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New Diablo III Class: Monk!
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/New_Diablo_III_Class_Monk'; This just came from the Korean Diablo III site, which accidently set the new D3 site live before they were supposed to. The new class for Diablo III will by the Monk!To see for yourself, go to the Diablo III page on Blizzard's site and select the Korean language. You'll see the screenshot above.Update: Just officially announced: the Monk!BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
Activision loses money, Blizzard to release one marquee game per year
Activision-Blizzard held a conference call for the press yesterday, and so there's all kinds of financial and release news floating around out there. The biggest news isn't necessarily Blizzard-related, but it does mean that our game's company is finally feeling the crunch a bit: Activision-Blizzard reported a loss of $72 million in the last quarter, and their outlook for the coming year fell short of analysts' expectations. Even though that sounds bad, it doesn't mean things are necessarily bad, though: Blizzard themselves added nearly a billion dollars to the total, so while A-B might not be doing so well, B is doing just fine.Blizzard CEO Paul Sams also announced during the call that the company is now aiming for "one 'frontline' title per year," though not necessarily World of Warcraft related. That likely means that we'll see the first Starcraft 2 this year -- our friends at Joystiq have a quick report on the beta appearing soon, as well as the Battle.net revamp we've been waiting for. And it also means that (unless Blizzard is really rolling on Diablo III, which I doubt, given its condition when we played it at last year's BlizzCon), that we'll be looking at mid/late 2010 for the release of the next WoW expansion.Besides the loss of the $72 million (it's always in the last place you look), things seem to be hopping at Blizzard and their parent company. Should be a pretty busy 2009 for them.
BlizzCon 2008: Diablo III Wizard cinematic and new screenshots
Here's the piping-hot new cinematic video for the Wizard class in Diablo III, straight from BlizzCon. This leads us to suspect that each class will get its own cinematic, possibly as they approach the Sanctuary instance near the beginning of the game. There are several Wizard-specific CGI moments and gameplay shots in a sort of "coming up this season on Diablo III" format.Below you can check out the new gallery of screenshots from Diablo III, featuring new shots of the Wizard, Barbarian, and Witch Doctor. Enjoy the goodies, and keep checking back for more info.%Gallery-34203%
BlizzCon 2008: The Diablo III Class Panel
Jay Wilson, Julian Love, Wyatt Cheng from Blizzard were the first panel from BlizzCon, which was all about the Diablo III class system, including its tweaks and special effects. Unfortunately, we didn't get any more hints at the other two classes which haven't been announced yet. However, with the Witchdoctor and Wizard being so magic heavy, we're sure they'll add another physical fighter that isn't quite as big as the Barbarian. Head after the break to get the new details on the Skill System, the Rune System, and four of the Wizard's spells that involve blowing things up, and / or melting them.%Gallery-34234%
BlizzCon 2008: All Blizzard games playable including Diablo 3
Though the WoW Insider team has arrived en masse to cover all things WoW at BlizzCon 2008, our eyes can't help but wander over what other shiny offerings Blizzard has to display. Our sister sites Joystiq and Big Download will be covering Starcraft II and Diablo 3 extensively, but having already been to the Anaheim Convention Center today to get our press badges we couldn't help but notice in the program (see above) that a playable demo of Diablo 3 will be available for the first time.Don't worry we won't let it distract us from -- is that the new class for Diablo 3? It's class weapon does what?? Shoot witches!? Sorry. What were we saying?
World of Warcraft achievements will expand to other Blizzard titles
It's no secret that World of Warcraft will feature an achievement system that will roll out with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. The writing's been on the wall for a little while now. New details have emerged, revealing that the achievement system will not be limited to World of Warcraft alone. Ultimately, the achievements will connect WoW with Blizzard's other major titles, namely Starcraft II and Diablo III. MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John recently spoke with WoW Lead Designer Jeff Kaplan about the impending first incarnation of this system, which will be character-specific, as well as Blizzard's plans for account-level achievements that focus more on classes and professions. Hit MTV Multiplayer for more details on account-based achievements, WoW points, and the 'Blizzard Level' -- that all-important ranking which will soon command the attention of most Blizzard fans.
New mini Tyrael pet is underwhelming
Having been to the Worldwide Invitational, we were hot to turn in our key that gave us a pet Tyrael. Running hither and yon in the Undercity, we finally found the NPC for the turn in, said the magic words and voila! A floating, lightning-winged avenging angel was ours for everyone to ooh and aah over.Well, kinda. It doesn't really do anything. There are no animations other than floating. Don't believe us? Check out the video above. At least Sleepy Willy had the good manners to fall asleep occasionally.EDIT: Apparently he will dance with you if you target him and use the /dance emote.
