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Blizzcon 2008: Diablo 3 announcement?

Blizzcon 2008 has just been announced. For those interested to attend, it will be on Oct 10 and 11th at the Anaheim Convention center in California. The price for a ticket is $100.

Part of the lure for going to BlizzCon 2008 is the beta keys that you get which can get you into Starcraft 2 or another future Blizzard release.

So should we expect Diablo 3? There’s a ton of people on different game sites that argue (with passion) that the time has come for a Diablo 3 announcement. They bring up the job postings on Blizzard’s site, they talk about the next-gen MMO that’s currently in the works.

Don’t get me wrong, my hopes are high as well. And there’s my skeptical side that says … just look at the way Blizzard listed the franchises in their press release:

BlizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard Entertainment®’s Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® franchises.

Notice how Diablo has permanently moved to the back of queue. Hope this is all part of a plan to cover up what they’re doing, so they can surprise us!

Diablo3.com goes to Blizzard

The owner of Diablo3.com has “confessed” he has transferred the domain to Blizzard. Here’s the gist:

A few months ago we were contacted by Blizzard in regards to the Diablo3.com domain name. While they appreciate all the work that’s been put into running this big Diablo fan community over the years, they still want the domain name. Hmm, I wonder why?

I wonder why myself. It could be that Blizzard’s lawyers decided it’s high time they earn their keep. I mean apart from telling Uwe Boll to go blow when it comes to a WoW movie, they haven’t done anything.

Hmm, I wonder why Diablo2.com is still independent then. It has been out for YEARS and it’s a clear violation of the Diablo trademark. Blizzard can get it by just writing to ICANN. I think they care NOT about Diablo 2.

So although Blizzard do acquire domains (as they told the owner of Diablo3.com), I find their timely interest in Diablo 3 suspicious. Not in a bad way, though. I’d just love to hear more about Diablo 3!

Blizzard’s disregard for Diablo

Remember the days when Blizzard played jokes on Diablo, dressing him as Santa?

You can forget about that… Diablo has become Blizzard’s bastard child. They’re probably going to deny they ever did it … which is close to the truth as Blizzard North did it and they have left the company a long time ago.

Check out Blizzard’s latest April Fool’s joke - the love child of their favorite franchises (WoW & SC2) - enter the Tauren Marine.

Tauren Marine

Diablo Flash game

This Flash Diablo game seems to be a tribute to the original Diablo. There’s some resemblance but how the hell do I turn off the annoying sounds?

codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,0,0"
width="480" height="360" id="Diablo" align="middle"> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">

Anyone managed to save the Princess already?

Note: Game courtesy of Necromanthus.

More Diablo domains taken by Blizzard

According to the whois database (confirmed by Blizzplanet too), Blizzard had gone ahead and registered a dozen of domains with Diablo 4.

That’s right! They have had the Diablo 3 domains registered for a while now but I guess they decided that a single sequel just won’t do. So they got diablo4.es , diablo4.it , diablo4.eu , diablo4.fr … you get the idea.

What’s more - Blizzard has also registered Diablo5.fr , Diablo6.fr and flipping Diablo7.fr in October 2007. I really hope they come up with something to post on these domains… as in a Diablo sequel!

Diablo 3 box art

I’ve seen plenty of BAD fake trailers for Diablo 3. I wonder who in their right might would think this is an ACTUAL box for Diablo 3!

Believe me - the discussion on some forums still rages on …

Diablo 3 box

Activision Blizzard

You’ve probably heard it already but here’s the summary:

Activision, Inc. and Vivendi have announced that they will combine Vivendi Games, Vivendi’s interactive entertainment business which includes Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, with Activision, creating the world’s largest online and console game publisher, the total transaction being worth more than US$18.9 Billion.

Hmm, I wonder if this would change anything in terms of how Blizzard develops its games. I sincerely hope they don’t start licensing their game “worlds” to allow Activision to create second-rate games. I want Diablo 3 but I don’t want a broken game… (Vivendi already announced once that Diablo 3 is going to be an MMO).

Hell unleashed prematurely

As I’m downloading Hellgate London’s demo, I’m reading some of the reviews out there. Of course, some like the game more than others. However, all of them agree the game was rushed and that some of the bugs are making it near impossible to have a normal one-hour gaming session.

The game comes from the team who did Diablo II so naturally the expectation are running high!

Gamespot haven’t reviewed it yet but here’s a few bits from other reviews:

Besides the simple fact that no map generation program is ever going to be as good as a human designer, the random maps introduce some other problems too…

That same room layout, that same pair of tunnels, repeated over and over in slightly different configurations… We don’t doubt that Underground tunnels really are quite monotonous, but there’s no need to inflict that on us in a videogame. It’s bad enough having to go through them in packed train carriages, frankly…

Each of the six classes is genuinely fun to play, which is rare enough in RPGs. Most players will probably settle on their preferred archetype pretty quickly, of course, but it’s definitely good to see a game where you can roll just about any class, and be fairly confident that you won’t be coming back to restart in disgust a few hours later.

That’s from Eurogamer giving it 7 out of 10. The user reviews are equally split, there’s some guys that couldn’t play for more than 15 minutes without restarting which naturally got frustrating pretty quickly.

Oh well, I’ll be playing the demo anyway. The question remains whether I want the game as well.

Hellgate London beta and retail

Hellgate London will be out any day now. There’s a new announcement on their site today:

That said, some time just before launch (don’t have a specific time/date yet), we’ll actually be opening the Beta server back up for about a week. “This makes no sense, Kaiser!” Well, maybe not at first, but not everyone will be able to get the game on launch day for various reasons. This way, if you’re in the Beta and are still waiting for your game to arrive, you’ll still be able to play Hellgate. Also, the characters you create during this time will transfer over into your retail account. Once this happens, any caps/restrictions will be lifted. Yay! The characters will still have the Beta caps on them (such as level caps and such), but you can at least get started with your characters.

Hellgate LondonIn essence, you wait and sign up for the beta server and start leveling your char. Once the game hits the shelves and you get a copy, you’ll be able to transfer your char and the beta cap will be removed.

Just to state the obvious: If you cap one char, start another!

Hellgate London trailer

You’re probably familiar with Hellgate: London. It’s probably the only Diablo 3 we gonna see for some time. It’s from the team of developers that did Diablo 2, so it comes recommended. Check out the intro movie below.




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