Although Blizzard has always been one to decline from giving out any release projections unless they're damn sure they'll meet it, StarCraft II's 2010 launch seems to be firmly set in stone. Not so for Diablo III, which was most recently given one hell of a wide release window.

What's this? More taxes?!? More importantly, in downloadable content?!? Come. On. Apparently, it's gonna suck to be a New Yorker because of this. Included in the state's proposed budget is the suggestion that DLC, in both the iPod and video games, be taxed.

A couple of days back, we wrote a post detailing a piece of videogame legislation proposed by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) known as S.3315. Well, the full bill is now available after the jump for you to read. Don't worry, it's only three and a quarter pages long. Learn more about it after the jump!

Download: S.3315: The Video Game Rating Enforcement Act of 2008

Greetings and welcome to another action packed issue of the QJ.NET MMORPG Weekend Warriors. This week we see a number of pre-patch notes for various online games, the sad announcement of the halt of development for Mythos, Hellgate: London's new owner, and more. So if you're ready, drop on down to the full article to see what happened this week in the MMORPG world!

Remember that mandatory game ratings bill that was passed by the New York Senate last month? Just yesterday, New York Governor David Paterson signed the video game bill into law, creating an interesting precedent for videogame legislation. Find out the full details of the videogame law after the jump!

Fresh out of their recent presentation at the New York Comic Con 2008, EA Mythic's Senior Producer Jeff Hickman, Creative Director Paul Barnett, and Associate Producer Josh Drescher took the time to explain the different roles they had in the development team of Warhammer Onine: Age of Reckoning. You can read all about their responses by clicking on the "read more" link below.

Itching to try out Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning from EA Mythic but wasn't invited for beta? Here's you chance, boys and girls. You can try out WAR Online's beta by attending a Games Day convention (or other shows and conventions) near you. Check out the full article for the list and schedules.

 

Have you ever thought of living out those superhero or n fantasies whenever you're having a go at NCSoft's City of Heroes and City of Villains? Well, organizers from ComicsOnline.com are giving you the opportunity to do so this Halloween during the Nexus Crisis event, a masquerade party that will be held in New York this October 27. This event hopes to foster a greater sense of camaraderie within the tight knit MMORPG community the game already has.

The "masterminds" behind this nefarious plot are two of Champion Server's finest, Terrence St. John (aka Controller Trance of Earth) and Kevin Gaussoin (aka Tanker Titan TL). However, this isn't an event for kids; the party will be held at Breffini Inn Bar so only adults of 21 years and above can attend wearing their favorite spandex costumes.

Various games and other events will be taking place during Nexus Crisis. ComicsOnline.com has even invited sponsors from NCSoft who will be giving away Good Vs. Evil Edition copies of the game for the best costume winners. In addition, every attendee will be receiving a 14-Day Trial code.

So if you're in the neighborhood and feel like dropping in on your fellow superhuman beings, you can check out the rest of the details through the via link below.

Time Warner Cable's (TWC) Road Runner Internet service in New York City may have taken a turn for the worse as complaints of one of its cable Internet service rose to a peak today. Blizzard received distressing feedback on Time Warner's Road Runner service, which reportedly ended in random pockets of lag in World of Warcraft.

 

All in all, the issues severely degraded the gameplay experience for a fraction of the U.S. realms' players. People were led to believe that the issues experienced could have something to do with TWC's shift to "packet shaping," although they were quickly denied by representatives of the company.

"We don't have a network management policy called packet shaping," spokespersion Alex Dudley told Shacknews. He remained firm in the belief that the company would not implement any changes that would affect gameplay in Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft.

In contrast, however, investigative Internet surfers identified a portion of a press release gathered from connection technology site Broadband Reports. The text definitely stated the term "packet shaping" and implicated the name of Time Warner and the announcement of the technology's release around the U.S.

According to posters in the forum where the partial press release was discovered, the text information was e-mailed to them by customer service representatives in light of the recent increase of service complaints. But in a final note, Dudley has assured that Time Warner Cable is looking into the issue and promises that the problems will be resolved as soon as possible.

 

Ever thought that virtual 3D girls are so hot, it's criminal? Apparently, even Maxim appreciates the sexy user-created avatars in Second Life.

In the much awaited annual Hot 100 list of the famous male-oriented magazine, a computer generated girl from Second Life took the #95 spot while competing against thousands of other actual babes. Maxim directors believe that it is important to cater multi-million users of the virtual community. Their statement:

Second Life—a 3-D virtual world that’s imagined, created, and owned by its online residents—was launched in 2003 and now boasts nearly five million inhabitants around the globe. Never taken part in the nerdfest? Isn’t she reason enough?

Keep your pants on, though. She seems to be a busy person: she wasn't able to join the party in New York, and probably not up for sizzling interviews.