Difference between revisions of "Media Coverage"

Revision as of 15:15, 19 March 2010

This page lists all Diablo III coverage; previews, interviews, pictures, videos, designer diaries, forum post, and more. Anything from the D3 Team that's substantial enough to warrant a news post on Diii.net gets an entry on this page. Larger interviews and other features are sometimes archived in this section one month after they go online, to ward off link rot.

• If you're interested in updating this page, please check out the Media Coverage/Guidelines first.
• Jump back to the earlier years of Media Coverage, archived to keep down the page size. Links right below here.

If you are new to Diablo or Diablo III development, you can read up on the topic here:

• Diablo 3 Basics - The light source of all known Diablo III data in one fact sheet.

March 2010

• Blue Post: March 3, 2010 -- Bashiok made several lengthy posts on D3's economy in late February and early March, with ramifications for BoE, BoP, and BoA. Also see this one, and this one, and the discussion on the issue from Blizzcast #13.

February 2010

• Blue Post: February 28, 2010 -- Bashiok on game difficulty and PUGs. Great fan debate about whether any D3 content should "require" more than one person ensued.

• Blue Post: February 27, 2010 -- Bashiok on Blizzard beta machine selection requirements.

• Blue Post: February 26, 2010 -- Bashiok on screen-shaking and other game special effects.

• Interview: February 25, 2010 -- Blizzcast #13 goes live with Diablo 3 commentary on "phasing," respes, non-mana resources, randomness in the game, gold/item durability (which may return?), and BoE item issues.

• Blue Post: February 25, 2010 -- Bashiok weighs in on class-specific weapons, and issue that always excites great player discussion.

• Commentary: February 24, 2010 -- Diablo 3's quests debated and compared to other RPGs.

• Other: February 24, 2010 -- v1.13b goes live on the patch test realm.

• Blue Post: February 23, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms that Diablo 2 hacks will never be fixed permanently.

• Blue Post: February 20, 2010 -- Bashiok on D3's music and unrevealed item enchanting system.

• Blue Post: February 18, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms that there will be complete gender equality in Diablo 3. After fans raise some objections, he returns with some more explanations.

• Other: February 17, 2010 -- The Starcraft 2 beta test gets underway.

• Blue Post: February 16, 2010 -- Female Barbarian in-game animation added to the official Diablo 3 page. Also a new piece of female barb concept art, and six new screenshots.

• Blue Post: February 16, 2010 -- Bashiok comments on the "must always be connected" aspect of Starcraft 2 play, and confirms that it can be played offline. Diablo 3 should work the same way.

• Blue Post: February 12, 2010 -- New monster and city concept artwork added to the gallery.

• Picture: February 11, 2010 -- Tomb Viper artwork by Brom is revealed in a photo. More about Tomb Vipers.

• Other: February 10, 2010 -- Activision/Blizzard Q4 2009 conference call coverage. Business over pleasure. Transcript of Mike Morhaime's talk about Blizzard (no mention of D3) here. Financial analysis of the news here.

• Commentary: February 10, 2010 -- Are there new/mysterious monsters in the artwork on the character pages? A closer look reveals... uncertain results.

• Blue Post: February 10, 2010 -- Bashiok on the megasized shoulderpads (pauldroons) the Diablo 3 character concept art sports.

• Video: February 10, 2010 -- Blizzard releases a preview movie showing off some of the new features of Battle.net 2.0. Discussion and analysis followed a few days later.

• Blue Post: February 9, 2010 -- A Bashiok post on the topic sets off another endless weapon switch hotkey argument/debate.

• Blue Post: February 9, 2010 -- Bashiok on Necromancer and Paladins perhaps showing up as NPCs, and more on the Female Monk's design.

• Picture: February 9, 2010 -- Female Monk concept art revealed in high quality.

• Picture: February 6, 2010 -- Female Monk design criticism. A fan photoshops the female monk some more skin, and much debate ensues.

Female monk concept art.

• Blue Post: February 5, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms the Female Monk pics from the Jace Hall show, and promises HQ versions "soon."

