PC Diablo III

[L]

not particularly interested in this title, but I'm getting it practically for free with the world of warcraft annual pass (legally requires you to pay wow sub for a year and you get a free tyraels charger and diablo 3 as well as mists of pandaria beta key). I mean really, who doesnt like free stuff?

It would be a lie to say I'm not the least bit excited about it, but I've never played any of the Diablo games so I am not sure what to expect.

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Blizzard has “never invested in” consoles to the degree it’s “doing now” with Diablo III

Jay Wilson has said Blizzard’s goal with creating a console version of Diablo III is to make it feel as if “it’s natively made for a console.”

Speaking in the latest issue of Game Informer, Wilson said should Diablo III be released on consoles, it will be built specifically for the systems from the ground up.

“We don’t want to port it,” said Wilson, Diablo III’s director. “We want to build it for console. There’s a key difference. Certainly, a lot of things get brought over, but a port is trying to take a PC game and graft it onto a console.

“Our goal, is to make a game that feels like it’s natively made made for a console. If we make it, we want it to feel like a Blizzard game and that we built it for that platform from the ground up.”

The firm has also spoken to the major console manufacturers, which Wilson said have been “been eager to work with” Blizzard, but he still expects a bit of “negotiation” to still occur regarding the online component.

“Everyone wants a Blizzard games on consoles happen, and [console makers] are some of the most eager,” he said. “So, I’m hopeful. It’s hard for me to say beyond that.”

Even with console makers and fans clamoring for Diablo III to hit living rooms, in order to accomplish such an endeavor, the PC developer needed a console team. According to Wilson, this was the biggest barrier for the firm, but after months of job listings Blizzard has assembled a “really great team” which also receives help from the art department.

“The lead designer, Joshua Mosquiera was the leader designer of Company of Heroes and a former creative director at Ubisoft with a lot of console experience,” Wilson said. “We are starting to fill the team out with new hires and some core members of the Diablo III team. Because we are close to done with [the PC version], some groups finish before others, mostly the art group. We’re able to ferry over some art talent to the console group.

“We are still in active exploring mode; we haven’t officially announced a product. We say that because we like our product announcements to be a big deal. We haven’t been as secretive about this one because our biggest barrier is actually getting a console team.

“People don’t believe us when we say we’re going to make a console game – flat out. I understand why they don’t believe us, because we’ve tried this before. We’ve also never invested in it to the degree that we are doing now, and we’ve never had a product we felt was appropriate for it.”

You can read the entire interview with Jay Wilson in the latest issue of Game Informer magazine.

Currently in beta, Diablo III will be released next year on PC and Mac.

http://www.vg247.com/2011/11/19/bli...-the-degree-we-are-doing-now-with-diablo-iii/

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Diablo III VGA trailer shows the opening cinematic

Blizzard’s released a new trailer which shows the full opening cinematic of Diablo III, which aired during the recently concluded Video Game Awards 2011. The trailer gives you an idea about how it all started and what kind of forces you’ll be facing throughout the game. It looks pretty good. Diablo III is due out sometime in 2012 exclusively for PC. You can watch the trailer after the break.

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http://www.vg247.com/2011/12/11/diablo-iii-vga-trailer-shows-the-opening-cinematic/#more-221438
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[Setzer Gabbiani]

Diablo 15th Anniversary website goes live, firm “almost done” with Diablo III

Blizzard has gone live with a 15 year Anniversary website for Diablo, which offers up a timeline, game overview, a retrospective, various developer interviews, and more. In one of the interviews, Diablo III director Jay Wilson states that the studio is “almost done with Diablo III,” which is a “fitting celebration of the 15th year anniversary for Diablo.” Wilson concluded the talk on D3 stating: “We are getting it to you as soon as we can.” Check out the website through the link. Thanks, Blue.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/01/05/dia...e-goes-live-firm-almost-done-with-diablo-iii/

 

[Ohri-Jin]

Diablo III Officially Confirmed For Consoles

By Ishaan . January 10, 2012 . 10:30am

Today, Diablo III community manager, Micah Whiple, has confirmed via Twitter that the game is in development for consoles as well. Whiple first hinted at the project in 2010, stating at the time that Blizzard were “exploring a Diablo-related concept” for consoles.

The subject of a console version of Diablo III sprang up again last month, after Blizzard posted job openings for a Senior Software Engineer on consoles for the Diablo team.

Whiple, who goes by the online moniker “Bashiok,” says that Josh Mosqueira is the lead designer on the Diablo III console team. Unfortunately, Diablo III still doesn’t have a concrete release date, either for PC or consoles.




Source - http://www.siliconera.com/2012/01/10/diablo-iii-officially-confirmed-for-consoles/

 

[L]

let's just hope for the buyers the game doesn't turn out as bad on consoles as games from the dragon age series, for example, did.

I wonder if they plan on releasing the game before the annual pass contract is completed, or if Mists of Pandaria will be released before Diablo 3 is done? Dragon Soul already feels like icc 2.0

also bashiok can suck my nuts

 

[AerithG]

YES.

