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New 'Diablo 3' Screenshots Feature User Interface

Tracey John — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:00:19 +0000

New screenshots of "Diablo 3" have been released along with Blizzard's latest podcast, which show the user interface and the pants slot that lead designer Jay Wilson mentioned to us last year. No rainbows, though. Take a look.

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So what do you think?

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Former Dev Weighs In on 'Diablo 3''s Art Style

Tracey John — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:00:42 +0000

Bill Roper, a key figure in the making of the "Diablo" franchise, commented on the game's colorful new art direction, saying "as a player it just didn't really ring with 'Diablo.'"

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Reigniting the "Diablo 3" art controversy that blew up last summer, VideoGamer.com ran an interview with industry veteran Bill Roper, who played a key role in the "Diablo" series. Now design director at Cryptic Studios working on superhero MMO "Champions Online," Roper answered questions regarding the new, colorful art style of "Diablo 3":

"I think that one of the things that we always tried to get across was that Diablo was Gothic fantasy and I think there was just a need that was put in there from the visuals that I didn't necessarily get. I got it from the architecture and to a degree from the character design but not the feeling of the world. I can't say that I dislike it. I didn't look at it and go, oh my God that's horrible. But I looked at it and went, it's not really... to me as a player it just didn't really ring with Diablo."

Roper goes on to say how he liked how "Diablo"'s old art style because it was different from Blizzard's other franchises, though it makes "complete sense" why the Irvine studio went in the new colorful direction.

Diablo 3: What Bill Roper thinks [VideoGamer.com]

Get Your Own 'Diablo 3' Rainbow T-Shirt

Tracey John — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:00:10 +0000

Many "Diablo" fans either loved or hated the new, colorful art style for "Diablo 3." But the folks at Blizzard took the controversy all in stride, and staffers were seen sporting these homemade, pony- and rainbow-laden T-shirts at BlizzCon 2008. Well, now these shirts can also be yours: NerdyShirts.com has made a replica of the same design for $14.50. Are you going to get one?

[via Rock, Paper Shotgun]

Activision Blizzard: 'Twice As Many' Music Games In 2009, 'James Bond' Delayed Until 2010, New Blizzard Game This Year

Patrick Klepek — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:02:32 +0000

Activision Blizzard publishing CEO Mike Griffith promised more than twice as many Activision-branded music games in 2009 in today's earnings call, while also revealing their next "James Bond" title has been moved into next year, and Blizzard declared an intention to release a game this year.

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There will be much plenty more more "Guitar Hero" in 2009.

Activision Blizzard are preparing many music game initiatives this year, which will allow the company to deliver more than twice as many music games in 2009 than they did in 2008, according to Activision Blizzard publishing CEO Mike Griffith on today's lengthy earnings call.

To reach that number, Activision Blizzard's releasing "Guitar Hero: Metallica," a new "Guitar Hero" on the DS and a "Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits" across multiple platforms. Additionally, Griffith said "Guitar Hero" will see a "restage" near end of the year (think "Guitar Hero: World Tour 2") and the introduction if their new music franchise, "DJ Hero," set to arrive before the end of 2009.

Griffith said their next "James Bond" title has been moved out of 2009 and into early 2010, due to the impending release of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" later this year. The company believes sales of "Quantum of Solace" were impacted by releasing "Call of Duty: World at War" around the same time in 2008 and hopes to avoid the same issue with their next "James Bond" product.

An analyst also pressed Blizzard COO Paul Sams if the company would generate non-"World of Warcraft" related revenue in 2009. Sams said Blizzard intends to release one "frontline" title per year, but would not disclose if that would be "StarCraft II," "Diablo III" or a new "WoW" expansion for 2009.

What are you most looking forward to from Activision Blizzard in 2009?

Community Manager Posts 'Diablo 3' Screens With Unicorn, Rainbow, Marshmallow Man

Tracey John — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:00:17 +0000

Just when we thought the great art style controversy of "Diablo 3" had died down, the game's community manager posted a pair of altered screenshots featuring unicorns, rainbows and... the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man?

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You may remember the huge controversy surrounding the new art direction of "Diablo 3" that we covered extensively last summer.

And when we attended BlizzCon 2008 in October, it was clear that Blizzard employees -- like executive vice president Rob Pardo -- had a sense of humor about the whole thing as he wore a staff-made "Diablo 3" T-shirt featuring ponies, sunshine and rainbows.

Late last week on the Battle.net forums, fans joked about how the new Cow Level should be the "Unicorn and Rainbow Level" and how the Thousand Pounder (the large boss seen in gameplay) should wear the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man hat. In response, Blizzard poster Bashiok (a.k.a. Micah, the game's community manager) linked to two altered screenshots. Here they are:

Forum posters were either amused or angered by the images. I found them quite funny, but judge for yourself.

