Hasta La Gadget!

This week it’s been revealed that Blizzard Entertainment’s own Diablo III will be coming to the PlayStation 4 without access to the Real Money Auction House still present in the desktop PC iteration. Though this might have some odd effects on those hoping to play the game with access to weapons, armor, and everything in-between with their own real-world cash, Blizzard is presenting a firm “not a chance” as they suggest that, if they could, they’d take the whole mess out of the game entirely.

If you have a travel down our Diablo III tag portal, you find a series of stories that are just as often negative and full of disappointment as they are exciting and action-packed. This release was one of the most long-awaited in the history of gaming, with 8 years separating the second installment of the series (Diablo II in 2000) and the announcement of this title.

Though Diablo III was first announced in 2008, it was only actually released to the public on May 15th, 2012. That’s one massive amount of time for a game to be in development, especially with the 5-minutes-of-fame atmosphere we’re in now. Then there’s the bits and pieces that Blizzard has had to change right from the outset. Today’s big kicker is the announcement from former Diablo 3 Game Director Jay Wilson.

“Most of the auction house’s use is with in-game virtual gold.”

Speaking with Joystiq this week about Diablo III’s real money action house, he suggested that the feature has “really hurt the game.” According to Wilson, over 50 percent of the players that play regularly use the auction house, while most of the auction house’s use is with in-game virtual gold rather than with real cash.

Because of this gold use, not necessarily the real money, motivation to collect gold and broken items (otherwise useless, able to be sold in the game to virtual vendors for gold), have become far more popular goals for users. There’s simply not as much junk everywhere anymore – Diablo II continues to be a massive mess of item drops and coins.

“I think we would turn it off if we could, [but it’s] not as easy as that.” – Wilson

Citing the near-impossible task of figuring out how much of the Diablo III user population wants the auction house to stick around or be kicked to the curb, Wilson was clear on one point: they are looking for a “solution.” A solution to what, exactly, we might never know.

Diablo III’s next big “oops” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Gameplay footage for the PlayStation 3 version of Diablo 3 has been released. The video shows the PC-game with a very different UI. Gameplay is smooth (for the most part), the new control system seems very user-friendly, and the new dynamic camera system seems very appealing (the fight against Belial looked very entertaining). All in all, the PlayStation 3 port seems very well done and should appeal to Diablo 3 fans.

Diablo 3 on the PlayStation 3 will feature all of the current offerings of the PC version of the game. There will be Paragon levels after you reach level 60, Monster Power settings, PvP, and more. Along with those additions, there is also one, very important selling point. The game will have 4-player split-screen co-op. So you, and 3 of your friends, will be able to join together to take on Diablo in a nostalgic, Champions of Norrath/Gauntlet Dark Legacy-like way.

Diablo 3 has seen great commercial success, selling over 12 million PC copies to date, however the game had received a lot of negative criticism shortly after its launch.  It received negative criticism for its Always-on DRM, previously difficult gameplay (like floors blanketed in desecration and plague), and lack of end-game content. Many consumers complained that it was the worst Diablo, if not the worst game, ever. The developers were able to make the game more enjoyable by adding a lot more content (like the Infernal Machine), dramatically reducing the difficulty of monsters and their affixes, and by allowing players to choose the difficulty of their gameplay via Monster Power levels.

There isn’t any specific release date for the Playstation 3 version of Diablo 3, but we do know that it will be released for the PlayStation 4 in the future as well. The developers of the game have also stated that the game isn’t necessarily a Sony-exclusive, so we could be seeing the game on other consoles like Nintendo’s Wii U and the Xbox 360/720. And many of you will be pleased to know that the console game will have an offline mode.

Diablo 3 gameplay footage for the PS3 unveiled is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As you might have heard, Blizzard announced that they would be bringing Diablo 3 onto the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. It has long been rumored that Blizzard would do such a thing and while the idea of play Diablo 3 on a console might seem like a novel idea, it seems that it might not have been very well received amongst the Diablo community. There was originally a thread about the topic on the Diablo 3 forums but it has since been deleted, but the argument was that Diablo 3 may have originally been designed for the console since the start.

We guess some gamers might have taken issue that designing it for the console at the start might have compromised the game in some way, but then again this is pure speculation, but check out the arguments in the list below after the break and let us know if you think they are valid! (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: PS4 Will Allow Used Games To Be Playable, Killzone: Shadow Fall PlayStation 4 Live Demo Available For Your Viewing Pleasure,

Today there’s been all sorts of crazy news the last few hours regarding the new PlayStation 4. While the event is still wrapping up and we’re awaiting the good stuff, they just announced a partnership with Blizzard. The extremely popular PC game developer Blizzard took the stage and surprised everyone by announcing Diablo III and more will be coming to the PlayStation 4.

It looks like Blizzard is going back to their roots, yes consoles were originally their roots. Blizzard has entered into a partnership with Sony and will be bringing many games to the PlayStation 4. One of the most popular games that I’m sure many of you are excited about is Diablo III. It will be available on both the PS3 which we already knew, and now the new PS4.

Using the PlayStation cloud service you’ll be able to enjoy classic games like Diablo III right on your PS4. Alternatively it will probably also support Remote Play for streaming to your PS Vita and more. The biggest news here isn’t Diablo III though, the big news is Blizzard has entered into a partnership with Sony.

While we don’t know exactly what this all entails at this point, you can expect to see and hear plenty in the upcoming weeks and months from Blizzard. The massive PC developers behind World of Warcraft and tons of other popular titles will now be developing games for the PlayStation 4. Hopefully at E3 and PAX East 2013 we’ll learn all the details. Who’s excited?

Blizzard announces partnership with Sony, bringing Diablo III and more to PS4 is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Blizzard has just announced its annual gaming convention that many gamers look forward to every year. The 7th BlizzCon gaming convention, BlizzCon 2013, has been confirmed to be taking place from Friday, November 8th, to Saturday, November 9th at its usual location, the Anaheim Convention Center. Ticket pricing and availability should be announced in the next few months. The ticket prices has varied in the last few years, with 2009 tickets going for $125 and 2011 tickets selling for $175. Who knows if Blizzard will raise it again this year. With your ticket purchase, you will also receive the famous swag bag that contains collectible items as well as Blizzard merchandise.

At the annual BlizzCon convention, gamers from World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo all get together to witness the next big thing Blizzard has to offer. At BlizzCon 2013, players will be able to get a hands-on demonstration of the latest Blizzard games, become an audience to a discussion panel with Blizzard’s game developers and artists, have competitive, yet casual tournaments with other fellow gamers, compete in contests, purchase Blizzard’s gaming merchandice, and more. The global finals for the Battle.net World Champsionship Series will also be making its debut at BlizzCon 2013, where select top pro-gamers from all around the world will compete.

Blizzard wasn’t able to hold its annual BlizzCon event in 2012 because of the company’s jam-packed schedule. It was in the process of launching its latest installment of the Diablo series, Diablo 3, as well as the World of Wacraft: Mists of Panderia expansion. It was also in the process of developing its StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm expansion.

BlizzCon 2011 was a major success, and tickets sold out within seconds, so there’s no time to think once the tickets for BlizzCon 2013 goes on sale. While you’re thinking, someone else (or rather thousands of other people) will have already confirmed their purchase. You don’t want to be left out of Blizzard’s biggest event of the year. Blizzard has also launched a site that will let you book your hotel in advance with special BlizzCon rates. Will you be attending this year?

[via Business Wire]

BlizzCon 2013 will be taking place November 8th and 9th is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.