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Tag: Blizzard Entertainment

  • Here’s All The New Stuff In Diablo III 2.0.1

    Diablo III launched in 2012 to complaints about its always online DRM and real money auction house. While the always online requirement has stayed, Blizzard will be ditching the real money auction house later this month. Now the developers are launching the game’s first expansion on March 25, and have prepared a massive patch to help prepare the way.

    With Diablo III version 2.0.1, Blizzard says the biggest change is coming in the form of itemization updates, or what it likes to call “Loot 2.0.” All new loot items will now have stats separated into two categories – primary and secondary. Primary stats are those that have a direct effect on your character’s base stats whereas secondary stats will add perks, like larger gold drops.

    With Loot 2.0, Blizzard is also introducing a new feature called smart loot. With smart loot, characters will no longer receive a lot of items their class can’t use. In other words, there’s now a larger chance that you’ll receive items relevant to your class when rolling for that item’s stats.

    As for the Paragon system, Blizzard has introduced three major changes: it has removed the level cap, the paragon levels are now shared and there are even more paragon points now available. It should be noted that paragon levels are still separated between normal and hardcore characters.

    Finally, Blizzard has introduced clans and communities to Diablo III. Clans are the small groups that you frequently play together with while communities are the large groups of players who just want to mingle together online while looking for players.

    Diablo III version 2.0.1 is already out and version 2.0.2 just went live yesterday with some random bug fixes. You can read more on that here.

    Image via Diablo/YouTube

  • ‘Diablo III: Reaper of Souls’ Expansion Coming March 25

    Back in August Blizzard announced the first expansion for Diablo III. Titled Reaper of Souls, the expansion promises to be another suitably hefty old-school PC game expansion of the type Blizzard is known for.

    Today Blizzard announced that Reaper of Souls will be released on March 25, 2014. The expansion will cost $40 for the standard digital edition of the content, but a “digital deluxe” edition of the game is also being offered for $60.

    Reaper of Souls expands Diablo III with an entirely new act involving an angel known as Malthael and the theft of the black soul stone that houses Diablo’s essence. The game’s level cap will be expanded to 70, the new “Crusader” class has been added to the mix, and all classes have gotten new skills and abilities.

    The digital deluxe version of Reaper of Souls, of course, comes with a bunch of in-game exclusive items. Fans who purchase the more expensive version will get exclusive transmogrification recipes, a “Spectral Hound” minion, three extra character slots, some Battle.net portraits, and some decals for StarCraft II. A special “Treasure Goblin” pet for World of Warcraft is also included.

    With its March 2014 release date, Reaper of Souls will be out around the same time that many big games are scheduled to hit store shelves. Titles such as Titanfall, Infamous: Second Son, and Dark Souls II will provide plenty of competition for Blizzard’s Diablo III expansion – especially considering its premium price point.

  • Here’s What Diablo III Looks Like On The PS4

    Earlier this year, Blizzard Entertainment finally got back into the console business with Diablo III on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Many felt that Diablo III on consoles was the definitive version as far as gameplay was concerned, but those consoles could not properly recreate the visual experience that the PC version offers. With next gen consoles, that’s now entirely possible.

    Over the weekend, Blizzard showed off Diablo III running on the PlayStation 4, and it looks just as good as the PC version does. It also shows off some gameplay from the new Diablo III expansion – Reaper of Souls – which will be available on PS4 and PC.

    With improved visuals and the gameplay enhancements seen in the earlier console versions, Diablo III on the PS4 may just be the definitive version of Blizzard’s action RPG.

    There’s no word yet on whether or not Diablo III will make its way to the Xbox One in the future. At the moment, it appears to be a next-gen exclusive on Sony’s machine, but it’s hard to imagine that it will stay that way for long.

