Diablo 3 May Eventually Get Gamepad Support
Blizzard is thinking about a console version of Diablo 3 because gamepad support "feels even better" than the classic mouse/keyboard combo.
Diablo 3 game director Jay Wilson has said in the past that the studio isn't necessarily a PC developer despite its current library of titles. Instead, Blizzard is a games developer -- it just so happens that the titles they do develop work best on the PC platform.
"We don’t believe you can make a Starcraft style RTS and make it Blizzard great on a console," he told PC Gamer. "We do believe you could make an RTS that would be on a console, but we would have (to have) that idea, and that spark and that passion to make it."
Still, that doesn't mean Blizzard doesn't have an experimental flare when it comes to consoles. We've seen one or two of Blizzard's creations venture out beyond the PC realm, but they never met the same reception as the original PC incarnations. Yet Wednesday Wilson admitted that the team has recently experimented with Diablo 3 using an Xbox 360 controller, seemingly verifying previous reports that Blizzard is bringing the upcoming action-RPG title over to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
But don't get too excited/offended just yet: gamepad support is just an experiment. Maybe. "One of the reasons why we’re exploring the idea of a console version of Diablo 3 because we feel that the controls and the style of the game lend itself to a console," he admitted. "With some of our early experiments in putting a direct control scheme into the game via a 360-like analogue controller, I’ve been ‘Oh this feels even better, with direct control…'"
He might be right. After playing the Diablo 3 beta for a couple of nights (more later), the game may play extremely well with an Xbox 360-type controller. Then again, Diablo 3 just wouldn't feel like Diablo without the classic mouse and keyboard combo. But as we've already seen with the closed beta, the finished product won't shed its classic gameplay roots (like Dungeon Siege 3). Still, PC gamers could find that using a controller may be a lot easier in navigating the character than chasing monsters in a massive click-fest using a sword-like cursor.
As it stands now, gamepad support will likely not be available when the game eventually launches... hopefully later this year. "I can pretty much guarantee that if we decide to do a console version that we will look to support a pad on the PC," says Wilson. "But initially with release I don’t think we’ll be ready."
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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soccerplayer88 LAN = Dead (unless your in competitive gaming, in which case it doesn't matter since this is a cooperative game)Reply
Internet has improved, why should they spend extra development time to appease a very, very small percentage of people? -
amk-aka-Phantom soccerplayer88LAN = Dead (unless your in competitive gaming, in which case it doesn't matter since this is a cooperative game)Internet has improved, why should they spend extra development time to appease a very, very small percentage of people?Reply
You are dead... LAN is very different from the Internet. You gather with all your friends, everybody has their PCs and the room is filled with adrenaline as you all pwn everything on your way... online gaming is NOTHING compared to it. If you've never played on a LAN party, I feel very, very sorry for you. -
reggieray I agree that the kiddie console gamepads work well the third person game types like Diablo but they still suck for FPS games and always will. FPS just happens to my favorite way to play a game with few exceptions like KOTOR. I am on a budget like most people and there are better games around the corner than a button masher like Diablo III. I will spend my cash on games such as SkyRim and possibly RAGE, I hear Deus Ex is good even though there is no quick save.Reply
Activision/Blizzard, You can also keep you three part game SC2, maybe one year if you ever release a Battlechest I will pick it up in the bargain bin. -
soccerplayer88 amk-aka-phantomYou are dead... LAN is very different from the Internet. You gather with all your friends, everybody has their PCs and the room is filled with adrenaline as you all pwn everything on your way... online gaming is NOTHING compared to it. If you've never played on a LAN party, I feel very, very sorry for you.Reply
Sure have, remember playing old school Warcraft 2, Starcraft, Age of Empires, etc. all the time. That was also nearly 10 years ago, when everyone was still either on slow DSL or dial-up internet almost necessitating LAN play.
But this is 2011, nearly 2012. Hardly anyone is on dial-up anymore (save for you old folks :P). So yes, LAN is on the way out. Unless your in the competitive seen, everything can be done through the internet with stable rates. If anything people should be mad about having a constant internet connection to Bnet to verify credentials.
Let's also include that Blizzard this time is hosting everything server sided. So you can't host your own game (LAN, and for good reason). The reason being so no longer will your enter a server and see duped items, maphacks, etc.
There is a reason for everything. People just dismiss what they don't want to hear. -
reggieray amk-aka-phantomYou are dead... LAN is very different from the Internet. You gather with all your friends, everybody has their PCs and the room is filled with adrenaline as you all pwn everything on your way... online gaming is NOTHING compared to it. If you've never played on a LAN party, I feel very, very sorry for you.Agreed, best friends slamming back some cold ones as you play on your rigs is cool.Reply -
clonazepam I like to use a controller for some of my pc games. It works really well for the Assassin's Creed games, some Splinter Cell titles, and I think I would prefer a controller if I ever got Diablo III. I have to use a controller for some games b/c of the carpal tunnel and the eventual huge red knot that develops on my mouse-wielding hand's wrist. It'll never be a great option for RTS, FPS, or RPGs though.Reply -
amk-aka-Phantom Reply9311880 said:But this is 2011, nearly 2012. Hardly anyone is on dial-up anymore (save for you old folks :P). So yes, LAN is on the way out. Unless your in the competitive seen, everything can be done through the internet with stable rates. If anything people should be mad about having a constant internet connection to Bnet to verify credentials.
First, not all countries have stable Internet (and it is NOT a small percentage...). Second, LAN >>> Internet. As I already said, gaming experience is better, you're independent on your ISP and games can be modded as you and your friends like. I remember playing Jedi Academy with all the bots modded to be 10x as powerful as normal... that was fun.