Grave Gamer News & Views — diablo III

It took me some time to figure out I somehow gained a goblin companion during my journey to kill everything in Sanctuary. After some resistance, we became best friends. I named him Gizmo. This is how I Diablo.

This year’s bulb is almost out, folks. And what a goddamn year it was! If it wasn’t enough that a high profile title hit market just about every other week, 2013 also saw fit to usher in a new generation of home consoles, bringing with it a wave of innovative, game-changing releases— Nah, I’m kidding. They just ported over some shooters and racing games.

See, despite the starter pistol having gone off for the next-gen race, 2013 belonged to the current-gen. Through years of strife and growth and learning, developers were able to forge some of the best games we’ve seen in a while, leaving gamers with a slew of graceful sendoffs to a generation in its twilight. Here are my favorite games of 2013 (that I got around to playing… really important to remember that).

So something rather intriguing happened this week.  It would appear this new fangled “next-gen” officially kicked off.  Well, unless you count the Wii U next-gen, which you’re completely allowed to (inversely, I get to call you wrong).  That’s right, Sony finally ripped off the wraps on the PlayStation 4.  Fast, socially integrated, the ability to stream games, two separate cup-holders – Sony’s future proofing their brand and the attempt is, surprisingly, not a laughable disaster.

You can find my initial reaction to the hardware’s specs hereabouts, but we’re dialing back the technophilia today and also focusing on something more important than even a brand new, highfalutin’, Facebookin’ console: the games.

Hit the jump to check out what’s in store for gamers next generation; a generation right around the corner.  Oh, and welcome back to the Roundup.

How’s Diablo III for Consoles Coming Along?  Blizzard: “It’ll Happen When it Happens”

Diablo III has been set loose upon our reality, and as hundreds of thousands of PC gamers relish in their click n’ kill nirvana today, console people may feel left out in the cold.  Well, never fear, as the game’s director, Jay Wilson, has confirmed today that, yeah, it’s gonna be cold for a while.

The console space having been consistently untapped by Blizzard, the company isn’t confident in firmly announcing home platform ports of the long awaited PC sequel.  Namely, Wilson attributes this to the fact that “we’re not sure yet whether we think it will work.”

The only progress made in development so far has been the accumulation of new employees experienced in the console arena. At this early, aloof point, Blizzard’s best hope comes from piling enough manpower atop the project until a successful port is squeezed out.  “The better people we hire, the better chance we have to actually make it,” according to Wilson.

Personally, I only possess a netbook that has trouble running the calculator app; a console iteration of Diablo III would be the one opportunity I’d get at owning the game, sure, but if there’s too much lost in the translation, I’ll be none too sore if the port never sees the console light of day (at least this generation, that is).

Diablo by Echoes1