* Nintendo’s Wii U console launches on Sunday, November 18, 2012, but now, just days before launch, the console maker has confirmed that a number of previously expected launch day features won’t actually be arriving until later this year. The free-to-play launch also brings with it some new content, marking the return of fan-favorite KOTOR character HK-51. More optional elements, such as PvP and space battles, are walled off behind pay-as-you-go or subscription-based options. Now, anyone can sign up and play through the full story for all eight character classes and work their created characters up to the level 50 cap. * BioWare officially unhitched its Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG from subscription requirements this week, re-launching the game as a free-to-play offering. The $55 premium priced edition (compared to $40 for the standard) includes a bunch of StarCraft 2 bonus items, plus a few additional extras for fans of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft and Diablo 3. Fans will be able to expand their StarCraft 2 experience on Mawith either a Standard Edition or Deluxe Edition, both purchasable from the store. Blizzard Entertainment is typically rather cagey when it comes to revealing release dates, but the first expansion for the developer’s space-based RTS, titled The Heart of the Swarm, is now officially dated for release. Wireless Internet certainly wasn’t a big deal back in 2002.
Things have obviously changed quite a bit since then, with home gaming consoles now including built-in WiFi receivers as a standard feature. Xbox, a time when online gaming was almost entirely the domain of home computers. Xbox Live launched in November 2002 during the era of the O.G. Microsoft isn’t laying out how it goes about deciding who gets an anniversary console, but the company at least confirms that the mailings are happening, and that they’re meant to reward loyal fans. A select assortment of veteran subscribers is receiving custom-designed 250GB Xbox 360 consoles in the mail as a “thank you” for their years of loyalty.
* Xbox Live turns 10 this week and Microsoft is celebrating with a nifty reward for some of its most committed longtime users.
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