The graphics of both Diablo and Diablo II were far from revolutionary. They were certainly good for their time, but the games captured a sense of the dungeon-crawling atmosphere by having detailed backgrounds, fiendish enemies and gloomy, shadowed areas where the light cast by your character barely seemed to penetrate the oppressive gloom that hid the forces of hell. Despite the general outcry of joy amongst Diablo fans at the announcement of the sequel the ‘honeymoon phase’ seems to have ended already.

As people are wont to do, Diablo fans are reporting their dissatisfaction with some of the stylings of the newest game in the franchise. Chief amongst their grievances and a topic of a petition currently boasting 10,000 signatures is the complaint that the game needs to be more in tune with the stylings of the previous titles. They’ve claimed that Diablo III artwork has taken on a note of the cartoonish nature prevalent in World of Warcraft.

Several screenshots have been doctored to illustrate the way hardcore Diablo fans want it to be. One screenshot shows the shadowed realm of Diablo we’re all familiar with, which I agree looks far more atmospheric than a well-light dungeon. The second removes the bluish/greenish tint to some of the dungeons, which I particularly like as it feels like the place glows with an eldritch light.

It seems that the countdown wasn’t expected to remain a mystery for long. Today Square Enix announced that Chrono Trigger will in fact be coming to the DS. It’s being described as ‘remastered’ which implies that it won’t be given quite the graphic overhaul that some of the Final Fantasy games received, but will get some touches here and there (especially in the audio department I’d wager) to bring it up to modern standards. It will as expected integrate the touch screen fuctionality of the DS, as well as having a wireless play mode. In addition to the plethora of eras, dungeons and multiple endings already in the game, a new dungeon will add something fresh for Chrono Trigger veterans (as if there wasn’t enough to do in the game already).

With Blizzard just announcing Diablo III days ago, it only makes sense that a leaked demo of the game would hit the internet, right? Maybe.

According to a website baring the moniker Revolution, a 568.9MB file said to be a leaked demo of the game has been uploaded to a popular file sharing site. Other than a few screenshots of the file (complete with in-game screenshots) uploaded there is no telling whether or not this is legit.

To further seal the deal, Revolution urges us not to share the file and keep it private. Yeah, like anything readily accesible on the internet will be kept private. But wait, the demo was leaked by an official beta tester so it has to be real right? Maybe, maybe not. We’ll keep you updated.

In an attempt to breath new life into their dated (yet still loved)MMORPG, Star Wars Galaxies, Sony Online Entertainment has announced Champions Of The Force, an all new virtual card game based in the Star Wars universe.

Allowing players to take either the dark or light side, Champions Of The Force will be played threw ones SOE online account and will require an active subscription for Star Wars Galaxies.

Hit the read link for the press releasing which fully details SOE’s new trading card game.

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It seems Funcom, developers of hit MMORPG Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, have stirred up quite a ruckus with a seemingly honest mistake in their games code.

Apparently, users have noted that female avatars are slightly weaker than their male counterparts when making combination attacks. Funcom has made note of this and blamed it on the fact that the different gender’s attack animations aren’t timed exactly the same, causing males to output a little bit more damage than females.

Well, a fix is on its way but Funcom lets us know that, due to the amount of work needed for the fix, it will take some time.

Whether it’s nostalgia, people looking to catch up on the series or former players who are looking to re-hone their ubercharacter building skills after giving up hope of a Diablo III, the Diablo Battlechest has shot to the top sales spot on Amazon’s PC games chart. It’s even #18 across all platforms. It’s also currently listed as sold out.

The announcement of Starcraft II also sold massive amounts of the original. Maybe that’s Blizzard’s business model: wait until everyone’s loaned, sold or tossed out their copies of the previous game before announcing the next and they’ll be so excited that they won’t mind shelling out more cash to get back into it.

Sometimes there comes a game so excellently crafted and balanced between gameplay and content that it still delights fans years after the technology that birthed it is relegated to garage sales and cheap ebay auctions. One such title that made its debut on the Super Nintendo is of course the epic Chrono Trigger. Spanning the very boundaries of time, this game has been hailed by many as one of, if not the greatest RPG ever created.

