Today Shacknews is reporting that Diablo III will be open to the public for beta testing. The open beta weekend begins this afternoon at 12:01pm Pacific, then will run until 10:00am on Monday, Blizzard explains in a Diablo blog post. All you need to play is a Battle.net account. You can download the client in advance, so you don't miss a second. The beta is relatively small, packing the first part of Diablo III's first act, but you will be playing Diablo III. Unlike proper closed beta testers, open beta players won't receive 'Beta Bucks' to spend in the auction house and cannot post in the beta forums.

Diablo III launches for PC and Mac on May 15. The closed beta test will wrap up on May 1.

NVIDIA has today made available a new graphics drive, the beta-tagged GeForce 301.24 which includes support for the GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 Series cards, as well as for the GeForce GTX 680.

Download: Windows 7/Vista (32-bit) | Windows 7/Vista (64-bit) | Windows XP (32-bit) | Windows XP (64-bit)

Despite the less than mind-blowing title Rage, gamers who have been around long enough have come to know not to take id Software and its upcoming games lightly, especially if they're from one of its star franchises such as Doom and Quake. AllGamesBeta posted what it claims to be leaked screenshots of Doom 4, which it also goes on to claim as being "doomed" (cancelled), citing rumors. Close to two dozen of these screenshots can be found at the source. They reveal what [could have been] the setting of Doom 4, probably of the horrors unleashed on Mars (in Doom 3 and Resurrection of Evil) finding their way to Earth.

Google has now made available a new beta Chrome release, a build known as 18.0.1025.33 which includes an updated V8 JavaScript engine (version 3.8.9.6), an improved omnibox, as well as the fixes for the following issues:

All

- Sync: Conflicting sync entries should not be committed
- Back button frequently hangs
- Speech input bubble borders don't closing

Mac

- Gap between download shelf and vertical scrollbar

Chrome 18.0.1025.33 is available here for Windows, Mac OS and Linux.

The highly anticipated first person shooter/Mech simulator Hawken is stated to be released on the 12th of December this year. 12-12-12. What makes this an interesting development is the game will be released under the a free-to-play model. Normally a free-to-play model is really just a pay for extended content model. How Adhesive Games the Hawken developer is going to set this up is unknown. What is known is the game looks to be quite beautiful with a slight Quake 3 feel to it. Luckily for the Mech junkies in the PC community we will have access to a beta before we make the plunge in December. If you sign up three friends Adhesive Games will reserve your call sign when the game finally debuts. Open enrollment has already started. You can sign up here.

So what are you waiting for? Get to blasting!

Don't worry if you just installed Firefox 10.0 cause there's a new Foxxy browser craving your attention, the Firefox 11.0 beta. This fresh build comes with an updated migration tool that can also import Chrome bookmarks, history, and cookies, and features add-on syncing capabilities, redesigned media controls for HTML5 video, and support for the CSS text-size-adjust property and the outerHTML property.

Firefox 11.0 also brings some goodies for devs like the Page Inspector 3D View, the new Style Editor tool, SPDY Support and more.

To download the Firefox 11.0 beta (for Windows, Mac OS or Linux) see this page.

Leaving AMD to deliver on the hardware front, NVIDIA has today rolled out its first official graphics driver of 2012, the beta-tagged GeForce 295.51. This build has support for GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 series desktop cards and for ION GPUs, it comes with updated versions of the PhysX software (v9.11.1111) and HD Audio driver (1.3.12.0), and it brings new and up-to-date SLI and 3D Vision profiles.

Windows 7/Vista 32-bit / Windows 7/Vista 64-bit / Windows XP 32-bit / Windows XP 64-bit

Today Shacknews is reporting a new beta patch available on Steam. This is what they had to say, "Covering its back and yours, Bethesda recommends that you only install the patch if you're affected by issues fixed in the patch, and that you backed up your saved games before installing the beta. If you're still ploughing ahead with it, here's what to do:

1. Log into Steam
2. Click on Steam in the upper menu
3. Select Settings
4. Under the Account tab, go to the Beta Participation section and select Change.
5. A drop down menu will appear. Select Skyrim Beta.
6. Select OK.

Steam will now restart. After Steam restarts, Skyrim will be updated to the Beta version currently available.

The beta patch adds an option for Skyrim's Steam Workshop, a portal which will allow mod makers to upload their creations directly to Steam, but the Workshop won't work it and the mod Creation Kit actually launch later this month."

A list of changes can be found here.

Microsoft has revealed the top 20 most popular games played on the Xbox 360 in 2011 based on numbers of unique users logged into Xbox LIVE (Silver and Gold members). Note that this gives a different result to the total playtime for a particular game, which has not been disclosed here. Unsurprisingly, the Call of Duty series dominates the chart, but what is sure to irk CoD detractors, but make fans very happy, is that a massive five of those positions are taken up by CoD - that's 25% of the rankings. Even CoD4: Modern Warfare which was released way back in 2007 sits at a very respectable number 14. However, top games Battlefield 3 and Skyrim did very well nonetheless, sitting at five and six respectively, with only Halo beating them at number 4. Can you guess which CoD game hit the top spot before looking at the chart?

