The Tuesday Cap is a new regular column capping of and commenting on game news for the past week.

Here’s the newest instalment catching you up with the happenings at Blizzcon 2011 and other pieces of game miscellany over the past week.

Big Blizzard News

As usual Blizzcon is pretty much just an excuse to post a bunch of really cool videos. But as is my duty as a pretend games journalist I will preface each one with some information. Plus the Foo Fighters, the price of a Blizzcon ticket is pretty much worth it for the Foo.

Turns out that leak from a few months ago was bang on the money, the next Blizzard expansion will indeed be Mists of Pandaria. There’s a whole new playable race, the long awaited adorable ursine warriors the Pandarens, and a new playable hero class, Monks. There was some question as to whether or not Blizzard would go with a hero class after the questionable success of the Death Knights but the announcement of the Monk class pretty much puts that to rest.

And, obviously, there’s a new continent, Pandaria. An extremely Chinese influenced land with lots of winding mountain paths and ornate bridges and buildings. As you can see in the trailer it looks pretty cool. Damn you Warcraft, just when I think I’m out you pull me back in.

If you thought you’d wrapped things up with happy walks into the sunset at the end of Starcraft 2 get ready for a downer. The Starcraft 2 expansion Heart of the Swarm promises no happy endings for Kerrigan and co. Being an expansion expect more units and new battles and plenty more of that delicious single player campaign for those terrified of playing Starcraft online (me).

Diablo 3 is looking sweet as can be, can't wait to get my mits on this game. The best news out of Blizzcon for Diabloites is that purchasing an annual pass for Warcraft gets you a free copy of Diablo 3 on day one. If your a Blizzard fan you probably all ready have this so that's a free copy of Diablo 3 for you. The caveat is that you must have a Warcraft account prior to the 18th of October, so if you weren't all ready signed up for Warcraft it's too late to take advantage of that deal.

And what's Diablo without jaw dropping cut scenes, this ones a killer.

And here's a quick shot of the collectors edition to drop heaps of cash for.

Finally, Blizzard had a little surprise at the end of their presentation, a little 'are they joking moment' poking more than a little fun at League of Legends with the announcement of Blizzard DOTA. I suppose they're allowed to poke a little fun, the original Defence of the Ancients was made with their tools after all. Here's the trailer.

And because you can't have a Blizzcon article without it, here's a five minute video of the insane cosplay that was stalking the show floor.

Holy Apps Batman! News

Arkham City is massive, maybe not size wise compared to GTA’s Liberty City or the island in Just Cause 2, but it’s certainly one of the most dense game world created. You can’t Batglide two meters without your Batsensors picking up some Batinfo for a side quest, or your Batgoggles spying a Riddler trophy. The games just packed with detail.

To assist in this cornucopia of collectibles and conquests you can download the Arkham City Map app of iTunes right now. It’s identical to the Dead Island app, unsurprising as it’s made by the same developers. The app’s retailing for $2.99.

So is three dollars worth the inconvenience of getting out of your bean bag, searching for your laptop charger and then trolling forums and walkthroughs for item locations? I say hell yes.

Holy Other Batman News!

In other Arkham City news, actor Mark Hamil (who played someone in Star Wars, I forget) has announced Arkham City will be his last performance as The Joker before he retires, who he’s been voicing for almost every single incarnation of the character for the last decade and a half. That’s a huge shame, Hamil really defined the manic voice of the joker in the cartoon show and it’s clearly where Ledger drew much of his inspiration for the film version of the character. Bittersweet to know The Joker might never sound as good again as he does in Arkham City.

Movie News

Prince of Persia, you dull, thinly racist, snooze fest of a film, your days as the foolishly proclaimed “Best Game to Movie Adaptation” are numbered. Your cousin game Assassins Creed is coming to big screen as Ubisoft and Sony Pictures hammer out the last details of a contract to create a movie franchise about unwitting hero Desmond and his far more interesting ancestors.

When you think about it Assassins Creed is a coked up Hollywood executives dream find. Its high concept sci fi mumbo jumbo ala Inception and swashbuckling popcorn flash ala Pirates of the Carribean or Three Musketeers. Plus it’s got a huge built in fan base and an established franchise of comics, toys, books and games. Freaking Hollywood gold mine.

For the all important role of director I’d go with one Ziggy Stardust Jr. aka. Duncan Jones, director of the brilliant Moon and the quite good Source Code. He knows high concept sci fi, he’s got visual flare and best of all he does fantastic characters.

As for Desmond/Altair/Ezio, an actor who would absolutely kill in the physical side of things, all the parkour and combat, is Scott Adkins. You know all that amazing movie kung fu you wish you could do? Scott Adkins can do it. He was the guy under the Deadpool makeup at the end of Wolverine Origins, he does that stuff without wires. Guy is incredible. If we had to go with some ET nameable actor I’d reluctantly point to Channing Tatum of GI Joe fame, he’s got an arrogant swagger that would suit characters like Altair and Ezio, and a general sense of overwhelmed confusion that would well suit the Desmond character. Would be interesting to know if the producers want to go with one actor for multiple roles as well.