My boyfriend has it pre-ordered and I'm going to basically have it pre-ordered once I get my refund check and plan to do the whole deal from WoW where you sign a contract saying you'll pay for a year of WoW (keep renewing your subscription), you get D3 for free, as well as admission into the Mists of Panderia beta, and a Tyrael's charger mount. Pretty great deal for me, since I play WoW, I'm getting MoP, I love mounts, and I want D3. WOO!

Also, about D3's release date...
It isn't confirmed, that's true, but:
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/07/best-buy-thinks-diablo-3-is-coming-out-on-february-1-2012/

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

ActiBlizz: Diablo 3 to launch Q2, new CoD “this year”

Activision Blizzard has released its full-year 2011 and Q4 financials, and has said to expect Diablo III during Q2 this year, which would place it somewhere between March and June, and a new entry in the Call of Duty franchise with “meaningful innovation” is expected this year.

​

For the year, revenues were $4.76 billion, compared with $4.45 billion year-over year. For the quarter ending December 31, revenues were $1.41 billion, compared with $1.43 billion year-over-year.

“As we continue to strengthen our leadership position in interactive entertainment, our proven management team and talented employees delivered another extraordinary year of outperformance,” said CEO Bobby Kotick in the release. “With better than expected net revenues, record earnings, record operating margins, and having generated nearly $1 billion in operating cash flow, Activision Blizzard continues to set the industry success bar.

“Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft maintained its leadership position as the number one subscription-based MMORPG around the world and Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the number one selling game. Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure was the biggest new IP launch in Activision’s history and it is on track to become an important and sustainable franchise.”

In March the firm will release the first Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection, a compilation of content previously released to Call of Duty Elite premium members, on the Xbox 360. It will contain Piazza, Liberation, and the recently announced Overwatch.

The firm also reaffirmed it anticipates two releases from Blizzard Entertainment for calender year 2012. One, is the aforementioned Diablo III, and other – although not mentioned by name – is the expected Heart of the Swarm expansion for StarCraft II.

2011 was also the eighth year of consecutive growth for the Call of Duty Franchise.

Expect Dibalo 3 by the end of the year, and a new Call of Duty Game.

The firm also highlighted a few figured regarding Elite subscribers and Modern Warfare 3, most of which were already reported.

• For the calendar year, in aggregate across all platforms in the U.S. and Europe, Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the #1 best-selling title in dollars, and Call of Duty: Black Ops was the #5 best-selling title in dollars.
• In November 2011, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 became the first video game ever to surpass $775 million in retail sales in its first five days of release and the only entertainment property to cross the $1 billion mark in 16-days, eclipsing “Avatar’s” 17-day record.
• As of January 31, 2012, more than seven million gamers have registered for Call of Duty Elite, including more than 1.5 million premium annual memberships the company has sold for the online service.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 players logged more than 639 million hours of online gameplay through December 31, 2011.
• Total unique online gamers playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 were more than 12% greater than the total unique online gamers who played Call of Duty: Black Ops during the first two months after each game’s release.
• In North America and Europe, including accessory packs and figures, Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure was the #8 best-selling game in dollars for the fourth quarter of 2011 and #1 selling kids’ title in dollars in the calendar year. Additionally, in North America, including accessory packs and figures, Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure was the #10 best-selling title in dollars.
• For the calendar year, Blizzard Entertainment had two top-10 PC games in North America and Europe with StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.
• Activision Blizzard purchased an aggregate of 61 million shares of its common stock for approximately $692 million in 2011.

Blizzards Q4 2011 and year end results were down, but the firm still reported 500 million in income. Sub numbers for WoW ended flat with 10.2 million subs – which is a 100,000 loss – and more news on DotA and Heart of the Swarm will be announced at a later date.

Over 29 million people viewed the WoW Chuck Norris advert on YouTube, said Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime, and the game is off to a “good start” in Brazil.

Activision Blizzard has released a set of financial slides which contain all the information posted above, and you can view them in the gallery below.









http://www.vg247.com/2012/02/09/act...-up-4-76b-and-1-41b-respectively/#more-232660

 

[AerithG]

^Thanks for sharing all of that, Spawn. I do hope that these potential launches become set in stone. I'm really looking for to D3, as is my boyfriend. I'm excited for MoP, as well, since I'm really big into WoW, and I do think I'll like a lot of things that the expac. has to offer (other than silly pet battles). I'm going to share these with my boyfriend now. He'll def. be tickled. Also, Activision and Blizz getting together=Major Cash Cow. Dayum! That was my initial reaction.

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Diablo III’s rune system now in final form

The troubled rune system in Diablo II has undergone one last dramatic redesign ahead of the RPG’s expected release this year.

In a blog post, game director Jay Wilson revealed runes have been changed from a collectible item to part of the skill system in order combat a number of problematic aspects of the earlier system.

“Runes have been by far the biggest design hurdle we’ve had in the game, and as you know we’ve been continually iterating on them,” he said,

“Diablo is all about the item drops. But with around 120 base skills, that meant there were around 600 rune variants; on top of that, each variant had five quality levels each, meaning ultimately there would be something like 3,000 different runes in the game… and we knew we were heading toward a problem.