Keeping the Chrome crowd well-stocked on new releases, Google has made available a couple of versions of its browser, the 16.0.912.75 (Stable channel) and 17.0.963.26 (Beta channel).

The new Chrome 16 build is a security update which comes to fix three vulnerabilities rated 'High', while the first Chrome 17 release brings quite a few fresh goodies like New Extensions APIs, Omnibox Prerendering (the browser will load a website in the background while you type in the URL), enhanced download protection, and a few tweaks.

Both Chrome 16.0.912.75 and 17.0.963.26 are available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux and can be downloaded via this page.

Since it already got its holiday present, the new three-year search agreement with Google, Mozilla has went into a gift-giving mode and served up the first public beta build of the next Firefox release, version 10.0.

According to the developers, Firefox 10 comes with Full Screen APIs (so web apps can run in full screen mode), with support for CSS3 3D-Transforms and WebGL Anti-Aliasing, and an added HTML5 treat, the < bdi > element for bi-directional text isolation.

The beta also includes a forward button which stays hidden until you navigate back, an Inspect tool with content highlighting, IndexedDB APIs, and a few fixes. Just like its predecessors, the Firefox 10.0 beta is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. The download links can be found here.

Following in the footsteps of Valve's Steam and EA's Origin, GameFly is now venturing into the world of the online delivery platform. Only GameFlys client brings it with a twist. If you are a subscriber to the GameFly service you will be able to play certain games for as long as you want without actually having to purchase the game.

Gameflys co-founder Sean Spector said "We are thrilled to finally be able to open up the beta so anyone interested in video games can start using the client, and we are hard at work expanding our catalog of PC titles for our users to play for free in the Unlimited PC Play section"

GameFly currently works as the gaming worlds answer to Netflix. Digital content delivery is the next logical step in its evolution. Currently you can download the beta application and give it a try for yourself. At the end of the day Steam may finally have a true competitor on the PC platform. A client with unlimited gameplay for a annual small cost.

Yes, after 2.5 years in the making and over 4 million sales, Minecraft has finally gone gold. This is the game with the charmingly blocky graphics where the player builds their cartoon world out of blocks and must hide from monsters at night. It will be officially released at the inaugural MineCon event in Las Vegas this Friday. Developer Markus "Notch" Persson head of studio Mojang announced it had gone gold on Twitter:

So, yes. Minecraft has gone gold.

The driver updates for Rage and the upcoming Battlefield 3 are coming thick and fast now, with every full and preview releases - great news for fans of these games. Note that the BF3 improvements are specified for the beta release, but should also apply to the release version and more will of course follow. Other improvements include Eyefinity 5x1 display implementation on Radeon 6000 & 5000 cards, along with CrossfireX interface enhancements. See the full rundown after the jump!

Good news for hardcore gamers: AMD has just released their 11.10 v2 preview driver and it's heavy on performance and stability improvements for Battlefield 3 beta and Rage. Click the link for the full list.

Today we release an updated Beta revision of Afterburner, this application successfully secured the leading position on graphics card utilities. We're happy to see MSI Afterburner is leading the overclock applications. MSI Afterburner 2.2.0 Beta 8 is ready.

There's quite an extensive change list too, including things like faster startup and unlocking of additional hidden video capture formats. Go get it here.

The 1UP article is short and sweet, so I'll quote it in full, after the jump. Essentially, Steam activation codes have gone out to invited beta testers. This is a private beta, so testers cannot discuss their experiences with the public unfortunately and it all goes live on October 5. Specs seem quite reasonable too, so the game should play quite smoothly on midrange hardware. This looks like a cool game worth waiting for, so check out the video.

Just hours after NVIDIA released its Battlefield 3 optimised GeForce driver suite, AMD is ready with a similar piece of software of its own, the AMD Catalyst 11.10 Preview. Preview drivers are essentially BETA hotfix drivers. The new Catalyst software suite makes your ATI/AMD Radeon graphics card (that meets minimum/recommended requirements) optimized for Battlefield3. Its changelog follows:

• Improves performance in Battlefield 3 Open Beta release for both non-Anti-Aliasing, and application enabled Anti-Aliasing cases on the AMD Radeon HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series for single GPU configurations
• Enables support for Eyefinity 5x1 display (portrait and landscape) configurations using the AMD Radeon HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series
• Vision Engine Control Center: User Interface enhancements have been implemented for the CrossfireX, GPU Overdrive, and Information Center pages.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 11.10 Preview Driver Suite

NVIDIA today released a new BETA version of its GeForce driver suite. What makes the new GeForce 285.38 BETA important is its timing, and what it brings to the table. Recently, EA/DICE released an open-beta of the highly anticipated AAA title, Battlefield 3, and gamers are already sharpening their skills ahead of its market release.

The new GeForce BETA drivers are said to increase performance of Battlefield 3 beta by up to 38%, add SLI profiles for the game, and add several stability fixes and image-quality improvements for the game. In essence, Battlefield 3 beta is at the center of GeForce 285.38 BETA. Apart from Battlefield 3, the drivers add SLI profiles for Dead Island, Diablo III, Dragon Age 2, Need for Speed: The Run, and Saints Row: The Third; and fix a stability issue with Crysis 2 (DirectX 9).

