Diablo III Might Show Up on Consoles

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Diablo III Might Show Up on Consoles



Want to kick demonic ass through the rainbow blood-spattered fields of Sanctuary, but don't have a good gaming PC? You may be in luck, as Blizzard is in talks to potentially bring Diablo III to consoles.

BlizzCon may be over and done with, but the news keeps rolling in. GameTrailers TV's tweeted [http://twitter.com/geoffkeighley]:

[blockquote]Paul Sams of Blizzard says they haven't ruled out Diablo III for consoles -- and are currently talking to the first parties.[/blockquote]

Now, okay - saying that the company hasn't "ruled out" the possibility is probably as weak of a confirmation as you could ever potentially get, but the interesting part is the second half of that sentence: that the Irvine-based developer is talking with the major players (presumably Sony and Microsoft) to make it happen.

There's no doubt that the 360 and PS3 have the power to make Diablo III a reality, and its multiplayer system would actually be suited really well to services like XBL and PSN... but there are two potential problems immediately visible. For one, Diablo III is heavily based around point-and-click (and click, and click, and click...) gameplay, where being able to send a ball of explode-y light at one particular spot on the map in a split second is absolutely crucial to survival on the harder difficulties. The mouse-and-keyboard interface seems very difficult to replicate with a standard 360 or PS3 controller, so unless they'd aim to rebuild the entire D3 mechanics from the ground up, that seems unfeasible.

The other issue isn't endemic to Diablo III, but should be painfully familiar to fans who bought the console versions of Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead - it's one thing for a developer to support and patch PC versions of their games, but rolling those same patches out onto consoles seems like another hurdle altogether.

But hey, at least they're talking about it, no?

(Via Videogamer [http://www.videogamer.com/news/blizzard_talking_to_platform_holders.html])


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MrLS

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May 17, 2009
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No thank you.
I want my perfect PC Diablo 3. The console owners can have their dumbed down versions afterwards.
 

rated pg

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Aug 21, 2008
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Mr LS said:
No thank you.
I want my perfect PC Diablo 3. The console owners can have their dumbed down versions afterwards.
So much wrong with that quote, since a) it probably won't be perfect, b) who's to say the console version will be late, especially since Blizz has no release date for the PC version, and c) it wouldn't necessarily be dumbed down. I think the controls could actually work BETTER on a console for this style of game, as seen in such classics as the Baldur's Gate console games.
 

Simalacrum

Resident Juggler
Apr 17, 2008
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Although the concept sounds pretty tempting (I don't have a proper gaming PC. In what way, do you? Its a Macbook.), I don't think it could work on consoles. The layout and perspective of the camera wouldn't feel right on a console, and theres also the whole point-and-click matter that is virtually impossible to deal with. The Diabolo series sounds like it has some aspects similar to an RTS (in the case of camera angles and point-click controls), and we all know they don't work on consoles, espcially if you haven't designed it to work on one from the ground up.
 

bodyklok

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Feb 17, 2008
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Diablo 3 sounds awesome, I've never played a Diablo game though so I can't say anything for certain, anyway I'm thinking of getting it, but if I do then it will probably be on PC.
 

RebelRising

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Jan 5, 2008
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Awesome! I really wanted to play this, but was afraid it wouldn't run well on my computer, so that's a relief.

/console-tard joy
 

microhive

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Mar 27, 2009
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I hope Blizzard means making keyboard and mices compatible with the consoles or else they can just scratch the whole thing.
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
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rated pg said:
Mr LS said:
No thank you.
I want my perfect PC Diablo 3. The console owners can have their dumbed down versions afterwards.
So much wrong with that quote, since a) it probably won't be perfect, b) who's to say the console version will be late, especially since Blizz has no release date for the PC version, and c) it wouldn't necessarily be dumbed down. I think the controls could actually work BETTER on a console for this style of game, as seen in such classics as the Baldur's Gate console games.
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance? Those games were freaking terrible.

Unless they add Keyboard+Mouse compatability, then the Console release will be dumbed down. There's no too ways about it. The keyboard+mouse offer so much more hotkey opportunities and menu navigation than a gamepad ever could.
 

Crimson_Dragoon

Biologist Supreme
Jul 29, 2009
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While I wouldn't blame Blizzard for selling the game to a bigger audience, I'd be afraid that making it for consoles would push back the games already far away release date (one of the main reasons Dragon Age isn't already out for PC).

I'm not too worried though. Blizzard never has had much support for consoles anyways.
 

SharedProphet

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Oct 9, 2008
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DRADIS C0ntact said:
So long as it doesn't show up on the Wii, I'm sold.
Ironically the Wii is the only one on which a point-and-click interface works natively (though it isn't as nice as motion controls). It also has the largest installed base... I wouldn't be so sure that the first parties they talked to didn't include Nintendo.
 

Abedeus

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Sep 14, 2008
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Hahaha, no.

You can't play Diablo 2 with a touch pad, how can they expect to play Diablo 3 with a freakin gamepad?
 

SharedProphet

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Oct 9, 2008
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As people have pointed out, the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance games show how the controls would work with a gamepad. Not too hard to imagine. I'll be surprised if D3 doesn't come out for consoles.
 

Diablini

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May 24, 2009
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Wow! Really? I think this is going to be the first Blizzard game to go on a console. I'm a PC but it's still good.
 

UsefulPlayer 1

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Feb 22, 2008
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Please Blizzard Please!!!!

I'll make a fucking shrine to Blizzard if they do this. I'll throw money at them and shine their damn shoes.

I can't describe how much of a wet dream this would be for me.

I'll finally be able to play it, not to worry able my computer as I suck at such things, and
play with all my friends over xbox live.