Blizzard has opened US registration for the Wrath of the Lich King beta. American World of Warcraft players should probably head over to this page now and register for a chance to opt in. Two helpful reminders:

1. Registering for the beta does not guarantee you a chance to play. It just adds your name to a pool of potential players that Blizzard will choose from.
   
2. Beware of e-mail scams. This is the official URL: https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/beta-opt-in.html

Whether or not you get into the beta, be sure to check out WoW Insider for up-to-date coverage.
[Via WoW Insider]

As we slowly prepare for the long weekend here in the States, hunkering down for some game playing with a grill right next to us, it's probably worth mentioning that GameTap's selection of free games (which we've listed after the break) won't cost you a dime or, more importantly, gas money getting to the mall. All that cash can be spent on some extra meat for the barbecue. But first, let's look at the new subscription games this week.

• Descent: Freespace (Windows) - If you liked Wing Commander: Prophecy and miss that whole space pilot genre, definitely check out Freespace.
  
• Off-road Redneck Racing (Windows) - Oh boy, do we have to write something here? Umm, Rednecks go racing ... it's slightly less offensive than Redneck Rampage.
  

GameTap's free games list doesn't get any new additions this week, but if you haven't played Tomb Raider: Legend or Deus Ex, what are you waiting for?

Earlier this week, Blizzard released a patch for Warcraft 3, known to some of you as "the game before World of Warcraft" and the rest as "the client for playing Defense of the Ancients." Patch 1.22a provides balance changes for the units, fixes some technical issues and includes four new maps. You can update the game by either logging onto Battle.net or by downloading the patches manually (available from BigDownload).

PC (1.22a requires patch 1.21b for installation)

• 1.21b for W3
  
• 1.21b for W3: The Frozen Throne
• 1.22a for W3
• 1.22a for W3:TFT
  

Mac (1.21b not required)

• 1.22a for W3
• 1.22a for W3:TFT
  

Last month, Blizzard also patched Diablo 2. We've placed full patch notes after the break.

[Via BigDownload]

While we don't know when we'll get our hands on Diablo 3 (our guess is sometime between Starcraft 2 and a Lost Vikings MMO), now is as good of a time as any to look back on the previous Diablo game. While you could download the full version at the Blizzard Store for $20 (and the Lord of Destruction expansion pack for $20 more), the try-before-you-buy enthusiasts at Big Download have tracked down the demo version for you to try out. We know there are a few Joystiq readers who never experienced Diablo 2. Folks, feel ashamed no longer, download here.

As equal parts excuse and contrition, I feel it's necessary to add the following disclaimer to this writeup: spending thirty minutes with something like Spore is like spending thirty minutes on the history of the Russian space program or spending thirty minutes on the theory of evolution (or any other seemingly disparate discipline you may find in one of Will Wright's famously schizophrenic presentations) – it may be deep enough to wet your toes but there's an ocean out there. At a recent EA event in Los Angeles, myself and the rest of the E3 Judges had an opportunity to get our feet wet (figuratively, of course).

Before being lead into a private demo area with a half-dozen high-end gaming rigs outfitted with the latest build of Spore, Will Wright – along with what seemed to be every other team at EA – gave a short presentation covering ... well, he covered a lot (see above). I was able to extract two fascinating details from my furiously scribbled notes.

First: Wright (and EA we presume) was hoping to have 100,000 creatures created by the time the game ships in September; of course, they beat that in the first couple hours. In fact, they had announced the night before that 250,000 creatures were created and, after getting a quick real-time check during his presentation, estimated they would hit half a million before the end of the day's event. (They did).

Second: Wright told us that they expected to "exceed the world population of 3D models in Spore" within the first couple months. If we heard him right, that means there would be more 3D models in the Sporepedia than every other game, movie, you-name-it combined. And, wrapped in the embrace of Will Wright's own special reality distortion field that afternoon, nothing seemed more plausible.

The MMO-obsessed at WoW Insider managed to get some hands-on time with Wrath of the Lich King's Death Knight class while at this weekend's Blizzard Worldwide Invitational. Take a look for impressions and information on the gameplay, skills and talents of this soon-to-be overused class.

• General gameplay impressions
• Blood spells and talents
• Unholy spells and talents
• Frost spells and talents

Don't forget to check out all of Worldwide Invitational coverage, from World of Warcraft to Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3.

Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational is now officially over! In case you missed all of the excitement this weekend (or just want a handy recap), here are the highlights:

	Diablo 3 Yes, it's really official. Here's everything there is to know about the game so far: Blizzard introduces Diablo 3 Watch Diablo 3 teaser and gameplay footage Here are the first Diablo 3 screenshots Highlights from the Diablo 3 FAQ Diablo 3 information overload Joystiq chats with Jay Wilson on Diablo 3 Poll: What classes would you like to see return in Diablo 3? WWI08: Diablo 3 design fundamentals WWI08: Lore and art in Diablo 3
	Starcraft 2 There was only one Starcraft 2 design panel, but boy was it a doozie. Part 1: Zerg Part 2: Protoss Part 3: Terran Part 4: Q&A with Rob Pardo
	World of Warcraft Let's not forget about the MMO behemoth, whose presence comprised about 80% of the WWI. Blizzard's WWI 2008 costume and dance contest All World of Warcraft classes dissected at WWI 2008 WWI08: New WoW arenas, nonlinear dungeons and goodie bags A lot more information can be found at WoW Insider

At Blizzard's recent Worldwide Invitational, Diablo 3's World Designer Leonard Boyarsky and Art Director Brian Morrisroe got on stage in front of a crowd hungry for details on Blizzard's latest project to talk about combining art and lore to expand the world give the player a deeper and more engaging experience. Diablo is a unique fantasy universe in that instead of having Dwarves and Elves, it has Angels and Demons. The game's setting makes it a dark fantasy environment that the previous games had only scratched the surface of.

Q&A with Leo and Brian

Q: In the end of Diablo 2 we went to hell, killed him, smashed his Soulstone and essence of him, Bael, Maphesto ... how do we justify him coming back?
Leo: You don't know for sure that Diablo is coming back. [Ed: ... !] We don't want to divulge too much of the story, we just want to say that it will be entertaining when you come to it.

Q: In previous game you had quests to achieve to get, say the Horadric Cube. Will there be similar quests? Will we be able to get the Horadric Cube again?
Leo: The way the process works is we look into the story, look into the lore, and we want that to drive the gameplay and drive the quests. I can say there will be quests related to lore. In Diablo 2 they didn't just set out to say "let's make this great cube," it came out of the design process.

For the World of Warcraft fans who might've missed some coverage today, here are some of the highlights, care of WoW Insider:

• Check out these awesome goodie bags
• A look at Lake Wintergrasp, a non-instanced Battleground, as well as new arena maps from the PvP panel
  
• From the Dungeons and Raids panel, we learned about the return of nonlinear dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King.
• A video recap of the first day of WWI, with some good footage of the costume and dance contest (start at 1:45 for that)
  
• Did we mention awesome goodie bags?

At the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Paris, Blizzard designers took to the stage to talk about the design goals and fundamentals behind their upcoming title, Diablo III. Jay Wilson, lead designer on the title, presented a rundown of the design philosophy behind the game, covering its origins, the game's approchability, and the design team's "better gameplay, less carpal tunnel" approach.

Audience Q&A

Q: Do you plan to keep the 4/5 man typical group size or will you design for much larger groups?
A: Group size isn't a technical restriction, but a gameplay one. Smaller groups are better due to the camera restriction. We haven't really decided but we'll focus on whatever gives the best experience, that'll be 4 or maybe 5 person parties.

Q: Will you increase inventory size?
A: We haven't decided. We're improving the inventory system and it'll be easier to trade items between your characters or other players. We'll pick a size appropriate to gameplay.

Q: There are a lot of WoW players and Diablo II players, which audience are you aiming at?
A: We haven't a particular aim. We're making the game for people who love Diablo, and there's plenty of room for both WoW and Diablo, we've no intention to play one game against the other.

Along with finally confirming Diablo 3's existence, Blizzard also revealed two of the five (or perhaps more) classes, the Witch Doctor and the Barbarian. Although we imagine any returning characters would see a massive overhaul from their previous renditions -- that's assuming the remaining three aren't entirely original -- we want to know who you'd like to see make it into the third game.



(Note: All classes in the game have both male and female options, hence voting D1's sorcerer is the same as voting for D2's sorceress.)

You can't escape World of Warcraft at Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational. Between class-specific panels and the giant WoW dev panel. Here's a look into the future of each of the classes, including a ton of information on the upcoming Death Knight class:

• Death Knight
• Druid
• Hunter
• Mage
• Paladin
• Priest
• Rogue
• Shaman
• Warlock
• Warrior