• Blue Post: February 5, 2010 -- The first look at the female monk in concept art, from the Jace Hall show. Outtakes from the show were posted a week later.

• Blue Post: February 5, 2010 -- Diii.net's vote for the best fan-art of the female monk semi-finals. The official version won big in the finals, vs. the top 3 pieces of fan art.

• Blue Post: February 5, 2010 -- Bashiok on D3's character animations and another sneak preview of the Jace Hall show.

• Other: February 4, 2010 -- Blizzcon 2010 date set for October 22-23 at the Anaheim Convention Center... but it's just a rumor, and is wiped away a day later.

• Picture: February 3, 2010 -- Original artwork by Brom that the Diablo 2 box was based on debuts in the Blizzard art gallery.

• Blue Post: February 3, 2010 -- Bashiok on character heights and Blizzcast coming not-soon.

• Blue Post: February 1, 2010 -- Three new screenshots added to the official site.

January 2010

• Blue Post: January 30, 2010 -- Bashiok on shared party skills, "griefing" in Diablo 3, and the employment benefits of being a forum slut.

• Video: January 30, 2010 -- Diablo 3 humor featured in Episode 1 of the Jace Hall show. No female monk reveal (that came in the next weeks' show). The D3 content was teased in a trailer a week earlier,

• Blue Post: January 27, 2010 -- Bashiok on Diablo 3's evolving world lore and story, and real world influences upon them.

• Commentary: January 27, 2010 -- Is Diablo 3 the new Duke Nukem Forever, with endless delays before release (or cancellation?)

• Picture: January 26, 2010 -- Blizzard's Female Monk Art Challenge "nontest" announced by Bashiok. More entries posted a few days later, and the final batch a week later. Voting began in early February, with the final five selected later in the month, and a final vote.

• Blue Post: January 26, 2010 -- Bashiok jokingly confirms that the Monk is so overpowered no other characters will be developed.

• Interview: January 23, 2010 -- Blizzard CEO Paul Sams interviewed by GamesIndustry.bz.

• Blue Post: January 22, 2010 -- Bashiok again explains why there will not be any guns in Diablo 3.

• Blue Post: January 22, 2010 -- Bashiok on hard to see item drops and how Diablo 3 will work around that issue.

• Blue Post: January 20, 2010 -- Bashiok on the "naked" female wizard, what she'll look like in her unarmored, starting gear, and how that look has recently been improved. Another post the next day shared more details, and a screenshot.

• Blue Post: January 16, 2010 -- Bashiok on the size of the D3 Team and the female Monk development process.

• Blue Post: January 15, 2010 -- Blizzard updates the game lore with retcon adjustments to the Timeline and Deckard Cain's Journal.

• Blue Post: January 14, 2010 -- Blizzard on Mongrels and Waypoints.

• Blue Post: January 7, 2010 -- Bashiok on generating Fury and other resources in a brand new game.

• Blue Post: January 6, 2010 -- Bashiok gets snarky about OP Monks, release dates, and Witch Doctors vs. Necromancers.

• Blue Post: January 6, 2010 -- Bashiok on release date issues and the fun (or not) of expansion classes.

• Blue Post: January 4, 2010 -- Bashiok on the Monk's resource system and those of other characters.

December 2009

Diablo III Year in Review. Twelve-part monthly recap of all the news and developments.

• Diablo 2 on Best of the Decade lists:
  • #7 best game of the decade, by Destructoid.
  • #5 of the decade by GameZone.com.

• Other: 29 December, 2009 -- A psychologist analyzes why fans find the loot/reward model of gaming so addictive.
• Commentary: 23 December, 2009 -- Diii.net asks if fans want to see bonus seasonal content? Or do you find Xmas trees in Tristram a ridiculous idea? Feedback is mixed.
• Preview: 23 December, 2009 -- The Morlu Caster gets covered in detail and added to the wiki bestiary.
• Blue Post: 19 December, 2009 -- Bashiok on v1.13 changes, feedback, and future plans.
• Blue Post: 17 December, 2009 -- Bashiok on why Diablo 3 will not have day/night cycles. (Areas look better with one preset level of lighting.
• Blue Post: 17 December, 2009 -- Bashiok on Act 2 level variety and D3's non-customizable interface.

