"During the most recent phase of beta testing, two things have become clear …One was that our key innovations–Public Quests, Tome of Knowledge, and Realm vs. Realm combat–were all coming along extremely well, as was the first stage of our innovative crafting system. The second, that the game would benefit from additional iteration time as well as adding a layer of polish or two. Fortunately, as part of Electronic Arts, we are able to do just that." said Mythic’s president Mark Jacobs.

The good news is that Mythic announced a MMOG’s collectors edition : Warhammer Online:Age of Reckoning Collector’s Edition.The Warhammer Online Collector’s Edition includes some cool things like a Gameshop Miniature,an original graphic novel , an art book.

As for the In-Game content,the box containes two items ,new quests ,rewards and titles.Unfortunately only 60 000 units will be available…and only in North America (fuck!).I’ve been playing WH Soulstorm a lot these days and the fact that this collector’s edition will be available only in NA comes as a huge blow to me.Oh well…it seems that I’ll have to wait for the MMO.

I just learned that those who buy Command and Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath will get a chance to beta test Command&Conquer : Red Alert 3.Wow,how nice of them to do that.If you didn’t see the pics from RA 3 ,you can go to my Red Alert 3 – Short Preview page and check them out.

The story

After years of war between the 2 uber-powers, the Soviet Union is on the brink of destruction.Fearing that everything will be lost, they decide to use an older project (the time machine) to go back and kill Albert Einstein (who is responsable for most of the technological advances made by the Allies).The mission goes awry ,creating an alternate timeline…and a new superpower : Japan or the Empire of the Rising Sun.

What’s new?

EA is introducing a new cooperative mode in single player.This means that you can play with a friend, or with an AI commander by your side.Each commander will have a different personality : one commander might favor a ground assault while another might favor an air strike.

Another thing that is going to change is the naval gameplay. Naval battles will have a greater impact on the final outcome of the game.Every faction will have their own amphibious units(units that can be used on land and sea) and "sea-only" units.If the naval battles will actually influence the outcome of a mission,we’ll just have to wait and see.

Red Alert 3 will be available on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, probably by the end of 2008.

All Photo Rights belong to Electronic Arts.