Blizzard's Diablo 3 experiments: “Oh, this feels even better with direct control”

Everyone knows what classic Diablo plays like, but Blizzard has never been afraid to experiment. Part of that process for Diablo 3 involved looking at different control systems - up to and including seeing how the action would work with an Xbox 360 controller, or how its demon-slaying might play on consoles.

"We don't see ourselves as a PC developer – we see ourselves as a game developer. It's just that the games that we wanted to make suit the PC platform," game director Jay Wilson told us. "We don't believe you can make a Starcraft style RTS and make it Blizzard great on a console. We do believe you could make an RTS that would be on a console, but we would have (to have) that idea, and that spark and that passion to make it.

"One of the reasons why we're exploring the idea of a console version of Diablo 3 because we feel that the controls and the style of the game lend itself to a console. With some of our early experiments in putting a direct control scheme into the game via a 360-like analogue controller, I've been 'Oh this feels even better, with direct control...'"

Don't panic though. This doesn't mean Diablo 3 itself is giving up its classic mouse controls, a la Dungeon Siege 3 . It does speak to the chance of other versions further down the road though, which could even benefit the PC. "I can pretty much guarantee that if we decide to do a console version that we will look to support a pad on the PC," says Wilson. "But initially with release I don't think we'll be ready."

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