New Blizzard Game to be unveiled at WWI [June 29?] -- DIABLO III?!

The Game Room
61

[QUOTE=Justin_Bailey]
Sure digital distribution isn’t included, but come on, there’s no way the math can be massaged to put PC games ahead of console games “by a considerable margin.”
[/QUOTE]

That’s like counting all the console games except for the ones sold at stores. I don’t have a cite to back myself up, but I would imagine that digital distribution accounts for a most of PC game sales these days. All of the “big” games are on Steam and/or Direct2Drive, including:

Call of Duty 4
Company of Heroes
Spore
The Sims
World of Warcraft
Half-Life 2
Bioshock
Civilization 4

In fact, I don’t even remember the last time I bought a PC game in stores. I even buy Steam editions of games I already own just so I don’t have to fumble with discs. Sure, PC games only take up a sliver of shelf space at Gamestop nowadays, but that’s because hard copies are inferior. You have to deal with annoying copy protection and worry about scratching or losing discs. And we’re not even counting places like Korea where StarCraft is bigger than Jesus. They also have a huge market for free-to-play MMO’s over there.

Not that I mind, either way. I have consoles and a gaming computer. I don’t see why people get so passionate either way. I guess you gotta believe in something.

62

[QUOTE=Carnick]

I even buy Steam editions of games I already own just so I don’t have to fumble with discs.
[/QUOTE]

Carnick, I believe for some games offered On Valve, you can just enter their serial number on their service and have access to the games on Steam, you don’t have to re-purchase them.

As I mentioned before PC games have sold MORE in totla than any ONE next gen console.

The only thing that beats it and just about everythign else is PS2. The damn thing is apparently being played even by forgotten amazon tribes.
BAck to D3: Did you guys see the final fight on the demo video? Did that thing EAT the barbarian?! Sweetness.

63

[QUOTE=Carnick]
That’s like counting all the console games except for the ones sold at stores. I don’t have a cite to back myself up, but I would imagine that digital distribution accounts for a most of PC game sales these days. All of the “big” games are on Steam and/or Direct2Drive
[/QUOTE]

But still. Retail console sales were a little under $18 billion last year. PC game sales were a little under $1 billion. That would have to be a lot of downloaded games to even come close.

I’m sorry, I’ve just been seeing a lot of articles and message board posts talking about how PC gaming is finally going to make a comeback and overtake console gaming again from people who long ago drowned in the Flavor Aid.

Some people just refuse to believe in the face of all logic (and citable articles) and it drives me insane.

EDIT:

[QUOTE=Kinthalis]
As I mentioned before PC games have sold MORE in total than any ONE next gen console.
[/QUOTE]

Which is basically cheating so you can say na-na na-na, I won. Ignoring the games that make your choice lose is just so… fanboyish

64

[QUOTE=Kinthalis]
Back to D3: Did you guys see the final fight on the demo video? Did that thing EAT the barbarian?! Sweetness.
[/QUOTE]
That Siegebreaker Assault Beast pulled him apart with little hesitation. I was impressed. Little known fact: Barbarians are filled with cherry colored Laffy Taffy! Doesn’t look like a terribly fair way to go … it happened instantly without much chance to avoid it, if any.

I was also quite enamored with the opening demonstration of ghouls being slaughtered off the edge of a narrow catwalk and falling, weapons, bloody gibs and all, off the precipice with entertaining ragdoll effects.

65

And the wall of zombies! Muahahahaha! Just f’ing Brilliant.

I never really liked D2… but I’m thinking of picking it up now… Does Direct2Drive or steam have it available?

@ Justin: Thanks for resorting to name calling. PC is just another platform. Next gen is what matters anyhow as it is likely to determine the future of consoles. Can we lay this disagreement to rest already though before you start questioning my parentage? Peoeple are getting upset that we’re getting off track.

66

[QUOTE=anamnesis]
That Siegebreaker Assault Beast pulled him apart with little hesitation. I was impressed. Little known fact: Barbarians are filled with cherry colored Laffy Taffy! Doesn’t look like a terribly fair way to go … it happened instantly without much chance to avoid it, if any.
[/QUOTE]

I was thinking that they have custom death animations for that particular boss. If your HP reaches zero you’re treated to a cool animation of your hero being torn to bits like a Starship Troopers infantryman. If that is indeed the case, it’s a very nice attention to detail.

