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The PlayStation Meeting revealed that Blizzard and Sony have joined forces to bring Diablo 3 to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3. PC gamers are losing their freakin’ minds.
I kind of understand where they’re coming from. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction dominated so much of my game time from 2001-2005. I went back and played the original Diablo and enjoyed that as well, but Lord of Destruction was amazing. I dare say (and so do many others) that even today it stands as the definitive Diablo experience. For well over a decade, Diablo was never even hinted at as being a console franchise. Until recently, when Blizzard started talking about having a “working version of Diablo 3 on a console” but wouldn’t give any details.
Though Diablo III has been met with mixed reviews and, let’s be honest, general disappointment – it remains a franchise that PC gamers hold near and dear to their hearts. The moment Chris Metzen appeared on stage, I knew that the forums would be bursting with dismay. Users were quick to point out some key aspects of Diablo III that seemed out of place when it was a PC exclusive, but now that it is coming to consoles, the dots are rapidly connecting.
Player SmashCrunch makes a number of critical points in this Diablo III forum post:
The majority of the people replying are in agreement with him.
Granted, I remember The Lost Vikings as much as the next kid who grew up in love with the Super Nintendo. I know where Blizzard came from, but I also know what Blizzard is known for. I can’t say this move is unprecedented given all the recent noise from Blizzard about Diablo III being playable on consoles. Frankly, I’m finding this sudden backlash a bit surprising. The signs were already there. It’s not like Blizzard was wasting resources on a console playable Diablo III just to see if they could.
But it doesn’t make it any less grimy. As if Diablo III’s Real Money Auction House hasn’t stirred up enough sourness in the mouths of Diablo fans the world over, this latest move from Blizzard is sure to bring player morale to an all new low. It will, however, expose not just the franchise but Blizzard’s entire product lineup to a new pool of potential buyers. It will be good for business as far as profit is concerned.
However, I don’t believe certain types of PC gamers will ever forgive Blizzard for what they are seeing as one of the grandest betrayals in the history of video games.