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Hitting the Books: The slow death of the strategy guide
Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
Engadget UK giveaway: Win a 'Diablo III' edition Switch courtesy of Blizzard
'Tis the season to wear silly jumpers, consume too much of everything and spend cold weekends catching up on all the games you didn't play over summer. And this week, to stave off boredom during the long nights, we're giving away a limited edition Diablo III Nintendo Switch thanks to our friends at Blizzard. The bundle includes a Switch with gothic decals, a download code for Diablo III: Eternal Collection and a themed carry case. We also have five extra cases to send to the runners-up, in case you can get away with taking your Switch to your aunt's house on Boxing Day. You can get your no-strings-attached entry in via the Rafflecopter widget below, but don't forget to give the rules a quick look first.
Nintendo is making an artwork-clad ‘Diablo III’ Switch
In a hellion cross-promotion, Activision Blizzard and Nintendo have partnered up to release a special edition Switch console for Diablo III exclusively at GameStop. The bundle will include the 2012 game, plus its two expansions, Rise of the Necromancer and Reaper of Souls. Included in the set will be a black and gray Switch console -- and dock -- featuring Diablo III artwork, a carrying case, as well as the standard trove of of items and accessories, like Joy-Cons, a grip and an HDMI cable. But it wouldn't be a third-party Nintendo cross-promotion if it didn't include some iconic, (and somewhat out-of-place) character cameos. These include items from The Legend of Zelda, such as Ganondorf's Transmog Armor, a companion Cucco pet, and a Golden Triforce Portrait Frame. Of course, these in-game items will only found in the Switch version of the game. Regardless of the non-canon items, the game itself is a faithful port, and will likely be a fun romp on a flight. Hopefully it will be enough to hold you over until the next Diablo thing comes out. The Diablo III: Eternal Collection Switch bundle will be available at GameStop on November 2nd.
'Diablo III' sends your Switch to Hell on November 2nd
You'll have to wait several weeks to slay the minions of Hell on your Switch. Blizzard has announced that Diablo III: Eternal Collection will launch on Nintendo's hybrid console November 2nd for $60. As promised, the isometric slasher includes the Reaper of Souls and Rise of the Necromancer add-ons, Zelda-themed exclusives. Moreover, it's the version to get if you like the thought of local co-op play -- up to four people can adventure together on a single Switch, and there are two- and four-Switch options if your friends have their own systems.
'Diablo III' arrives on the Nintendo Switch this fall
After Blizzard dropped an ominous Diablo hint on Twitter back in May, the franchise's community manager revealed in a video last week that multiple projects are in the works. One of those revelations was supposed to be unveiled tomorrow, but leaked info broke the news early: Diablo III is indeed coming to Switch and will include all currently-released content along with some Nintendo-themed extras. Best of all, it's got local offline co-op.
'StarCraft' 20th anniversary brings freebies and a short film
Blizzard is keeping up its habit of marking the anniversaries of major games. The original StarCraft is turning 20 on March 31st, and the studio is promising a slew of extras across its games to mark the occasion, including the classic real-time strategy title itself. You can log in to StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft II after March 6th to get commemorative interface skins, plus portraits and decals if you sign into SCII by April 6th. And if you're not particularly big on those titles, there are plenty of other ways to obtain perks -- you might even prefer them to the ones you get with StarCraft proper.
Three years later, 'Diablo III' Seasons mode heads to consoles
It might be time to rekindle your love for the loot-fest of Diablo III. A big new patch with a ton of tweaks for the hack and slash dungeon crawler will land on March 31st. The update finally brings the popular Seasons mode to Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Seasons has been available to PC players since 2014 and now console players will finally get to join in the fun. We've asked Blizzard why it took so long to bring Seasons to consoles and will update if we receive a response.
Blizzard deal lets you stream its games on Facebook Live
Blizzard is about to make it much, much easier to share your gaming exploits with the world. The developer has unveiled a deal with Facebook that will let you stream its games directly through Facebook Live -- you won't have to do much to broadcast your latest Overwatch marathon for your friends. There isn't a firm timeline for when this will be available, but it won't be limited to Overwatch when it arrives.
Deadmau5 is on Twitch
If it weren't for Deadmau5's terrible broadband speeds, he wouldn't be on Twitch, the live video-streaming site favored by gamers. Prior to moving to the Canadian countryside just outside of Toronto and building "a goddamned death ray" in his back yard to get paltry 5 Mbps downloads, the electronic musician, whose real name is Joel Zimmerman, had relied on a gigabit connection to broadcast music-making sessions in 2K resolution using his own data service provider. "The quality was pretty comparable [to Twitch], but I didn't have a social network behind it to help it along," he said during an interview from the first-ever TwitchCon. Now his TriCaster streaming setup is as good as "a $50,000 doorstop," and he instead uses the open-source OBS streaming software to broadcast games like Rocket League, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive; and studio recording sessions from his basement like the rest of us.
