Into the Pixel is a juried art exhibition that selects sixteen works of video game art to be displayed both digitally and in actual exhibits, like the one currently at E3. The exhibit is an opportunity for video and computer game artists to showcase their work and receive critical feedback from both digital and fine art experts; it also showcases the actual visual art of games in creative and unique ways. The pieces range from playful to serious, and utilize a variety of visual styles to convey their subjects. Now in its fifth year, the selected entries are usually quite impressive, and this year was no exception.

The exhibition hall was quiet compared to the chaos both above and below it — a few people wandered through, but it was otherwise silent. The exhibition included some of the winners from the 2007 competition (including my personal favorite, "Defeated Dragon" by Daniel Dociu (Guild Wars)), and it was nice to see the art in large format. Four of the sixteen entries were takes on Guild Wars (I was particularly fond of the one entitled "Four Knights" by Richard Anderson); also covered were games like flOw, Fallout 3, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and untitled DS game (seen at the top; "Puzzle World Twilight" by Jay Epperson).

The exhibition will be headed to E for All in October, but you can all see the winning entries over at the Into the Pixel website, which also includes archives of art and commentary from previous years. A few selections from the silent gallery hall are below.

Contrary to earlier plans, there will be no beta of Guild Wars 2 this year. That per an official FAQ from developer ArenaNet, which also helpfully states the game will be released "when it's finished," among other tidbits. Here's the complete excuse explanation.

Although we publically alpha- and beta-tested the original Guild Wars while it was still in early development, with Guild Wars 2 we will commence beta testing closer to the game's release. With that in mind, we will not start beta testing in 2008 as we had originally planned. Guild Wars 2 is a very large and ambitious game, and Guild Wars players rightfully have very high expectations of its quality. We want players to be absolutely blown away by the game the first time they experience it.

Hear that, Guild Wars 2 fans? It's all because of your rightful high expectations. Hope you're happy.

Guild Wars 2 Frequently Asked Questions [Guildwars.com via Blue's News]

NCsoft Profits Fall 43 Percent On Blackstar Costs

NCsoft reported a 43 percent year-over year drop in profits to $7.7 million, a decrease was due to a write-off expense for costs associated with The Blackstar Chronicles. The futuristic MMO, in development by Spacetime Studios, was ultimately dropped from NCsoft's lineup, and Spacetime will be pursuing the project on its own.

If not for the write-off, NCsoft stood to gain in profit 48 percent on the quarter and 8 percent on the year. The publisher's sales increased 4 percent to $84.3 million on the popularity of the Lineage series in Asia and strong performance for Guild Wars and City of Heroes in North America and Europe.

I love architecture — and still have days where I think I probably should've gone into architectural history — so I always enjoy BLDGBLOG's game-related posts. This week is a chat with Daniel Dociu, Chief Art Director of Guild Wars. The interview is worth reading for a look at the pictures alone, but a look at how gorgeous environments are created is interesting, too:

... I look back all the way to the dawn of mankind: to ruins, and Greek architecture, and Mycenean architecture, all the way up to the architecture of the Crusades, and castles in North Africa, and the Romanesque and Gothic and Baroque and Rococo - even to neo-Classical and art deco and Bauhaus and Modernist. I mean, there are bits and pieces here and there that make a strong impression on me, and I blend them - but that's the beauty of games. You don't have to be stylistically pure, or even coherent. You can afford a certain eclecticism to your work. It's a more forgiving medium. I can blend elements from the Potala Palace in Tibet with, say, La Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí's cathedral. I really take a lot of liberties with whatever I can use, wherever I can find it.

You can find more examples of Dociu's work at his website or BLDGBLOG's Flickr photostream.

Game/Space: An Interview With Daniel Dociu [BLDBLOG]

"Guild Wars is a proven success and has set a new standard for online RPG games with its unique business model and superior playability," said NCsoft CEO Taek Jin Kim.

