For a game that is likely 18 months or more away from release, Blizzard doesn't stop promoting Diablo III. Today the official web site for the long awaited third game in the fantasy action-RPG series has posted up nine new screenshots from the title. Naturally we have added those shots to our ever growing gallery.
Earlier this month we reported that Sony Online was prepping up their upcoming free-to-play fantasy MMO Free Realms for its beta test. Today Sony Online's PR folks sent over a note announcing that the closed beta test for the game has in fact begun. The publisher stated that the open beta test should begin sometime in early April and that sign ups for the open beta are being taken at the game's official web site.
After what seems like years of waiting, NCsoft has finally announced that the long awaited Mission Architect,features for their super hero MMO City of Heroes will finally be released this March as a free download to the game's subscribers. The features were supposed to be released as part of the "13th Issue" update last fall but got delayed until the upcoming "Issue 14" update.
We all love upgrades -- whether it's just an additional stick of memory, a new sound card, or a whole new rig -- but there's the small matter of what to do with the upgraded-from stuff. At some point, all your tech-averse family members will have systems built out of your cast-off components, and want something a tad more potent than a P3 800. At the same time, your significant other, who has caught onto the fact that fragging you is an excellent way of relieving stress, will demand to be on equal technical footing. You are, in short, eventually going to be stuck with some dead tech. Or, as a reader of this column, something more akin to a moderately-sized drift of it. The laws of physics being what they are, and lacking a handy TARDIS in most of our spare bedrooms, we will eventually need to do something about it.
As we have reported before the launch of id Software's open beta for Quake Live has been extremely popular and with that popularity came problems with loaded servers, long queue lines to play and other issues. id's Marty Stratton has already posted up an update on the game's status on the Quake Live web site but Big Download got him to answer a few more questions about this week's launch: First, the first few hours of Quake Live's open beta has seen a ton of traffic, so much so that there are queues to wait to play the game that have sometime taken an hour or more. Did you anticipate this much interest and what is id doing to get the wait time down to a minimum
Optimized for portable game play with quicker races and reduced load times
Multiplayer racing for up to 4 players through local ad-hoc Wi-Fi
Includes the additional map of the city of Tokyo, with its own unique races
Los Angeles map includes real landmarks and streets, variable weather patterns and three different times of day
Multiple game modes include Career mode with Reputation points and open-ended mission structure
Add home decor that matches the holidays -- light up the candles, set up the garden gnome
Get the tree that tops all trees, to show off your holiday feelings
Take Frosty on a ski jumping trip
Tuck in your young Sims with holiday-themed pajamas
Add a unique touch to your holiday festivities with international version of Santa, like Father Christmas and Cheongsam of the Chinese Fall Festival
Train, brush and massaging your horse, using the Wiimote or simply take it out for a relaxing ride.
Create the horse of your dreams from hundreds of combinations of coats, manes, saddles, bridles, blankets and more!
Take your horse out for a ride through the woods, on the beach or to the mountains.
Build your stable and business, add new buildings and welcome guests to your ranch.
1-2 Player
Players can unlock other boxers as the Title Belt Series progresses. Fights can be between four and twelve rounds.
Decisions are made based on TKOs, KOs, or points. 3rd person camera view.
6 modes: Single Fight, Amateur Belt, Contender Belt, Showtime Belt, King of the Ring, and Multiplayer
Takes full advantage of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk Style interactive capabilities
60 Frames Per Second ? Double the frame rate and over 100 new animations deliver more responsive, intelligent and realistic physical action
Be A Pro ? Pick a professional player or create a player and test your ability. Master positioning, improve your attributes and develop into an elite player. Co-operate with up to three friends fixed to their player on the same team or go head-to-head as rivals with a single cart and local multiplayer
Real-Time Feedback
Penalty Shoot-Out Mode?New shot animations add a variety of new shots to your arsenal to strike the ball past the goalie
New Slide Tackles ? Defenders now have the ability to execute slide tackle to interrupt passes or block shots in addition to winning challenges