    Oh, and while you’re at it, check out Blizzard’s other trailer for Reaper of Souls that details some of the new features found in the expansion:

    [Image: Diablo/YouTube]

  • Blizzard’s ‘Heroes of the Storm’ Previewed, Beta Sign-Ups Live

    Blizzard Entertainment, one of the most popular video game publishers in the world, is holding its annual BlizzCon event this weekend. The publisher is known for making big announcements at the events, and this year is no exception.

    Blizzard has finally taken the wraps off its new MOBA game, previously codenamed Blizzard All-Stars. The title is now Heroes of the Storm.

    Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard’s take on the DOTA-style MOBA genre, which began as a mod for Blizzard’s Warcraft III. Though Valve has taken up the DOTA brand and Riot Games’ League of Legends is the most popular in the genre, Blizzard’s Heroes is, perhaps, the only one of many recent MOBA games that stands a chance of developing a competitive audience.

    The game will feature characters from Blizzard’s biggest franchises – Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft. Characters include World of Warcraft‘s Malfurion Stormrage, Starcraft‘s Sarah Kerrigan, and Diablo himself. The multiplayer maps will also be taken from various locations in those game franchises.

    Blizzard is already taking beta sign-ups for Heroes of the Storm at the game’s new website.

    Blizzard today also released three video previews of Heroes of the Storm. The first is a classic high-quality Blizzard cinematic trailer, featuring plenty of action and animation that rivals Pixar:

    The second video is an actual gameplay trailer for Heroes of the Storm. Unsurprisingly, it looks an awful lot like DOTA:

    The third is a behind-the-scenes look at Blizzard’s development of Heroes, detailing some of the decisions they’ve made about how the game will play:

  • Warlords Of Draenor Is Your Next World Of Warcraft Expansion

    In a year from now, we’ll be approaching the 10th anniversary of World of Warcraft. For such an event, you would expect Blizzard to maybe announce a new MMO, but the venerated game developer has decided to stick to its guns and release another expansion for its almost decade old game.

    At BlizzCon 2013, Blizzard announced that the next expansion to hit World of Warcraft will be called Warlords of Draenor. This latest expansion will introduce characters and locations from the first three Warcraft RTS games into the World of Warcraft universe. The expansion will also raise the level cap to 100, and instantly raise one player character to level 90 so they can immediately access the new content.

    “Warlords of Draenor gives players a chance to take a commanding role in one of the Warcraft series’ most crucial conflicts,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “This expansion also includes features that make it easy for anyone to jump right into the action, whether they’ve played WoW at some point in the past or are just setting foot in Azeroth for the first time.”

    In classic Blizzard fashion, the debut trailer is pretty amazing.

    Besides introducing characters from the older games into the MMO, this latest expansion also allows players to build and upgrade garrisons. Blizzard says the garrison will act as “expandable, customizable stronghold that will serve as each player’s personal base of operations throughout the course of the expansion.” Players will be able to recruit NPCs à la Suikoden and have them take care of the garrison while they’re out and about.

    All in all, Blizzard looks to have another hit on its hand that will ensure WoW stays alive for many more years to come. Considering that the developer has reportedly delayed its next MMO until 2016, Blizzard may need to keep WoW alive for at least a few more years.

    There’s no launch date for the latest WoW expansion, but you can probably expect to see it sometime next year.

    [Image: World of Warcraft/YouTube]

  • Diablo III Hits Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

    Diablo III Hits Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

    As announced back at this year’s E3 conference, Diablo III has now made its debut on consoles. The game is out now for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Blizzard also announced today that a downloadable version of Diablo III will be available via Xbox Live on October 4. As is custom for Blizzard games, Diablo III still retails for its full launch price, $60.

    Diablo III has been changed quite a bit for consoles. The game’s graphics have been locked at console levels, and controls have been significantly to incorporate controllers. The interface has been changed to reflect the new controls, and new tweaks such as a “dynamic camera perspective” and dodge move have also been incorporated to help players deal with the lack of mouse control. Enemies in the game have also been changed for the console versions.

