"In the computer gaming world, Blizzard Entertainment is a juggernaut. The division of Activision Blizzard is responsible for some of the world's bestselling PC games, including World of Warcraft and StarCraft. But the company hasn't released a game for home consoles in more than a decade.
That could change any day.
Blizzard has nothing against controllers, joysticks or living rooms, said Paul Sams, Blizzard's chief operating officer, at last month's annual BlizzCon event in Anaheim. Financial details are what's holding up the company's long-overdue return to the console market.
To release an Xbox, Playstation or Wii game, game producers are required to pay a licensing fee to system manufacturers. It's a big reason why Microsoft and Sony can sell their hardware at a loss.
The simple economics goes: The manufacturers profit on game sales, even if they lose money on the hardware needed to play the games. They might lose money on each console, but the longer term prospect of selling more and more games should make back that loss (and then some).
"The value is the game," Sams agrees. But he doesn't like the business model. "I don't like the idea of paying a console manufacturer a fee. That concept pisses me off."
But the community aspect of consoles is compelling Blizzard to go beyond the all-too-familiar flicker of the bedroom computer monitor. "Because the living room is a place where more people can be around, there's a lot of reasons why it's appealing," Sams said.
In order to get there, however, Blizzard appears to be holding out for a console maker to cut a deal. "They do it all the time," Sams said. True, manufacturers will ...
... sometimes give bags of money in exchange for exclusive rights to high-profile game franchises.
Where might Blizzard go? As it prepares to launch its revamped online gaming network, called Battle.net, the company doesn't have much need for Microsoft's Xbox Live infrastructure or Nintendo's WiFi Connection.
Blizzard has a cozy history with Nintendo, having made games for the Super Nintendo and StarCraft 64 for the successor to the SNES. The Wii's remote control would be well-suited to the developer's flagship real-time strategy games.
Blizzard is shopping around Diablo III to consoles. "We are in ongoing talks with Microsoft and Sony," Sams said. "I think they desire to see us on their platforms."
A near-finished game called StarCraft: Ghost was the closest Blizzard has come to releasing a console game in years. Due to the loss of a key person on the outsourced development team, "it wasn't turning out the way we wanted," Sams said. So, Blizzard scrapped the project. That crucial developer, Ray Gresko, now leads work on Diablo III.
"I think that a lot of other companies would not have hesitated in publishing it," Sams said about the game based on its sci-fi franchise. "We weren't willing to put out a game that was not at the level of Blizzard polish quality that customers have come to expect."
As the battle between Microsoft and Sony becomes more aggressive, with both companies recently slashing the prices of their systems in advance of the holiday season, it may not be long before one plops the right deal down on Blizzard's table. -Mark Milian"
I disagree. The ps3 can have a keyboard AND a mouse attached to it. We could just as easily turn our PS3 into a quasi computer, and play it.
But even with the regular controller... diablo wouldnt' be that hard to play. You use the 1 joystick to move, the second to aim, and you hit X for hotkey spell 1, square for 2,circle for 3, and triangle for 4.
There have been alot of hack and slashes setup the same way and they work fine.
It sucked, really hard to navigate the screen, select units, do anything even remotely quickly. Wont work.
Diablo 3
I cant see this one working either. How would you switch to your spell you want? How would you switch to multiple ability's quick enough. Buying items at the shop? Listed? That would take away the feel of the game. Picking up equipment on the ground? I don't want to see a pickup all button.
Warcraft
Wont work, same issue as StarCraft.
Totaly Agree!
Yeah, Diablo I was for PS1 and Starcraft was for the N64.
Agreed It has USB ports on it so you can just plug in a USB mouse and USB keyboard. I think Wii's have USB ports, too (although that would be kind of stupid since you don't play a Wii for the graphics or anything, you play it for the motion sensors- it wouldn't be much fun without those :P). Dunno if 360's do, but I'm sure Microsoft will add those in with the next platform of theirs if it doesn't.
Whether or not it can be played on a console doesn't even affect PC users, except that if they were on the same server, console players would be less likely to have hacks and cheats.
werent those ports done by another dev and not blizzard? which may explain why they werent of the highest quality?
Yeah but nowadays if you can hook up a mouse and keyboard its just as good as the pc version....and D1 on ps1 wasnt to bad......not saying it controlled great or anything but it was managable
Not to my knowledge. Dunno.
Yeah, I never played either on a console, but nowadays the line between PC's and consoles is blurring significantly. The standard archaic PC input devices can now all be attached to PS3's and Wii's (and, hopefully in the future, Microsoft's consoles).
See.... i don't get why we can't just use the PS3 controller... Think about all the hack and slash games that got released on the ps2 even...
