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Blizzard Presentation Says Diablo III’s Not Coming in 2010

Nathan Grayson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:20:47 -0600

The elevator up from hell sure is taking its time. We imagine that Mass Effect’s Shepard -- even with his eternal patience for cramped spaces, boring music, and upward mobility -- would be cursing up a storm by now if he were aboard that infernal machine. So just imagine how poor old Diablo must feel – especially now that the not-so-loveable lug may have a “few years” left before he finally surfaces.

A recent Blizzard presentation listed Diablo III as arriving in the “next few years,” along with StarCraft II’s expansions and Blizzard’s next massively multiplayer cash cow. In store for “next year,” meanwhile, are StarCraft II and WoW: Cataclysm. The bottom line? No loot-grabbing and Satan-stabbing until – at the earliest – 2011. Unless, of course, Diablo III goes into full-on beta mode next year, but we’re not getting our hopes up.

Honestly Diablo, at this point, we’re thinking you should’ve taken the stairs.

StarCraft II Beta Slips out of 2009

Nathan Grayson — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:33:54 -0600

Initially said to be making a nuclear strike on our free time in 2009, StarCraft II’s beta test has officially shoved off into the murky, fog-of-war shrouded depths of 2010.

StarCraft II producer Chris Sigaty made the announcement during a presentation at Russian games expo IgroMir, much to the chagrin of the year 2009, which – after providing chronological sanctuary for a global economic crisis and the tragic deaths of multiple beloved celebrities – needed some sort of positive highlight to keep it from going down in history as the worst year ever. When reached for comment, 2010 had only this to say: “Neener-neener-neener.”

For the time being, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is still set to launch in the Spring of 2010. Could another delay be just around the corner, though? We sure hope not – but even if Blizzard decides to take its sweet time putting the finishing touches on its space-faring sequel, it’s not like early 2010 is hurting for major game releases.

WoW Tests out Microtransactions, Sells Virtual Pets for Real Money

Nathan Grayson — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:34:15 -0600

Wow. Just wow. We already fork over $15 per month to play World of Warcraft, and Blizzard seriously expects us to drop more of our hard-earned cash on a couple of… Good Lord. They’re adorable. Here’s all our money, as well as a winning lottery ticket and our collection of first edition Charizards.

Lucky for our credit histories, though, only two pets are on sale at the moment. First up, there’s the Pandaren Monk, which – in addition to warming the cockles of our hearts – brightens the days of sick children. From now until December 31, half the proceeds from each $10 Pandaren purchase will go to the Make-a-Wish-Foundation.

Lil’ K.T., the Littlest Lich, on the other hand, isn’t so charitable. Perhaps that’s because he’s the spitting image of his pop, the evil Kel’Thuzad. Apparently, he’s even been known to “randomly wreak icy havoc on critters who dare to cross his path.” But look at that face. Omnipotence and iron-fisted dominion over all existence notwithstanding, all Lil’ K.T. really wants is love.

So, readers, Pandaren Monk or Lil’ K.T. – which is it gonna be?

WarCraft Movie Snags “Saving Private Ryan” Screenwriter

Nathan Grayson — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:24:18 -0500

Are we in the midst of a videogame movie that might just be – dare we say it – worth looking forward to? Well, let’s see: first, the Dark Knight’s producer signed on, then Spiderman director Sam Raimi swung onto the set, and now, “Saving Private Ryan”/"The Patriot" screenwriter Robert Rodat’s attempting to prove to us that “WarCraft” won’t turn out to be a superhero movie, among other things.

"I've never made a video game movie, but my approach would be to work with the best character writer I can find, which in this case is Robert Rodat, and tell a great character story within the fantastic environment of the world of WarCraft, while staying true to their mythology,” said director Sam Raimi.

Wait. You mean, in order to craft a quality videogame movie, you need to hire talented people? Doh! We knew everyone else was doing something wrong.