Blizzard blocks 'World of Warcraft' and 'Diablo 3' in Crimea
Players in Crimea can no longer access Battle.net, the service that houses Blizzard games World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, Hearthstone and others, The Moscow Times reports. Blizzard blocked its games in response to US sanctions against Crimea -- Google, Apple, PayPal and Valve have also suspended service to the region, the site says. The Moscow Times pulled its Blizzard report from Russian site Geektimes.ru, which published an email sent to Crimean Battle.net users. "In accordance with current trade regulations relating to the region of Crimea, we are legally required to suspend access to your Battle.net account," a translation reads.
'Diablo 3' getting free-to-play features, but not in the US or Europe
Blizzard may have shut down the Real Money Auction House after contention from the community, but it's opening up a new way to potentially use real money for in-game items. The difference here is that it's doing it in territories that are pretty accustomed to this sort of thing already -- most likely China. On the developer's American and European forums, an employee writes that an upcoming patch will add a new currency ("platinum"), timed experience boosts, cosmetic items, character slots and a tweaked UI to handle all of the above. Basically, the type of microtransactions that are fairly common in free-to-play games. As Gamasutra notes, Blizzard already has a partnership with NetEase (a Chinese internet company that has a web portal and its own massively multiplayer role-playing game), which operates a version of Diablo 3 in the country. All that to say, this makes sense for Blizzard.
Blizzard foreclosing on Diablo III real-money auction house in March 2014
One of the major points of contention when Diablo III released on PC and Mac last year was an auction house where you could use real money to buy high-level gear. That's changing next March 18th when developer Blizzard closes the doors on the controversial feature, as well as the in-game currency auction house. In a post on Battle.net, Blizzard's John Hight writes that, despite the auction house's benefits, it "ultimately undermines Diablo's core game play: kill monsters to get cool loot" -- a problem that he and game director Josh Mosquiera explain further in the video after the break. If you want a preview of what an auction house-free Diablo III looks like right now, check out the recent PS3 and Xbox 360 ports -- they're super good!
Diablo 3 bedevils consoles on September 3rd, heading to Xbox 360 as well
Diablo 3 isn't a Sony console exclusive anymore, it seems, with Blizzard Entertainment today announcing it's heading to Xbox 360 as well on September 3rd. The game will arrive for the PlayStation 3 on the same day as the 360 version, with the PlayStation 4 version arriving at an unknown point afterward. It's unknown if the game is also headed to Microsoft's next-gen console, Xbox One, though Blizzard told our friends at Joystiq, "We don't have any further platform announcements to share at this time." Not exactly a straight up "no!" The console version of the game is said to contain all the updates that PC / Mac users have enjoyed thus far, not to mention much needed relief for your clicking finger.
Diablo 3 heading to PlayStation 4 (and 3), part of 'strategic partnership' between Blizzard and Sony
Blizzard Entertainment's Chris Metzen announced tonight that Diablo 3 is headed to both the PlayStation 3 and 4. He announced as much during Sony's big PlayStation 4 reveal event this evening, noting that it's part of a "strategic partnership" between the two companies. He didn't say anything about how it'll change, but he did say that fans will get a chance to check out the new version at PAX East this March. Check out our liveblog of Sony's event to get the latest news as it happens!
Blizzard releases details for Diablo 3's big 1.0.4 patch
Blizzard has been promising for a while that Diablo III's patch 1.0.4 would be a Capital B D Big Deal for the game, and a blog post from developer Wyatt Cheng seems to reinforce that notion. What's missing from this particular post is specifics about the sweeping class changes the devs have been talking about, but apparently that's going to be a whole 'nother blog, so fear not. Some major features of the patch are below, with the whole blog after the cut. Magic find and gold find will no longer be averaged in multiplayer games. Monster health will now be a flat increase of 75% health (per player), regardless of the game's difficulty level. No more Out Of Time enrage timers on elites or healing to full after you die a few times. Normal monster HP is increasing by a slight amount, but the chance of finding rare items on normal monsters is being increased by a factor of four. To close the gap between normals and elites, elite HP will be reduced slightly. Weapons of ilvl 61 and 62 can now roll weapon damage that extends to numbers currently reserved for ilvl 63+. Use of two-handed weapons will be encouraged by new sets of affixes. Repair costs of high-end items will be reduced by about 25%. Problem affixes like Fire Chains and Shielding are being adjusted, and Invulnerable Minions is gone, baby, gone. A tentative release date of the fourth week in August.