If we’re telling the Altair story, Viggo Mortensen as the duplicitous master of the Assassin order would be awesome, or as the senior Auditore in Ezio’s era, either way I just love Viggo Mortensen in stuff, he’s pure presence. And obviously Kirsten Bell would have to take the role she plays in the game world, how could she not?

Here’s hoping Sony sees the potential they’ve got on their hands and don’t bollocks it up.

Unboxing News

Here’s a video of Star Wars The Old Republic unboxing itself. Pretty groovy.

Now remember this game isn’t available yet for Australian gamers and become angry. That’s it, yessss, give in to the hate.

Hawkish News

Whether or not you’re a veteran of early must have Playstation 3 title Warhawk, you’re likely very excited about the hybrid RTS/third person shooter sequel Starhawk. The game looks damn tasty.

Unfortunately only those dedicated Warhawk veterans will be the ones receiving invites to a closed Starhawk Beta in November. Never having played Warhawk I know I’m off the list.

Bloody News

If you’re needing some more eviscerating and disembowelling in your life, and lets face it, with this economy who doesn’t, take a gander at upcoming Xbox Live title Bloodforge. No word on what the games about, but apparently it’s not related to the Brazilian thrash metal band of the same name. Great, now I have to cancel by trip to Brazil, and I spent all day shaving my thong zone.

here's some blood

More blood, no forge though

Rumour News

Are rumours news? Really? I suppose not, but I’d be remiss in my duties not to mention there have been louder than average rumblings that the next Xbox is more than just concepts and poor photoshop pics. Rumour has it the next E3 in 2012 will feature the first look at the soon to be announced next next gen Xbox to be released in 2013.

Backing up this crazy rumour are similar crazy rumours that Lionhead are all ready making the fifth Fable game (following the upcoming Kinect title) to be a release title alongside Alan Wake 2. Other rumours persist that EA all ready have dev kits for the next console and are preparing a number of titles for the 2013 release.

Souls and Swords News

Soul Calibur V (or the correct pronunciation Sooooooul Calibuuuuuuur Fiiiiiive), also known as ‘my favourite fighting franchise’ will be released on January 31^st and will feature a guest appearance by Ezio Aduitore, star of the last two and the next Assassin’s Creed titles. His appearance looks to mirror his age and outfit from Brotherhood. I feel kind of sorry for the other fighters now.

More Bad Aussie News

2K Marin, the studio previously called 2K Australia, has apparently been hit with layoffs, 15 staff members losing their jobs, as part of a restructure. The studio was assisting with elements of the development of the upcoming Xcom reboot (now I feel real bad about my constant hate for that game).

While the rumour is unconfirmed and 2K refuse to make an official comment on the matter it doesn’t come as a huge surprise in the wake of other Aussie studios feeling pressure from their international owners. The Aussie THQ studio shut it’s doors a few weeks back and Team Bondi, the group behind acclaimed title LA Noir, are reportedly bankrupt.

You’re the Voice News

For some reason Australia is still the only English speaking country in the world that doesn’t have voice control for Kinect. Microsoft Australia announced that they were working really super hard on it; that was a year ago. They claim Australian is a difficult accent/dialect to use with Kinect, despite there being numerous YouTube videos of Australian’s using Kinect voice control with no trouble on a US account.

The entire situation has been, at best, unfathomable bullshit. But the bullshit might be coming to an end, demos for Kinect Sports 2 and Dance Central 2 that you can download right now support voice control and Microsoft are holding a press event where Australian people will get to experience Kinect voice control first hand. I won’t be going because I live in a tin shed in the middle of the desert, and quite possibly for that bullshit remark...

But expect a rollout of Kinect voice support to Australian users any day now.

Kingdom Soon to Come News

Cinematics whether you love them (the right choice) or hate them (wrong!) they seem to be something of a dying breed in our high def game worlds. Not so in Kingdoms of Amalur, where epic fantasy is driven by epic cinematics.

Escape to Paradise News

Maybe it’s my hell damned atheism and the subconscious fear I feel at a universe built on chaos and chance, but I love games that give you a sense of power and control. The more iron fisted tyrannical power the better; yes, dance for me my little peasants.

On that creepy note, the Tropico series has always intrigued me but I’ve never made the jump to actually playing it. Xbox Live currently has a demo up for Tropico 4 which might be worth checking out for fellow gamers suffering under the weight of their own insignificance; take a few hours to run a small island like a crazy dictator.

That's it for another week, go play some mother flipping games!