MTV interviews Blizzard execs
At the Worldwide Invitational, MTV interviewed two Blizzard executives: Paul Sams, Chief Operating Officer, and Frank Pearce, Executive Vice President of Product Development. It's an interesting read -- if not the best interview I've ever read -- which includes more info on Diablo 3, mobile apps, and thoughts about MMOs in general. The duo leaves the door open for Blizzard to create an MMO that might "cannibalize" the WoW player base, although for some reason they are not convinced that Diablo 3 will impact that base. (I, for one, disagree. The huge response we got to the Diablo news on WoW Insider tells us that there is a huge amount of crossover between the franchises.) They also don't believe that there's much overlap between Starcraft and WoW. Frank stressed that, regardless of what the marketing research might say, "those aren't necessarily the data points that we use for decision-making when it comes to the games that we want to make."Read on to see what Blizzard says about time between game releases and new MMOs.
Fallout 3 producer finds Diablo 3 design 'conservative'
While the ballyhoo around Blizzard's announcement of Diablo 3 kept us all sleep deprived and glued to our screens this last weekend, some were left not as impressed as others. And by some, we mean Fallout 3 production director Ashley Cheng, who feels the series' third trip to the well is too 'conservative.' "I must say," wrote Cheng on his blog, "I am disappointed that Blizzard has stayed on the conservative side in terms of design with their updates to Diablo and Starcraft." However, he tempered his displeasure with a measure of excitement, writing that he "loved" the game's destructible environments and that the vaunted action RPG looks "pretty amazing." Even so, take heed, dear Blizzard. Try not to be so restrained when you finally get around to revisiting Starcraft: Ghost; we think casting Nova in a post-apocalyptic wasteland is a guaranteed way to win our hearts.
WoW Insider Show, Episode 44: Live from Paris (kind of)
Excellent podcast this week, if I do say so myself. Last Saturday, right smack dab in the middle of the Worldwide Invitational, I took to the virtual airwaves with Duncor of WoW Radio, and Matthew Rossi and John "BigBearButt" Patricelli of WoW Insider, and we chatted about all of the news coming out of the Worldwide Invitational. On this show, which is now live on WoW Radio, you can hear us talk about: What Turpster is up to -- we talked live with him directly from Paris about what he thought of the convention and what he'd seen out there. The announcement of Diablo 3, and what is isn't (an MMO or a console game) All the class changes that we saw on Saturday, including Warriors' Titan's Grip, Shamans' Hex, and Warlocks' Demonform, and what they meant for each class. And finally, what Blizzard meant exactly by that little talent trees comment they threw in on one of the panels. It's a rip-roaring show, and no matter what you love to do in the World of Warcraft, Matthew, John and Duncor definitely hit on a topic that will interest you. Definitely give it a listen, and don't forget to subscribe in iTunes if you want to get the podcast sent to you automatically every week.Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to hit on any email because of all the amazing WWI news, but that's OK, because we'll just talk about twice as much of it next week. If you want to ask a question or have a comment for us, drop us a note at theshow@wow.com, and you might even hear it on next week's show. We do this every Saturday at 3:30pm over on WoW Radio, so tune in next week to hear more commentary and insight about all the news from the last week of WoW.
WWI '08 Day 1 roundup
We had bloggers onsite for Day 1 at the Worldwide Invitational 2008 in Paris. Elizabeth Harper, Turpster, and Jennie Lees were all in France to provide in-depth coverage with liveblogging, pictures, and videos, and our entire staff was back here in the US to break out the analysis and coverage of the live streams. Here's a roundup of all the posts from Day 1.Liveblogging Opening ceremony Developer's panel Q&A with Developer's Panel Analysis by Class Death Knight Druid Hunter Mage Paladin Priest Rogue Shaman Warlock Warrior Analysis by Topic Diablo 3 Announcement Gear resets High expectations Linux Raid buffs Talent trees Media WoW Insider podcast Gallery: Diablo 3 Gallery: Splash screen speculation Gallery: A first look at the WWI digs Movie: Turpster talks to people waiting in line for WWI Movie: Turpster amok in Paris UPDATE: A round up of our entire weekend of coverage can be found here!%Gallery-26320%
Will Diablo 3 be announced at GC 2007?
GC is a kind of European E3/PAX that is located in Leipzig, Germany. It is a trade fair for the Video Game Industry as well as a hands-on exhibition for the game playing public. All of the major players will be there including Microsoft, EA, Nintendo, etc.Today (August 22) at 10:30am Leipzig time, the day before the Games Conference opens to the general public, Blizzard is holding a press conference. The topic? "Presentation / Demo new games". Are they going to be giving new info about StarCraft II and Wrath of the Lich King? Probably. Are they going to finally announce the project that their third development team is working on? There is a lot of speculation that yes they are and it is Diablo III.Right now, Diablo.com redirects to the Blizzard.com home page. Diablo3.eu was getting a forbidden error but is now directing to the UK Diablo II expansion site. Worldofwarcraft.com/wrath also was showing a forbidden error up to being announced at BlizzCon.I'm pretty excited at the prospect as that was my biggest disappointment at BlizzCon. Do you think they will announce a new game at GC? If so, what do you think it will be? Or am I just being unrealistically optimistic yet again? I guess we'll find out soon.Update: So far, nothing new has been announced at GC.[via BlizzPlanet]
Starcraft II on WoW's homepage
The image above is what you saw if you visited the official WoW homepage this weekend, and a few players wondered why Blizzard was talking about a real-time strategy game on a site meant to discuss a MMORPG. Yeah, how dare they do that!But it's a good question-- Starcraft II will be (assuming it does get released) the first game Blizzard has published since WoW, and so there's a lot of questions about how this will all be handled. How much do the audiences actually intersect? (personally I love MMORPGs, but not so much RTS, if only because I'm so bad at them) And how is Blizzard going to connect the two games, if at all-- are we going to see ads for Starcraft on the loading screen for WoW, or even in-game? Blizzard fans will probably buy and enjoy both games, but there is likely a larger percentage of the WoW population who just don't care about an RTS, even if it is another Blizzard game.Of course, Blizzard has faith in both games serving their audiences well-- not only is the Starcraft team well-equipped to build their game, but WoW, they say, won't suffer one bit. I tend to believe them on that one, as Blizzard undoubtedly hired a lot of people to make sure WoW is running as smoothly as possible, and while Metzen is apparently working on Starcraft as well as directing WoW's lore, I'd doubt the two teams have that many people in common. Of course, rumors persist that Blizzard will be announcing yet another game at Blizzcon. Along with the new expansion, multiple sources are still reporting that we'll hear about Diablo 3 in August. Can it be possible that Blizzard might be split three ways at the same time? And can that possibly be a good thing for WoW's development?
Upcoming Blizzard announcement to be a new Starcraft?
With the countdown continuing on Blizzard's homepage, there's plenty of speculation on what Blizzard is cooking up. Warcraft 4? Starcraft 2? Diablo 3? I'm staying out of the speculation game, myself -- as much as we might guess and hope for a specific product, Blizzard is good at throwing us surprises. However, the Starcraft 2 rumors are growing in volume, fueled by the recent discovery of a Starcraft2.com page owned by Blizzard Entertainment which redirects viewers to Blizzard's main site. Gamespot went live with the story on Tuesday, and since then I've heard it just about everywhere. Reports of it are crowding my inbox. Barrens chat can't stop talking about it. And Blizzard rumors even seem to dominate OOC chat in Lord of the Rings Online. But is this really a sign that we're going to be hearing all about Starcraft 2 this weekend?My magic 8-ball has informed me signs point to no. Or even if Starcraft 2 is what we're going to hear -- this isn't really a sign of it. The domain record from Network Solutions tells us that Blizzard has owned Starcraft2.com since 1999 and the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine shows the page redirecting to Blizzard's main home page since at least 2002. Starcraft2.com is neither new nor has it recently changed. No, Blizzard doesn't own Diablo3.com (it's a Diablo 3 news site), Warcraft4.com (an advertisement site), WorldofStarcraft.com (a German WoW site), or WorldofDiablo.com (a German Diablo site). But does the fact that they've owned Starcraft2.com for eight years now mean anything relevant to the coming announcement? I think not.[Thanks to numerous tipsters]
Diablo 3 is coming, an argument
Over on diablo3.com, one loyal fan has posted a rather convincing argument -- actually, a series of arguments -- for why Blizzard must have Diablo 3 in the works. Considering the success of the first two installments, especially Diablo II, another sequel seems like a no-brainer. Of course, when you're still profiting from an even more successful title like World of Warcraft, as Blizzard is, a new Diablo game isn't a pressing matter. Our opinion? Sit tight. Diablo 3 will happen -- maybe it is happening -- but the game isn't going to be in our hands until Blizzard has ridden the WoW wave a bit further.
