Published November 30th, 2006
in Diablo News, Diablo 3 in the media and Blizzard.
For all the skeptics out there, the hunt for good animators continues.
The team behind Diablo I and II is looking for a skilled Senior 3D Character Animator. The ideal candidate has experience animating both human and non-humanoid characters. A solid grasp of the principles of body movement, anticipation, overshoot, follow-through, squash and stretch, forward and inverse kinematics and other facets of both 2D and 3D animation is essential. The ideal candidate works well in an environment of peers who are passionate about making great games.
There’s also another brand new opening at Blizzard - Cinematic Artist. I’m really excited by this one. Diablo 2 cinematics were a beauty to behold and enhanced the story so much.
It’s pretty obvious the cinematic artist will not be working on the WoW expansion as it’s already in public beta. I hope they are already thinking about a trailer.
Published November 24th, 2006
in Diablo News, Diablo 3 rumors and Blizzard.
Blizzard recently released a trading card game which is set in the World of Warcraft.
One of the best parts of the WoW card game is that you can get a loot card that you can actually turn into loot within the WoW game itself.
Think about Diablo now. It’s virtually the same concept.
You got heros which will turn into hero cards.
The spells will be spells and a few summons could be added for each hero class. I’d like an Ice sorceress, thank you!
Also, I’m very excited about the whole concept of a Loot cards:
Randomly inserted into some booster packs are the legendary Loot™ cards! Loot™ cards have a scratch-off code that can be used to obtain an exclusive cosmetic item in the online game, such as a unique pet, tabard or mount! These cards are very rare…a player who finds one will likely be the envy of his or her entire realm!
From what I’ve heard legendary cards will be incredibly rare. Imagine having to collect a whole legendary set. If Diablo 3 is successful, there’s a pretty good chance Blizzard will do another TCG - this time a Diablo one. Amen.
Published November 16th, 2006
in Diablo 3 in the media and Blizzard.
Finally. It feels like we’ve been waiting for an year for Blizzard to get the public beta out (ever since E3 really).
I’ve just “upgraded” my WoW account and I’ve started downloading the client. It’s a helfty 2GB download but I’m already at 30%, so I got nothing to complain about.
I am semi-excited about the whole expansion thing. However, what I am really excited about is that finally Blizzard have NO EXCUSE.
Up till now, it was like “sorry, we’re working on the Burning Crusade, we have to keep our other projects a secret, ‘cos fans can’t handle the excitement of more than one Blizz game!”
Get the goddam expansion out and focus on Diablo 3!
Update: As of the 15th, the WoW Expansion is in stores. Go and get yours!
Published November 15th, 2006
in Diablo News, Diablo 3 in the media and Blizzard.
Gamespot is not known for spreading rumors. The list of Diablo 3 news is getting pretty long. Here’s the list according to Gamespot:
Gamespot were kind enough to call Blizzard, only to get the following “official story”:
As it has in the past, Blizzard danced around any inquires about the status–or existence–of Diablo 3. “We love the Diablo universe and are definitely interested in returning to it at some point in the future,” a rep told GameSpot. “However, at this time, we’re wholly focused on completing the upcoming expansion for World of Warcraft.”
I bet there are at least two development teams working on games at Blizzard. So my guess is Diablo’s development (or Starcraft 2!) hasn’t slowed down, just because WoW’s expansion has been delayed. More likely, it’s the marketing guys whose hands are full with card games and what not!
Update: Blizzcon has just been announced - August 3 and 4. Let’s see what kind of game announcements Blizzard will make. My biggest hope is they don’t put off Diablo 3 because of Starcraft 2.
Published November 14th, 2006
in Diablo News, Diablo 3 in the media and Blizzard.
Recently, I posted an IGN interview with Paul Sams, Blizzard’s COO.
Now comes another - Mike Morhaime, Blizzard’s President answers a few questions about upcoming games (and possibly Diablo 3).
Q: Do you have a war chest now that you can use to do other things?
A: We have a number of other projects in the works. We can’t talk about them yet. They haven’t been announced.
Q: In the MMO space?
A: In general, broadly.
A few questions later, we get a console question.
Q: Starcraft Ghost?
A: Starcraft Ghost is on ice.
Q: Why?
A: It became pretty clear to us that we were late in the platform transition. We were on the wrong platform and were quickly running out of time to iterate and polish the game. We decided to pull the plug on working on old generation and we shifted all of our resources to working on next-generation platforms. There were a lot of things that we learned working on it. We’ll hopefully be able to leverage a lot of that with our next-generation games.
Q: Do you have a chance to do something like Microsoft did with Kameo, which started on the GameCube and moved to the Xbox before it was published on the Xbox 360?
A: At this point, we’re evaluating all of our options.
