Blizzard has just released the first of some hotfixes that will go out for Diablo III. These ongoing fixes are meant to help balance out each of the character classes. With balance, though, comes nerfing, and that’s exactly what the developer has done. Of course, players are less than thrilled with the outcome.

The first fix has reduced the effectiveness of the Monk’s Boon of Protection rune. It used to offer protection to players being healed by Mantra of Healing. According to Blizzard the rune was “approximately ten times over its budget on the benefits provided, and it was quite simply a mistake on our part to let the rune ship as it was.”  Apparently they plan to issue a lasting fix sometime in the future, but for now it’s been nerfed so bad that players aren’t even using it.

As for the Wizard and Demon Hunter, they’ve had their Force Armor and Smoke Screen skills nerfed for less power. Smoke Screen lasts for a lot less time than it used to before. If you’re not coupling it with the rune that extends its duration, the skill is now practically unusable. For players who are attempting Hell and Inferno difficulties, your strategy has been reduced to kiting enemies around to avoid attacks and damage. The enemies are already overpowered, and these changes won’t help at all.

Blizzard’s Diablo III forums are being lit up by aggravated players, most of them who play the Monk class. The developer claims that their issue is with players relying on the same skills, but the argument in return is that these skills, such as the Mantra of Healing and Boon of Protection combo, are the best chance at support the Monk had on higher difficulties. Some are even saying that they can’t pass Act I with the way things are, even before the nerfs went into effect.

Personally if Blizzard is upset about certain skills being overused, I think they should buff the bad skills. Don’t take what works and break it, fix what doesn’t work and move on. The developer commented on their decision saying, “Class balance is an ongoing investigation, and by no means do we believe the game is now perfect, but we’re also seeing evidence that supports the Monk and Barbarian are not as bad off as they seem. The game is young, there were some skills that threw things out of what, and we expect the landscape to settle out a bit more evenly. Or at least change again so we can continue to monitor the impact. Maybe we’re wrong, maybe there’s no current chance for Monk or Barbarian to compete with ranges, but our current suspicion is that’s incorrect and until we know for sure we’re not going to turn any dials.”

This is definitely some defensive attitude that Blizzard is sporting on the issue. I don’t think that nerfing good skills instead of buffing bad ones is the right way to go, but the developer will do what they want. Taking away the single skillset that makes the Monk’s support build stand doesn’t make too much sense. Players seem to agree with this line of thinking as well. Of course balancing characters, skills, and overall gameplay for a title where players will pretty much be spending their every waking moment will always cause some controversy. The thing is, players who are attempting Hell and Inferno are already having their heads explode. Why make that tougher?

If you use a PC, you likely use a mouse to control the arrow on the screen. While that’s all fine and dandy, this particular piece of hardware may not always do what you want it to. You may not have fast enough DPI to your liking, dust can get in the way of the sensor, and it may just be uncomfortable to use.

What if there were a way to control what was on the screen in a whole new way that wouldn’t cramp your hand, and could move as fast as you can? I’m not talking about touchscreen here, as that still requires you to impact something (poking the screen is like clicking a mouse). The LEAP Motion is about the size of a flash drive, but you won’t be placing your hand over top of it and moving it around. It gives you 8 cubic feet of interactive space that will read your hands.

Working in tandem with control software, you can reach into your computer and pull out information much in the same way that you would pull a cookie out of a jar. The sensors are 200x more sensitive than most other touch-free products (so says the website) and it can read a swipe from your hand about as precisely as a pen stroke. You can modify it however you’d like, so this is a pretty sweet looking peripheral for only $70 (pre-order only at the moment). This makes me think of the PS Move or the Kinect, but it doesn’t require you to hold anything. Makes you wonder what playing your normal PC games on it would be like doesn’t it?

Do you like horror? How about point and click adventure games? If you’re a fan of both, then the Dream Machine may be a game worth looking into.

This episodic adventure game will likely make you feel as though you stepped into a a Salvador Dali painting as it is oftentimes in a surrealistic dreamland. You’ll be playing the part of Victor Neff, who has just moved into a new apartment with his wife. The perils you will face will be like nothing else you’ve seen before.

I have to give serious props to this game, as they used traditional media to make this game. Instead of computer generated art, they built the game out of clay and cardboard. Both are serious art forms (not saying that one is greater than the other), but I do carry a fondness for games that step out of the traditional role. Episodes 1-3 are already out, but you can buy the whole bundle for about $17 directly from the site, or for $14.99 on Steam.