“Later in the game, having to juggle all of those various runes was not only un-fun, it was a serious and tedious inventory problem. This final design is intended to resolve those issues,” he added.

Now called skill runes, the customisation options will unlock alongside skills as players level up. As a result, each rune now has only one rank, so each has a notable effect, rather than being an upgrade system.

The new system means players will be unlocking new skills or skill runes all the way to the level 60 experience cap, and will be introduced in the next beta patch. Hit the link above for more details, as well as information on UI overhauls designed to assist beginner players while enabling veterans.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/02/20/diablo-iiis-rune-system-now-in-final-form/#more-234692

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Dutch toy store mentions April 19 launch for Diablo III

It’s time for another go on the ‘When do you think Diablo III will release’ merrygoround. Where is it stopping this time? April 19, according to Dutch toy store Bart Smit.

The retailer has a poster showing the date, as shown by duimschroef.nl.

Blizzard has actually yet to give a rock hard date to the game. Don’t think it isn’t going to start singing it now too, telling VG247 does “not comment on speculation or rumour

Thanks, @jungleJack.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/02/24/dutch-toy-store-mentions-april-19-launch-for-diablo-iii/#more-236140

Update

Diablo III “expectations” post was “sarcastic”: Blizzard

Following a Blizzard blue post saying the firm is worried it “won’t be able to meet the expectations people have built up for themselves” over Diablo III, Jay Wilson has said the comment was “sarcastic” and couldn’t “further from the truth.”

​

“Some of you might have seen some headlines or a certain (obviously sarcastic) blue post that implies that we’re unsteady about where Diablo III stands, and that you should temper your expectations when it comes to the next installment in the Diablo series,” he said.
“Let me be clear: Nothing could be further from the truth.

“As those of you in the beta have seen, the game is in good shape. Actually, I should say that the beta version of the game is in good shape. The latest full build we’ve been testing here in the office is in great shape.”

Wilson’s remarks were in response to a post by community manager Bashiok, in which he said: “I too worry that we won’t be able to meet the expectations people have built up for themselves. Part of my job is managing people’s expectations, so, eh, stop it. Stop thinking about how awesome this game could be.”

Diablo III will ship in the second quarter.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/02/24/bli...-expectations-post-was-sarcastic/#more-236002

 

[AerithG]

^I wouldn't have believed that, anyway. Blizz is pretty good about giving release dates quite a bit in advanced, so I doubt they'd be different with D3.

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Blizzard on Hiring Spree, Diablo III for Consoles All but Confirmed

On a morning stroll around the Internet, with coffee in hand, we noticed something interesting over at Gamasutra. Amongst all the developers and publishers listed, something stood out to us on the side-bar…

That’s right, Blizzard is looking to expand its team in Irvine, California in a big way, and it looks like at least one of the projects is the it’s-probably-going-to-happen console version of Diablo III. Amidst job listings for a technical writer for Battle.net and language testers to spread the joy and marriage-like commitment of Starcraft II and World of Warcraft around the world, is this particularly telling position:

This posting comes approximately six weeks after an off-hand tweet by Blizzard Community Manager Micah Whipple. While I have no doubt that the Community Manager is in the know, I feel more comfortable in my hope for Diablo III on consoles with Blizzard actually looking to bring on staff with expertise.

According to the lob listing, we should expect Diablo III on both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. A multiplatform release shouldn’t be a surprise given the demand for this game and the cost of a solid port from the PC/Mac. What would make me do backflips, though, would be a cross-platform Vita/PS3 release. Depending on how Blizzard, Sony and Microsoft come to terms with the auction system for Diablo III, though, a portable version might not be possible.

If an on-the-go version of the loot-whoring, dungeon crawling probably-gonna-awesome Diablo III isn’t possible, I guess I’ll just have to keep hoping that Ruin Warrior’s Lair lives up to its promise.

We’ll have more on Diablo III’s emergence on consoles (hopefully) soon.

Via [Gamasutra]

http://www.ripten.com/2012/02/26/bl...pree-diablo-iii-for-consoles-all-but-certain/

Aritcle on Diablo 3 Petition for Renewed artistic direction

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Diablo 2 was released over 12 years ago. A ton of things have changed in that time including much more powerfully PC tech. This means the images and graphics have changed a lot but not everyone is happy about that.

Please follow us on twitter @sogoDiablo3 or like us on facebook for diablo III news on dammed. You can also sign up for our Diablo 3 newsletter for your chance to win free prizes and get the best d3 info.

One thing that does not always work well is telling game makers how to make a game. The game makers are the game makers for a reason. They have years of know how that we just do not. giving your personally feedback is not the same as telling them what to do. Give feedback on what you like what you do not like but telling them to change things with out a full understanding of all things is not really fair to the game development. A good example of this is in the call of duty black ops video game. Gamers told the makers they hate joining a match that has already started. They want to be put into a pre-game lobby not a current active game. Well the problem with that is when players leave the game no new replacement players are put in there place. So you can start a 6v6 game and 4 gamers on your team leave now it is 6v2 and due to them now pushing most gamers into pre-game lobby’s you are stuck in a unfair and unbalanced game. This is very common. It makes the games really unfair. This is because of gamers bitching about it so they changed it so they would not enter active games as much. Gamers told them to change it they did and because of that the game has unfair teams all the time. Games just did not know the full aspects of why they do what they did. The makers should have done what they knew to be best instead of making it unfair for everyone. They took a small issue and made it into a problem.