A rumor began in a Japanese magazine that the classic title would be making its way to the Nintendo DS. Given the revivals/remakes of Final Fantasy and Front Mission, the rumor seemed not unlikely. Some gameplay scans have surfaced and most convincing of all is a countdown clock that’s shown up on a page on Square Enix’s website. Two things point heavily towards the Chrono Trigger remake/port possibility: first of all is the style of the clock, a somewhat steampunk-esque clock replete with gears and all the stylings that is easily recognized as Chrono Trigger artwork. If that doesn’t convince you, the url ends with ‘ctds’, which is most likely an acronym for Chrono Trigger DS. If you don’t believe it by now, you’ll never be convinced.

After months of rampant speculation, Blizzard has officially announced Diablo 3 at its Worldwide Invitational event in Paris. The game is said to feature more quests than ever, with the focus being put on cooperative gaming. It will feature Deckard Cain, as well as a new version of Tristram and a new class called the Witch Doctor. This class of warrior will use magic to cast disease and mind control spells, as well as make use of pets such as locust swarms and mongrels.

Armor will now be class-specific, and will be designed to provide each character a unique look. Classes are said to be more diverse. Other improvements to the game include several control enhancements, including full zoom capability and a hotbar to easily access skills.

Players will be able to make use of the environment, bursting through walls and using the surrounding environment to kill enemies.

The full website for the game has launched, offering the first screenshots, artwork, information and even various trailers. Hit the jump for more information.

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Ascaron Entertainment sends word that Sacred 2: Fallen Angel will be released for PS3 this Fall. Already available on PC and Xbox 360, the PS3 version features enhanced graphics, 5.1 Channel Dolby Surround Sound and more. It also adds drop-in cooperative play, as well as other multiplayer gaming modes via PlayStation Network. The game also features two-player shared-screen gaming on one console.

Controls and interface have been developed from scratch for the PS3 to ensure intuitive gameplay, according to the press release. The game features a huge, seamless and living world spanning over 22 square miles of hand-crafted terrain.

Gamespot’s latest edition of rumor control focuses on Fable 2, guesstimating the game’s release date to be this October. The site cites the sixth developer diary, noting how Peter Molyneuax circles the word “October” in his notebook. Apparently it fits well with the developer’s previous hints that gamers would be playing the title “when the leaves turn brown”, and even more specifically “when the evenings draw in, and it gets a little chilly, but not very chilly at night.”

Also, the site notes that October fits perfectly with Microsoft’s plans this holiday season: Too Human is due in August, Viva Pinata sequel is planted in September, and Gears of War 2 and Banjo Kazaooie aren’t expected till November. This leaves October open for another title, namely Fable 2.

Naturally, Microsoft is yet to respond to this ‘rumor’, but seeing as how things have shaped up, I wouldn’t be surprised if the game came out sometime near Halloween.

Atlus today announced the release date for the North American localization of Master of the Monster Lair, a dungeon creation RPG for the DS: September 2.

In development at Global A Entertainment, the game will allow players to design their own dungeons to draw monsters away from the quiet town of South Arc. There will be twenty types of rooms to fit into dungeon designs, as well as a wide variety of monsters and items.

CD Projekt today announced that the reworked version of The Witcher, its mature-themed action-RPG, has been delayed to early September. Originally set for release in May, the redone version of the game features bug fixes, stability improvements, addition of fifty new character models, new voice acting, redone translation, improved facial animation and a revised inventory system, among other things.

The revised launch date comes with a note explaining the delay: the studio has to prepare ten different language localizations of the game for a simultaneous release.

We reported yesterday that development on Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been put on hold, citing Famitsu as a source. It seems the venerable Japanese gaming magazine got it wrong this time, as Square Enix revealed through EuroGamer that development on the game is still on track.

“Reports that development for Final Fantasy Versus XIII is on hold are false,” the company said. “The truth of the situation is that when free, some staff from the Versus team have been helping with the XIII team on development of Final Fantasy XIII.”

Neither games have any release date at the moment. They are expected to be shown at E3 as well as the Tokyo Game Show this Fall.

