Following an enigmatic, tedious countdown timer (that broke the website upon expiring for 40 minutes and counting), Overhaul Games has announced Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition.

BG and BG2 have been available on GOG.com for awhile, so what’ll this contribute? According to the developer, original game content. Overhaul Games told Joystiq: “This is the Enhanced Edition, it’s not a repackage. We have the original source code and are doing a significant update.” I’ve separately reached out to the developer for more information.

Trent Oster revealed in a tweet that the Enhanced Edition will include the Tales of the Sword Coast Expansion. “Since its initial release in 1998, Baldur’s Gate has entertained millions of fans around the globe, and has received countless awards. This classic saga of mystery, intrigue, and adventure has set the standard for Dungeons & Dragons® computer roleplaying games ever since.

Overhaul Games has assembled a talented team of artists, programmers and designers to enhance this timeless classic. To remain true to the spirit of the game, the team includes original Baldur’s Gate developers. Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition™ and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition™ will feature a re-forged version of the Infinity Engine with a variety of modern improvements.”

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An Elder Scrolls MMO could be announced as early as May according to a report on Tom’s Guide. An unnamed source has told them that Elder Scrolls Online is in the works, and will be set in the Second Era, hundreds of years prior to any of the Elder Scrolls games.

The source mentioned that the game will include three playable factions represented by a lion, a dragon and a bird of prey. Beyond that, details are scarce, but Zenimax Online Studios have been building an MMO for years. The Elder Scrolls certainly has the depth of lore to support a massively multiplayer world. This could be pretty special. If it’s real that is. Bethesda has issued a “no comment.” Would you play an Elder Scrolls MMO?

The wait is almost over, as Activision Blizzard has announced that Diablo 3 will be officially released from the Burning Hells on May 15, 2012. The PC game will be available in physical form at retailers throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. The digital edition will be available via Battle.net in the same territories as well as Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.

“Players in the listed Latin American countries and in Russia will be able to purchase Diablo 3 at local retail locations starting June 7. Digital availability for the Russian version of the game will also begin June 7,” the company reports. “In addition to the English version, Diablo 3 will be fully localized into Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, European Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Korean, and Traditional Chinese.”

Starting Thursday (today), fans can pre-purchase the digital version here. Current World of Warcraft players are also encouraged to sign up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass which provides a free digital copy of Diablo 3 when paying for a 1-year commitment to the popular MMORPG. The long-awaited game will be playable immediately whereas the Annual Pass will provide an in-game mount for World of Warcraft as well as access to the Mists of Pandaria beta test. This offer will no longer be available as of 12:01 am PDT on May 1, so head here to get into the cool club.

Diablo 3 will arrive on Windows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7 and Macintosh at a suggested price of $59.99 USD for both the retail DVD version and the digital version sold directly from Blizzard. Of course, a PC game release wouldn’t be complete without a special version for the trinket collector, and Blizzard doesn’t fail to deliver. A special alabaster-white Collector’s Edition, sold exclusively in retail stores at a suggested retail price of $99.99 USD, will include the full game on DVD, a behind-the-scenes Blu-ray/DVD two-disc set, the Diablo 3 soundtrack CD, and a 208-page Art of Diablo 3 book.

But that’s not all! The Collector’s Edition will also include a 4 GB USB soulstone — which includes full versions of Diablo 2 and Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction just itching to be installed on your rig — and a corresponding Diablo skull base. The Collector’s package will also include exclusive in-game content for Diablo 3, World of Warcraft, and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

“After many years of hard work by our development team and months of beta testing by hundreds of thousands of dedicated players around the world, we’re now in the homestretch,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We look forward to putting the final polish on Diablo 3 over the next two months and delivering the ultimate action-RPG experience to gamers worldwide starting on May 15.”

Need to change your pants now? Really, we totally get it. It’s OK. Those long hours of clicking into the early-morning hours are about to begin, so now’s a good time to start stocking up that little mini-fridge sitting under the desk. You have until May 15, so get busy.