There is a online internet petition for diablo 3 that had a goal of making the graphic’s darker in color. The diablo 3 petition says as follows;

The main objective of this petition is to show Blizzard that there’s a significant number of players that dont agree with the current art style of the game, with this petition we hope to make Blizzard ear our voices, our opinions and our suggestions and we seriously want some changes in the artistic direction of the game so it could be more coherent and familiar with the Diablo universe.

It is our opinion that the graphic elements that characterize the Diablo universe are not fully present in this sequel, Diablo universe is made of:

- Gothic and obscure scenarios, cryptic, dark and shadowy dungeons

- Graphically realistic world with realistic, dirty and muddy textures

- Realistic armory and weaponry without over-sized and exaggerated proportions like big shoulder guards

- A macabre, dark and realistic art style

- Light radius, as all of you can remember, Diablo dungeons were characterized by the combination of a light radius system with shadows, everything that resides outside of the character vision sight is shadowed.

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What we got in Diablo III:

- Cartoon’ish art direction, obviously influenced by the Warcraft universe, Diablo isnt Warcraft.

- Hand made, pastel looking textures with bold lines, defined contours, smooth colors and clean shapes.

- Dungeons with a blue/green environment lighting, technique used in cartoons to depict a dark, creepy and scary feeling but once again, this is Diablo, a mature game, dungeons should have a dark aura with the occasional lights from candles, just like we got in the previews Diablo’s.

- Character models defined by cartoon characteristics like over-sized and exaggerated parts, vivid colors and unrealistic elements, almost directly taken away from World of Warcraft and pasted to Diablo.

- Outside scenarios with vivid colors, beautiful forests with colorful vegetation, shinny and beautiful waterfalls where even rainbows take place.

- Cartoon’ish and unrealistic weaponry and armory, over-sized and stylish armors, over-sized weapons, items that look pasted directly from World of Warcraft.

- Blocky, cartoon’ish graphic elements like big, over-sized fire braziers in dungeons, heavily influenced by the World of Warcraft art style, over-sized and cartoon’ish scenario decorations like smiling statues, Warcraft styled architecture and decorations.

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What we want:

- A darker, gothic, cryptic and creepier environment.

- A more realistic artistic direction, more independent from the Warcraft universe art direction.

- Darker dungeons without a blue/green environment, Diablo dungeons are dark and shadowy.

- The return of the light radius / shadow system from Diablo 1 and 2, a concept modified picture made by me roughly shows and suggests how the shadow system should work on Diablo 3: http://i31.tinypic.com/2zta5o7.jpg

- Slightly less colorful and less vivid outside scenarios, they are too heavily influenced by the World of Warcraft ones.

- Darker and less colorful landscapes, Tristam never was colorful and beautiful: here’s how it looked in Diablo 1 (before the evil was released across the lands): http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/5194/tristram2jh.jpg

- And most importantly: An independent and renewed artistic direction, not a recycled art direction taken from the Warcraft world, Diablo never was meant to be as cartoon’ish as Warcraft, they shall have independent and distinct styles, this isnt happening in Diablo 3, at first sight it looks like a remake of World of Warcraft, graphically and artistically speaking.

- Example of the heavy influence from World of Warcraft that we dont think it fits the Diablo universe: http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/6795/diabloiii20080628035157dw4.jpg and http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/screenshots/ss9-hires.jpg

Common arguments:

Q: The game is still under development, it’s on pre alpha stage, we only saw the first act, much can change.

A: True, the game is still under development but the artistic direction isnt since it’s one of the first steps in the development of a game, until you have a fully developed artistic direction and concept you cant easily move on with the development of the game, the artistic direction will tell the artists (modelers, texture artists, etc) how the game elements shall look and feel. Since this artistic direction is already fully and happily developed (words from Blizzard) this cartoon’ish and colorful style will be present in the whole game.

Q: Being less cartoon’ish and more realistic would make the game heavier on computers

A: False, there’s a lot of techniques like bump mapping that help developers give a realistic look to textures, any recent graphic card with less than 8 years support bump mapping, there’s a lot more techniques that can help giving that realistic look, being 3D doesnt mean it should look cartoon’ish.

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Q: Diablo 3 happens 20 years after Diablo 2, the world is peaceful and the evil is gone, that’s why the scenarios are colorful and vivid.

A: That doesnt mean forgotten dungeons should be clean and shinny, looking like a team of house keeping maidens spent hours there cleaning and making everything clean and shinny, without any trace of dirt, dungeons are supposed to be creepy and scary.

to read more about the petition or sign up read this. Make sure and bookmark this website for easy access to one of the best Diablo 3 resource websites.

http://www.blog4diablo3.com/2012/02...just-wants-the-graphics-darker-64k-signed-it/

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Amazon Italy lists Diablo III for April 17 release

Even if Blizzard won’t do it, Amazon’s Italian arm isn’t shy about plonking a release date on Diablo III.

