According to the official Diablo Twitter account, the team is considering removing mana from Diablo 3- that's the blue stuff - and replacing it with class specific resources instead.  While the team had asked for feedback on it, it appears that mana has already been cut from the game for some of the announced classes.

If you listened to Blizzcast Episode 8 you'd know the Barbarian doesn't use mana, but instead uses a new resource called Fury Orbs.  To Blizzard, it simply didn't make sense that a physical natured character would drive his power from mana.  Makes sense.  But in the interview with Jay Wilson, Diablo 3's designer, it appears that even the Wizard might not use mana.

Read More...

Diablo 3 is coming, and we're all dressed for the prom. We've got the brutish Barbarians with their beautiful Wizard cohorts. Now, we just need our support characters. In a recent interview with Blizzard Lead Designer Jay Wilson, the Monk class is delved in to a bit - and could fill that co-op strategy "support" role nicely. Diii.net asks the big questions, and we love the big answers.

Read More...

While waiting for Diablo 3 to be released next year...or the year after...you might want to crack out your old Diablo or Diablo 2 discs for some good ol' fashioned co-op gaming.  Perhaps a friend never returned them, or you are in need of another copy for some late night co-op sessions with the family.

Amazon is running a killer deal right now on the Blizzard's various battle chests.  You get both Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 as well as the Lord of Destruction Expansion for Diablo 2.  Packed in with all that goodness is a Diablo 2 strategy guide and you'll be ready to take on the hordes of hell with your friends.  The pack works on both Mac and PC, and there's also chests for Starcraft and Warcraft for the same price.

The pack usually retails for $39.99 but Amazon has their Deal of the Day today with the Battle Chest for only $19.99.  The deal expires midnight tonight!

Source: Link

Gamasutra sat down with lead technical Artist Julian Love, and lead content designer Kevin Love from Blizzard to talk Diablo 3.  Despite the game being shown at Blizzcon twice so far, as well as playable on the show floor of E3, PAX and other conventions - we may be over a year away from its release.  

Gamasutra wants to know why.

Read More...

Game Name: Diablo 3
Co-Op: Yes
Co-Op Type: currently 4 Player story/quest based
Publisher/Developer: Activision (Publisher) / Blizzard (Developer)
Release Date: Not Soon Enough (2010/2011)

It seems like we've been talking about Diablo 3 for years now, and in fact, we may be talking about it for a few more years until it's finally released. I got a small tease of the game on the PAX show floor, getting my hands on one of the game's new classes, and I gotta say - the wait is way too long!

Read More...

A few tidbits of news are still trickling in from last week's GamesCom.  Jay Wilson, designer for Diablo 3, told Joystiq that parental controls will be in the game.  In addition, the game will be edited for violence for release in some regions.

We're going to have to be able to turn off blood, change the color and things like that, because you can't have red blood in some regions, regions that we would very much like to sell the game in.

Presumably, the parental controls would allow for users to do the same on their own copies of Diablo 3.  I am a huge fan of games that allow me to tone down the violence so I can enjoy them with my children, so this is great news for me.  No word yet if the different varieties of blood will include rainbow, pink polka dot, or tutti fruiti as of press time.

Source: Link

According to CCO Paul Sams, Blizzard wants to make their games on consoles as well as the PC platform. In fact, Diablo 3 is the first to be considered, thanks to pressure from disc manufacturers who want more pie to take a piece from.

We've seen that modern hack'n'slash RPGs can be handled just fine with console controllers, and much of our community here is console-oriented... What do you think, Co-Optimers? Would you rather have Diablo 3 on a console or your PC and why?

Read More...

It's raining blood, hallelujah it's raining blood! Amen!

The latest class for upcoming co-op blockbuster Diablo III has been revealed.  The Monk joins Barbarian, Witch Doctor, and Wizard to take down Diablo's minions.  Gotta love the nice nod to the monk class inclusion in the expansion for the first Diablo, Hellfire.  The monk is pretty good with a bo staff, so you might want one in your co-op gang.  Two more words: reflecting fireballs.  Woot!

A glorious twelve minutes of monk gameplay footage comes your way via 1UP.  I really hope this game still comes out in 2010, don't you?

Read More...

Still more news from Gamescom today, this time, a couple of hands on previews of Diablo III. 1UP and Kotaku both had some time with the demo, and shared their impressions.  While the actual content was the same, the previewers chose different classes, barbarian and wizard, respectively.  This gives us a bit of insight into the differences between the classes.  The barbarian was able to wade headlong through waves of enemies, while the wizard was more effective luring them out a couple at a time.

Some details about new enemies were included as well.  A dust devil of sorts was particularly interesting, having a knockback attack that also stuns.  Giant wasps that spawned tiny minions to attack players look like fun, as well.  Both previews mention the atmosphere, which still feels like Diablo.  The game looks to be doing everything right, and coupled with the news of Starcraft 2's lack of a co-op campaign, I have a new most anticipated Blizzard game.  How about you?

Source: Link

If you haven't heard, Starcraft II was officially delayed yesterday by Blizzard.  Nobody was really surprised, though many were disappointed.  The game was moved into 2010 for a release, and the reasons it was delayed may surprise you.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty wasn't delayed due to technical issues with the game itself, but rather due to technical and maturation issues with Blizzard's new version of Battle.net, their online gaming service.  We'll let the master of the underworld, Bobby Kotick, explain:

Read More...