An Argument For Diablo 3 As A Console Game

Every article about Diablo 3 begins with an establishing paragraph about how the game was something gamers had looked forward to for close to a decade. Ten years is a long time to wait, especially for a game--but gamers were willing to make an exception for this one, especially if it means getting the Diablo 3 we want to play. It has to be perfect, or as close to perfect as it can get.

I don’t need to tell you how much of a disappointment the game would be if it turned out to be a clone of the originals, and not a successor.  

With more than just its PC audience in mind, Blizzard has hinted at plans to bring the game to consoles, expanding its reach beyond the desktop market to that of the TV. There’s no sure guarantee that they will do this, but there is little doubt that the head honchos at Activision are breathing down their necks to make a game that will be as much of a success on consoles as it will be on the PC.  

Knowing this might make you angry, but it might just make you pause to consider the thought of sitting on your sofa as you slay Diablo for the nth time. It doesn’t sound too bad when I put it like that.  

It can’t be denied that a Diablo game on consoles would have a larger outreach than anything the PC/Mac version could ever have. The game would potentially reach the millions of Call of Duty and Halo players and expand the game’s audience to include the millions of gamers who do not have the privilege of owning an expensive Mac or a gaming PC, without having to sacrifice good visuals or audio. 

The enormity of its potential success would make the likelihood of expansions ever more likely. A cynic would argue that the game’s success on consoles would cause Blizzard to shift its focus away from PCs and Macs, but the company’s past dedication to its core audience cannot be denied. More Diablo can only be a good thing, even if it sometimes results in failed spinoffs like “Hellfire”. 

The strongest argument against “Diablo III” appearing on consoles is the fear that the game’s core mechanics may be lost in translation. Porting is never an easy task--it can be difficult to find a middle ground between the PC and the console. The experience of playing “Dragon Age” on the console reflects poorly on the original game for the PC, for instance.  

In truth, a game like “Diablo III” doesn’t face the same hurdles as a PC FPS or a tactics-based real time RPG like “Dragon Age.” Games like “Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance” have in the past delivered solid action RPG experiences that bringing “Diablo III” to the console platform may not be as unwieldy as you might imagine.  

The Diablo games aren’t exactly complex. You click on things and they die. And every so often you use skills. Blizzard showed off a new context-sensitive action button in “Diablo III” at last year’s BlizzCon, which if applied to a console version of the game, would ease the burden of choosing between a dozen skills to use. It’s no stretch of the imagination that the experience would be that much different on the console where a context-sensitive button would allow players to use most of their active skills. It would still be a button mash, but that's not exactly a complaint. 

It would be a disservice to gamers--including myself--to say that simple games attract simple minds, but you can’t deny that a simple game like Diablo would attract players looking for simple, satisfying experiences. A game like that would undoubtedly attract the legions of teenagers--much like ourselves at that age, when we still played on Battle.net--who grace Xbox Live with their loud, obnoxious presences. But we needn’t worry. Microsoft isn't very likely to allow Blizzard to build cross platform compatibility into the game. Whatever happens on Xbox Live would stay on Xbox Live, and that’s probably a good thing. 

Ultimately, bringing “Diablo III” to the console is up to Blizzard. If they decide that they can successfully deliver the game on multiple platforms without sacrificing its core gameplay mechanics or hurting its core audience, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t celebrate the possibility. After all, what could be more fun than the reiterated thought of playing “Diablo III” from the comfort of your couch?