(Blizzard)

Since day one, Diablo III players have been clamoring for a player-versus-player option. Eight months after the game’s release, their wish is granted.

In patch 1.0.7 Blizzard introduces The Scorched Chapel, a zone designated for players to duel one another. The initial releases allows for one-on-one battles or a three- or four-player free-for-all.

The zone has four different areas: church, graveyard, river and lake. Players who die in the dueling zone will respawn in the dueling zone, and death is not permanent – even for hardcore characters.

From Blizzard:

For those who wish to test their mettle against fellow Nephalem, your time has come. Players will now be able to duel one another in a new zone designed specifically for this style of combat. This zone can be accessed by speaking with Nek the Brawler located at the inn in New Tristram, and supports 2 to 4 players in a Free-For-All format.

(Grinding Gear Games)

I’m not much of a PC gamer. I prefer to sit on my couch, controller in hand in front of big-screen TV instead of sitting at a desk, behind a computer that I’ve probably been working on all day. However, there are always a few PC games that pique my interest like anything having to do with “Star Wars,” a cutting-edge shooter or something like SimCity. I was recently invited to check out new action RPG, Path of Exile, a PC game inspired by the likes of Diablo and Titan Quest, and from the looks of it so far, this may be something I could get into.

Developed by Grinding Gear Games, Path of Exile begins with you choosing a character or class, each with its own strengths. The storyline wasn’t very clear at the beginning but the marauder (strength), the ranger (dexterity), the witch (intelligence), the duelist (strength/dexterity), the templar (strength/intelligence) and the shadow (dexterity/intelligence) are the characters and the classes.

In the demo I played with game producer Chris Wilson, I played as the marauder and when I played the game on my PC, I chose the shadow. For a non-PC gamer like me, it was very easy to pick up and go. It’s a top-down view and to start, it has a very hack-n-slash feel to the game play, with moments of overwhelming attacks by hordes of the undead, demons and all types of other creatures from the underworld. The design of the maps and characters are pretty detailed and look great.

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(THQ)

Ubisoft announced yesterday that it will publish South Park: The Stick of Truth, as part of its acquisition of THQ Montreal.

“This deal adds experienced developers to our internal creative teams at a key moment in the cycle of the video game industry,” Yannis Mallat, president of Ubisoft Montreal, said in a release.

The role-playing game, being developed by Obsidian Entertainment, is slated for a release date sometime this year.

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(Nintendo)

Nintendo released images today for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker remake for the Wii U.

The announcement was made during the company’s installment of Nintendo Direct today. Wind Waker was originally released on the GameCube in 2003.

The game is slated to be released in the fall.

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Blizzard today released the StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm opening cinematic movie. The expansion to the game is set to launch on March 12 for the PC and Mac.

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, law enforcement officials, lawmakers and children who wrote the president about gun violence following last month’s shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., pauses while speaking about proposals to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington.

A study on the effects of video game violence is among the 23 executive orders President Barack Obama issued today on the topic of gun control.

“I will direct the Centers for Disease Control to go ahead and study the best ways to reduce (gun violence),” Obama said. “And Congress should fund research into the effects that violent video games have on young minds. We don’t benefit from ignorance. We don’t benefit from not knowing the science of this epidemic of violence.”

The Obama Administration is asking Congress to approve giving $10 million to the CDC “to conduct further research, including investigating the relationship between video games, media images, and violence.”

Vice President Joe Biden met with representatives from the video game industry last week, as well as the film and television industries.

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Dead Space 3 is one of our highly-anticipated games of 2013, not only because the series is one of the best horror franchises in recent memory, but also because it gets better with every iteration. One of the biggest additions to the game is the use of Xbox Kinect.

Yes, a lot of gamers still find the in-game voice controls kind of gimmicky but it appears that some of the options in Dead Space 3 might be pretty cool.

In a new video showcasing Kinect and Dead Space 3 together, options like reloading your weapon, healing and finding your objective seem pretty easy and seamless. The biggest deal is being able to use it in co-op mode with the ability to heal your partner, find your partner or give your partner weapons and ammo.

Check out the impressive video below. Fair warning: it’s age restricted.

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Just a casual drive into downtown Denver. (Screenshot)

Raiden’s coming to Denver.

The new gameplay video for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance shows the cyborg ninja battling cyborg police officers on the streets of downtown Denver.

The game is slated for a Feb. 19 release date for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Check out the video below.

From Konami:

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance takes the renowned Metal Gear franchise into exciting new territory by focusing on delivering an all-new action experience unlike anything that has come before. Combining world-class development teams at Kojima Productions and PlatinumGames, MGR Revengeance brings two of the world’s most respected teams together with a common goal of providing players with a fresh synergetic experience that combines the best elements of pure action and epic storytelling, all within the expansive MG universe. The game introduces Raiden as the central character; a child soldier transformed into a half-man, half-machine cyborg ninja, equipped with a high-frequency katana blade and a soul fueled by revenge.

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Dattebayo! Play as all of the tailed beasts in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, which is slated for a March 5 release date for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The game features more than 80 playable characters — the largest roster in the series — which includes all of the hosts of the nine tailed beasts.

For Dragonball Z fans, there’s a code in the first-run copies of the game to download Goku’s costume for Naruto. (Since he’s blond, does that put him in Super Saiyan mode already?)

Check out the trailer below.

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(Screenshot)

Having heard all the news about the NRA: Practice Range today, I figured it was worth checking out the free download on my iPhone. The game is available for a wide variety of iOS systems.

And after playing for 10 minutes, I have a headache right now.

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