Turbine, SOE, Blizzard, Others Sued for Patent Infringement

Nathan Grayson — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:00:48 -0500

At first glance, you’d think Paltalk Holdings Inc has a few loose screws rattling around in its head. After all, it recently declared legal war on a who’s-who list of big-name MMO developers: Blizzard (WoW), Turbine (Lord of the Rings Online), SOE (Everquest), NCSoft (Guild Wars, City of Heroes), Jagex (Runescape) – you name it. If you’re on top of the MMO world, Paltalk is trying to knock you down a peg or two. So, why would Paltalk risk getting torn to shreds by some of the fiercest lawyers in the videogame business? Easy – because the company already forced Microsoft to pony up an undisclosed sum with the very same lawsuit.

Paltalk holds a potent pair of patents that basically spell court-ordered doom for any massively multiplayer game publisher. These patents grant Paltalk providence over “sharing data among many connected computers so that all users see the same digital environment.” Sound like any MMO you’ve ever played before? Because it sounds like every MMO we’ve ever played before.

So, will this super team of MMO publishers – forced together by circumstance – be able to overcome Paltalk and its sidekick, Johnny Law? Really, we have no idea. Are there any lawyers in the audience who might be able to give us a more solid answer?

Blizzard’s Next MMO to be “Significantly Different” from WoW

Nathan Grayson — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:35:49 -0500

In what’s starting to look like an annual occurrence, it’s time for another tiny morsel of info on Blizzard’s next massively multiplayer magnum opus. Blizzard’s Paul Sams spoke with Wired about the <insert adjective describing the game here once we actually know something about it> MMO, explaining that the game is unique enough to avoid stepping on WoW’s toes.

“I think the (new MMO) is going to be significantly differentiated enough,” Sams said. “Such that, you’re not going to feel like they’re one and the same resulting in that you have to pick or choose.”

“If the bad thing that happens to us is that they leave WoW and go to this other thing of Blizzard’s, then we’ll work through that pain,” he added.

Shockingly, we’d actually be pretty alright with knowing the “pain” of having one of our multi-million dollar MMOs cannibalize subscribers from our other multi-million dollar MMO. But then, that’s just us.

Hands-On Impressions: Diablo III is Good Old-Fashioned Fun

Nathan Grayson — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:38:02 -0500

I had the pleasure of taking a stab (and a hack and a slash) at an obscure little game called Diablo III during last week’s BlizzCon and, well, it was pretty nifty. How nifty, you ask? Well, let’s see, I think I abandoned my infinitely stealable laptop to play the demo, oh, four or five times. (Happily, my laptop remains safe-and-sound. How anyone could refuse the allures of its sexy 900 MHz Celeron processor and cutting-edge integrated graphics card, though, is beyond me.)

So, Diablo III’s shaping up quite nicely. If you were afraid (or… hoping?) Blizzard might finally stain its spotless reputation with a sub-par game, you can put those fears to rest. Now then, without further ado, let’s dive into the specifics of Diablo III’s diabolical brand of fun.

The demo I played opened with my character in a small desert outpost. Other characters told me that leaving the outpost would mean certain doom and all that jazz, so – of course – I completely ignored them and dove headlong into the sandy deathtrap. As I strolled about, clicking on things until other things came out (usually blood, loot, or some combination of the two), I quickly noticed something: the desert was enormous. A departure from Diablo’s usual linear dwellings, it presented a plethora of potential paths, and without that medieval global positioning system sometimes known as a “map,” I would’ve gotten all kinds of lost.

Fortunately, my semi-aimless wanderings were anything but uneventful. When I wasn’t poking and prodding enemies until they erupted into gore geysers (more on that later), I was partaking from a veritable buffet of sidequests. One saw me avenging the death of a girl who was both exploited and exploded (no joke) by cultists, while another sent me into a rapidly deteriorating tomb to raid its treasures before its time -- and mine -- ran out. Better yet, from what I could tell, a number of tombs – basically, mini-dungeons – littered the demo's landscape, each with its own treasures and objectives. If you want mission variety, Diablo III looks to have it in spades. And knowing Blizzard, I’m sure my Aladdin-style collapsing cave encounter was only the tip of iceberg.

