Gaming News Round-Up: November 24th, 2004

Author: by Andrew Wilson, Simon Carless

Today's pre-Thanksgiving mini round-up includes information on the European release for World Of Warcraft, and the revealing of some brand-new GameCube titles from Nintendo. [Please note that, due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, the Gamasutra daily wrap-up will resume on Monday 29th November.] - Following the successful launch of World Of Warcraft in North America, Blizzard Entertainment has announced plans for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game's European debut. Scheduled for an early 2005 release, pre-orders for World Of Warcraft will be available at European retail outlets on November 26th, 2004. Leading up to the title's release, Blizzard plans on following up its European closed beta with a final beta test in December 2004, including in it players that have pre-ordered the game. The European debut of World Of Warcraft includes localized versions in French, German, Spanish and Italian. Similar to the North American debut, the European version of World Of Warcraft will come in standard and limited edition versions, both with a free-one month subscription. The collector's edition will be available in limited quantities, and will include World Of Warcraft in both CD and DVD formats, a behind-the-scenes DVD in English, a soundtrack CD, an 'Art of the World Of Warcraft' coffee table book, cloth map, and a commemorative game manual signed by the development team. - Nintendo has revealed three previously unannounced GameCube titles via a series of new in-game screenshots released on Nintendo's official website. Shown alongside shots of the latest GameCube iteration of The Legend Of Zelda franchise, Nintendo unveiled an all-new Mario title for GameCube called Mario Baseball, a continuation of the popular conga-based rhythm title in the form of Donkey Konga 3, and an all-new Kirby adventure title, for which no detailed information has yet been released. There's also no news about possible U.S. launch dates for these titles, but the move shows Nintendo's continuing dedication to the marginally waning GameCube market, even as the company explores its relatively murky plans for its next-generation console.