Diablo 3 Transmog Outfits for WoW: Monk, demon hunter, wizard
It's been two weeks since Diablo III was released, and if you've got some time to spare, I've got three new transmogrification outfits that might interest you. If you'll recall, two weeks ago we learned how to recreate the witch doctor, barbarian, Leah, and Deckard Cain in WoW. As promised, this week we'll be taking a stab at the monk, demon hunter, and wizard, starting with the wizard. Making a convincing wizard outfit in WoW is surprisingly easy, provided you keep a few things in mind. First off, you need to be very aware of your character's silhouette. Bulky gloves, spiky helms, and big shoulder armor are essential, and fortunately, they're all in ample supply on Azeroth. Knowing that, you just need to keep an eye on colors. If you look at the sample outfit, you should notice right off the colors don't quite match; the golds are different hues. Let that serve as a lesson on why it's important to leave yourself a lot of options when selecting the right piece for an outfit. Mismatched hues can sometimes break an outfit if it's not balanced right.
Diablo III becomes fastest-selling PC game ever, deluge of broken PC mice likely to follow
Chalk one up for an at least temporary resurgence in PC gaming. Blizzard can vouch that Diablo III has set a new record for the fastest-selling PC game to date: at 3.5 million copies trading hands through Battle.net downloads or retailers in the first 24 hours, and 6.3 million after a week, that's a whole lot of people battling the biggest of Prime Evils in a very short time. Naturally, a Blizzard-obsessed South Korea is accounting for even more activity, where over 39 percent of play at local gaming houses can be pinned on the action RPG, and the tally doesn't even include the 1.2 million bonus copies coming through a World of Warcraft annual pass promo. Before console gamers start packing up their PlayStations and Xboxes in symbolic resignation, D3 isn't the record-setter for the most copies of any game sold in one day -- that distinction goes to Modern Warfare 3's 6.5 million copies spread across multiple platforms. That's still enough to spur on some furious clicking and possibly a glut of dead mouse buttons, but you'll be glad to know there are suitably-themed replacement mice waiting in the wings.
6 blue posts you need to read before the release of Diablo 3
Evil is returning in just a few days, and if you want to be ready for all the death and destruction that's out there, you'll want to be sure to read up on what the blues are saying. We've collected some of the more important posts over the last week to share with you. Keep in mind that when Diablo 3 does finally release this Tuesday, all WoW Annual Pass subscribers will get instant access. You can upgrade your account later to the Collector's Edition if you've ordered that. Also remember that you can download the client files now so you won't have to wait around much on release night. We're also planning on having some Diablo 3 lore material for you to enjoy on Monday, so stay tuned for that. Hit the jump to learn about special beta titles, known issues in the D3 release, and why feeling like a total overpowered badass is a good thing.
Razer Naga Hex mouse gets Wraith Red edition for manic Diablo III clicking
Razer looks to be the latest getting into the Diablo III-themed peripheral game with a special version of the Naga Hex, even if it won't mention the click-and-slash title by name. The Wraith Red edition keeps the same six mechanically-driven side buttons as the original, but drapes the top shell and lights in an infernal red. It's otherwise functionally similar to the Razer-green Naga Hex we had mixed feelings about last month. Gamers who like what it offers don't have to wait for Blizzard's action role-playing game to show, as it's shipping now in the US for $80 and should be ready for the rest of the world by the end of the spring.
SteelSeries Diablo III headset and mouse: demon slaying flair for your skull and desktop
Sure, there are plenty of great gaming goodies to be found on the floor at E3, but some of the best stuff is much harder to find. For example, SteelSeries' new Diablo III Mouse and headset, which were revealed to us when the prototype devices were pulled from a backpack. The headset packs the same 50mm drivers, retractable boom mic, and overhead suspension design of its Siberia V2 stablemate, but adds some sinister-looking design tweaks. These cans come murdered out in matte black with lava red accents (which can be turned off) courtesy of 18 LEDs, plus matching red external speaker grilles. There's also a braided cord that plugs into your Mac or PC via USB. %Gallery-126062% We got to see the Diablo III mouse as well, and found it sports an ambidextrous design similar to the SteelSeries Xai. Its inky exterior is cloaked in smooth, soft touch plastic sporting silvery tribal accents, and a glowing ember Diablo III logo and trim around the scroll-wheel. Given Diablo's click-happy gameplay, Steelseries gave the mouse beefy Omron switches that are good for 10 million presses (which are backed by a five year warranty). All those clicks are tracked by custom driver software that also lets users tailor the pointer's button layout by dragging and dropping character-specific commands to the button of your choosing. Now that your appetite has been whetted with the design descriptions, here are the details that matter most: the mouse will cost $69 and the headset $119 when SteelSeries starts selling 'em at BlizzCon in October. %Gallery-126063%