During my many runs on Diablo III’s demo station, I toyed around with each of the game’s thus-far-announced classes, but for the purpose of this preview, I’m going to focus on the recently unveiled Monk – partially because I’m assuming you guys have already dug up and devoured plenty of information on the other classes, but mostly because the Monk is awesome.

Really, I can see why he’s chosen to devote his life to whatever religion he practices; I mean, its main teachings involve pummeling people into putty, and, well, I certainly wouldn’t refuse a pamphlet from a religion like that. The upside of this? The Monk cuts through hordes of demonspawn like a hot knife through butter. He’s a damage-dealing machine, and – even better – he’s fun as hell to play.

Remember when I said we’d talk about the “gore geysers” later? Well, that’s happening now. The Monk’s default combo ends with a strike that causes a “bleed” symbol to appear over enemies’ heads. If those enemies happen to eat one too many knuckle sandwiches while bleeding, they explode into a bloody, chunky mess, damaging nearby enemies with their airborne giblets. The Monk does have other attacks, but I nearly didn’t notice.

That's not the only "combo" in the Monk's repertoire, either. Many of his strikes can be chained together, with each strike having different effects on your enemies. The "exploding strike," as it's known, then, is merely the end strike on an already devestating combo.

Also useful is the seven-sided strike, which Blizzard described as “chain lightning, only you’re the lightning.” I have to agree with that assessment. The attack sees you warp into the fray, bathed in holy aura, bouncing from enemy-to-enemy in a Tasmanian Devil-esque ballet of violence. The strikes themselves aren’t too damaging, but it’s a nice attack for closing distance, and it’s fun to watch, to boot.

Gear-wise, the Monk can’t equip much, which may give loot lovers second thoughts about playing him. In fact, during the demo, I didn’t even encounter a single weapon he could actually use. However, if you’d rather forget all those complicated equipment-based distractions and focus on the pure art of demon-slaughter, the Monk’s probably your man.

Be warned, though: Even when the Monk is clad in his finest threads, he's still no Barbarian. The Monk's best defense is a good offense, but when the going gets too rough, he tends to crumble. Watch your health meter; you may feel all high and mighty with all your blood inside your body now, but within a few seconds, that might not be the case.

With all that said, Diablo III’s looking great. Really, the BlizzCon demo was so polished that I’d have sworn it came from a completed game. Sadly though, that’s not even close to being the case. Blizzard’s keeping its lips sealed in regard to an exact release date, but since the developer hinted that a fifth Diablo III class will probably be revealed at next year’s BlizzCon, I’m not getting my hopes up for anything earlier than a late 2010 release.

So, uh, Blizzard, do you need any beta testers? Huh? Why am I asking? Oh, no reason. Just curious.

Blizzard: StarCraft II and Diablo III Are Getting LAN-Like “Solutions”

Nathan Grayson — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:21:09 -0500

LAN? You still use that? People gathered together and sat around the old LAN, like, back in the days of vee-see-arrrrs and stuff, right? That’s old news, man. But how about that new thing Blizzard’s got cooking? It lets you play multiplayer games with a blazing connection, as if the Internet isn’t even involved. It’s crazy. What will these developers think of next?

"We are working on solutions with regard to things we can do to maintain connectivity to Battle.net in some way, but also provide a great quality connection between players," said Battle.net developer Greg Canessa.

The plan, it would seem, is for the game to authenticate with Blizzard’s server before switching into LAN mode.

"Something like that," Canessa replied when asked about such a solution. "Maintaining a connection with Battle.net, I don't know if it's once or periodically, but then also having a peer-to-peer connection between players to facilitate a very low-ping, high-bandwidth connection… those are the things that we're working on."

So then, can we never talk about LAN in Blizzard games ever again? With this solution, Blizzard’s happy and you’re happy. Unless, of course, you’re a pirate, in which case, it looks like your luck's finally run out.