The online portal expects the game to ship on April 17 for €59.99, although its currently on sale for €49.40.

Official word has the RPG down for the second quarter, with a refusal to comment further.

G4G picked the story up over the weekend but Amazon’s listing remains unchanged.

Thanks, Wilczeek! [image]

http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/04/amazon-italy-lists-diablo-iii-for-april-17-release/#more-239026

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

PvP Arena system in Diablo III to be added post launch

Blizzard has announced on the Diablo III blog the game will not ship with the PvP Arena system. Instead, it will be released in a patch following the game’s launch.

“We’ve made the difficult decision to hold back the PvP Arena system and release it in a patch following the game’s launch,” wrote lead designer Jay Wilson. “After a lot of consideration and discussion, we ultimately felt that delaying the whole game purely for PvP would just be punishing to everyone who’s waiting to enjoy the campaign and core solo/co-op content, all of which is just about complete.

“While we work on making sure PvP lives up to its full potential, we hope you’ll find some consolation in the fact that soon, you’ll be having a blast leveling characters, finding items, learning the classes, and perfecting builds…and that when the Arenas do arrive, you’ll be all the better prepared for battle.”

When the PvP patch is ready, it will add multiple Arena maps “with themed locations and layouts” as well as PvP achievements, a matchmaking system, and a personal progression system which will reward the player for “successfully bashing in the other team’s skulls.”

The post went on to say the team will be focusing post-launch efforts on making sure the Arenas are “as brutal, bloody, fast-paced, and awesome as we know they can be.”

Wilson ended the post noting that Blizzard’s putting the finishing touches on the campaign and co-op experiences for launch.

Diablo III is slated for a second quarter launch, with various retail outlets touting an April release.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/10/pvp-arena-system-in-diablo-iii-to-be-added-post-launch/#more-241527

Update

Diablo 3's biggest, baddest demon from sketch to final

Like the previous Diablo titles from Blizzard, there's totally a giant main boss named "Diablo" in Diablo 3. Surprise! And during Diablo 3 art director Christian Lichtner's GDC 2012 track keynote, attendees were offered a look at the main baddie across his entire evolution. Second surprise: he looks terrifying!

• 
• 
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• 
• 

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/09/diablo-3s-biggest-baddest-demon-from-sketch-to-final/

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Diablo III skills videos show off some fancy moves

Get your build together now with these handy video guides to some of Diablo III’s class skills.

Blizzard’s latest set of videos includes some brand new skills as well as some that have been tweaked since they were last shown. All are shown without skill rune modifiers.

The co-operation dungeon crawleris expected in the second quarter. Find links to all the new videos below.

• Barbarian
• Call of the Ancients
• Seismic Slam

• Demon Hunter
• Companion
• Evasive Fire
• Rapid Fire

• Monk
• Crippling Wave
• Inner Sanctuary
• Wave of Light

• Witch Doctor
• Sacrifice
• Spirit Barrage

• Wizard
• Archon
• Blizzard

http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/13/diablo-iii-skills-videos-show-off-some-fancy-moves/#more-242554

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Diablo 3: This year's biggest console game

Why Blizzard's Skyrim-rivalling fantasy could be killer on consoles...

The latest issue of Xbox World is on sale now.
Blizzard is a big deal. It's the studio behind PC ultra-mega-hit World of Warcraft, a game that boasts over 10 million subscribers and an advertising campaign stuffed with pop-culture icons.

Thanks to its accessibility and commercial success, World of Warcraft has evolved beyond a mere game into a global phenomenon; it sits alongside such luminaries as Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Tomb Raider as a name synonymous with the term 'videogames' in popular culture.

​

The super-successful StarCraft series is its too, meaning Blizzard gets plenty of respect among the hardcore role-players as well as the Warcraft-playing casuals. It's a company everybody seems to love; a rare position even industry darlings such as Valve and Kojima Productions would be hard-pressed to claim they occupied. So, the fact that Diablo III - because Blizzard's epic fantasy RPG is the most anticipated game of this generation - looks like it's coming to consoles is a big deal.

Just to leap ahead of ourselves for a moment, if Blizzard is willing to dabble with Xbox 360 and PS3 for Diablo, surely it means it's seriously considering consoles for future versions of their other critically-acclaimed, big money-spinning series. Another big, big player in the console market? It's just what Xbox and PlayStation players need. Diablo III is heir to a glorious legacy of hyper-compulsive, ultra-satisfying games. The first two are action-RPGs with an emphasis on killing everything that moves - and some things that don't, just in case. But don't mistake it for a mindless clickfest or a vapid dungeon-slogger.

There's a reason the name evokes hallowed memories in any PC gamer over the age of twenty, and a reason a sequel to a game that came out twelve years ago has us desperate to delve into its depths: the Diablo games, like the soulstones and enchanted gems its players pick from its dungeons, are polished to an insane level.

The previous game saw a band of adventurers stomp the archlords Mephisto, Baal and Diablo, as well a host of their grotesque followers. But it's been twelve real-life years and twenty pretend ones since those events of the PC-only Diablo II, and the people in the town of Tristram are forgetting their land's troubled past. But just as society collectively decides all those stories from two decades ago were total myth, a new evil rises in the undercity beneath Tristram. Enter you, your weapon, and your insatiable desire to murder things by pressing buttons very quickly.