Looks like the witch doctor will replace the necromancer in utility. I hope my favorite class from D2, the Druid, makes a return. Nothing beats turning into a bear.

67

[QUOTE=Carnick]
I hope my favorite class from D2, the Druid, makes a return. Nothing beats turning into a bear.
[/QUOTE]
I can see it now. The new #1 on Stephen Colbert’s Threatdown … ?

Druids.

68

[QUOTE=Carnick]
The stars must be aligned. I literally just finished installing Diablo II again when the announcement came. However, I’m reserving my nerd hype until I see it for myself. What was Blizzard’s last non-WOW game? The Diablo II expansion in 2001? Since then, many of the creative minds responsible for the original games have left. Sure, the gameplay video looks great, but I’m wary that Blizzard has jumped the bloated overfed shark that is World of Warcraft.

Time vill tell. Sooner or later, time vill tell.

Wait, wrong franchise.
[/QUOTE]

Well, the original team that has left over the years didn’t fare very well. The studio behind Titan Quest has been shut down due to lack of funding; Flagship Studios is a sinking ship and I have to say I have lost respect for Bill Roper due to Hellgate London.

I just hope the mechanics of the game improved and keeps up with innovations introduced by recent RPGs and MMOs. Such as re-specing (in some way), less filler skills, customisation of avatar’s appearance (the game’s 3D, for heaven sake), new loot system (Titan Quest’s system of monsters dropping what they are wielding makes some much sense), really branching storylines and quests as they wanted for Diablo II. And please, play-test!

For example, for the Blademaster in HG:L, half the skills need to be revamped, despite fans pointing out at the beginning those skills are impractical at all (surges only activating upon kill and etc.)

RE: Console vs. PC - this is off topic, but for the PC, casual games takes up the pie, and for console, it is more of hardcore gamers, but the introduction of the Wii is changing this. Besides, a hack/slash RPG like Diablo III is not very playable on the console (just imagine the design issues behind creating a drag/drop inventory system with the console).

So I think the discussion is on different frequencies - a large bulk of games which are popular and sustain the PC as a gaming platforms are the casual games (Diner’s Dash, Bejeweled, Shanghai, Portal, Zuma) while consoles are more for hardcore gamers (MGS 4, DMC 4, Ninja’s Gaiden 2) – though with Xbox360 live and Wii being a casual console may change things. IMHO, considering that most homes (and offices!) have a average PC and most causal games are geared to that spec, that is one reason why PC has the appearance of being a good gaming platform.

I could dig up the IGDA’s White Paper on casual games, but I would rather take this to somewhere else.

69

[QUOTE=CrazyChop]
Well, the original team that has left over the years didn’t fare very well. The studio behind Titan Quest has been shut down due to lack of funding; Flagship Studios is a sinking ship and I have to say I have lost respect for Bill Roper due to Hellgate London.
[/quote]

True, Hellgate London is pretty ass. I had thankfully forgotten about that game.

Blizzard has spent a lot of time with the talent system while developing WOW, so I’m sure Diablo III’s skill system will be more fleshed out. I’m hoping for something new, though. How many times has the talent tree design been re-used and abused since Diablo II?

70

[QUOTE=Gukumatz ]
There are a grand total of 65 million consoles out there. I doubt the Wii hardware can handle D3 and even if it could, the online service is so shitty I doubt Blizzard would even consider porting it. So that leaves us with aproximately 30 million 360/PS3 owners. And it could work for those consoles and I kind of want to see Blizzard try. Keep in mind, Diablo was on the PS1. (It got an inferior score due to a choppy framerate, long loading and saving times, but was still considered a successful port)

I suspect one of the biggest reasons D3 is PC/Mac exclusive is because they want Battle.net to be an operative feature. XBox Live and PS Network are great, but not that great. Further, I have a hard time imagining how the control scheme on a console pad would work out with dozens of combos at your fingertips, quick-heal and quick-mana buttons, directional control (keep in mind you actually have to aim a lot and not just in a general direction, for spells like the fireball), jumping and so on and so forth.