Merch! Barb statue.

• Blue Post: 16 December, 2009 -- Bashiok defends the return of Magic Find against all comers.
• Blue Post: 16 December, 2009 -- Bashiok on game difficulty via random boss mods.
• Commentary: 12 December, 2009 -- The one mystery of v1.13, Klar and Tyraneus, is examined. A later vote shows that most fans think they are just a pointless distraction.
• Blue Post: 10 December, 2009 -- v1.13 hits the patch test realm to the enormous shock of virtually everyone. Fan reactions to the limited, timid, and partially undocumented patch changes are strongly negative.
• Blue Post: 8 December, 2009 -- Bashiok talks about changes to the Resurrection function in Diablo 3.
• Blue Post: 7 December, 2009 -- Bashiok defends skill runes in articulate fashion.
• Other: 5 December, 2009 -- The power of TorchED is shown with a Torchlight mod that creates a dungeon that looks exactly like the Diablo 3 WWI gameplay movie dungeon.
• Other: 4 December, 2009 -- A Diablo 2 player writes about how not to buy a used Diablo 2 CD-key.
• Blue Post: 3 December, 2009 -- Bashiok on laughing skeletons.
• Commentary: 2 December, 2009 -- Religion and Morality debated. Could/should Diablo 3 have more ethics and morality in its content?
• Other: 1 December, 2009 -- Diablo 3 Merch comes to life as the Barbarian statues arrive.
• Other: 1 December, 2009 -- In news that most found horrible or great Blizzard joins Facebook with new pages for Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft. Fan opinions are very mixed.

November 2009

• Blue Post: 24 November, 2009 -- Bashiok on Act 3 testing, non-linear game construction, and Diablo timeline ret-con efforts.
• Interview: 23 November, 2009 -- Travis Baldress, lead dev of Torchlight talks about the similarities with Diablo 3.
• Interview: 23 November, 2009 -- Rob Pardo on Blizzard announcing their games too early.
• Blue Post: 21 November, 2009 -- Skill Trees are gone. This big news requires several days of updates to impart all of the details.
• Blue Post: 21 November, 2009 -- Bashiok on character clipping, i.e. the characters can walk through each other in Diablo 3. This one created enough controversy for a follow up post a few days later.
• Blue Post: 18 November, 2009 -- Bashiok on color blindness and why there won't be any Ninja/Samurai classes in Diablo 3.
• Blue Post: 17 November, 2009 -- Bashiok provides illumination into the ongoing debate over how to make two-handed weapons viable.
• Blue Post: 15 November, 2009 -- Bashiok on the latest v1.13 delay/denial and why the aged infrastructure that powers Battle.net can't take na' more. (So no bigger stash for you!)

Torchlight vs. Diablo 3.

• Blue Post: 15 November, 2009 -- Bashiok on gameplay movie glitches and skill hovers.
• Blue Post: 14 November, 2009 -- Bashiok on Fallen, fire-breathing demons, and the Diablo 3 wait stretching on...
• Other: 13 November, 2009 -- Blizzcon 2010 to land in Las Vegas! Or not...
• Commentary: 12 November, 2009 -- Interesting news on Torchlight's extensive modding efforts, compared to Blizzard's disinterest with Diablo 3.
• Blue Post: 11 November, 2009 -- Bashiok on the D3 Team's movie nights: Lone Wolf and Cub and The Thing.
• Other: 9 November, 2009 -- Blizzard makes official what most of us already knew. Diablo 3 will not be released in 2010. More reinforcing details when/why/where released a week later.
• Blue Post: 6 November, 2009 -- Bashiok requests an end to the Torchlight discussion and adds a few words about the Talisman.
• Blue Post: 5 November, 2009 -- Bashiok on the fifth character and original character designs.
• Blue Post: 3 November, 2009 -- Bashiok on camera angles and why Diablo 3 has a fixed isometric, rather than a roving 1st person PoV like WoW.
• Other: 3 November, 2009 -- Ridiculous rumors that Blizzard would have to remake Diablo 3 because of... Torchlight?
• Blue Post: 2 November, 2009 -- Bashiok on how Blizzard views cool game features in other games (such as Torchlight).
• Interview: 2 November, 2009 -- USA Today interviews Jay Wilson. Unfortunately this is a typically-generic mass-media interview, without any new game info.
• Other: 1 November, 2009 -- New FPS/RPG Borderlands incorporates a large number of Diablo 2 references. Several are listed in this news post.
• Picture: 1 November, 2009 -- Torchlight comparisons continue with a piece stacking TL screenshots side by side with D3 shots. The similarities are largely incidental/accidental.

