Diablo 3 is almost here! PC Gamer review next week
At midnight tonight the sky will tear open with a thunderous crack and a great rain of blood shall coat the streets to herald the coming of the demon army, but we won’t notice because we’ll all be inside playing Diablo 3. Our review won’t be going up at midnight, though, or tomorrow. We’re taking the time to kill as many monsters as possible and review the game with the fully working auction house. We’re aiming to get our review up at the start of next week, but you can expect lots of articles and impressions right here on PCGamer.com throughout this week as we document our descent into hell.
Diablo 3 build guide: Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor and Wizard [UPDATED]
Building the best character in Diablo 3, whether you picked Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk or Witch Doctor, can be tough. There are a dizzying number of options, but here are a few of our personal favorites, with full skill builds, playstyle explanations and stat recommendations for each.
Meet the classes of Diablo 3!
Yesterday, we asked prominent developers around the industry which class they’ll be playing in Diablo 3 and why. But maybe you’re still undecided on which of Diablo 3’s five classes you’re going to roll when the game goes live Tuesday. Check out these personal ads to help you pick which one fits your style.
Blizzard and Valve make nice over DOTA trademark
Blizzard Entertainment and Valve announced in a press release today that an agreement has been reached, after a long dispute, over the use of the name DOTA, originally an abbreviation for the fan-made Warcraft III map Defense of the Ancients. Valve will retain the commercial trademark to DOTA, and will not be required to change the name of their upcoming title DOTA 2, a stand-alone sequel to the Warcraft III map.
Diablo 3 Collector’s Edition unboxing video: PC Gamer defeat the Lord of Packaging
This morning Owen and I cracked open the Diablo 3 Collector’s Edition that’ll soon be winging its way to fans in advance of the game’s release on Tuesday. This super special version of Diablo includes the soundtrack, making-of DVD and an art book as well as exclusive in-game bonus items and Battle.net goodies.
There’s also a USB Soulstone – not the most secure Soulstone that Owen has ever felt, apparently – that contains a full version of Diablo 2 plus the Lord of Destruction expansion. In the video I mistakenly say that it includes the first Diablo game as well, but this isn’t the case. Check out the full unboxing below.
Diablo 3 Error 37 no cause for concern, say Blizzard in launch day preparation guide
Error 37 eh? We’re already troubleshooting Diablo 3 and it’s not even out yet. Blizzard have released a launch day preparation guide that covers everything from early installs, to the exact time of release in your region, to the mysterious Error 37 message that might rear it’s ugly head come May 15th. It’s an error message you might get when logging in early on. The solution? Just try again.
Global play will kick in once Diablo 3 is released in all regions. There’s also the chance of a 40 second delay when logging in on release night. Still, after four years of waiting, 40 seconds isn’t that big a deal.
And lets not dwell on hypothetical hiccups: Diablo 3 is within sniffing distance. And man, it smells good. One week to go! YEAH!
Blizzard announces cross-region play, multiplayer match resume for Starcraft II
In the most recent Developer Update, Blizzard’s Chris Sigaty announced several features coming in and around the release of the Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm expansion. These include multiple items that the community has been clamoring for as far back as beta, such as clan support and cross-region play. Still no LAN play, but cool nonetheless. Read on for specifics.
Mass Effect, Diablo and Star Wars comic books reviewed on Free Comic Book Day
Today is Free Comic Book Day in North America—a magical day when comic book shops hand out a free comic to everyone that swings by their store. If you’re reading this on Saturday, you really should swing by your local comic shop and absorb some great geek culture.
And as well-rounded geeks at PC Gamer, we share your unrestrainable urge to own awesome things and understand that you’ll likely feel compelled to buy a few comic books related to video games while you’re there. Here are three that I read this week and what I thought of them to help you make your picks.
Account-wide mounts added in Mists of Pandaria beta
Lore purists, brace yourselves. Right this second, my righteous Paladin is riding the evil demonic steed of my Warlock in World of Warcraft’s Mists of Pandaria beta–and he’s loving it.
Last night, Blizzard made mounts account-wide on MoP beta servers, which means that you can ride any mount you’ve collected, no matter which of your characters originally collected it.
Diablo 3 FAQ released by Blizzard. Real-money auction houses will be region-specific
Dungeon crawler Diablo 3 introduces Battle.net’s Global Play, a system that lets players from around the world crawl those dungeons together. A FAQ posted on Battle.net details what exactly it’s going to involve.
Blizzard have included three main regions to play in – The Americas (North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia), Europe (European Union, Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa, and Middle Eastern countries such as Israel and the United Arab Emirates) and Asia (South Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau). It’s a fairly loose interpretation of continental geography.
Wizard Diablo 3 trailer details wizard class
The PC Gamer office has been quivering with excitement at the prospect of Diablo 3 since the release of the TV spot last week. Thanks to the latest wizard-based trailer that quiver has turned into a mild tremble. Who knows what will happen when the next trailer’s released. Maybe the mild tremble will turn into a moderate tremble.
Diablo 3 is two weeks away! Blizzard TV spot emphasises the evil
Diablo 3 is almost here! And if the above trailer’s words and sounds are anything to go by, it’s going to be super evil! Hooray for everyone!
Click here to pre-order Diablo 3. If you’re still on the fence, our Diablo 3 news might help you decide.
Diablo 3 open beta weekend begins today!
Here’s the link. You’ve been tantalised before, but now the Diablo 3 beta is officially open! For this weekend at least. All you need is a valid Battle.net account, a Battletag, and and the Diablo 3 client. The beta gives you the chance to play to up to level 13 as any of the five classes on offer – I’m a monk kinda-guy myself. Blizzard have put up a handy FAQ on their official blog.
Diablo 3 is getting released next month. And, unless the Blizzard HQ inplodes into itself in the next few weeks, it’s going to be something very special indeed. Tom has played through the thing nine times, and he’s only just managing to hold off his tenth playthrough.
Let us know how you get on in the comments. Enjoy!
Diablo 3 beta opens briefly, now closed
Want to play Diablo 3? Players on Reddit have noticed that it’s possible to download the client and jump right into the game even if you haven’t received a beta invite. Blizzard haven’t mentioned that they’re opening up the beta, so it could be an accident. Either way, it’s out there and people are apparently playing it. We’ve dropped Blizzard a line to find out what’s going on.
Update: the Battle.Net servers now seem to be down for maintenance. Lots of players on the Battle.Net forums mentioning that they got some time in before that maintenance period kicked in. Blizzard community manager Nethaara posted a short while ago to say “the Diablo III beta is currently unavailable while we work to resolve an issue.” They promise another update in a couple of hours.
