Blizzard: Diablo 3 on Console "Makes Sense"
Blizzard COO Paul Sams says that Diablo 3 on console "makes sense."
Officially Blizzard says it's "exploring" the possibility of Diablo 3 on consoles. Behind the scenes, it's hiring on new talent to tackle the project like this one position for a Game Systems Designer. Whether or not an actual product will hit the market remains to be seen at this point, but COO Paul Sams says that of all the Blizzard games, Diablo 3 makes perfect sense outside the PC arena.
"We're continuing to explore [Diablo 3 on consoles]," he told CVG. "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."
So why didn't Blizzard just develop the action/RPG for consoles alongside the PC? Because the company doesn't build games for a specific platform/business model -- they build games that just happen to work perfectly on the PC. Gameplay is the primary focus whereas platform is secondary.
"We have to make sure the game is great and it's something that everyone wants to play," he said. "If we provide a great game, a great experience, the business model - if we're being fair with you - will work. Same with the console; we don't decide up front that we want to make a console product. We just want to make a great game."
"If the best experience involves a mouse and a keyboard, we'll put it on PC," he added. "If it plays better with a controller, that's the route we'd take. If it works on both, and we don't have to make any meaningful alterations or compromises to the experience, we'd make it for both."
Naturally a game like Diablo 3 can't be ported over to a console without a few hurdles to overcome, one of the highest being Microsoft. We've already seen Valve Software struggle to get its Steam-laced Portal 2 on Microsoft's closed Xbox Live network -- Sony was a bit more forgiving with Portal 2 on the PlayStation Network. As it stands now, Valve's upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive won't even feature cross-platform gameplay as originally announced.
That said, Blizzard's Battle.net-connected action/RPG might not see an Xbox 360/720 release at all unless the team makes the multiplayer component Xbox Live-specific. Ultimately that might be costly in both time and money. "If I've got to jump through 17 different hoops and pay a lot more money to be on a console, that causes you to pause," he said. "But that doesn't mean we wouldn't do it if we thought we could deliver a Blizzard-quality product on the platform and it was right for the game in question."
"That's why we're looking at it for Diablo 3; we think that we can have a really exciting and compelling experience that will play well on console in addition to PC We do feel it's an exciting opportunity," he added. "If we feel we can have a game on multiple platforms, then we'll do it. We're not afraid to - that's for sure!"
The Reason why PC gamers dont want anything to do with console games is due to the ancient hardware in the consoles, when the lazy developers aims for that seriously underpowered console "hardware" as standard the newer PC hardware wont even run at 10% on that console/pc shared game not to mention crap like auto-aim ect gets included by default to compensate for the consoles lacks of controls. So is it really that hard to understand why PC gamers like exclussives where their hardware is really used and not only the consoles garbage hardware?
Stick to PC! We need your continuing focus on PC gaming!
If it were me I'd try to develop it for the ipad as well. Diablo could work amazingly well on a tablet. The touch screen makes sense for a game like diablo. Pull your heads out of your asses.
you beat me to it, beta was a real let down, feels like WoW barfed all over the Diablo world, just doesn't have the gritty dark feel
The Reason why PC gamers dont want anything to do with console games is due to the ancient hardware in the consoles, when the lazy developers aims for that seriously underpowered console "hardware" as standard the newer PC hardware wont even run at 10% on that console/pc shared game not to mention crap like auto-aim ect gets included by default to compensate for the consoles lacks of controls. So is it really that hard to understand why PC gamers like exclussives where their hardware is really used and not only the consoles garbage hardware?
Ofcorse they do, claiming Activision isnt corrupting them slowly is like saying the world is flat!
graphics aren't everything. most people don't spend 300$ on a graphics card. personally i'm glad consoles are lingering, just so i don't have to spend big $ on graphics cards 8 months just to keep up back in '98-'05 before xbox360 and ps3.
Best time of my life thanks to the Coop mode
Take that Skeleton King !!!
I voted you up. All made sense to me
First of all... THEY MAKE CONTROLLERS FOR PCs. Most of them even mimic the stupid Xbox / PS design. Saying you think something works better on a console because of the controlers proves that you don't have the tech knowledge to be posting anything meaningful here.
2nd, the comments about the graphics are legitimate. It's always been blizzard's way (Low-end graphics and simplistic game engines to appeal to more consumers with low-end PCs).
It's just becoming more and more apparent now that games from real developers have amazing graphics (Battlefield 3, Crysis 1 and 2, AvP, Dirt 2, Skyrim, etc etc. )
World of Warcraft, Warcraft 3, Starcraft 2, and now Diablo 3, all follow the "Make it with simple / dated graphics so bad PCs can get good FPS playing it so we get more $$$"
I mean, look at SC2, it's more like starcraft 1.2, a couple new units, and *slightly* better graphics. No new mechanics, nothing original, just a hyped up, reskinned 10 year old game.
These are the main reasons why I never buy blizzard games. They bring the PC industry down. They refuse to innovate, and now they're selling out to consoles to sap more money out of people who don't know better.
Who cares anyway. Blizzard is old news now. There are tons of MMORPGs, RPGs and strategy games that are more advanced, and much more fun then what blizzard offers. Screw em, I say.
The graphics were flat-out dated. I seriously was wondering if they'd just taken an HD texture pack and added it to D2. Hell, but even that would be better. At least then you'd get D2's wonderfully climactic art style instead of this typical fantasy adventure game.
Diablo I and II were so close to my heart because of the complexity, the art style, and the sheer darkness behind it. This game just feels cartoony and dated.
That's like 2 "working women" answering to a pimp. One woman named Kotick is making money more cheaply for the Viven... I mean pimp. For how much longer will woman #2 continue to put out quality, when the sleazy one's making money as well? At the end of the day, the pimp just wants his money. Don't matter how he gets it.
OK so in your little world completely re hauling a game (starcraft franchise) is not a large feat ? have you really fucking even watched the two games? Starcraft 1 is in 2D ?!?!?! starcraft 2 is in 3D, just watch the amount of detail in each of the models for starcraft 2, then look at the amount of details in the maps. And do you know how fucking hard it is making a sequel to "THE" most popular strategy game of all times, and it not being a flop? That takes years ! yes Years of research and careful playing around with the game engine, to make the game different but still not goof it up so it will still attract professional gamers to adopt. Btw have you even played diablo 3?, i have, and at first i wasnt sure if i would like it, but i can say i fucking love it, i´ve played the beta on every character to lvl 13 and cleared the beta many times. It's not easy making a game as simple as diablo 3 but oh so complex and deep and fun.
Would diablo 3 work on the console? In theory yes, you move your character and the way the character face you can launch primary or secondary spells with a push of one button each, then we need a button for each of the bar skills, and one for the pots, one for opening bags, one for opening character info one for opening companion, one for opening skill pane.
In all fairness you coul propably push it all together into a submenu and save some buttons.
But in my opnion it wouldnt flow as well on console layout as it does on the pc. i dont know how they solved the inventroy in diablo 1 on playstation, but they can propably do something similar.