October 2009

• Interview: 29 October, 2009 -- Julian Love interviewed by the Diablo Source.
• Blue Post: 29 October, 2009 Bashiok on item colors, monster colors, the D3 narrator's voice, and survivors from Harrogath.
• Commentary: 28 October, 2009 -- Are party-friendly skills required in Diablo 3?
• Blue Post: 21 October, 2009 -- Bashiok on detailed damage displays.
• Interview: 21 October, 2009 -- Leonard Boyarsky interviewed by Hellforge.
• Commentary: 21 October, 2009 -- Twitter commentary confusion demonstrates the inherent shortcomings of the medium?
• Other: 16 October, 2009 -- Blizzard's Warcraft and Diablo community managers get into some heated Twitter-based grabass.
• Blue Post: 16 October, 2009 -- Bashiok announces the latest v1.13 delay.
• Interview: 15 October, 2009 -- Julian Love interviewed by Planet Diablo.
• Blue Post: 13 October, 2009 -- Bashiok on item pickups and party sharing.
• Blue Post: 10 October, 2009 -- Bashiok confirms that there will be no return to Harrogath in D3. (The town was destroyed by the Worldstone's explosion.)
• Interview: 8 October, 2009 -- Jay Wilson interviewed by Diii.net
• Blue Post: 3 October, 2009 -- Bashiok on gold and the D3 economy. A follow up came 3 days later.
• Blue Post: 2 October, 2009 -- Bashiok posts to promote the defend the @Diablo twitter feed.
• Other: 2 October, 2009 -- Blizzard announces five D3 uniques submitted by fans via their Twitter contest. (Other entries were listed previously.)
• Other: 1 October, 2009 -- A true Diablo fan gets his back inked to prove it.
• Blue Post: 1 October, 2009 -- v1.13 delayed again so the larger stash can be removed.

September 2009

Late September 2009

• Blue Post: 30 September, 2009 -- Bashiok on the still-unrevealed female monk.
• Preview: 30 September, 2009 -- GamesRadar previews Diablo 3. No new info.
• Other: 30 September, 2009 -- New, Flash-intensive layout for Blizzard.com and all Blizzard's gaming sites.
• Blue Post: 30 September, 2009 -- Bashiok on the Monk's non-mana resource.
• Other: 28 September, 2009 -- Blizzard Jobs visits Waterloo University.
• Blue Post: 28 September, 2009 --Bashiok on skill runes and Teleport's cooldown time.
• Preview: 26 September, 2009 -- Bosses and champions in D3, discussed in detail.
• Blue Post: 23 September, 2009 -- Bashiok on the Witch Doctor, and total skill numbers.
• Video: 23 September, 2009 -- Great videos from a D3 presentation at Digital Taipei 2009.
• Blue Post: 22 September, 2009 -- Bashiok on Low Level Dueling, skill variety, and more.
• Blue Post: 22 September, 2009 -- Bashiok on SC2 vs. D3, and the Wizard and Monk's non-mana resources.
• Preview: 21 September, 2009 -- All about the function of quests in D3.

• Picture: 20 September, 2009 -- New screenshot and concept art.
• Preview: 19 September, 2009 -- Detailed article covers the controls and inventory system in D3.