Want a sneak peak at three previously unseen areas in Diablo 3? A “harmless” bug in the current beta reportedly allowed testers to explore three areas of Act 1 that were locked away for the full-blown retail version: Festering Woods, the Fields of Misery and the Drowned Temple.

For a while, all three were mostly playable and possibly not fully stocked, featuring larger, more diverse beasts than the official beta levels including goatmen, violent trees, carrion bats, ghouls, ghostly spirits and more. Unfortunately, Blizzard caught wind of the trespassers and pulled the beta servers to fix the issue.

“It’s a few levels higher than any previous beta content, and while my Wizard wasn’t in any real danger of dying, I was constantly out of Arcane Power, as the monsters had more hitpoints, plus I was playing a three-player game,” writes IncGamers. “I could instantly see why using at least one Signature Skill will be necessary for Wizards long term.”

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On Friday Blizzard’s Jay Wilson said that PvP will not be a part of Diablo 3 when the game goes retail (in 2Q12). He said that PvP Arena and its systems aren’t living up to their standards in its present form, thus it will be released in a patch following the game’s debut. The team felt this was a better option than delaying the entire game and punishing those who merely want to enjoy the campaign and core solo/co-op content.

All of which is just about complete, he adds.

“When the PvP patch is ultimately ready, it will add multiple Arena maps with themed locations and layouts, PvP-centric achievements, and a matchmaking system that will help you and your team get into fairly matched games quickly and easily,” he said in a blog. “We’ll also be adding a personal progression system that will reward you for successfully bashing in the other team’s skulls.”

Many fans will undoubtedly recognize his uses of hints in the blog, throwing in phrases like “just about complete” and “soon you’ll be having a blast.” The blog indicates that development is about to wrap up, and even recent reports have slated the PC-based action-RPG to land on April 17 or April 19, depending on who you ask. Officially Blizzard plans to release the game in 2Q12, and so far there doesn’t seem to be any signs of a setback.

Still, there may be many fans who will be disappointed that PvP won’t be available at launch. “We know a lot of you are looking forward to PvP, and we’ll be focusing our post-launch efforts on making sure the Arenas are as brutal, bloody, fast-paced, and awesome as we know they can be,” he said. “In the meantime, we’re in the process of putting the finishing touches on what we think is a truly epic campaign and co-op experience for launch.”

Despite the delay, Wilson points out that players will be more prepared for battle once PvP Arena makes its debut, as players will have had plenty of time leveling characters, finding items, learning the classes, and perfecting builds. To some degree, maybe postponing PvP Arena was a good idea after all.

“We’ll have a lot more info to share on the PvP system in the future, and we look forward to the moment we can get the game into your hands,” he said.

Some new details regarding Assassin’s Creed III’s locations and seasonal weather changes have surfaced. The details come courtesy of the latest issue of Game Informer and reveal that Boston will be one of the two major cities featured in the game. The second will be New York, following the Great Fire of New York.

A seasonal cycle of weather will also be implemented, which will not only change the environment, but also gameplay. Enemies will behave differently in each weather condition and lakes will freeze over allowing you to cross them.

Finally Assassin’s Creed III will be similar to Assassin’s Creed II, where you will take control of the main character, Conner, at different points of his life.

It appears that most of the high scaling and leaps of faith will be performed in these two major cities, allowing the game to retain its usual flow of concealment and rooftop chases. The weather cycle will add a pretty interesting new element to gameplay.

Will it be easier or harder to move around in the snow, will enemies struggle to spot you in harsh weather? A lot more strategy will be required when planning attacks requiring you to take weather into account. Assassin’s Creed III is shaping up to be just as amazing as previous entries.