​

MOB MENTALITY

Fortunately for these forgetful folk, you're handy in a fight. New technology and that twelve year wait hasn't significantly altered the formula. Monsters - from lowly zombies to hell's favoured lieutenants, via rotting, bloated aberrations and bleached skeleton warriors - swarm the screen, necessitating swift, tactical fighting to keep them away from your soft skin. Batting them back to the hole they crawled from is a case of whacking them with your favoured weapon or ability, and Diablo III amps both the number of enemies and the scale of enemies: the result is daunting, even if you're not a weakling.

You play as one of five characters, and each has their own special skills, weapons, and combat styles. The Monk is a master of speed and surprise who can quickly insert himself into the middle of a fight, punch everyone in the face and flip back out; the Demon Hunter stands back, peppering the melee with bolts from improbable wrist-mounted crossbows; the Barbarian simply carries the largest wodge of wood available and hauls it into anyone in his way; the Witch Doctor raises corpses and magics frogs out of thin air to swarm foes and do his fighting for him. Lazy.And finally, the Wizard has his own supernatural line, but doesn't faff around with amphibians, preferring instead to roll a ball of elemental energy and blast it out.

Each class earns experience as they progress through semi-randomised stages, delving deeper into the mystery behind the world's evolving evil. That experience lets them level up, giving better statistics, and - more importantly - access to new skills. Skills range wildly in output, and can change a character's playstyle completely. A wizard with the ray of frost skill, for instance, can stand at the back spraying ice out of his palms and slowing anyone who gets close. A wizard with explosive blast, by comparison, might prefer to cloak himself in storm armour, wade into the midst of the scrap and burst, sending bodies flying.

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CLASS WAR

Watching one player launch a set of skills is a spectacular lightshow, but Diablo III is best played in a group. As one of five, you're free to specialise: letting your barbarian attract enemies as you pick others off with precision bolts as a demon hunter, say, or punching them into range of your witch doctor's poisonous clouds using your monk's angry fists. Cramming five players into a dungeon can be chaotic and confusing, but can also be symbiotic and orchestrated. And in Diablo, it's always been riotous fun. There's nothing to suggest it will be any lesser an experience this time around or on console.

Lead technical artist Julian Love describes his team's development as 'finding the line by crossing it.' "If we're going to develop something, we immediately shoot for the most ridiculous version of that idea," says Love. "We know we've got a winner when we put it up on screen in front of the whole team and everybody cheers." His approach works. It's beautiful to watch Diablo III in full flow − that flow being violent and forceful, with each skill producing arcing splashes of viscera.

As well as skills to manage, the five characters have their own resources to watch out for. The Demon Hunter has both hatred and discipline gauges, for instance - one in red and one in blue. A canny player will balance their spending across different abilities, alternating between the former to deal damage, and the latter to escape it. The Barbarian works differently, generating fury as he gets more and more pissed off from beating corpses up. As you would. But build up enough and you get to use his beefiest moves.

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Skills aren't the only thing upgraded as you play. The Diablo series is built on a glittering foundation of loot; the promise of a better sword, a nicer shield, a more revealing chestpiece. It's a design that's already driven one generation of players to clear out just one more room. Diablo III's loot system is ostensibly simple - kill thing, thing might drop lovely clothes - but Blizzard has used their years of online experience to inject it with intrigue.

The PC version comes with an online auction house where players can buy new items, both with in-game gold and real-life cash. It's a controversial idea - so much so that South Korea has preemptively banned the money-based auction house. On console (it's worth noting that despite developers Tweeting about the console version, Blizzard is yet to release a formal announcement) players might be able to buy an item that suits their character, rather than grind for hours for imperfect solutions. More interesting is the money-making potential for inveterate questers, when a weekend of dungeon-diving could actually pay for the following Friday night out.

From the PC beta testing, we know Diablo III's set to be as compulsive and violent as its predecessors. It's nailed the feel and the satisfaction of mass monster murder in a way that few games have the skill to do. Were it not coming out on Xbox 360 and PS3, it's the kind of game you'd happily buy a new PC for. But there's no need. It's coming to consoles, and it's going to be huge.

So, how exactly did Blizzard take over the world? At the time it wasn't obvious to many that the little development house behind SNES title Rock n' Roll Racing would - one decade later - release a game that would gather a population larger than the majority of the world's countries. But after eight years of the stupendously successful World of Warcraft - plus the incredibly successful Diablo and StarCraft franchises - it's hard to see Blizzard as anything other than a planet-smashing super-publisher.

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To complete the journey from knockabout battle racer - developed under Blizzard's earlier name of Silicon & Synapse - to World of Warcraft, the studio decided to largely jettison support for the consoles. Occasional points of light signalling their return in the years since were, in retrospect, ersatz beacons of hope. StarCraft 64 on the Nintendo 64 was handled by a THQ subsidiary and published by Nintendo; the PSone version of Diablo came out in early 1998, more than a year after the PC release, while StarCraft Ghost, to be released on Gamecube and tipped by Blizzard to be their big push into the 2002 console market, has been on indefinite hiatus for ten years.

