What a month. Leading up to the biggest tradeshow of the year, May brought us all kinds of insane goodies, including the release of two of the biggest games of the year so far, Max Payne 3 and Diablo III. The former slithered onto the charts with nary a squabble while the latter continues to be part of an ongoing controversy regarding consumer ownership rights. Pirate Bay also managed to make headlines by being completely and entirely banned in the United Kingdom. That didn't stop the peer-to-peer service from coming up with alternatives to deal with the high court ruling. These stories and more in this May, 2012 edition of the Gaming Blend Monthly Recap.
April 29th - May 5th: Elder Scrolls MMO, Diablo 3 RMAH, Pirate Bay Banned In UK. May got off to a good start with a huge announcement from Bethesda about the game many people had been suspecting to be in development for quite some time, an Elder Scrolls MMO. Also, Blizzard lays out the official details on how the Real-Money Auction House works as well as how much money gamers will be able to make off a single item. The Pirate Bay also receives the ruling that all ISPs are to prevent users from having direct access to the file-sharing website.
May 6th - May 12th: $99 Xbox 360, More Disc-Locked Content, ACTA Dead? Microsoft finally unveils their long-rumored $99 Xbox 360 unit, however, it comes with a hefty long-term price tag and contract. Deep Silver is one of the latest publishers to try their hand at disc-locked content, following suit behind Capcom in their latest game, Risen 2: Dark Waters, but gamers figure out a way to access the content without even using hacks. Also, the ACTA agreement is being heavily frowned upon as yet another anti-consumer, anti-freedom of speech campaign, and everyone across the interweb is encouraged to the keep fight going against the policy.
May 13th - May 19th: Diablo III Launches, Unreal Engine 4, Black Ops 2 Giveaway After 12 years of waiting, Blizzard's highly anticipated Diablo III finally launches, but not without its fair share of controversy. Epic also finally lets the first images loose of the Unreal Engine 4, and gamers excited to see what the latest iteration of the engine looks like can finally do so, and we give away a free copy of Black Ops 2 along with an Xbox 360.
May 20th - May 26th: Diablo III Hacked? GamersFirst Account Security, Writers Wanted May begins to wind down but not before getting all controversial. Blizzard gets on the defensive about the hackusations surrounding Diablo III. GamersFirst also comes under fire for the exact same reasons Blizzard did, and they promise that they will improve account security. And if you have the skills to match the will, Gaming Blend is looking for a few good writers to join the stable.
May 27th - June 2nd: WWE 13, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Halo 4 Multiplayer Reveal The final recap of May and the last recap before heading into the ever daunting, ever exciting, ever exhilarating tradeshow, E3. The week features tons of E3 trailer reveals, as well as announcements for WWE 13 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, the latter of which is being designed by Burnout alumni Criterion Games. Fans of Microsoft's first-party first-person shooter, Halo, will also be able to check out a plethora of assets for the game's multiplayer modes
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