• Interview: 15 September, 2009 -- Activision/Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick on, "taking the fun" out of game development.
• Blue Post: 12 September, 2009 -- Bashiok on skill caps and D3's development.
• Blue Post: 11 September, 2009 -- Bashiok on Act 2 Map.
• Interview: 8 September, 2009 -- Michael Ryder, Blizzard's Vice President of International Business, interviewed by GamesIndustry.biz.
• Other: 7 September, 2009. Leah confirmed as an in-game NPC sighting.

Penny Arcade Expo, September 4-6, 2009

Diablo 3 was playable at PAX and numerous hands-on reports and chunks of (ninja-recorded) gameplay footage surfaced from the convention.

• Gameplay Reports from PAX: (In descending order of length/quality.)
  • A fan posts his detailed game observations from PAX.
  • Another fan with great hands-on play reports.

• • ThatVideoGameBlog.com shares tehir impressions.
  • Co-Optimus hands-on preview.
  • GameStooge.com liked what they saw.
  • The SF Examiner saw D3 at PAX.

• Gameplay movies (All fan-grabbed with cell phone cams, so the quality is fairly low.):
  • Video with a Wizard in a desert dungeon and some item hovers.
  • Two more videos from the show.
  • Several more PAX videos embedded in this post.

• Miscellaneous Articles from PAX
  • Gamasutra describes what makes PAX special and different from other conventions.
  • Neowin.net posted pictures of the Blizzard booth.
  • NoMoreGameBlogs posts an "interview" with a Bliz PR guy who can neither confirm nor deny anything.

Early September, 2009

• Blue Post: 4 September, 2009. Bashiok on auto-attributes, the issue that never dies.
• Blue Post: 3 September, 2009. Bashiok on the various types of damage utilized in Diablo 3.
• Blue Post: 3 September, 2009. Work commences on the D2 v1.13 patch. No ETA is offered.
• Blue Post: 3 September, 2009. The Great Art Controversy (sort of) returns, with half a dozen marked up screenshots from the new gameplay movie. Bashiok argues, fans chime in, and the consensus seems to be strongly against the nitpickers.
• Blue Post: 3 September, 2009. Bashiok on replayability, character variety, and respecs.
• Preview: 2 September, 2009. Wired quotes Jay Wilson on the unannounced 5th class.
• Other: 2 September, 2009. Blizzard confirms that Diablo 3 will be playable at the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo.
• Blue Post: 2 September, 2009. Bashiok speaks at great length about BoE (Bind on Equip) and BoP (Bind on Pickup) items in Diablo 3.

August 2009

August was a tremendously busy month for news, headlined by the biggest ever outpouring of Diablo 3 news, from Blizzcon 2009. There was also a fair amount of info released at the Gamescom convention, and items from those events are grouped in the sections below.

BlizzCon 2009

BlizzCon 2009 was held on August 21-22 at the Anaheim Convention Center. As is past years, BlizzCon created an amazing amount of news and content. The following sections hold it all, sorted by type and importance. Check the Blizzcon news category to see every single news item related to Blizzcon; this Media Coverage page only archives the items with useful content.

BlizzCon 2009 Interviews

Interviews with various developers on the D3 team.

• Jay Wilson @ Wired.com. Jay talks about violence in D3, parental guidance, and much more.
• Jay Wilson @ G4TV. Issues covered include end game variety, itemization, the Monk, and lots more.
• Jay Wilson @ The Orange County Register.
• Jay Wilson @ IGN. Long interview.
• Jay Wilson @ G4TV short Monk-focused feature.
• Julian Love and Kevin Martens @ Diii.net. Questions cover cinematics, act design, act boss battles, beta testing, and much more.
• Julian Love and Kevin Martens do a group fansite interview.
• Leonard Boyarsky @ Slashdot, talks about Battle.net integration and other technical issues.
• Leonard Boyarsky and Christian Lichtner @ Atomic PC.
• Gamespot video interview with Christian Lichtner and Leonard Boyarsky.
• Christian Lichtner and Leonard Boyarsky video interview with Gamespot.
• Leonard Boyarsky and Kevin Martens @ Joystiq.com. Interview covers D3's plot and lore, Monk weapons, and much more.
• GamePlanetNZ posts the transcript of another Julian Love and Kevin Martens interview.
• Leonard Boyarsky and Kevin Martens in a video interview with GiantBomb.
• GamerZines talks to Christian Lichtner and Julian Love.
• Rob Pardo @ GamePlanetNZ on Battle.net 2.0 features.
• Greg Canessa @ ShackNews, speaking about Battle.net 2.0.
• Paul Sams @ Wired.com. Blizzard's COO talks about future plans for Battle.net.