But Blizzard's years away from consoles weren't spent idle. Almost twenty years on PC with some of gaming's most demanding players has honed and refined the studio. It's earned a reputation for scale, for quality, and for balance - if not speed of development - that gives any Blizzard title a level of polish unseen beyond top-tier studios such as Valve.

BLIZZ DYNAMITE

But why bring its games to consoles now, at the end of their lifespans? The short answer: because it can. Blizzard's success, as well as their merger with publishing monster Activision, has left the studio incredibly buoyant financially. Most studios must stick to tight deadlines to make their cash back; Blizzard still has ten million people paying a monthly WoW subscription, giving near limitless time and cash to tweak and fix new games.The resulting products gleam. This is the thrill of Blizzard's return to consoles: fine-tuning over pure innovation. StarCraft II for instance is, at its core, the same real-time strategy as its predecessor, released more than a decade before.

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Yet its utterly different races are balanced almost perfectly against each other. And where weaknesses are spotted and picked out by professional players, Blizzard sends in developers to fill in the cracks, making its games even stronger. This reinforcement process has continued for years - it's the opposite of fire-and-forget developers. StarCraft and Diablos I and II received expansion packs, while World of Warcraft has had numerous patches and a several giant additions - the most recent of which, Cataclysm, remade a good chunk of its world.

StarCraft II has two campaigns coming as full-fledged games, and its multiplayer is supported by a league system unrivalled in competitive gaming, built around Blizzard's own well-honed Battle.net service. How this will tie into Xbox Live and PSN is yet to be seen, but Diablo III's auction house is a theoretical game-changer. MMOs are also possible on console, as DC Universe Online and Phantasy Star Online have proved. World of Warcraft isn't a particularly system-intensive game, making it a neat fit for an ageing console generation and beyond - if Blizzard can wangle a monthly payment model through Microsoft, of course.

It's worth noting the timing: we believe this year will see the announcement of Project Titan, Blizzard's next MMO. It could be useful to cultivate a new home for WoW, and prepare the ground for Titan into the bargain.

StarCraft would be a harder sell for Xbox, as the RTS simply demands the speed and accuracy of a mouse. But putting its fearsome leagues and ladders into a more action-oriented game in the same universe could work: the studio is already working on Blizzard DOTA (short for Dawn of the Ancients) - a hybrid action-RPG / RTS spawned from a Warcraft III mod - that requires minimal button input but spews out complex, skill-dependent strategy.

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Blizzard has the luxury of a glacial pace with announcements and release schedules, and hasn't needed consoles for years. But now, with the development of Diablo III by a dedicated internal team, it's finally back. Properly back. At last, the storm of interest from these fine devs won't fizzle out.

The latest issue of Xbox World is on sale now. Subscribe to the print edition, get it for your iDevice via Apple Newsstand or grab it for your

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/338196/features/diablo-3-this-years-biggest-console-game/

Update

Back to Hell: Diablo III confirmed for May 15 release

Blizzard’s confirmed that Diablo III will release globally on May 15, with worldwide digital pre-sales kicking off today. Digital and retail versions have been priced, and a CE announced.

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Blizzard has finally confirmed a street date for Diablo III: the action-RPG will release globally on May 15.

Gamers will be able to buy the hugely anticipated title through retailers in the United States, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on launch day.

In addition, gamers in the regions above as well as in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil will be able to buy Diablo III digitally through Battle.Net.

Players in the listed Latin American countries and in Russia will be able to purchase Diablo III at local retail locations starting June 7. Digital availability for the Russian version of the game will also begin June 7.

In addition to the English version, Diablo III will be fully localised into Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, European Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Korean, and Traditional Chinese.

Buy, buy, buy

Global digital pre-sales for Diablo III are now live. You can reserve digital copies here.

“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 Blizzard chief Mike Morhaime.

“We look forward to putting the final polish on Diablo III over the next two months and delivering the ultimate action-RPG experience to gamers worldwide starting on May 15.”

Diablo III will be available for PC and Mac at a suggested retail price of £44.99 for both the retail version and the digital version sold directly from Blizzard.

An alabaster-white Collector’s Edition, sold exclusively in retail stores at a suggested retail price of £69.99, will include the game, a behind-the-scenes Blu-ray/DVD two-disc set, the Diablo III soundtrack CD, a 208-page Art of Diablo III book, and a 4Gb USB soulstone (including full versions of Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction) and corresponding Diablo skull base, as well as exclusive in-game content for Diablo III, World of Warcraft and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

More than 1 million players have already signed up for the WoW Annual Pass, giving Diablo III free with a 1-year commitment to the MMO. If you do this, you’ll also get an exclusive World of Warcraft in-game mount and access to the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta test. This offer will no longer be available as of 09:01 a.m. CEST on May 1. Get more info here.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/15/diablo-iii-confirmed-for-may-15-release/#more-243327

Diablo III to sell 5 million in its first year, says analyst

Diablo III will sell 5 million units in its first year on sale, Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz has predicted following the announcement of the game’s worldwide release in May yesterday.

