Blizzard Opens Pre-Orders For Diablo III PS3

[Earnest Cavalli]

Blizzard Opens Pre-Orders For Diablo III PS3

As of this morning, PlayStation 3 owners are now officially able to pre-order Blizzard Entertainment's upcoming port of Diablo III.

It comes as little surprise to see Blizzard open pre-orders for the PlayStation 3 iteration of Diablo III. We published a story [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123584-Gamestop-Reveals-Diablo-III-PS3-Edition-Pre-Order-Bonuses] mere hours ago detailing GameStop's plans for bonus items exclusively earmarked for pre-order holders. However, nothing was official at that time. That's now changed.

While Blizzard's official announcement fails to offer certain crucial information (most importantly, when Diablo III might makes its PlayStation 3 debut) it does offer a very solid synopsis of what you can expect in this console version of the company's hyper-successful dungeon crawl.

The PS3 version of Diablo III has been custom-tailored for PlayStation gamers, with updates to the game's thrilling boss battles, an all-new user interface featuring an intuitive control system, and a dynamic camera perspective that will make vanquishing evil feel like second nature on the PlayStation. Players can take on the vile denizens of the Burning Hells alone or in a party of up to four via same-screen local cooperative play, online play over the PlayStation Network, or any combination of online or local players. Once gamers experience the rush of Diablo III's unique brand of hack-and-slash gameplay from the comfort of their couch, Sanctuary will never be the same.

Further, it also solidifies the game's pre-order bonuses, saying that those who deposit money toward the game prior to its launch will receive the Infernal Helm, a piece of armor "which grants an experience point boost to any character who wears it." This is in addition to any retailer-specific pre-order bonuses, like those we mentioned in the earlier piece linked above.

Expect more information on when Diablo III will hit the PS3 soon. For now, the best Blizzard can say is that it will be available "later this year." If you'd like to pre-order the title based on this scant information, pay a visit to Blizzard's official Diablo 3 site [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/age?r=%2Fd3%2Fen%2Fconsole%2F]. Full instructions can be found there.

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[-Dragmire-]

I'm curious if this version of the game will a significant difference in drops due to the lack of the auction house. If it's good enough, would people buy the game again for that?

Spoiler: not really on topic.

I just beat the game yesterday and I'm still laughing at the amazingly anticlimactic ending it has. I'd be upset but the lead up to that end reached the point of self parody from a story perspective. A fun side game is to take a shot every time a villain shows up at a point when the protagonists don't know what to do, merely to say they will fail at the next the next objective's location.

I'm not being sarcastic, while I was actively laughing at the story, it was still enjoyable in that mind frame, combat was very fun too.

 

[piinyouri]

I am excited for some couch co-op.

In before the masses of whining children.

Yep, same here.
Also the fact that I'll be playing Diablo on a console again.

OH THE CAFFEINE JOLTED ALL NIGHTER DUNGEON RAIDING MEMORIES

 

[lancar]

Hey, it'll be the only way to enjoy the game in a lag-free offline mode. That's a good reason to buy it right there; the lack of online features is a feature!

 

[Carlston]

I want to be excited for it. I really do. Sadly, I had the PC version. Now I played Diablo 2 for hundreds of hours on multiplayer. Loved it.

Even when I was in sub school after boot camp I got a pc and played d2 on my time off.

D3 was well... so unintresting, not challenging, almost as if the effort into making a "good" game was set aside for the real world money auction house. Which I never touched.


I found a more interesting game in Wizardy online.

 

[Tanakh]

I am very curious to see how did they implemented the controller. If done flawlessly and it feels natural then you have the perfect roadmap to make a console MOBA with this and the current gameplay of LoL, and that would mesh rather well with the push of online features on consoles.

 

[antidonkey]

I'm curious as to how it will play with a controller. I already have it on PC so I won't buy the PS3 version but maybe one of my friends will.

Man...I need to get some stuff for the PS3....it's just collecting dust and serving me up hours of netflix.