    “In bringing Diablo III to consoles, our main focus has been on making sure we deliver a really fun experience for up to four friends online or on the same couch,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “The game looks and plays great on PS3 and Xbox 360, especially with the new direct-control elements and new interface. We know players will have a blast battling Diablo on their big-screen TVs.”

    Like the PC version of the game, Diablo III on consoles supports four-player online co-op gameplay through Xbox Live or PlayStation Network. The console versions, however, also include a local four-player co-op mode. The new visuals and features were previewed in the below video, which was released back in March:

    Blizzard recently unveiled the first expansion for Diablo III, titled Reaper of Souls. The developer has not yet announced whether the expansion will be coming to consoles in the future.

  • ‘Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls’ Expansion Announced

    It’s been over one year since Diablo III was released on PC. The game enjoyed massive sales, but upset early players with half-baked always-on DRM. Now, with the game is set for release on current-gen consoles in less than a month, Blizzard is announcing its first expansion for Diablo III.

    Diablo III: Reaper of Souls will add a new act and a new playable class to the game. In addition, the level cap for the game will be raised to 70. The story of the expansion involves an angel, Malthael, stealing the black soul stone that houses Diablo’s essence.

    The new playable class will be the Crusader, a melee character in heavy armor and shown wielding a flail. In addition, existing classes will be getting new powers, abilities, and spells to help them through the new content. Loot has also been tweaked for Reaper of Souls, and items are now more customizable. The game’s Paragon system has gotten an upgrade as well, and two new game modes will be added: “Loot Runs” and “Nephalem Trials”.

    Along with the announcement, Blizzard has released two videos previewing Reaper of Souls. One is the opening cinematic for the expansion, another in a long line of award-worthy Blizzard CG creations:

    The other is a gameplay teaser that previews the Crusader, new enemies, and the setting of Reaper of Souls:

  • Diablo III Comes To Xbox 360 And PS3 On September 3

    It was assumed that Diablo III would be a PS3/PS4 exclusive after its unveiling at the Sony PS4 event in February. Today’s announcement confirms that is not the case.

    Blizzard announced today that Diablo III will be coming to the Xbox 360 and PS3 on September 3. The console port of the popular PC action RPG has pretty much everything from the PC version while cutting out the bad stuff – like always online and the real money auction house. The game has also been tailored for couch co-op so you can play with three friends together in the same room.

    “Playing Diablo III on a big screen with your friends brings a whole new level of intensity to the game, and with all of the control and interface adaptations we’ve made, it’s extremely fun to play on PS3 and Xbox 360,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “In addition to the fine-tuning we’ve done for the console versions, we’re also including major content and design updates we’ve made to the PC version over the past year, so players can expect an epic Diablo gaming experience when the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions launch in September.”

    After this announcement, it makes one wonder if Diablo III will also be coming to the Xbox One next year. After all, being multiplatform on current gen consoles while being exclusive on next-gen consoles makes little sense. To find out more, we’ve reached out to Blizzard for comment. We’ll update if and when we hear back.

    In the meantime, Blizzard would really appreciate it if you pre-ordered their first console game in years. If you do, you’ll get a game breaking XP boost armor item. Even better, Blizzard might finally be convinced to make a Lost Vikings sequel if Diablo III does well enough on consoles.

  • Here’s An Inside Look At PS4 Development From The Diablo III Team

    It was announced in February that Blizzard was returning to console development. Now some may have been disappointed that the developer was only bringing a port of Diablo III to the console, but it’s still a pretty big deal to have the fastest selling PC game of all time come to a new console.

    As such, the guys at Blizzard spoke to Sony about what it’s like to develop for the PS4. In short, they really like the new console. They especially like how the PS4 (and PS3) allows them to bring couch co-op to the Diablo franchise.

    I feel that I must point out that Blizzard is super cruel to keep alluding to The Lost Vikings without announcing a new entry in the franchise. We can only hope that Diablo III will be successful enough on consoles to convince Blizzard to begin work on a new entry in its best franchise.

    Diablo III will be out on the PS3 later this year, with the PS4 version being out some time after.

