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In this article Jason Bender, lead designer from Blizzard Entertainment, talks about Diablo III’s showing at E3 and some of the inspiration for bringing this game to a home console. Here’s what he had to say about the feeling he wants to evoke with this move from the PC to the console:
The excitement and energy of the show reminded me of a time when people actually left the house to play videogames. Yes, I’m talking about arcades: magical places filled with vibrant colors, flashing lights, and the never-ending clink-clink-clink of tokens cascading out of a change machine. There you could find the latest and greatest games—and people to play them with. Arcades were a uniquely social experience. You could hang out and have fun with friends, or you could make new ones while bonding over joysticks.
I got a chance to get my hands on the PS3 version of Diablo III at E3, and it worked surprisingly well. I’m a big fan of the game and have logged quite a few hours on the PC version. Initially, though, I was a little skeptical about its release in a new format. In my mind there is a very strong association between Diablo games and frenetic mouse clicking. However, after playing it at E3, I’m converted. It just works so well in that format. Moving my character with a joystick instead of a mouse felt so natural.
When we decided to bring Diablo III to console platforms, we wanted our four-player co-op to allow for the same spirit of fun that thrived in arcades. Our game had to allow for equal parts teamwork and trash talking, sweaty-palmed intensity and lighthearted mass destruction. You might remember Gauntlet, the iconic dungeon crawler that helped change the face of cooperative gaming with four players on the same screen, killing monsters as the Warrior, Elf, Valkyrie, and Wizard. Thanks to Gauntlet and other popular arcade hits, gamers fell in love with co-op play. That’s the same kind of fun we’re going for with the console version of Diablo III. Four friends on the same couch, working together to slaughter endless hordes of demons, collecting loot, and having a great time — it doesn’t get any better.
My neighborhood laundromat still has a Gauntlet arcade machine, and I love it! This is what I’m looking forward to with the console version of Diablo III. The game will be coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 3, 2013.