[Battle.net Forums - Topic: Thousand Pounder via ECA Newsletter]

'Halo Wars' Feels Like A 'Diablo' RTS

Patrick Klepek — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:00:26 +0000

Coming from someone who hasn't seriously played a real-time-strategy game since "StarCraft," this comparison might sound crazy, but the two early missions in the "Halo Wars" demo felt like Ensemble's simplification makes "Halo Wars" feel like a bizarre "Diablo" action game.

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Some gamers already have the two-mission "Halo Wars" demo on Xbox Live and I'm one of them. Prior to this, I hadn't seen "Halo Wars" in person and haven't touched a strategy game since "StarCraft" in the 90s. "Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3" almost converted me, but it never happened.

Maybe real-time-strategy has changed since I last visited, but while I credit Ensemble Studios for making "Halo Wars" perfectly manageable on an Xbox 360 controller -- it only took a few minutes to become comfortable with commanding units -- it didn't feel like the strategy games I remembered.

Instead, "Halo Wars" felt like an action game to me -- a strange, "Halo"-themed action game more like "Diablo" than "StarCraft." In the first two missions, you're taught the basics of base building. I used to love base building, working to construct an impenetrable fortress.

Base building does not appear to be a central tenant of "Halo Wars;" instead, it's only there to produce resources and units to make progress outside the base. There is little in the way of customization to make a base feel like your "Halo Wars" base. The "Halo Wars" website details a single turret option for defense -- at least on the USNC side -- which was an option I didn't get to play with.

But managing your home turf isn't everything. The combat in "Halo Wars" is strangely satisfying because it's familiar and yet so different. You're watching the characters and sound effects you love, but instead of being involved in the action, you're just watching series of animations play out after you click X and the A.I. goes to work. The scripted nature almost doesn't feel right, but because the early missions required no mental dexterity, I'm hopeful later "Halo Wars" missions will give me a reason to become more engaged.

These complaints could have everything to do with the demo only featuring the first few missions, but if a demo is supposed to give me a solid taste of the rest of the game, the "Halo Wars" didn't do a very good job. Ensemble's control scheme is phenomenal, but it's the rest of the game that gives me pause.

The review disc for "Halo Wars" is sitting next to me. The answers are probably there. I'll pop it in soon and let you guys know what I find.

Got a comment you can’t bring yourself to share below this post? Drop me an e-mail.

MTV's Video Tour Of Blizzard Entertainment's Well-Guarded Headquarters

Tracey John — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Last week just before the start of Blizzard Entertainment's big fan convention, we got to stop by their offices for a video tour.

Watch as executive vice president of game design Rob Pardo walks us through all the amenities of Blizzard's swanky Irvine, California offices -- everything from the front gate down to the sand-laden volleyball courts.

(Videos not viewable by users logging in from Canada or the U.K.)

Related Posts:
MTV Multiplayer's BlizzCon 2008 Coverage

In Crafting 'Diablo 3' Class, Blizzard Risking Harry Potter Comparisons Instead Of 'World of Warcraft' Ones

Tracey John — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:01:58 +0000

Following the controversy surrounding "Diablo III"'s Witch Doctor, fans weren't sure what other classes to expect next.

During BlizzCon this past weekend, the company unveiled the new Wizard class, a magic caster whose powers are based on the forces of the universe and who would replace the Sorcerer/Sorceress from the previous games.

While at the event, I spoke with lead designer Jay Wilson who gave me some details on the new Wizard class, why the team chose to go in that direction, the other names they considered, and whether or not we'll see the Sorcerer in an expansion.

"We knew that one of the classes needed to be the magical, blast-y type, but we didn't want to rehash the Sorcerer," Wilson told me in a closed-door meeting room at BlizzCon. "It's the same reason for any class we choose; we really want to be able to improve upon it. And we felt like the elementalist approach has been done so much, we weren't sure we could add a lot to it."

The alternative was to do something a little more old school, drawing from pen-and-paper RPGs. "In [pen-and-paper RPGs], you run into magic users that do all kinds of crazy stuff," he explained. "Like elemental is actually the least of their abilities -- acid clouds from their hands, disintegration beams... we were really removed far away from [those kinds of things] so we wanted to explore a character who can do a broader array of stuff. I can't remember a game that had a disintegrate spell! But we still wanted to have the option to pull into the bag of Sorcerer tricks so we could bring back favorite spells."

"If we picked 'mage,' people would compare it to 'WoW,' and if we picked 'wizard,' people would compare it to Harry Potter."