  • Diablo III For PS3 Goes Up For Preorder Today

    At Sony’s PS4 event in February, Blizzard Entertainment announced that it was returning to console development after a long hiatus. It announced a Diablo III port for the PS3 and PS4 as its first project.

    Blizzard Entertainment announced today the PS3 version of Diablo III is now available for preorder. There’s no launch date available just yet, but the developer confirmed once again that the title will be available later this year.

    “We’ve poured blood, sweat, and hellfire into creating an epic Diablo III experience for PlayStation gamers,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “In addition to including all the improvements from the PC version over the past year, we’ve made several updates to Diablo III for play on the PS3. We got a ton of positive feedback from players who tried the game at PAX East, and we can’t wait to get it into everyone’s hands later this year.”

    Those who preorder Diablo III will gain instant access to the Infernal Helm. It provides an experience boost to any player character who’s equipped with it.

    The console version of Diablo III comes with another bonus in the form of ditching the PC version’s always online requirement. Players are free to play online, or offline, with up to four friends in online and local co-op modes.

    There’s no word on whether or not the PS4 version of Diablo III will be available this year, but I would expect an announcement near the launch of the PS3 version. It would be pretty advantageous for Sony if its new machine were to launch with a game like Diablo III, especially if the PS4 version was cross-compatible with the PS3 version.

  • Check Out The First Gameplay From Hearthstone: Heroes Of Warcraft

    At PAX East, Blizzard announced that it’s working on its first new, original Warcraft game in almost a decade. The game – Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft – is a collectible trading card game that pits players against each other using creatures and spells from the Warcraft universe.

    Unfortunately, the first trailer didn’t really give us much of a look at the gameplay in Hearthstone. The latest trailer out of Blizzard remedies that by giving players a look at a match between a Paladin and a Warrior.

    Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will soon be available in closed beta. The full game will launch as a free to play title supported by microtransactions later this year.

  • Here’s What Diablo III Looks Like On The PS3

    During Sony’s big PS4 reveal show, Blizzard popped up on stage to announce that it was returning to console development. The prolific developer announced that it would be porting Diablo III to the PS3 and PS4, thus crushing my hopes of ever seeing a return of The Lost Vikings.

    Casting my own bitterness aside, I recognize that Diablo III coming exclusively to Sony’s platform is a big deal. As such, there will be a lot of scrutiny applied to the project as many PC players didn’t exactly have high praise for the title. The game was already suspected of being built around consoles, however, so console players lacking a PC gamer’s superiority complex may get a kick out of it.

    In other Blizzard news, the developers crushed the dreams of Warcraft fans everywhere by announcing a trading card game instead of a proper installment of the venerated real-time strategy series.

  • Blizzard Details eSports Support For StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm

    One of the fastest growing subsets of gaming culture is eSports. Millions of people tune in every month to watch matches between the best players in games like StarCraft II, League of Legends and DOTA 2. With the next StarCraft II game, Blizzard is stepping up its support for eSports in some big ways.

    Alongside additions coming to eSports support, the latest StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm preview tackles the changes Blizzard will be making to basic multiplayer and spectating as well. Speaking of spectating, Blizzard announced that players will be able to spectate matches as a group so friends can watch games together. Going even further, StarCraft II will implement a feature called Take Command that allows players to jump into a replay and start playing themselves.

    With all the additions coming to multiplayer, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm will surely be the definitive version of the RTS for tournament players. Well, that is until Legacy of the Void launches a few years from now.

  • Diablo 3 PS3, PS4 Releases on the Way

    One of the most surprising moments of last night’s big PlayStation 4 unveiling was when Chris Metzen, SVP of story and franchise development at Blizzard Entertainment, took the stage. Though he wasn’t at the presentation to announce a new franchise, since Blizzard has been producing PC-exclusive content for years now, his announcement was one that is sure to shake-up the gaming community.

