The "Day of Reckoning" has finally arrived, and while most of the players interested have been plugging away at the early start for two or four days depending on which flavor of the game they pre-ordered, folks who just saw the game in the store and though to themselves, "Huh, I don't have enough major, soul-eating diversions in my life" are now able to pick up the game and join the war between the forces of nice and not-so-nice.

I've been poking around a bit so far, but in honor of the official launch I've gone ahead and rolled new guys on a role-playing server, perhaps better knows as the "I'm reporting your name" server to the unitiated. Enjoying myself a bit, though there is something about the characters that just strikes me as a bit lifeless. That, and in order to be a Bright Wizard you have to look like a complete tool. Despite that, things seem to be running smoothly so far. Of course now that I say that the servers will explode. Enjoy it while you can.

Mythic is going big with the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning launch across North America and Europe this week, readying to flood retail channels with larger shipping numbers than any other newly launched MMO in the history of newly launched MMOs. They've even given the launch day a name - Thursday, September 18th is now the "Day of Reckoning".

"Over the course of our beta, over a million gamers throughout the world sent a clear signal to us - they want WAR, and we are more than happy to oblige them,” said Mark Jacobs, co-founder and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. “In three days the real battle begins – we have declared September 18th the ‘Day of Reckoning,’ and WAR will soon be upon us!”

Well I will admit that folks are excited, over a million gamers in beta just means that over a million gamers wanted to try it out before deciding to purchase it, which really makes calling Thursday the "Day of Reckoning" all the more appropriate. Will WAR be a WoW killer, or will it simply crash against the Lich King's armor and bounce right off? Oh it's on.

New Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Cinematic Trailer

Earlier today we showed you the Opening cinematic for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King now you get to see the cinematic trailer for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. As we said this morning whether you are a fan of these two games or not, it's pretty hard to under appreciate how incredible their cinematic sequences are. Expect the game for PC in mid-September.

Warhammer Online System Requirements Revealed

So how much will World of Warcraft players have to upgrade their systems to make good on their threats of leaving the game as soon as Warhammer Online comes out? Seeing as WoW has been designed to run on an Intel Generictron processor with crap megs of ram, quite a bit, though the requirements are actually rather modest. The minimum required to run the game is a 2.5GHz P4 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 128 MB video card with Pixel Shader 2.0 support, and 15GB of hard disk space (16 in Vista). Hit the jump for the full requirements, along with supported video cards.

Looking over the list, I am in fine shape to play once the game finally hits store shelves. The only problem I would have encountered is my GeForce FX 7800 not being supported under Vista, but since it decide to helpfully explode, making way for a new Radeon x1950, all is well. Its sacrifice will be remembered.

Warhammer Online On The March

Sure it's been delayed again, but look at all of the nifty stuff you get! EA Mythic has revealed the contents of the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Collector's Edition, perhaps in an attempt to get you to look beyond the release date, which they've done twice now. If that is their tactic, it seems to be working for me. All I can think of now is getting my paws on the exclusive Games Workshop miniature, hardbound graphic novel, and 224-page hardcover art book packed inside what is sure to be a massive, weighty package. Now how much would you pay? Wait, there's more! The collector's edition also comes with bonus in-game items, quests, rewards, titles, and even special heads for your characters, setting them apart from the plebeians who couldn't scrounge up the extra dough. $79.99 secures you one of these babies, but you'd best preorder now, as quantities are limited to 60,000 in North America.

Push it back, push it back, waaaaaay back! It helps if you imagine Warhammer orcs in cheerleader outfits, though that might just be me. Speaking during a press conference today in Paris, producer Jeff Hickman revealed that Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning isn't quite ready for the 2nd quarter release they were aiming for when they delayed the game the last time. The new target date for the ambitious MMO is sometime this fall. Considering the pace they've been keeping up so far, I wouldn't be surprised if the game wound up being a Christmas release. Just remember, it isn't a delay - it's an extended development cycle.

Warhammer Online delayed again [Eurogamer]

The team handling press for EA Mythic's upcoming Warhammer: Age of Reckoning MMORPG don't believe in information trickling. Every month we get a fresh blast of concept art, screens, and information in one huge chunk. Rather than split them up or simply toss them all together into one large gallery, I went ahead and split them up into easily digestible nuggets. This month we get information and screens on two character classes: The Sorcerer / Sorceress and the Disciple of Kaine, as well as renders of the elven zone of Ellyrion, some renders from the next cinematic trailer, and concept art featuring the taverns and RVR keeps in the game. First up is the Sorcerers, Dark Elven magic users who utilize the powers of their will to harness incredible dark magics, though building up too much power can cause the magic to turn on the player, leaving them vulnerable to attack.

Warhammer Elf Mania

Warhammer Online Delayed

In the latest State of the Game article for Warhammer Online, General Manager of EA Mythic Mark Jacobs reveals that the game, once slated for sometime in February of next year, has been delayed until the 2nd quarter of 2008. Wait - not delayed - the development cycle has just been extended. Phew! Had me worried there for a bit.

As many of you may have heard, we have extended WAR's development cycle until the 2nd quarter of 2008. The reason is simple; we will not release Warhammer Online until it is the game we set out to create two years ago.

Warhammer Online - State of the Game [Warhammer Herald via SlashDot]