We’ve already gleaned that the extra-terrestrial edition of Angry Birds will involve some sort of gameplay departure from the add-on style of previous versions, but gameplay-wise there’s been less information. Fortunately, makers Rovio has now leaked out a very brief taster in its latest video. You’ll have to skip to the three-minute marker, but you’ll get a glimpse at some anti-gravity avians, bubbles, explosions and atmosphere re-entries. Take a look for yourself after the break.

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Blizzard mentioned last week that a new official Custom Map was on the way. It’s here now, and it’s pretty neat, especially if you’re interested in improving your advanced StarCraft 2 multiplayer skills. The StarCraft Master map now offers 30 challenges designed to test and teach advanced unit control in a safe, single player environment.

According to a post on Battle.Net, the levels will test many different skills, with missions that range from “kiting a single unit, to managing incoming damage and maximizing unit abilities, to controlling a mix of units to obtain victory over a superior enemy force,” all of which sounds pretty darn useful.

StarCraft 2 already contains a few challenge missions which teach basic unit counters, but this custom map goes much further, and should give us a good way to sharpen our skills without having to experiment too much in the heat of a multiplayer scrap.

The mod’s live now at the top of the Featured list on the Find Custom Game page. You’ll be able to earn a few achievements for beating the map, and if you’re really good, you could win yourself a new Battle.Net portrait.

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Doom 4 was cancelled, but then Bethesda quickly swooped in and save the day, denying the claims. As far as we know, Doom 4 is still on track, taking working-class passengers left over from the Rage train now that it’s arrived at your local retailer.

But the really juicy news that accompanied the Doom 4 cancellation/non-cancellation tidbit was the awesome batch of screens. Funny thing is, Bethesda didn’t confirm or deny that the screens were indeed yanked from Doom 4. Even more, id design director Matthew Hooper jumped on Twitter and seemingly validated their authenticity.

“Those images have nothing to do with what you’re gonna see in Doom 4,” he said. “When we officially show things, you’ll see awesome.”

“When we officially show things, fans will be happy,” he added.

As reported earlier, the first batch of screenshots appear to depict a “hell of earth” scenario with a portal opening up above a metropolitan city. The shots are likely from an opening sequence telling the story that transpired just before the player assumes the role of the protagonist.

As second, larger batch of 170 images was then uploaded (zip), depicting character models and “unskinned” bare-bones props that will presumably be used in the game. The previously leaked screens were also included in this larger batch, with one image actually naming New York City. Another image render showed an uncanny “nest” crammed into ceiling corners that could very well produce some nasty-looking creatures. Other images show the ground splitting wide open, revealing a fiery, hellish death underneath.

It’s still possible we’re seeing a Rage expansion pack due to certain similarities, but there’s good indication these are all from Doom 4. Either way, it’s awesome to see these little hints of id Software’s next game prior to anything official… it’s like peeking through the keyhole.

Now that Forza Motorsport 4 developer Turn 10 Studios and Need for Speed developer Electronic Arts finally “found the right terms,” you can have Porsche in your Forza. The Porsche Expansion Pack will be available for 1,600 MS points or $19.99, and will reward you with 30 products from the Stuttgart maker including the 2010 911 Sport Classic. Turn 10 says that seven of the 30 will be completely new to the series, which probably means you can expect the return of classics from Forza 3 like the 962.

The pack isn’t included in the game’s Season Pass, but your Porsche Expansion Pack won’t just get cars, either: there will be 20 new events, 10 XBox Live achievements and a Rivals Mode all based on Porsches as well. The pack is scheduled to be available on May 22 and will take FM4′s car count (with DLCs) to 625. The licensing deal isn’t long-term, so if Porsches are your thing you should mark May 22 on your calendar.

The other two new events on the Forza 4 horizon are that level caps have been raised from 150 to 999, and a new game called Forza Horizon is on the way. It’s being developed by an outside studio called Playground Games and no one seems to know anything about it beyond Turn 10′s assessment that “it’s a fast-paced pick-up-and-play racing game.” There’s a video trailer for Horizon after the jump that won’t tell you anything more than you already know, but sounds pretty cool.

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