Today, Blizzard released a statement thanking loyal fans for purchasing the highly anticipated Diablo III in its opening week. They also issues a sincere apology for all of the launch day problems that many gamers encountered, stating:

"We sincerely regret that your crusade to bring down the Lord of Terror was thwarted not by mobs of demons, but by mortal infrastructure. As many of you are aware, technical issues occurring within hours after the game's launch led to players experiencing error messages and difficulty logging in. These issues cropped up again last night for the Americas and Europe servers. Despite very aggressive projections, our preparations for the launch of the game did not go far enough.

We've been monitoring the game 24/7 and have applied several optimizations to help our systems better weather the global rush. As of late last night, specifically 11:50 PM PDT on May 15, all systems have been online and running relatively smoothly. We're continuing to monitor performance globally and will be taking further measures as needed to ensure a positive experience for everyone. This includes some maintenance to implement additional improvements for each region."

What seems to be frustrating many PC gamers is the need to have an "always on" internet connection in order to play the game, even in single player mode. While this concept is a direct result of the rampant piracy in PC gaming it also means that if the servers are down, no one can play. The demand on the servers throughout the day on Tuesday was just too much and overloaded their system, locking many players out completely.

Blizzard has also announced that they will be delaying the start of the real money auction system they have planned for the game in order to better focus on maintaining server stability. The original launch date for the real money auction was May 22nd, a new launch date has not be announced.

My question to you is does the apology change some previous thoughts and complaints thrown Blizzard's way? Or is the always on/persistent internet connection requirement too much?

While FIFA Soccer 13 may be just around the corner, its predecessor is still fun to play so I've posted information on the FIFA Soccer 12 demo for the PC. This is an opportunity to try out the game before purchasing and maybe will give a little peak into what you may be missing in the FIFA series. FIFA Soccer 12 for the PC was the first FIFA game for the PC that is identical to the popular Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 console versions in terms of game play and modes.

 • FIFA Soccer 12 Demo

Many of us have had a day to digest and vent our frustrations at Blizzard over the Diablo 3 launch day issues. While some like myself have had success in playing the game, many others still receiving various error codes when trying to install, launch, or connect to Battle.net in order to play. While it does not excuse them, Blizzard has been responsive and quick to react to the issues being faced by many users. The Battle.net Technical Support blog has two posts that detail many of the errors and issued faced by gamers.

The Diablo III Common Errors post details the various error codes you may receive when trying to connect. Blizzard breaks these out by region, although it's not clear if the issues cross regions. The Diablo III Information and Known Issues details more general issues with Installation,drivers, login, performance and connectivity.

Last week THQ and Relic announced Company of Heroes 2, sequel to one of the highest rated games to hit the PC, not to mention one of my all time favorite PC games, Company of Heroes. For die-hard fans of the original game this is a long overdue announcement ever since the unfortunate cancellation of Company of Heroes Online in early 2011. Company of Heroes 2 will again be set during World War II, shifting focus from the western front to the eastern front of the European Theater with the Soviets and Germans battling each other in the early days of Operation Barbarossa in 1941. Players will take control of the Soviet Red Army as the try to repel the Nazis invaders. THQ and Relic have set a tentative release date of early 2013. Company of Heroes 2 will feature a new proprietary game engined called the Essence 3.0 Engine which Relic promises will "ring new technological advancements to the strategy genre in the form of innovative Dynamic Battle Tactics, increased graphical fidelity and new environmental destruction, ultimately putting the player in control with new Commander Abilities.". There has been no word on any other game specifics such as units or game modes but I imagine that some information will make its way out in time for the E3 convention next month.