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.

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.

Yes. Diablo 3. On an Xbox controller. Read on to find out how Diablo 3's game director feels about that.

"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."