Those of you who have knee-jerk reactions should look away now. Actually, the headline is only a tiny snippet of the story here. Diablo III's appearance on consoles has long been rumored and it looks like Blizzard has admitted to experimenting with alternate control methods for the title, including using an Xbox 360-esque gamepad.
Game director Jay Wilson says Blizzard devs felt that concerning Diablo III, "the control and style of the game lends itself to a console," adding they had tried a "360-like" controller and "this feels even better with direct control." It makes sense -- I mean, Diablo came out on the PlayStation, after all.
Wilson also stated that the studio doesn't see itself as a PC developer, rather, "the games we want to make suit the PC platform." I think if you looked at Blizzard's franchises, Diablo III's fast action and combat-heavy style would suit a console release. The Diablo-style Torchlight did well on consoles, so I can't see not having a mouse and keyboard being a serious drawback if the controls were implemented properly. However, Wilson says there's no plans to include gamepad support for Diablo III at launch.
Blizzard's Diablo 3 experiments: "oh this feels even better with direct control" [PC Gamer]
Contest:
6:00 PM on 09.22.2011 | 
Not judging yet whether or not this is a Mass Effect 2 "good" streamlining or a Dragon Age 2 dumbification, but after plating the beta I can see this. The beta is wonderful by the way - I have no doubt Diablo's userbase will double, given how low the barriers of entry are now.
Also, this game is going to be amazing whether they let me play on my big screen (X360) or not.
Would be really nice if it was X-platform.... assuming they didn't gimp the PC versions controls like it seems they do whenever that happens.
Oh yeah don't get me wrong T2 is likely going to be my virtual drug of choice, well that and GW2, Mmmmmmmmmm
"It feels good because Diablo 2's 10-15 active skills have been toned down to around 5"
Urg I dont like the sound of that. Since I like so many different genres I was putting off playing a hack and slasher until D3 but now I might just buy D2s expansion pack and play that instead (with the main game)
You still get a giant pool of 30ish skills; you can only just use a small amount of them at a time. Take that as you will :)
Also worth pointing out that each of your 6 active skills are modified by the use of runes. There's something like 5 or 6 possible runes to choose from that can be slotted into the skill (you can only use 1 rune per skill) and each drastically modifies it in some way.
So yeah, it's only 6 active skills, but given the possible combinations of skills and runes to choose from, it's still seems very deep and complex.
Thx god for that clarification I was getting worried for a minute :)
While runes haven't been implemented in beta yet I haven't tried it, but keep in mind that even a passive aura you may never activate will take an active slot. So some characters may only be utilizing 4 or so activated skills; a far cry from D1-2, which had like 10+ needed at all times.
Call me an PC elitist (I dont care) but I just hate seeing games get dumbed down, although it seems that D3 isnt so bad.
Still I dont see why Blizzard dont allow M&K users to just map 10 active skills to the number keys and let pad player have 6.
"but keep in mind that even a passive aura you may never activate will take an active slot. So some characters may only be utilizing 4 or so activated skills"
Sigh....
Granted I'm not in the beta, but according to the skill builder tool on the Blizz website, there are 6 active slots and 4 passive slots. In other words, from what they're showing on there, you still get 6 active skills even with the passives slotted.
maybe that's just not been implemented yet in the beta?
There are 3 passive slots. They're for buffs and the like.
However, Monk/Sorc auras and Witch Doctor summons are active abilities. You never have to use them but you have to "equip" them.
I dont see the hate. Its still being built for mouse and keyboard on PC.
You tried the Playstation 1 version of Diablo 3? Cool, let me borrow your weird alternate dimension time machine after you come back from the world where FFXIII doesn't suck and APB was a smash hit.
2. RTSonconsoleslol
It run's on my girlfriend's $300.00 ACER BZ600 on medium settings. If you have enough for an Xbox, you have enough for a rig that can run D3.
The minimum system req. Blizzard has stated seem to be waaaaaaaay more then you need.
That does sound pretty affordable, but I'm a poor college student. My friend gave me his old 360 a while back when he upgraded.
Especially with PS3 which is already PnP compatible with keyboards.
They're gonna make a lot $ if they make it for consoles too.