Wilson said he hadn't yet heard an outcry from players whose favorite class was the Sorcerer or Sorceress, but he also knows that not everyone will be happy. Even those on the "Diablo III" team disagreed on just the name of the class. "Every class we do there's an internal debate about it," he admitted. "I don't think anybody had a problem with the [class' skill set]. But there were a few people who didn't really like the name."

I asked if the disdain for the moniker was because it evoked images of a certain set of children's books and movies that star a wand-toting wizard with a lightning bolt on his forehead. Wilson told me they considered "mage" as well but wanted to avoid the term because they were worried about being compared to "World of Warcraft," which has a mage class.

"If we picked 'Mage,' people would compare it to 'WoW,' and if we picked 'Wizard,' people would compare it to Harry Potter," he said of choosing a name. "If we picked 'Sorcerer' and we changed the [the skill set] as much as we did, I think people would be like, 'This isn't the Sorcerer.' And we felt like the Harry Potter comparison was not as hurtful as the 'WoW' one because the 'Diablo' players are really sensitive to [the game] not being too much like 'World of Warcraft'... and I like Harry Potter okay. We just wanted a name that was descriptive. We've got Wizard, Sorcerer, Mage -- 'Magic User' sounds kind of stupid -- so there's only so many we can really go for."

"'Diablo' players are really sensitive to [the game] not being too much like 'World of Warcraft.'"

Though there was some internal debate on the Wizard's name, Wilson revealed the class wasn't as contentious as other classes. "Some of the classes that we haven't announced are actually the bigger debates," he said. "There was one class in particular that we had a lot of debate on, and it wasn't because people didn't like the idea. It was because there were other ideas that people wanted to do more."

For now, those yearning to play the Sorcerer or the Sorceress shouldn't hold their breath. Wilson said that he wouldn't expect the ousted class to show up in expansions, unlike the possible Necromancer. "I think it's harder in this case because the Wizard and the Sorcerer are much closer than the Witch Doctor and the Necromancer," he explained. "There are some similarities [between the Witch Doctor and the Necromancer] that people can pull, but in gameplay, the classes don't play at all like one another. Whereas the Wizard plays a lot like the Sorcerer."

But for the most part, the "Diablo III" team tried to re-create most of the Sorcerer's signature skills in one form or another. "For example," Wilson offered, "there's no fireball, but there's arcane orb and arcane orb kind of works like a fireball."

"Diablo" fans, does that appease you?

Blizzard: Rainbows Could Appear In 'StarCraft II,' Still Looking For New 'Diablo III' Art Director

Tracey John — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:16:38 +0000

During the first day of BlizzCon 2008, I got to chat with Blizzard's executive vice president of game design Rob Pardo. When I arrived for the interview, I couldn't help but notice he was donning a colorful T-shirt in lieu of the typical company garb.

"We decided to have a little fun at this BlizzCon, and we did a run of specialty shirts just for the ['Diablo III'] team," he explained of his baby blue tee with a design that looked inspired by "My Little Pony" and "Rainbow Brite."

"We came up with the cool rainbow domination logo of 'Diablo III,'" he continued, "and we just thought it'd be kind of funny to poke some fun at the big controversy that's going on. ... I think it's so important that you can have as much fun making games as ultimately your fans have playing them. We're just having fun with the game."

Pardo added, "I think we even talked about starting to put some rainbows in 'StarCraft II,' just because of the catch phrase that 'Diablo III' is the 'rainbow game.'"

But seriously, will there be in rainbows in "StarCraft II"? "I don't know, maybe we'll do an Easter egg level that's the rainbow level," Pardo replied with a laugh. "I cannot confirm or deny at this particular point."

Speaking of rainbows, I also asked Pardo if the company had found a new art director for "Diablo III." "We actually have not filled that position yet," he said. "We're actively interviewing right now, and I'm hoping within the next month we'll fill that position." And no, the person doesn't need rainbows in their portfolio. "But if they did," he said, "we wouldn't knock them for it."

BlizzCon 2008: Wizard Is The New Playable Class In 'Diablo III'

Tracey John — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:43:25 +0000

During the opening ceremonies at BlizzCon 2008, which just ended moments ago, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime announced officially that the new class in "Diablo III" is the Wizard.

He showed a short clip of gameplay which had an Asian-looking female wizard bringing down bolts of lightning and fire upon multiple enemies (even using what looked like a bolt of fire to bring down a wall with the debris crushing hapless foes).

"Diablo III" is playable for the first time ever at BlizzCon, and stay tuned for my impressions. Until then, check out some snapshots.