Lastly, Blizzard aims at longevity and replay value in all their games. Warcraft 3? Starcraft? Still the biggest strategy games around. Diablo 2? Still thousands playing online. And I’ve never heard of that kind of longevity in a console game.What console game older than two years is still being played extensively? Competetively?

I’m glad they didn’t decide to cross-release unto the consoles, personally, because I’d hate for them to have to dumb it down.
[/QUOTE]

Halo. CounterStrike. Unreal Tournament?
Also, who says they have to dumb it down? Civilization: Revolution is going to prove that such a thing can be ported over very successfully, and it’s not so much dumbed down as it is streamlined for faster play.

71

Just took a look at the videos today. I was going to start a thread on it but I’m glad to see the dope already has a thread going, even if half of it is some zealous fanboy ranting.

Personally, I’m both happy and disappointed that Diablo III will not be a MMO. Part of me really wanted it to be made into a MMO to see what Blizzard could do with it. On the other hand, as other people have pointed out, it’s not a very logical move as Blizzard would oversaturate the market it already dominates. Even then, I was surprised that they did not make it a MMO and milk the cash cow; I think there’s a goodly amount of people who would be willing to play a World of Diablo who do not currently play World of Warcraft (such as myself).

I was hoping that this next game would revert to the dark creepiness of the original Diablo that used to scare the hell out of me as a kid, but taking a look at the videos I’m afraid not. The graphics do look awesome and smooth, yes, but it still seems to be lacking the oomph from the original. There was something about the darkness and eerie music in Diablo (not to mention not being able to run!) that just scared the piss out of me when I saw a band of monsters running towards me. The butcher scared me the most and gave me nightmares; I loved the game for that! The novelty of Diablo II wore off pretty quickly; the colorful enviroments and wide, open fields were nothing like the original dungeons. It became Diablo II: Tour the World as You Hack and Slash! I didn’t become attached to any of the characters like I did in dinky little Tristam. Part of me is still holding out that Diablo III will have some of that scariness of the original.

Nevertheless, I’m still addicted and no doubt I’ll be dropping the money to check out this game.

72

[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever]
Halo. CounterStrike. Unreal Tournament?
Also, who says they have to dumb it down? Civilization: Revolution is going to prove that such a thing can be ported over very successfully, and it’s not so much dumbed down as it is streamlined for faster play.
[/QUOTE]

Halo 1 is still being played extensively? When Halo 3 came out less than a year ago? CounterStrike is on consoles? The original Unreal Tournament still gets online play on consoles?

Well, Diablo 3 is a pretty simplistic game already. But most, if not all, PC to Console ports are “dumbed down” in some ways. Aiming assist, directional walking, that kind of thing. And while Civ:Rev might not be dumbed down much, you’re talking about a game where you have close to infinite time to make decisions. Diablo 3 will require some hefty, hectic action.

73

[QUOTE=Gukumatz ]
Halo 1 is still being played extensively? When Halo 3 came out less than a year ago? CounterStrike is on consoles? The original Unreal Tournament still gets online play on consoles?

Well, Diablo 3 is a pretty simplistic game already. But most, if not all, PC to Console ports are “dumbed down” in some ways. Aiming assist, directional walking, that kind of thing. And while Civ:Rev might not be dumbed down much, you’re talking about a game where you have close to infinite time to make decisions. Diablo 3 will require some hefty, hectic action.
[/QUOTE]

Halo 1 is being played on Xbox Connect, a program that you can hook your 180 up to the computer and get games with.

Halo 3 has checks right now 155,160 people playing it this moment.

CounterStrike came out for the 180.

I don’t know what version of Unreal Tournament they’re on right now (never that big into it, but I’ve wanted to venture back in) but it gets play. If memory serves me right, that game is one of the games in MLG.

The demo for Civilization: Revolution is very good and very addictive. Firaxis hit it out of the park with this one. Online games, they say, should take a few hours to complete. I wouldn’t be surprised if Blizzard released it for the consoles (at least the 360 after Microsoft throws a bucket of cash at them) after they see how Civilization does. It’s already very well received by the critics.

74

So long as they design and release it for the PC first, I don’t care how much they hack and slash at it in order to get it to work on a console. I need my mouse and keyboard, I can’t imagine playing my D2 Mage with a PS3 controller.

I’m trying to download the video trailer but with 3 other people in this house playing WoW constantly; they wouldn’t appreciate it. I’ll have to wait for a while.