The pandaren are a new race being introduced with the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft. Currently the expansion’s beta is underway, and we’re receiving updated news about the game as the weeks draw on. This week we have gotten word of what the new race’s mount will be, and it’s a bit surprising. The pandaren mount will be a Dragon Turtle.

I know what you’re thinking, “Raine, how in the world will this mount even make sense? Turtles are slow, aren’t they?” You ask the same questions as many others, young grasshopper. There are a lot of players who think this mount simply doesn’t make sense even in the Pandaria setting. Others, however, think the mount just looks cool.

Apparently the pandaren have long been looking for a mount that embodies their core values: patience and strength. The Dragon Turtle has armored hide, stoutness, and a relaxed attitude that welcomes long journeys. This animal is indigenous to Pandaria, thus making treks across the island feel just like another walk in the park. It will be outfitted with maps, cushions, footstools, and even some brew storage for those hardy adventurers.

Now the second question comes into mind: how fast will it be? Though the description on the original post claims that it’s got a “slow, even stride,” I think the mount will work much the same as the Kodo mounts do for the Tauren. It will move to scale with other mounts, but do so with ease. I think the Dragon Turtle is pretty sweet, and I’d love to have one.

If you were one of those gamers who held off on running through the sands of Banoi in Dead Island just to see if a better version of the game would release, your non-work has paid off. Deep Silver has announced that a Game of the Year Edition for Dead Island will release this summer, making all of your zombie-infested dreams come true. The game will be available in the US on June 26^th and in Europe on July 6^th.

This edition of the game will include the Bloodbath Arena DLC as well as the Ryder White storyline. You’ll also get The Ripper weapon blueprint so you can saw your way through hordes of undead. With both DLC packs this will be everything you need to drift the summer away.

I really enjoyed Dead Island. To be honest, I’m kind of glad this edition is coming out and I may even pick it up to replace my older copy. Despite its online co-op issues in the beginning, Dead Island managed to stay fun and had a lot of players enthralled. I think it’s a game that is getting us closer to the true zombie apocalypse idea where we need to actually forage for things to survive instead of just having guns with endless ammo to blow away the undead.

In a move that’s likely going to make some gamers mad, engine maker DICE has revealed that starting in 2013 some games running the Frostbite 2 engine will require a 64-bit operating system. While no games in particular have been announced as requiring a 64-bit OS, it’ll only be a matter of time before it’s discovered what games will need a 64-bit OS. I don’t know about you, but this kind of makes me a bit excited, and at the same time, a bit apprehensive.

64-bit processors have been around in PC’s since 2003, but in the 9 years since their mainstream debut they have yet to take a majority market share. Part of the reason for this trend has to do with the fact that while Windows XP has a 64-bit version, it was not made widely available, and the 32-bit version of XP was available for people’s new pre-built PC’s for many, many years, even after Vista was released. Even if those people later upgraded there systems to Windows 7, it’s likely that they upgraded to the 32-bit version to avoid any other hassles of losing information or other inconsistencies. While the trend is slowly starting to swing into the 64- bit OS’s favor, it’s apparently not going fast enough for DICE and EA.

And, in the end, it makes sense for EA and DICE to want 64-bit OS’s to  become the norm. One of the main problems facing 32-bit OS’s is the fact that they can only support up to 4 GB’s of RAM, and game developers are constantly pushing the envelope of games. So far, it’s reached a plateau, and while games look spectacular right now, imagine how good they would look like if game developers could rely on enough people having 64-bit OS’s that they could up the recommended, or even required specifications for games to include more than 4 GB’s of RAM? There’s an entire gaming world out there unexplored, if only because of the vast number of dinosaurs stuck with an outdated OS. This is one trend that EA is pushing for that I actually support, if only because I already own a 64-bit system.

Starting this week MechWarrior Online will be entering its first closed beta testing session. Piranha Games has revealed how players can gain guaranteed early access to the game this summer as well, and it’s got fans ready to jump into their pilot seats.