    Diablo III will be coming to both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 consoles. Metzen mentioned that the game is already up-and-running on the PS3, and that a playable version will be featured at PAX East.

    “Diablo III looks and plays great on the PlayStation,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard. “We put a lot of care and thought into the PlayStation version to make sure it would deliver an authentic Diablo gaming experience, and we’re really pleased with the results. We can’t wait for players to try it out at PAX East.”

    The user interface for the game will be very different in the PlayStation versions, adapted to suit a console controller. The game will also feature a “new dynamic camera perspective” for console gamers. The local and online co-op will be available and some of the newest additions to the PC game, such as the Paragon leveling system and epic Legendary items, will be included.

  • Blizzard Talks Up New Features In StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm

    StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, the next game in the StarCraft II trilogy, is quickly approaching. Some players may be content to keep playing Wings of Liberty, but others will want to jump on board the latest title to see where the story goes or check out the newest additions to competitive multiplayer. Those who fit into the latter category will want to check out all the new features coming to matchmaking as detailed in a new trailer.

    In a new “Ways to Play” trailer, Blizzard walks players through all the new features coming to matchmaking in StarCraft II. This is what players will be spending most of their time in. As such, Blizzard wants to make it super accessible for new players, while keeping the same highly competitive environment that made Wings of Liberty so popular.

    Competitive players will definitely want to check out next week’s video as Blizzard will be going through all the enhancements its making to the multiplayer portion of the game, as well as what it’s doing to support the eSports community.

  • Blizzard Cans Diablo III’s Team Deathmatch Mode

    Diablo III was originally meant to ship with a PvP arena so players could take on each other with the loot they’ve accumulated throughout the game. The mode was cut from the game’s launch back in March, and delayed until a nonspecific point in the future. Those plans are now once again thrown into disarray as Blizzard announced today that its Team Deathmatch PvP has been canceled.

    Over on the battle.net blog, Diablo III lead designer Jay Wilson announced the PvP cancelation alongside the reasoning behind doing so. He says that the PvP mode in Diablo III was built around the dueling community in Diablo II, but was expanded to include a wide breadth of options like Team Deathmatch. The mode was cut after Blizzard found that it wasn’t good enough.

    Despite Wilson saying it wasn’t good enough, he also points out that players enjoyed the mode whenever it was shown off at conventions. So, why did they make the final decision to cut it? He says it came down to two reasons:

    For us it comes to a few issues, one of which is depth. Simply fighting each other with no other objectives or choices to make gets old relatively quickly. We’ve brought a lot of people in to try out Team Deathmatch and, while some found it entertaining, most of our testers didn’t feel like it was something they’d want to do beyond a few hours. Without more varied objectives, or very lucrative rewards, few saw our current iteration as something they’d want spend a lot of time in.

    Another is class balance. Like Diablo II, Diablo III was designed to be a PvE-first kind of game, where we never compromised on player abilities in the name of future PvP balance. We want to be able to carry over as many of the crazy runes, items, and skills as possible, with their crazy effects, and alter them as little as possible. In a casual PvP mode, something equivalent to a WoW Battleground, this would be fine, but Team Deathmatch felt very hardcore, and it put a laser focus on class balance in a way that we didn’t think would be good for the game as a whole.

    Fans of PvP need worry not, however, as Blizzard will be adding dueling into the game in patch 1.0.7. It’s expected to hit early next year, and details will be forthcoming. As for the cut Team Deathmatch mode, Blizzard will be using the experience gained from developing the mode to come up with a suitable replacement. That replacement will possibly feature “new modes that play up to the strengths of the character classes, focus on objectives beyond just defeating other players, and possibly even integrate PvE elements and rewards.”

    Diablo III, despite being the fastest selling PC title ever, has suffered some blowback from the community as various complaints have arisen since its launch including its always online DRM, lack of any real endgame, and other problems. The months since then have shown that Blizzard is at least attempting to make good on its promise to keep Diablo III fresh for players, and the cancelation of the Team Deathmatch mode hopefully shows that Blizzard has something even better in mind.

  • StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm Hits Retail On March 12

    StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm Hits Retail On March 12

    It’s been over two years since the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Blizzard’s first sequel to its classic RTS franchise inspired an entire new generation of eSports, and fans have been eagerly anticipating the release of the second game in the StarCraft II franchise since. It was originally supposed to come out at the end of this year, but Blizzard pushed the release to an ambiguous early 2013 launch.

    The ambiguity has now been lifted, and Blizzard has announced that StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm will launch on March 12 in both retail and digital editions. The game will continue the story where it left off at the end of Wings of Liberty, but now focus on the always entertaining Kerrigan and the Zerg race.

    “With Heart of the Swarm, our goal has been to expand on the multiplayer action and cinematic storytelling of Wings of Liberty,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Combined with features like unranked matchmaking and our new leveling system, this expansion elevates the StarCraft II experience for players of all skill levels.”

    The basic game will be available for $39.99 for both the retail and digital versions of the game. Blizzard is also offering a Collector’s Edition that will retail for $79.99. This version will include a Behind-the-Scenes DVD and Blu-ray, soundtrack CD and Zerg Rush mousepad.

    If physical goodies are not your thing, Blizzard will also offer the Digital Deluxe Edition for $59.99. For an extra $20, players will get StarCraft II Battle.net portraits and decals, an in-game pet for World of Warcraft, Blade Wings and Banner Sigil for Diablo III, and the Torrasque, a unique look for the Ultralisk unit. All of the Digital Deluxe Edition content is included in the physical Collector’s Edition set.

    As far as multiplayer goes, Heart of the Swarm will introduce a number of new units for each race – Terran Hellbats, Zerg Swarm Hosts and Protoss Tempests. Units from Wings of Liberty will also be updated with new abilities.

    StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is now available for pre-order on Battle.net. Those who pre-order will be able to pre-load the title before it launches and play when it becomes available.

  • World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Officially Released

    The fourth expansion for the wildly popular MMO World of Warcraft is now available in North America, Europe, Australia, and select South American countries.

    The expansion chronicles the discovery of a new continent in Azeroth. Players can take on the role of a character of the Pandaren race, fight as the new monk class, and explore the new continent as they level up to the new level cap of 90. The expansion also includes a new type of cooperative PvE trial, challenge modes, and, of course, the new pet battle mini-game.

    “Mists of Pandaria takes players back to the roots of World of Warcraft – exploration, discovery, and the epic conflict between the Alliance and the Horde,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “It also contains the widest variety of content that we’ve ever added in an expansion, and we’re excited to be able to share it with players around the world this week in our first truly global launch.”

    To celebrate the launch, Blizzard held a massive launch party in cities across Europe, including Paris, Moscow, London, Stockholm, and Milan. The festivities were streamed on YouTube, but if you missed the live-stream a replay of the events can be seen below.

  • Diablo III Complaints Cause Blizzard Seoul Raid

    It’s hard launching a blockbuster video game these days. Even if you work for a decade and spend hundreds of millions of dollars in development, entitled fans will find something to complain about within minutes of a game’s release. EA is learning this new lesson in gamer entitlement with Mass Effect 3, which gamers didn’t feel ended correctly. So, Bioware, the developer of Mass Effect 3, announced it would release downloadable content (DLC) to “clarify” the ending.

    Now, Activision is learning the same lesson. According to The Korea Times, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating Blizzard Entertainment over allegations that the company did not provide refunds to customers dissatisfied with their purchase of Diablo III. The issue stems from the problems Blizzard had meeting demand for the game on launch-day. From the report:

    Some buyers of the game vented frustration over server shutdowns and asked for refunds, but the company refused to do so, citing sales contract terms, which the FTC says is disadvantageous to consumers.

