[Update:Bear in mind this affects the DIGITAL version. If you buy boxed retail, you’ll be a’ight in Blizzard’s eyes. Not that it makes it better at all.] As part of its latest endeavors to combat thieves and cheats, Blizzard will be forcing new digitalDiablo IIIplayers into a72-hour Starter Edition trialbefore letting them play the full game. This “review” period has been established to “combat fraud and other malicious activities that can weaken everyone’s play experience....

Gotta buy ’em all Mario Party 10is getting itsown line of amiibo, lest Nintendo not have multiple $13 red plumber toys to peddle. Amazon put up listings forPeach,Yoshi,Bowser,Luigi, andToad. Every one except Mario. As chief amiibo collector Chris Carter surmised, thatMario Party 10bundle will be, “[f]or a limited time, the only way to play with the Mario Party Mario amiibo included.” Because this is Nintendo and amiibo we’re talking about, who knows for how limited a time this will be the only way to snag a Mario #2....

Those poor Slugcats I melt every time I see anew set of gifsforRain Worldor even a picture of a Slugcat. But for all my cooing and fawning, I have to admit I don’t really know much about the game. Other than the exploration and puzzle elements we’ve been able to divine from small snippets of gameplay, I’m not exactly sure what you do in the game. I don’t know any of the background story, how the world got to such a state or even what a Slugcat is....

Palworld, or, like many call it,Pokémonwith guns — or evenPokémon but cruel— is getting a massive new update. Pocketpair is teasing a new area six times larger than Sakurajima that will come packed to the brim with exciting new stuff. The studio says the new update will also feature new Pals, trainers to fight against, new bosses, and will serve as a new high-difficulty challenge for fans of the original experience....

Plays the part of ‘the lovable Gus’ Hot off the heels ofDay of the Devs, a video was posted on Double Fine’s YouTube account today announcing —andshowing proof! — that Pendleton Ward (best known as the creator ofAdventure Time) will be lending his voice toBroken Age. The video’s description says that he’ll play the part of “the lovable Gus,” so it’s not clear if this will be a character present through the entire game or a one-off scenario where you encounter him....

Bold move for the Japanese company Platinum Gamessaid they have a big 2020 in store for us, and they’re getting off to a hell of a start. Chinese conglomerate Tencent now has a hand in Platinum’s dealings, as the company just announced today that they “have received a capital investment from Tencent Holdings Limited as a basis for partnership.” The exact nature of this partnership has not been disclosed, but according to Platinum, their independence as a company will not be impacted, and they will “continue operations under [their] current corporate structure....

Race Merge Simulatoris a Roblox clicker experience where you must combine strategy and speed to become the one who will reach the top of the leaderboard. Merge cars to create quicker and more powerful vehicles to race against those who dare to challenge you! For rapid progress in this title, useRace Merge Simulatorcodes whenever you can and enjoy various freebies, from Gems to boosts for speed and cash.If you’re interested in a similar game with many free goodies, check out ourSnow Plow Simulatorcodes listas well!...

It bombed at $250, then saw an uptick with the price cut How Nintendo at large and how former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime wanted to handle the launch of the3DSis very different, as the former points out in his new book: Disrupting the Game. If he had it his way, a Reggie 3DS launch would have seen the handheld ship at $199.99, rather than the $249.99 price point Nintendo ended up going with, due to experience with the retail field and knowledge of the current state of the US market....

It’s staggering this hasn’t been done already [Update: Microsofthas confirmedthat entertainment apps are being set free.] As much as I’ve gotten used to the idea that Xbox Live Gold is a requirement for certain entertainment apps, that’s not to say Microsoft shouldn’t change its policy, moving apps like Netflix and Hulu out from behind the paywall. It’s never too late to stop charging us on top of what we’re already paying for these monthly services, and change might just be coming....

Brick by brick Someone re-created Peach’s Castle fromMario 64inHalo 5. That’s good! Due to the object limit though there’s no interior. That’s bad! The resourceful Bearskopff has taken toHalo 5‘s Forge mode to craft his own version of the iconic setpiece, and has used all of the game’s assets in a rather ingenious way. The trees for example, are soccer balls, and the entire thing is basically built brick by brick....

Are ya ready, kids? THQ Nordic has released a new trailer for its upcoming remakeSpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, giving fans of the Nickelodeon show a chance to check out the newly revamped version of SpongeBob’s deep-sea habitat, Bikini Bottom. InSpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated,players will alternate control between three popular characters, the dim-witted Patrick Star, the rootin’ tootin’ Sandy Cheeks and, of course, SpongeBob himself as the trio go on an epic adventure to save the underwater ‘berg from the devious Plankton and his latest nefarious schemes....

Announced at TGS 2014 Straight out of TGS 2014, it’s been announced that Swery65’s quirkyD4is launching worldwide this Fridayfor $14.99 exclusively on Xbox One. Seeing as this game is episodic, the prologue, episode one, and episode two are releasing this week. Plans for future installments are still unannounced. D4(Dark Dreams Don’t Die) is a bizarre adventure game with motion controls that calls for some strange movements, perspective, and more — and if you don’t want to use Kinect to enhance the game, you can simply use a controller to get your weird on....

Obligatory earworm warning Every weekend from here on out,Tetris Effectplayers will gather together to play a few specified modes in hopes of reaching a collective point total to unlock a shiny new avatar. This went largely overlooked during the first Weekend Ritual event, but there’s also a retro stage with the classicTetrisjingle. According to producer Mark MacDonald, the 1989 skin is playable during the Weekend Ritual once players have met the point goal....