Diablo III could be one of the few Blizzard games that is entirely accessible to everyone who plays it. The simple kill/loot/explore gameplay of the first two games has remained wildly popular since the series first came out back in 1996.
One of the biggest questions regarding the franchise is whether or not its third iteration will see action on the consoles. Judging by a recent interview with Diablo III‘s lead Content Designer, Kevin Martens, it’s looking like more and more of a possibility. Martens was interviewed by Atomic Gamer, and among other subjects discussed the prospect of Diablo on consoles popped up. The answer Martens gave should be exciting for console fans.
Whether or not Diablo III will be a viable game on consoles is a different matter entirely, but judging from Martens’ response to the question, the game would be a lot easier to transition to consoles than StarCraft 2 or Warcraft. Yes, we’re ignoring the port of Warcraft II to the PlayStation One — it wasn’t that great.
So, what’s Martens got to say when it comes to Diablo III on consoles?
“We’re definitely looking into it. We’re seriously considering it. I would say that the whole system specs thing is one of the cool things about Blizzard. You’re always hearing in interviews with us about the death of the PC gaming. We’re always like, ‘What death?’ I think one part of that secret…you know, quality and polish and all of that as well…but part of that is keeping the system specs low.”
“Everybody had a PC, even if they just use it for nothing but e-mail and web surfing. Almost everyone has one, so we do have a pretty giant install base. That said, gaming systems like Xbox and PS3 and so on… Diablo is one of the more natural hits for a Blizzard title to go on those, so I think that’s why we are looking at it pretty seriously.”
Excluding the kinds of complexities in Diablo III that might require a mouse and keyboard, the prospect of the game coming to consoles is very gratifying. Consoles have definitely seen their share of dungeon-crawlers, like the upcoming Dungeon Siege 3, so it can’t be impossible to translate Diablo III.
Graphically, Diablo III on consoles wouldn’t necessarily be something low quality, but being able to translate the game’s micromanagement to controllers is another matter entirely. The Dragon Age series was able to utilize hotkeys on controller face buttons, but that kind of interface is still unable to replicate the speed of using a keyboard.
Would this kind of hindrance prevent gamers from picking up a copy of Diablo III on consoles? Probably not. People would love to go dungeon crawling with friends on Xbox 360 or PS3. However, Blizzard will have to work hard on a solution to please people. Given their track record, it seems like Blizzard might be able to come up with something.
Perhaps Blizzard will be making a formal announcement about bringing Diablo III to consoles at this year’s BlizzCon (tickets available soon).
What do you think? Would you like to play a console version of Diablo III? Or should the series stick to its PC roots?
Diablo III will be releasing “when it’s done” on the PC, and maybe on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
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Source: Atomic Gamer
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I’d like to see it take a shot w/ consoles. Would love to play Diablo 3 on my xbox360
It would be cool if you could play D3 on pc and connect with your friends who are on console!! Battle.net for xbox live and playstation network
Valve seem to have done something like that with Portal 2 so its definately possible
I always get worried about games becoming “streamlined” when they move to the consoles because it means very dumbed down games the majority of the time. That being said, the one Blizzard franchise that totally works for the consoles is Diablo and if I could play 4 player co-op on Xbox/PS3 with it, that’d be the beez neez.
This was posted 3 hours ago? I’ve already heard this information. “very likely,” doesn’t mean squat. I will be “very likey,” interested when they say “are releasing on consoles!” I would still love to play it on either system. Most likely would purchase for console (ps3) if the graphics to high for my Mac.
Why wouldnt they realease it on console ? my first memory of the game series was Diablo on the Playstation one! Then was disapointed when the second was only available on PC’s, dont mind what it takes but get this on consoles and people will buy it !
i will definately be getting it on PC. Ive been playing Diablo on PC since the release of the first game. having said that, i also had Diablo on the PSX and loved that too, so id probably get it on my PS3 as well as the PC
Blizzard please just release the damn thing on PC>… and dont you dare dumb down the PC version of it to fit the console platforms. Remember, we all have pcs but not consoles and the benefit of playing a game with your friends right beside you using console platform is translated to internet Cafes where ppl sit beside eachother on their PC!!! so dont screw this up.
Please do not port to console! Every game that’s ported to console is destroyed. Look at Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 2…. Great first games, destroyed once sent to consoles. Diablo is a real game that console trolls couldn’t handle.
@Anticonsole: You are aware that Dragon Age 1 and Mass Effect 1 were both released on Xbox at the same time as the PC versions? Are you serious?
I think adding consoles would be a great idea, I plan on playing it on PC but i have a lot of friends that have 360s that I would like to play with. And all this mumbo jumbo about compatibility issues is stupid…I know for a fact the 360 is able to use a keyboard via usb port, I don’t see why a mouse would be that hard to integrate either. The future of gaming is cross platform servers!