Diablo 3 PS3 will support online and offline trade, new footage released ~ New footage inside

Diablo 3 won’t have an auction house on PlayStation 3, but it will still allow you to trade for specific gear.

Debuted at PAX East 2013, this gameplay video highlights some of the key features that make Diablo III on the PlayStation 3 so much fun, including a reimagined interface, updated camera, direct character control, and enemies tailored specifically for the console. 

Diablo III PlayStation 3 Trailer

Diablo 3 on PS3 and PS4 will allow offline play

Diablo 3 will not require a constant internet connection for local multiplayer on the PS3 or PS4, Blizzard production director John Hight has confirmed. “You can have four people on the same screen - no split-screen, we just zoom the camera out. Or if you’re offline,” he tells Geoff Keighley on GameTrailers.

It’s around the two-minute mark where Hight goes into the changes to Diablo 3 for PS3 and PS4 in the episode above – specifically, the talk about the camera and local multiplayer. Hight reveals there’s also a new evasion ability to help players quickly escape large encounters.

Diablo 3 launched on the PC and Mac OSX with a required connection to Blizzard’s Battle.net service, even when playing single-player. Blizzard previously revealed the PS3/PS4 versions will have a different UI and feature all major PC updates.

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Blizzard Entertainment announces Diablo III for PS3, confirms franchise coming to PS4

The fate of Sanctuary will soon rest in the hands of PlayStation gamers around the world. Blizzard Entertainment today announced that it is developing Diablo III, the latest entry in its award-winning action—role-playing-game series, for the Sony PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. The company also today confirmed plans to adapt the game for Sony’s newly announced PlayStation 4, its next-generation computer entertainment system.

The PS3/PS4 version of Diablo III will be based on the critically acclaimed core experience of the PC version, including all of the latest upgrades, such as the Paragon leveling system, customizable Monster Power, Brawling, and epic Legendary items. In addition, Blizzard is designing an all-new user interface, including an intuitive control scheme and a new dynamic camera perspective, that will make questing and combat in the world of Sanctuary feel like second nature on PlayStation platforms. Players will be able to battle their way through the story in single-player mode and also experience the hack-and-slash joy of destroying demons and collecting loot together with their friends via seamless four-player online and local co-op modes.

Blizzard also announced today that the PS3 version of Diablo III will be shown live at PAX East, taking place at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center from March 22—24. Attendees there will be the first in the world to pick up a controller and experience the fast-paced action and visceral gameplay of Diablo III via the new custom-designed interface.

“Diablo III looks and plays great on the PlayStation,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We put a lot of care and thought into the PlayStation version to make sure it would deliver an authentic Diablogaming experience, and we’re really pleased with the results. We can’t wait for players to try it out at PAX East.”

Diablo III continues the epic Diablo storyline, with players taking on the role of one of five heroic characters—barbarian, witch doctor, wizard, monk, or demon hunter—and embarking on a perilous quest to save the world of Sanctuary from the corrupting forces of the Burning Hells. As players adventure through rich and varied settings, they’ll engage in pulse-pounding combat with hordes of monsters and challenging bosses, grow in experience and ability, acquire artifacts of incredible power, and meet key characters who’ll join them in battle or aid them along the way. Diablo III was originally released for Windows® and Macintosh® PC on May 15, 2012 and within 24 hours became the fastest-selling PC game of all time. As of December 31, 2012, Diablo III had sold through more than 12 million copies worldwide.*

Diablo III Coming to PS4

Diablo 3 ‘up and running’ on consoles, but still not an official project at Blizzard

Blizzard Entertainment has been publicly flirting with the idea of bringing Diablo 3 to consoles for the better part of a year. And while the action-RPG is currently running on unspecified consoles within Blizzard, the developer’s chief creative officer tells Polygon that the company is still not ready to talk about its Diablo 3 console plans.

“We’re still kind of exploring it,” said Blizzard executive Rob Pardo, who was recently promoted from executive vice president of game design to chief creative officer. “We’ve got builds up and running on it. We’re hoping to get it far enough along where we can make it an official project, but we’re not quite ready to release stuff about it, but it’s looking pretty cool.”

Diablo 3 lead designer Jay Wilson reiterated that Blizzard is still “exploring console options” and continues to “expand and add onto the game.”

“The whole team is essentially working on the next big Diablo thing,” Wilson told Polygon during an interview this weekend. “A lot of that stuff will show up next year at some point.” 

Blizzard North considered making Diablo Junior for the Game Boy Color

“Following Diablo 2’s release, Blizzard North split into two teams … kind of,” Craddock said. “One team immediately started in on D2’s expansion set, Lord of Destruction. The other team went into spitball mode, kicking around ideas for a new IP. But several other developers ventured into groups of two or three and put together proposals for smaller projects. One of those was given the working title Diablo Junior, a game tentatively planned for the Game Boy Color and/or the Game Boy Advance, depending on market share and other business-y factors.

“Diablo Junior was intended as a single-player-only prequel to the original game. Taking a page from Pokémon’s book, the team wanted to release three cartridges, each packing a different hero in the warrior-rogue-sorcerer vein as well as items that players would have to trade for in order to collect. Heroes started in a unique town before heading into dungeons and wilderness zones. Diablo Junior was ultimately put out to pasture (absent of cow levels, I’m sure) because of the steep production costs associated with developing handheld games.”

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