I think the key phrase here is “we shifted all of our resources to working on next-generation platforms”. As with everything Blizzard, you’ll find little more than a few vague statements but it seems like two things stand out:
1) There’s still a pretty good chance for Diablo 3 to be a MMO
2) Games are still being developed for the new gen of consoles (like Xbox 360 and PS3).
I really hope they don’t go after cheap video game movies like Doom.
Published November 11th, 2006
in Diablo News, Diablo 3 in the media and Blizzard.
Finally, Playstation 3 (プレイステーション 3) arrives in Japan. As of Saturday morning, the PS3 is here.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Diablo 3 but what the heck.
I have prepared myself to be patient. No one ever managed to rush Blizzard anyway.
Here’s the first guy to get a Playstation 3 though:
“I thought that Yodobashi Multimedia Akiba would have them in stock. There were so many people I thought I wouldn’t be able to buy one, so I’m really happy,” said Okawa, who said he had waited outside the store since about 10 p.m. the previous evening.
I do remember waiting in line for the Diablo 2 expansion. It was fun because all the guys on the line were fans as well.
Published November 7th, 2006
in Diablo News, Diablo 3 rumors and Blizzard.
Chris Hartgraves from WasteLandsGaming.com, a former employee of Blizzard Entertainment, has been credited with spreading quite a few Diablo 3 rumors!
The part about Diablo 3 being a MMO is pretty old but I just noticed he also mentions a console (and it’s not the PS3!).
All I have to say is Diablo 3 will be on epic preperation like WoW will be except they are going to have guild housing FINALLY! There was a rumor that WoW was coming to 360 which is completely false.
Blizzard tried to squash the rumor saying it was just going to preview new MS Vista software but Diablo is what they are really going to show coming to 360 … Ghost is too late in development and a big fuck up in Blizzards eyes and stuck on the PS2 - XBOX
OK, I think I get what Chris is trying to say here: WoW is staying on the PC, while Diablo will explore new “console” ground. Frankly, I don’t care if Diablo 3 will come out on Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 but I definitely want to see it on my PC!
Published November 5th, 2006
in Diablo News, Diablo 3 in the media and Blizzard.
When Paul Sams discussed extensions to the Diablo and Starcraft universes, he said that:
Some other companies get into the role of making just MMOs, but Blizzard lets the developers pick what they want to work on, and it’s not all MMOs…
This has fueled hopes that Diablo 3 might not be a MMO after all.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that World of Diablo is already registered as a trademark! I did a trademark search and here’s the result:
IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer game software. FIRST USE: 20060715. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20060715 IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment services, namely, providing an on-line computer game. FIRST USE: 20060715. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20060715″ as the use and “(APPLICANT) GENERAL COMPUTERS, INC. CORPORATION NEVADA 606 JOHNSON AVENUE, SUITE 18 BOHEMIA NEW YORK 11716
From what I can tell General Computers are a Chinese company with offices in the US (or it’s the other way around). They are coming out with a MMO called Twilight War : After the Fall.
I’m not sure HOW they have secured World of Diablo but it seems pretty obvious they plan to use it for a MMO. It could explain why Blizzard started buying all the Diablo 3 domains they could find!
Published November 3rd, 2006
in Diablo News, Diablo 3 rumors and Blizzard.
Richard A. Knaak recently talked about the upcoming Diablo trilogy. During the IRC interview, Knaak was asked about Lilith:
Medievaldragon: Hope I am not spoiling much at this point, however I really have to ask. Blizzard introduced a new Pandemonium Event monster named Lilith (Act V) in Diablo II Patch 1.11.
Knaak: She is, I believe, although she will look a little different by the game’s point. Her part in the trilogy is major.
Here’s the Lilith info from Blizzard (patch 1.11):
Lilith is believed to be Queen of the Succubi and matriarch of demons. After her legions of Succubi and strongest daughter Andariel were killed by mortals who successfully defended the Worldstone, Lilith swore to personally intervene. She masterminded the revival of Diablo by manifesting herself in the mortal realm and performing a ritual of Dark Summoning. This ritual, long thought to be impossible by the most powerful mortal wizards, allowed Lilith to link with Diablo across realms, strengthening him until he was finally able to once again reincarnate himself in the mortal plane. Rage and a deep yearning for revenge boiled within the eyes of the Lord of Terror, and together he and Lilith resurrected the two remaining Prime Evils as well as Duriel and Izual, two of their strongest agents.
I still don’t get it. Is Lilith supposed to be new Arch-Evil that will appear in Diablo 3 or she’s just a “facilitator”, an agent who will revive Diablo and the rest of the demon bunch in order to recreate the typical Diablo plotline?
Anyone has any insight re: Lilith?
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