PC Gaming News - Diablo III This Year? and More

Diablo III This Year?
There's a rumor going around that Blizzard might actually ship the upcoming action/RPG on December 24, 2009, just in time for Santa's "little helpers" to grab and stuff into that magic sack. In early 2008, Blizzard took the dramatic approach announcing the long-awaited PC game, revealing hints and tidbits on the main Blizzard website until the game reared its head at Blizzcon 2008. According to the company, Diablo III has been in development since 2005, however eager fans may be able to get an early taste on September 11, 2009 when the company supposedly releases a multiplayer demo. If this weren't enough to tease fans, there's also a set of system requirements to make this rumor seem more like an intentional tease on behalf of Blizzard:

PC:
Operating System: Windows XP/ Vista
Processor: 1.4 GHz or higher CPU.
RAM: 1 GB or more.
Video:  128 MB video card DX9
Hard Drive Space: 4-8 GB

Mac:
Operating System: MacOS X 10.3 (Panther) or better.
Processor:1.6 GHz or higher.
RAM: 1 GB or higher, DDR RAM recommended.
Video: 128 MB ATI or Nvidia video card
Hard Drive Space: 4-8 GB

The Godfather II Grabs the Gold
EA announced this morning that the upcoming game The Godfather II has gone gold and is expected to ship for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on April 7 in North America and April 10 in Europe. "As a Don in the Corleone family, The Godfather II lets the player carve out their own story of deception, betrayal, and conquest in a 1960's organized crime world. While at its heart The Godfather II is an action game, it allows players to go beyond street life to roll up their sleeves and get a feel for the challenges of running their own organized crime family. Players will have to invest in their family, manage their business, and even reach out to corrupt officials all of which is done through the revolutionary Don's View."

Stalin Vs. Martians in April
Now this sounds interesting: Mezmer Gamers said its upcoming real-time strategy Stalin vs. Martians will hit the PC this April. According to the company, the game takes a simple arcade-like approach to the genre, offering a game that's both "absolutely ridiculous and over-the-top." The player controls the Red Army as it defends Earth from the Martian Invasion of 1942, the highly classified military operation that even today remains a closely guarded state secret. Stalin himself conducts the mission briefings, and later even becomes a playable unit. There's a preview trailer here over on YouTube, and four screens to the left (click on image).

Land of Magic Goes Open Beta Soon
Lizard Interactive said that the closed beta of its MMORPG Land of Magic has successfully ended, and will thus switch into the Open Beta phase on March 12. Land of Magic is a classic 2D MMORPG offering the story of an ancient battle that took place between God and Dragon. "Fast level up system, easy control of interface and balanced game skills among different classes were praised by CBT users."

LotRO Mines of Moria Screens
A new set of screenshots from Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria have surfaced sporting the Lothlorien area. This past January, Turbine's hit MMORPG won 1up's "Best MMORPG" in its 2008 Reader's Choice Awards. Mines of Moria, the only expansion currently available, launched back in November 2008 and allow players to explore the ancient underground cities of the dwarves, battle epic characters in the depths, face off with the Watcher, be a part of the fateful release of Durin’s Bane and more.

X3: Gold Edition in Q2 2009
Deep Silver plans to release a collector's edition that contains both X3 games and expansions. Additionally, X3: Gold Edition will also feature The Aldrin Mission for X3: Terran Conflict, a new expansion found only in the collection, offering numerous additional missions. Also included is a soundtrack CD featuring music from X3: Terran Conflict. "The X³: Gold Edition represents the grand finale of the X trilogy, providing many hours of gaming fun," the company said.

Drakensang and The Maw Now on Steam
Steam News is reporting that both Drakensang and The Maw are available to purchase and download on Steam. Drakensang is a third-person party game based on Germany's The Dark Eye. The Maw, however, is a 3D action adventure game featuring a cowardly flat blob "concerned mostly with snacking and lounging." Lastly, an update for Garry's Mod is now available, addressing four specific problems that include fixing the physics_debug_entity server exploit and more.

Warhammer Online: AoR Recruit-A-Friend
This morning Mythic announced that the Recruit-A-Friend program is expanding to offer more incentives for players signing up new meat. Currently subscribers get 30 days for bringing on friends and family, however now those who recruit two new players will get an exclusive pet: the Imperial Hunting Hound for Order players, or the Warlord’s Fell Hound for Destruction players. Players who pull in four new subscribers will get a new in-game item: the Rod of Service or the Collar of Servitude. Here are the incentives details:

1st recruit = 30 days free game play
2nd recruit = Exclusive in-game pet, plus another 30 days free
3rd recruit = Another 30 days free
4th recruit = Exclusive in-game item, plus another 30 days free
All additional recruits = 30 days free for each new recruit