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 285.38 BETA

NVIDIA today released version 270.51 BETA GeForce software suite. The application installs the latest recommended drivers for NVIDIA GeForce GPUs (6-series and above), CUDA, PhysX, and 3DVision software, NVIDIA HDMI audio drivers, and related software. With this release, NVIDIA also introduced an automatic driver update feature. To begin with, GeForce 270.51 WHQL introduced performance improvements in a wide range of games, including SLI performance for the games covered.

Performance improvements are tabled below. Apart from optimizing pure performance NVIDIA also packed a large number of 3D Vision and SLI performance profiles that are game-specific, and step up multi-display 3D Vision Surround gaming performance. While these drivers aren't WHQL-signed, NVIDIA doubts it will hurt to try them out.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 270.51 BETA

NVIDIA seems to have a big update for its GeForce driver suite underway, with the bump in version number from the 186 series to 190. The first release in the series carries the unsupported beta tag. Version 190.38 beta introduces a series of changes as indicated in the release notes documents (for Windows 7, Vista, and XP), though the list of supported NVIDIA products remains largely unchanged from its previous release. Important changes are as follows:

• Adds support for OpenGL 3.1
• Adds support for CUDA 2.3 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDA Zone for more details
• Adds a new user-controlled power management setting for GeForce 9-series and later graphics cards. This option allows users to set a performance level for each DirectX or OpenGL application
• Includes several new control panel features and numerous bug fixes. More information can be found in the release documentation

The supported products list includes the newly introduced GeForce GT 100 series, GeForce G 210, and ION LE (which is a lite version of the ION mGPU).

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 190.38 BETA for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit

Microsoft reminds you all that as of today systems running the Beta release of its Windows 7 operating system - launched back in January this year - will begin to automatically shut down every two hours. This is a precaution used by Microsoft to remind testers that their beta copy of Windows 7 will expire on August 1st, so they need to switch to an alternative ligitimate operating system as soon as possible. Users may upgrade to the newer Windows 7 Release Candidate, but this will temporarily stop the bi-hour shut downs. Windows 7 RC will also eventually expire. RC users will face bi-hourly shutdowns beginning on March 1st 2010, and will be prompted to install the already officially released by that time version of Windows 7. Following that, the RC will expire on June 1st, 2010.

Less than a week since they released the 185.66 BETA drivers (which in themselves superceeded the 182.50 WHQL and 185.65 BETA drivers in the space of 24 hours), NVIDIA has released yet another GeForce BETA Driver of version number 185.68. From these latest BETA releases, it seems NVIDIA has dropped support for the 8-Series graphics cards which as of now are only supported using the 182.50 WHQL driver. With the recent release of so many driver revisions from NVIDIA, it could be their answer to what EVGA were trying to do with their SLI Enhancement Patches, to keep up to date with the latest releases. This driver supports GeForce 9-series, 100-series, and 200-series desktop GPUs, the only documented change in this version over the 185.66 BETA drivers is:

• Optimized performance for the PC game The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

DOWNLOAD: GeForce 185.68 BETA for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows Vista 64-bit

The day after releasing the GeForce 182.50 WHQL drivers, NVIDIA has also released a GeForce BETA driver with version 185.66, for both Windows Vista and XP.

New in Release 185.66:

• Adds support for the new GeForce GTX 275 GPU.
• Adds support for Ambient Occlusion - the newest NVIDIA Control Panel feature to offer enhanced 3D gaming realism exclusively to GeForce GPUs. (Vista Only)
• Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See nvidia.com/cuda for more details.
• Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 185 drivers vs. Release 182 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
  - Up to 11% performance increase in Call of Duty: World at War
  - Up to 5% performance increase Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
  - Up to 22% performance increase Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled
  - Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled
  - Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2
  - Up to 45% performance increase in Mirror's Edge with antialiasing enabled
• Supports GeForce Plus Power Pack #3. Download these FREE PhysX and CUDA applications now!
• Numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release documentation notes.

DOWNLOAD: GeForce 185.66 BETA for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows Vista 64-bit

UPDATE: The day following the release of the 185.65 BETA drivers this article originally covered, NVIDIA removed the driver links and updated the BETA to 185.66, this article has therefore been updated accordingly.

AMD today announced the availability of GPU PerfStudio 2.0, a free, platform-agnostic, next-generation AMD graphics application development tool for game developers, obtainable through a closed beta program. GPU PerfStudio 2.0 has been designed from the ground up to easily integrate with existing projects, and help to identify and resolve performance issues early in the development cycle. With these tools, AMD is bringing its unparalleled understanding of 3D graphics technology and the leadership of its line of ATI Radeon graphics cards to bear on the development process.

"The GPU PerfStudio 2.0 suite of tools is extensive, customizable and, most importantly, based on open standards, which is critical for developers looking to integrate them into their existing workflows," said Neal Robison, director, Developer Relations, Graphics Products Group, AMD. "AMD is committed to arming developers with a full complement of hardware and development tools that help increase their development efficiency and improve 3D performance quality."