“Our street-high FY12 EPS estimate of $1.05 assumes first year unit sell-through of 5MM for Diablo III, and assumes that over 1MM of the units incorporate the World of Warcraft ‘annual pass’ deal which allows WoW players who commit to a one-year subscription to receive Diablo III for free,” he said in a general Activision note, published by CVG.

Blizzard confirmed a May 15 global release for the long-in-development RPG yesterday.

Cruetz also predicted a 2013 launch for the next big thing from Bungie a 2014 Titan launch from Blizzard.

“We expect three Blizzard titles to ship over the next twelve months (Diablo III, Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria); we expect the new Bungie title to ship in 2013; and we expect Blizzard’s new MMO to ship in 2014.

“We also expect Call of Duty to maintain its dominating FPS leadership position, and we believe that the company has a great opportunity to build on its initial success of its Skylanders franchise. Finally, World of Warcraft Western subs continue to appear to be stable vs. year-end levels. We think ATVI shares can outperform the market by 20% over the next 12 months.”

http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/16/dia...n-in-its-first-year-says-analyst/#more-243855

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Diablo III console “a true Blizzard-level experience,” says COO Sams

Diablo III on consoles will feature “a true Blizzard-level experience,” company COO Paul Sams has told CVG.

Blizzard has yet to actually announce the console version besides that it’s exploring the avenue. But Sams said, provided the console version does get the formal green-light, it would not let up on the experience it would give.

“We think that the way we built it for the PC may need some tweaking, but it will ultimately be the type of game that can really make sense and be really fun, well polished and a true Blizzard-level experience on a console,” he said.

“We get a lot of questions about why we haven’t made a game for consoles before and I tell them the same thing I tell them about business models: we don’t let business models or platforms drive our decisions. Those are secondary to what’s the most important aspect for us which is the gameplay.

“We have to make sure the game is great and it’s something that everyone wants to play. If we provide a great game, a great experience, the business model – if we’re being fair with you – will work.”

Diablo III will release on PC worldwide on May 14.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/26/dia...d-level-experience-says-coo-sams/#more-246504

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Diablo 3 class videos show you how to fight “fire with fire”

Blizzard has released a new set of Diablo III class skill videos showing how to fight fire with fire.

Through the official site, there are 10 videos showing you how to destroy your enemies using the following:

• Barbarian – Whirlwind (1 video)
• Demon Hunter -Fan of Knives; Sentry (2 videos)
• Monk – Way of the Hundred Fists; Tempest Rush (3 videos)
• Witch Doctor – Fetish Army; Locust Swarm; Mass Confusion; Wall of Zombies (4 videos)
• Wizard – Explosive Blast(1 video)

Hit up the link to have a watch.

Diablo 3 is out May 15.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/29/dia...-you-how-to-fight-fire-with-fire/#more-247553

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Diablo III Demon Hunter trailered, Inferno detailed

Check out one of the most nimble of Diablo III’s classes, and get acquainted with the the increasing difficulty of its greatest challenge: Inferno mode.

Writing on the Battle.net forum, Diablo III community manager Bashiok said Blizzard has decided to axe plans for a flat difficult rate throughout Inferno mode, an unlockable high difficulty setting.

“Inferno monster levels aren’t linear any longer. They get progressively more difficult. This was really a reaction to Inferno playtesting,” he said.

Bashiok said having the same difficulty throughout all areas of Inferno felt wrong, especially when it came to the final boss, but also failed to provide sufficient challenge for the hardest of hardcore.

“There’s a wide variety of players out there and we wanted to make sure everybody had something to sink their teeth into,” he said.

“We expect that anybody with enough time and dedication will reach level 60. But the jump in difficulty to Inferno needed to be different amounts for different people. For the crazy people they need a huge ramp in difficulty, for a more ‘casual but still hardcore audience you want an obvious but milder increase in difficulty.

As a result, Act III and IV are now “really, really brutally hard, for the most elite players only”.

Players will still be able to find high quality loot in lower acts, and Bashiok noted that Inferno really is hard, regardless of which section you’re playing..

“You’re going to die, a lot, and you’re going to have a horrible character for quite a while. You’re not going to hit 60 and finish the game on Inferno. You’re going to be smashing your face against Act 1 Inferno for weeks,” he claimed.

Responding to concerns about the inflexibility of class builds, Bashiok was slightly dismissive.

“It’s Diablo. If you can’t find a workable build without having your own perfect choices being handed to you on a silver platter at the start of the game, good luck in Inferno,” he said.

“Actually, good luck in Nightmare. This game is hard.”

The thread has been neatly summarised by DiabloFans.

Meanwhile, the latest class to be detailed is the Demon Hunter. these agile adventurers pack a fair wallop in the form of explosives. The Demon Hunter has to balance Rage and Discliple to make the most of her attacks; see it in action in the IGN-exclusive trailer below.

Diablo III is due for release on Mac and PC on May 15. Pre-orders have opened, and special editions are available.

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http://www.vg247.com/2012/04/03/diablo-iii-demon-hunter-trailered-inferno-detailed/#more-248287
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