Diablo 2 was based on the background moving instead of the character. Clicking just gave you easier control over movement and aiming... (mainly for targeting specific monsters/ corpses)
However, MMOs have proven that using a TAB (L2) system to select targets works just fine, and i have a feeling that this could be worked out to work on a console as well.
Heck... i wouldn't even mind if they started using that new PS3 motion controller, and i was able to move my char using the controller :-D!!!!
Dude ... wtf gen3 console do you have?
Do you realize that the PS3 can outperform even the top end gaming PCs? the PS3 is specifially created for playing media... and in HD/ High def audio too????
And think about it... if they let you download D3 to your PS3 instead of running a blu-ray.... you could have 10% the load time?
Like I said, the new consoles are becoming more and more like regular PC's, with logical and flexible operating systems, expanded storage (hard drives), USB ports, and PS3's even have CF, miniSD, SD, and Pro card readers for multimedia extraction in to your console. So, by the same extension, I could also say "why don't you just do it on a console", since the two are losing the gap. Presently, the main gap between them is customization, which you obviously can't do to a console. But that's for another topic.
And, of course, I'm not saying that you shouldn't be able to use a controller if you want to.
Dunno what you mean about lag, though. I get the same internet speed on my PS3 that I do on any computer in my house hooked up to my router Never played my 360 online, though.
I will suggest that the computer sees a release date well before the consoles do tho.
It will be a lot harder to code it for the PS3, but with the PS3's abilities Diablo 3 will look very very very goood.
Of course they will have to make the game compatible with a USB Mouse and Keyboard. Or else I would never pick it up.
I wouldn't want the keys/skills/etc. to be a newly cooked-up console style.
Just wouldn't fit right with me. lol
Well, the PC version would obviously be compatible with USB mice and keyboards since most people use one, the other, or both on their PC's, so I don't see why they would have any difficulty doing so.
But yeah, getting it to work correctly on multiple operating systems, like the Windows OS's (including any XBox OS), Mac OS's, and PS OS's would obviously slow development time.
If this is specifically about Diablo III, though- I've been waiting a decade, I could wait a little longer if necessary. Or they could just release the PC version on time and switch their power to console adaptation afterward.
Well, if you're playing in on a PC, they obviously wouldn't be giving you a console system on a PC version And a PC system would translate well to modern consoles because, like stated before, you can use the same input devices (mice, keyboards, etc.). And the console play version, utilizing a controller, would still be there.
The ps3 is nowhere near the top end gaming pcs man lol....its a powerful piece of hardware no doubt but its far inferior to gaming rigs lol
back on topic......I think if they develop games for consoles again it would be console exclusives...just like the lost vikings and blackthrone or w/e it was called lol.....but who knows what there planning
Yeah most of those guys are long gone.....new IP's are most probable....or possibly spin offs of there main franchises...like ghost was gonna be
Example DIII Control Layout for PS3/Xbox360:
Primary Attack/Open Object - X / A (PS3 / Xbox 360)
Secondary Attack - Square / X
Spell Hot-keys (4) - Right/Left Triggers and Bumpers
Directional Movement - Left Toggle (only one needed for 3rd person isometric view)
Aim/Select - Right Toggle (specify spell/attack direction/in-menu select)
Inventory - Circle / B
Show Items (on ground) - Triangle / Y (press once to activate 'Item pickup mode')
(^this will allow one to see all available loot on the ground - like holding alt used to - one then uses the Right Toggle to highlight and item and hits X/A to pickup)
Party Screen - Select
Skill Tree - D-pad Down
Character Stats - D-pad Right
Quests - D-pad Up
Spare Hot-Key - D-pad Left (potion/tp/whatever)
Anything Else - Start (would pause game)
To specify skill/attack placement simply open the skill tree, use the right toggle to highlight the desired skill, push in the right toggle to select then hit the desired Button/Hot-key to place. To abort hit Circle / B since it isn't an available attack.
To change weapons/armor/runes/ect. open the inventory screen and use the right toggle to highlight desired object. While highlight push in the right toggle to select and then repeat for the desired allocation. This system would work much more efficiently with the 'bag' style inventory. When one selects a rune it will automatically bring the user to the skill tree where one may select the skill to be affected.
Only one menu/stat screen will be open at a time to allow the player to still interact with the game environment. This shouldn't create any problems except if one wishes to see the effects of skills/items on ones base character stats. This can be resolved easily by showing in one way or another any stats that are directly affected.
Hitting the Start button will pause the game (like ESC) and will also allow the user to see/use any of the menu screens (quasi-Fable II).
Player to Player Chat will have to be voice only and since most people who pay for online gaming with their consoles already own a headset it shouldn't be a problem.
There is no need for a Map On/Off if the map is stationary in an upper corner of the game screen - full map view can be available through the start button.