one of them. And if they are...well, I can't gaurantee I won't be running around with blonde hair and pointy ears. I mean, they are elves, and they do crave dark energies.

The second punch, which brought pain which snakes up into one's abdomen(yes, that pain), can be read about here. Basically, Sony is holding a contest that will allow an unsigned band's song, picked through competition, to be included on the God Of War II soundtrack alongside "other major recording artists."

What. The. Fuck. For those of you who remember, Ubisoft included licensed music(Godsmack) in one of their Prince Of Persia titles, a decision that didn't sit well with fans at all. That decision didn't affect me because I wasn't planning on playing the game in the first place, but I thought it was a stupid idea. Also, the first God Of War was highly praised for it's amazing soundtrack. Pretty much anyone who played through the game agreed that it really added to the experience, myself included. I remember the first time booming chants of "Kratos!" filled the air and I swung the Blades Of Chaos into the faces of my enemies. It could almost be called a religious experience. Seriously, though, who doesn't? Having to hear some crappy modern rock band at any point during the game is really going to detract from the overall experience.

Having a well known artist help work on a soundtrack isn't always a bad idea, though. Marty O'Donnell and the Bungie crew aquired Steve Vai to add some guitar work to the well-known Halo theme, and it turned out fantastic. They also included a Breaking Benjamin song on the soundtrack, but it wasn't included in the actual game itself. Having Steve Vai lay down some guitar to accompany a central melody is definitely different than including an actual song in the game.

While this was just announced, and who knows what Sony will choose when it's all said and done, I had to make this post to express the disappointment I felt when I read the announcement.