The way to grab guaranteed early access to the game is to take part in OPERATION INCEPTION. This event is an elusive MechWarrior Online Founder’s Program which will go on sale June 19^th. It will offer fans of the franchise benefits such as in-game currency, a custom ELITE BattleMech, a two-month free premium account, a permanent Founder’s Tag and even more. There will be two versions of this promotion available to players:

$60 ELITE Founder’s Package Includes:

• Exclusive custom “Founder’s BattleMech.” This Mech includes a lifetime, per-match C-Bill booster.
• $80 value of in-game currency* for in-game item purchases.
• Two-month premium account to MechWarrior Online at launch: Earn XP & C-Bills faster.Founder’s Tag – sets your status apart from the crowd & get noticed in-game and on the forums.
• Early access to the game along with Founder’s assets availability starts July 17th.

$30 VETERAN Founder’s Package Includes:

• $40 value of in-game currency* for in-game item purchases.
• One-month premium account to MechWarrior Online at launch: Earn XP & C-Bills faster.
• Founder’s Tag – sets your status apart from the crowd & get noticed in-game and on the forums.
• Early access to the game along with Founder’s assets availability starts July 17th.

Both of these packages will be available starting July 17^th. From what I’ve been able to see MechWarrior Online looks like it will be quite the exciting game. Players can really take the series in a new direction and enjoy tons of multiplayer action. I’ve been a fan of mech titles for a while and this one looks like it will deliver what fans want to see.

Over this past weekend Diablo III players were lighting up the forums with more issues about the game, though these weren’t your run-of-the-mill server issues. According to the messages, tons of players were chiming in claiming that all of their gold and items had disappeared. After conducting some research, it looks like some players’ accounts were hacked, which caused the major issue.

Diablo III servers did go offline for a bit over the weekend, spanning up to a four-hour outage in some areas. Some rumors have spread about the outage being a result of a SQL injection attack, though this theory is unconfirmed as of right now. Some of the theories on the forums suggest that the session identifiers were hacked, allowing hackers to take over any account without alerting Blizzard’s authentication server. Though the developer does offer Authenticators, accounts using them have fell victim to the attack as well.

There’s no pinpointed cause to the attack, but Blizzard is working to address the situation. Many players have been left with nothing, having all of their rare items and personal stashes wiped totally clean. Could this be an actual hack? Was it a bug result of server maintenance? Right now we don’t know, and we’re waiting for Blizzard to issue a statement. Were you one of the victims of the attack?

Gaming mice are pretty common these days. Many try to set themselves apart by offering extra buttons, high DPI, or lots of customization. Well today Tt eSPORTS has announced a mouse with something that no other has brought before. A detachable fan.

Building off of the previous generation of Black mice, the new Cyclone features a 6500 DPI laser sensor, OMRON switches and 9 fully customizable macro keys. Of course, the biggest feature is the fan. It attaches to a miniUSB port located on the front of the mouse. Plug it in, and you’ll get a nice breeze over your fingers.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen airflow as a selling point for a Thermaltake peripheral. When we looked at the Challenger Pro last year, it too had a small removable fan. While it did work, it just felt a bit gimmicky. Then again, I usually don’t have issues with sweaty hands. If you do, then maybe these two devices are exactly what you need.

If you’re a fan of the GameStop PowerUp Rewards program, this would be a good time for you to listen. Fans will know that by signing up for the program you’ll be able to get an issue of Game Informer every month as long as you’re signed up. To some gamers these magazines are collectible, while some just read them for the reviews. Of course, there are some players out there who don’t want to bother with print issues, so they choose to go digital. That’s where the change comes in.

It looks like the company isn’t too happy about the amount of digital subscriptions that’s standing and wants to change it. Of course it costs more money to make print issues than digital, so it would make some sense when trying to cut costs to push digital. From now on when you sign up for the PowerUp Rewards program, or renew your subscription you will automatically be set to receive only digital copies. Even if you’ve been getting print for however many years, it will roll you over unless you say something.

GameStop employees have been instructed not to mention this to customers (which I find aggravating), so unless you specifically tell them when you sign up/renew, they will set you to receive digital copies. While for some this may not be an issue, for those like me who keep the issues it will most certainly be frustrating. As an alternative you can call in to Game Informer customer support to have your subscription changed without any hassle. I haven’t seen the digital issues, but from what I heard they’re not even .pdf files. What you get is a digital arrow pointing to the Game Informer website and that’s no fun. If you want to continue getting your print copies, make sure you lock down your decision and make note when you renew.