It has come to gamers’ attention that the digital rights management software included in the PC version of Mass Effect only allows three lifetime installations even if the user uninstalls the game.

This was confirmed by a tech support representative at EA who stated that no additional activations are given if the user uninstalls the game. Those who have reached their three install limit must contact EA technical support to request additional activations.

The game was previously highlighted for, what many called, ‘draconian’ DRM that required players to reactivate their copy every ten days via an internet connection. Though that plan was dropped, the shipped copy of the game lets players only install three times.

Publisher Atlus sent out word today that the forthcoming strategy RPG Zoids Assault has been delayed two weeks to September 9. “Zoids Assault is going to slip out of late August and into early September,” reads the press release.

The game is the latest in a long-running franchise based on plastic model kits produced by Japanese manufacturer Tomy. It features grid-based strategic warfare; units can be customized with over 60 different parts.

And yet another developer jumps on the Unreal Engine 3 bandwagon. Gamasutra reports that Seoul-based online game developer T-Entertainment has licensed the game engine for its upcoming MMORPG project dubbed L2. It is scheduled for worldwide release in 2010.

The MMO is described as “futuristic fantasy with a taste of space opera.” It will take elements from both role-playing and real-time strategy games and will be a MMOG following in the veins of the studio’s previous titles Last Chaos and Laghaim.

The company hopes to take advantage of Unreal Engine 3, using its advanced character lighting, ambient occlusion (whatever that means) and dynamic fluid surfaces to power the graphics.

While no platforms were mentioned, it can be presumed that the game is being developed for PC.

By now everyone’s heard about the massive leak in Microsoft’s pipes. Amongst the flood of information about upcoming games is a few dribbles that’ll excite fans of quality superhero games. While Marvel has had a rather spotty history when it comes to the quality of their licensed video game products, none can argue that the first Ultimate Alliance wasn’t a well-crafted and fun game.

Some fan favorites will be appearing in the upcoming sequel which is set to take place in the midst of the epic ‘Civil War’ storyline, so players can expect to be battling alongside villains and fighting some heroes as well. Supposedly there’ll be a stable of over twenty characters to choose from, including Wolverine as always. The Hulk, Spider-Man, the Human Torch and Venom are among the characters mentioned. One interesting feature is that you’ll be able to ‘fuse’ two characters, creating a hybrid with the powers of both., which will eliminate the need to switch back and forth between your favorite characters. As with the previous game the title will be multiplatform; available on the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii and DS.

While Blizzard still won’t talk about any new announcements, gamers on the web are already speculating that the famed studio is creating a new entry in its Diablo franchise. Fuel is added to the fire by a now-removed post on Xfire.com, which encouraged users to “follow the opening ceremony and discover what new game will be announced.”

The post was referring to the upcoming Worldwide Invitational which takes place on June 29. The studio revealed StarCraft 2 last year to the joy of gamers worldwide. However, it has to be noted that it was the company’s only major announcement to come out of the event’s three-year history.

Let’s all pray that we get a Diablo 3, or at least something!

Following on the heels of behind-the-scenes problems at Flagship, the studio sent out word that Patch 2 for Hellgate: London is now live on their test center. The update, titled Abyss Chronicles, will be a large addition to the game, adding a new town with a new quest line that includes four new boss fights, the Consignment House, the Blademaster rebalance, Mythic and Double-Edged items, and more.

There will also be new armors, weapons and unique for each faction and so on. Both subscribers and non-subscribers will see a lot of improvements to the game. A teaser video has also been uploaded.

On Flagshipped was a blog post by Flagship audio and gameplay programmer Guy Somberg revealing some behind-the-scene happenings at the Hellgate: London developer. Though the post was removed, a Google Cache version of the page is still live, offering up a couple of revelations about the company.

Apparently, Flagship is severely understaffed it seems, as Somberg writes that he is the only programmer working on the action-RPG right now. The other people working on the game are said to have left for other projects, with another programmer leaving the company altogether.

A quick damage-control post by company CEO David Brevik asserts that the studio still has a full team working on the game and that “Guy was having a bad day.” The damage has already been done.