75

[QUOTE=MJinks]
So long as they design and release it for the PC first, I don’t care how much they hack and slash at it in order to get it to work on a console. I need my mouse and keyboard, I can’t imagine playing my D2 Mage with a PS3 controller.

I’m trying to download the video trailer but with 3 other people in this house playing WoW constantly; they wouldn’t appreciate it. I’ll have to wait for a while.
[/QUOTE]

I couldn’t imagine it as well, but I’m glad that game designers get paid to do that for me. Civilization: Revolution is a great game.

76

Just Forget About Diablo 3 On A Console, Mmkay?

Thought I’d liven up the console fanwanking with this cite, though something tells me that isn’t about to curb the pointless trainwreck of bickering over Blizzard’s choice in development platforms …

77

This is good news. The bad thing is, Blizzard doesn’t exactly have a track record of timely releases. They took forever to release Diablo 2 (mainly due to extensive revisions to Battle Net), and don’t even get me started on the 1.10 D2 patch…
So I’m not getting all excited just yet.

On PC vs. Console sales: Is it really accurate to compare game sales of every single console out there to the PC? Given the number of people that will always own PC’s for purposes other than gaming, I think it will always be a viable platform to play games on. I’ve been hearing BS about PC vs. Consoles since the Atari Days and I’m sick of it. Neither is going to die out. Period. Also, consoles and PC’s are NEVER going to merge. You make a PC that hooks up to your TV and can be put in your living room, or release MS Office for the Xbox packed in with a mouse and keyboard, it doesn’t matter. PC’s will always exist, and consoles will always exist, and the twain shall never meet. Sorry, I had to get that one off my chest.

Diablo 2 has to be one of the better selling PC games. I remember reading last year that it was still on the top 20 list of PC games sold (Sorry I don’t have a cite). Considering how long ago it was released, that’s quite an accomplishment. I agree that it seems to be a logical move to release the Diablo series (and probably WoW) for the consoles, but for whatever reason, Blizzard has chosen not to do so. Oddly enough, the first Diablo was released for the original Playstation (and was surprisingly good). Then again, perhaps the experience soured Blizzard on consoles (the PS version had a limited release and is somewhat rare).

BTW, does anyone play Sacred? I played it a bit when it first came out, and noticed that Sacred 2 has been announced for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. It’s not Diablo, but Sacred 1 was a pretty decent game with a similar style, nice graphics, huge game world, and closed servers. It had some neat features, like horses, a combo system, and a “pick up everything lying near you” key. Haven’t played Sacred gold or Underworld (the expansion) though, so I’ve no idea what the current state of the game is.

Not sure if I’d rather Diablo continue to be free to play online, I’ve mixed feelings on paying to play. On one hand, charging to play D3 on bnet will hopefully keep the retarded 10 year olds out, and give Blizzard some incentive (and money) to keep up with hackers and cheaters. On the other hand, they might put in a half assed system like Hellgate: London or Dungeon Runners where free and paid players can play together, in which case you’re basically paying a fee for better items and exclusive areas.

It’s really a shame about Iron Lore (the creators of Titan Quest). TQ was pretty much a straight rip off of D2 thrown into a Greek mythology setting, but it was a pretty good game. I wonder how much better it would’ve been if they had closed online servers a la bnet, but I guess we’ll never know. I was really hoping they’d release a TQ2, maybe with a Norse mythology theme, but it was not to be. R.I.P. Titan Quest.

78

[QUOTE=Carnick]
I’m hoping for something new, though.
[/QUOTE]

From Blizzard?

79

[QUOTE=Apocalypso]

Diablo 2 has to be one of the better selling PC games. I remember reading last year that it was still on the top 20 list of PC games sold (Sorry I don’t have a cite). Considering how long ago it was released, that’s quite an accomplishment.
[/QUOTE]

Top 10, according to this.

Joe

80

I am chock full of squee to hear this news. I’ve been playing Titan Quest lately, thanks to a recommendation in another thread, but it’s still not the same.

I’m also liking the optional multiplayer idea as I’m too nervous to play online. While there aren’t many computer gamers in my circle of friends, I should be able to find a couple to play with.

(Also hoping to see the Druid return but not keeping my hopes up.)