    The Korean FTC evidently received hundreds of complaints from Diablo III players who were unable to play their games due to the always-on internet connection requirement of the game. The Korean FTC is not investigating the fact that consumers could not access their purchased game, but the claim that some of those upset players were unable to secure a refund for their unplayable game. The investigation led to a raid at Blizzard’s offices in Seoul, where investigators confiscated documents related to the case. The FTC will now determine whether Blizzard actually broke the law.

    Though both EA and Activision are taking heat from fans and seeing governmental pressure over their games, it’s odd that none of the pressure on the game companies is for the things the companies are deliberately doing that inconvenience customers. The complaints about Mass Effect 3 were regarding the game’s story design, which gamers thought was too linear. What gamers should have been complaining about was buying a copy of the game and then having to buy “DLC” for content that was already on the disc they had purchased. In Korea, the investigation into Blizzard is regarding their willingness to provide refunds. What should be investigated is the reason so many want refunds – the always-on internet requirement for Diablo III.

    (The Korea Times via gameranx)

  • Man Plays Diablo III For 3 Days Straight, Dies

    Blizzard certainly knows how to keep people in their seats and playing games. There have been stories in the past of gamers playing the company’s hit MMO, World of Warcraft, for so long that they have died. Now, a report has surfaced that a player has died while playing Blizzard’s recently released Diablo III.

    The story comes from a friend of the deceased who goes by the screen name “Ben” blogging over at BuildStarted.com. Over the weekend 32-year-old Russell Shirley suffered a heart attack during a marathon play session of the game. Shirley had taken 3 days off of work to play the game, and Ben states that he “played Diablo 3 pretty much the whole time.”

    Ben doesn’t blame Diablo III or Blizzard for Shirley’s death, only Shirley’s inactive lifestyle. Shirley’s friends, according to the blog post, had tried to get him to live in a more healthy way. They encouraged Shirley to eat better foods and even offered to pay for a gym membership, but had little success. From the blog post:

    I’m not trying to blame the game for killing him. I’m trying to place blame on the lifestyle choice he made. His health issues combined with a sedentary life must have taken it’s toll. It just happened to be during a Diablo 3 marathon that he died.

    The lesson is, then, that video games don’t kill people, but a sedentary lifestyle certainly can. Of course, video games, and Blizzard games in particular, can be an awfully large part of a sedentary lifestyle.

    (BuildStarted via IGN)

  • Diablo III Breaks Records and Becomes the Fastest-Selling PC Title Ever

    Perhaps it’s last year’s strong titles that brought more players into the hobby, or maybe players are simply starved for a great gaming experience, but the last couple of months have seen huge sales numbers and multiple broken records for the video game industry. Mass Effect 3 sold millions of copies worldwide and the Xbox Live Arcade has seen two different titles break sales records in the past month, including the console edition of Minecraft.

    Today, Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of World of Warcraft and the Diablo franchise, announced that Diablo III has broken sales records and become the fastest-selling PC game of all-time. The game sold more than 3.5 million copies in its first 24 hours. Blizzard was clear that this number does not include players who recieved Diablo III for free after signing up for a year of World of Warcraft. A week after release, the game has 6.3 million players, not counting those players in Korean game rooms, where Diablo III has become the top-played game.

    “We’re definitely thrilled that so many people around the world were excited to pick up their copy of Diablo III and jump in the moment it went live,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard. “We also regret that our preparations were not enough to ensure everyone had a seamless experience when they did so. I want to reaffirm our commitment to make sure the millions of Diablo III players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward, and I also want to thank them for their ongoing support.”

    These numbers are impressive, and it’s equally impressive that the CEO of Blizzard would humbly acknowledge the trouble many players actually had playing the game. Blizzard should be used to selling millions of units of software, and should have been prepared for the demand for a game many players have been waiting over a decade to experience. The company responded to the “error 37” problems quickly, but not quick enough for many gamers who took off work and rescheduled their lives around the Diablo III launch. Of course, the problems encountered with Diablo III’s launch also clearly demonstrate the inherent problems with requiring an always-on internet connection for a game that can be played single-player.