WGA Game Writer Nominees

The Writer's Guild of America have announced the nominees for its first ever video game writing awards, and for the most part their choices don't completely suck. As a matter of fact, two of my favorite games of last year are up for the award - The PC action RPG The Witcher and alternative timeline action RTS World in Conflict. The complete list:

- Crash of the Titans," written by Christopher Mitchell for Sierra Entertainment
- "Dead Head Fred," written by Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan for D3 Publisher
- "The Simpsons Game," with lead writer Matt Selman, written by Tim Long and Matt Warburton, dialogue by Jeff Poliquin for Electronic Arts
- "The Witcher," with lead story designer Artur Ganszyniec, dialogue by Sebastian Stepien, additional dialogue by Marcin Blacha and writers Sande Chen and Anne Toole for Atari
- "World in Conflict," story design by Christofer Emgard, story consultant Larry Bond and script consultant Ed Zuckerman for Sierra Entertainment.

WGA announces videogame nominees [Variety]

Guild Wars Holidays In The North

Video Game Writers Recognized

With video games becoming more and more a part of American life every day, the Writer's Guild of America has finally decided to recognize achievement within the field of video game writing with the creation of a Video Game Writing award. It's part of the guild's New Media Caucus, which seeks to bring writers outside of traditional fields into the organization.

"Writers are finally being recognized and valued in the video game industry. Both artistically and financially, video games matter - and video game writers matter to the WGA," commented WGAW New Media Caucus member Jay Lender.

Writers Guild creates videogame writing award [GamesIndustry.biz]

In the white noise that was the Tokyo Game Show, our Guild Wars: Eye of the North contest got lost in the shuffle. So! Here's a reminder: We've got one copy of Guild Wars: Eye of the North to give away. And hey, this is the last expansion for Guild Wars until the second one comes out! So, here's the contest. Send us an email to kotakucontestATgmail.com with the subject line of GWEN. That's it. The 700th one we gets wins the game. Yes, it's that easy.

Oh, you can't email more than once a day. The winner will be contacted through the winning email address.
GWEN [Official Site]

New Contest. This One Easy!

That last contest? That one involved effort. This one, this one is a breeze. We've got one copy of Guild Wars: Eye of the North to give away. And hey, this is the last expansion for Guild Wars until the second one comes out! So, here's the contest. Send us an email to kotakucontestATgmail.com with the subject line of GWEN. That's it. The 700th one we gets wins the game. Yes, it's that easy.

Oh, you can't email more than once a day. The winner will be contacted through the winning email address.
GWEN [Official Site]

Guild Wars Sells 4 Million

"Four million units sold is an impressive number and demonstrates that Guild Wars is a proven franchise," said Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, GameStop Corporation. "The Guild Wars franchise delivers an outstanding gaming experience and is clearly an important part of our PC games offerings."

New Guild Wars Eye of the North Trailer

Guild Wars: Eye of the North

With almost four million copies sold across the original game and its two expansions, Guild Wars is doing just fine as a franchise.

With Eye of the North, the final expansion before next year's Guild Wars 2, NCSoft aims to both bridge the gap between the old and new games while giving the dedicated Guild Wars players something to sink their (sword's) teeth into over the next year.

Guild Wars 2 will feature multiple races for characters instead of just humans. All three are introduced in Eye of the North as hero companions. Consider the mish-mash of influences that form Guild Wars's backstory, it doesn't feel that strange to suddenly have friendy cat warriors, goblins, and elves appear in the world.

Most of the content in Eye of the North are inspired by traditional pen-and-paper dungeon crawls, which may be something new to Guild Wars, but won't likely entice too many other genre fans into the fold. A new "battle music engine"—I'm not quite sure if that should be capitalized or not—will change the ambient soundtrack depending on how well—or how poorly—you're doing in the fight.

The new "Hall of Monuments," once discovered, will let you memorialize your achievements from past Guild Wars games. When Guild Wars 2 arrives, each achievement will garner you unlockables in the sequel, although in the interest of fairness none of the new gear will be too overpowered.

Although you'll barely see them in game—and then only as loading screens—the concept art for Guild Wars: Eye of the North is really great stuff. Paintings mostly. They'll be on display at a special gallery at this year's PAX.
Joel Johnson

NCSoft's E3 Line-Up

"Guild Wars has one of the most committed and loyal player bases I've ever seen, and Guild Wars: Eye of the North is our way of delivering prized content to veteran players and creating a link to the future of Guild Wars," said Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet.