Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Those vague rumours and wispy mistruths that spread across the internet every day… well, they’re the great, aren’t they? Today’s whispered perhapsment: New Diablo 3 under development rumblings.

The reason I like this rumour so much is because it’s so impossibly vague, and yet here I am writing it to fan the flames. Why? Because I believe that once a consensus is reached it’s very hard to stop it from being true. I mean, Clinton’s not resigned, Obama claims victory, and the media goes along with it before the votes are counted. So it’s true, isn’t it? Let’s all keep stating that Diablo 3 is definitely being developed, and one day Blizzard will just discover they’ve been unwittingly making the game for months. This is Science, people. The rumour’s source:

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I had it in my head that this had been properly confirmed ayyyyyyyyyges back, but apparently it’s still stranded in rumourland. Furthermore, it’s a rumour that seemingly had yet to reach everyone’s ears, as evidenced by the internets suddenly talking about Bioshock creators Irrational 2k Boston reportedly working on a new X-COM game as though it’s some sort of ‘news.’ Still, might as well give you fine folks a chance to talk it over here.

2K – the publishery bit – picked up the X-COM rights last year, so it’s pretty much a dead cert to happen at some point, so the mystery remains which dev will make it. That Ken Levine has handed over Bioshock 2 development to a different 2K team further supports educated guesstimation that he’s off working on a super-exciting project like this.
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Look, I don’t know. I DON’T KNOW. This could all be a terrible trick, a plea for attention, and I’m very sorry for adding to the rumour mill.

But…

Fansite Blizzplanet links to a different fansite, Diablo3.com, which is currently hosting a rather noisy countdown timer. It currently reads 13 days. Until what? “until half the web links to Diablo3.com. But why???”, it says. I’d take it a lot more seriously if it wasn’t for those two offensively extraneous question marks, I have to say.

It’s a stunt that will presumably pull over traffic in droves (honestly, you don’t need to click through to it yet. I’ve just told you what’s there. Head over in 13 days instead). So there’d damn well better be a Diablo 3-shaped pot of gold at the end of this spurious rainbow. Of course, it helps that we have had other hints Blizzard’s long-awaited RPG sequel is hiding just over the horizon. In 13 days, perhaps we’ll know.

Or we’ll just be very, very angry.

The rumour mills are whirring again with thoughts of Diablo 3′s imminent announcement. (The rumour mills, by the way, are still horrific Victorian dungeons, forcing children to work sixteen-hour days in horrendous conditions). Blizzard have a job advert up on their site that heavily hints that production might well be happening.

“The team behind Diablo I and II is looking for a skilled lead 3D level designer with experience building levels using Maya or other similar 3D level building tools. The ideal candidate has experience creating levels in a senior or lead role on a shipped game. We would also like for this candidate to have excellent analytical understanding of competitive online play with various Blizzard Entertainment games and mods (real-time strategy, World of Warcraft, Defense of the Ancients, etc.)”

So, obviously a new Diablo would be online for co-op play. But what about this? What if it’s not Diablo 3, but World Of Diablo? A sort of “show them how Hellgate should have been done” thing. Just putting it out there.

[via Videogamer]

C&C was not aflush with the ruddy glow of good health until recently. Tiberian Sun seemed a passionless retread, Renegade bombed, Generals chucked all the characterful babies out with the Tiberium bathwater…

Somehow though, the RTS old hand seems to have a headful of steam all over again. C&C3 went down surprisingly smooth, and, while new FPS Tiberium looks pretty meatheaded, it’s got Xbox Smash Hit written all over it. And there’s to be yet more. Goodness. The latest Command & Conquer Battlecast, an official vodcast so cheese-laden I worry about developing a lactose allergy whenever I watch it, alludes to an upcoming announcement in two weeks time. “You will have one more reason to cheer,” apparently. Whatever could it be? Read the rest of this entry »