BlizzCon 2009 Screenshots, Artwork, and Movies

Visual aids and delights.

• Six new screens from the press CD.
• The first 11 Monk screenshots. Also 2 new monster art, 6 new environmental art, and 2 monk character art images.
• Fourteen more screenshots, new Monk shots on the official site, plus several more of other characters from the Blizzcon press CD.
• Monk introductory trailer. Not a cinematic, but a cool video of the Monk created with the game engine. Also available from Blizzard.
• Blizzcon 12 minute gameplay movie, featuring the Monk and multiplayer action. Also available from Blizzard.
• Blizzcon Art Museum coverage of much new Diablo 3 artwork. Part one, two, three, part four, part five, part six.
• Miscellaneous photos from Blizzcon and the Blizzard fansite summit.
• All 4 character skill trees are revealed in a community art project.
• IncGamers.com posts a nicely-edited "best of E3" video.

BlizzCon 2009 Game Reports and In-depth Coverage

Character Skill Tree Previews

• Monk skill trees and stats. All 8 skills, with play test comments.
• Barbarian skill trees. All 35 skills, plus analysis.
• Witch Doctor skill trees. All 35 skills, plus analysis.
• Wizard skill trees. All 30 skills, plus analysis.

Monk hands-on play reports

• IGN PC, Kotaku, Gamespy, GamePlanetNZ, ShackNews, Stuff NZ, Planet Diablo, EuroGamer, GamePro, Joystiq.com, and GameShark.com.

Other demo reports

• RPGamer on all aspects of the demo.
• IGN with 10 things you should know about the Monk.
• Crispy Gamer comments on the graphics and other technical details.
• IncGamers hosts a general audience article by Diii.net's Flux about the Blizzcon D3 experience.
• Overall discussion of the Blizzcon build, as seen in a demo from Blizzard HQ the day before Blizzcon.
• Another game report based on the demo seen during the Fansite Summit at Blizzard HQ.
• PC Games Hardware hands-on from a technical PoV.
• FearNet.com posted a short and somewhat critical writeup.
• Australian GameArena with a video report on Blizzcon.
• Diii.net's short report on the Wizard and Witch Doctor.
• Post Blizzcon live chat with Diii.net staff and fans who got hands on play time.

Official FAQs and Info

• Diablo 3 Sneak Preview with Jay Wilson Q&A
• Blizzcon B.net 2.0 FAQ. Includes numerous press CD screenshots.
• Official Diablo 3 FAQ. Updated for Blizzcon with Monk info.
• Diablo 3 Fact Sheet.

BlizzCon 2009 D3 Panel Coverage

Coverage of the three Diablo 3 panels held at Blizzcon. Click to the panel pages in the wiki for full coverage, transcripts, and more.

Diablo 3 Heroes and Monsters Panel

Full panel coverage in the wiki.

• Video of the whole panel
• Bullet points from the panel's PowerPoint presentation.
• Diii.net's detailed discussion of the panel's coverage of the Monk.
• Diii.net on the recent improvements to the Barbarian, Witch Doctor, and Wizard, as well as why skill runes are not in the BlizzCon build.
• Blizzard's own summary of the panel.
• Joystiq adds their coverage of the panel.

Diablo 3 Art Panel

See the panel page for full coverage.

• Diii.net's rough transcript from live blogging.
• Bashiok offered a quick summary in a forum post.

Diablo 3 Open Q&A

This panel replaced the Diablo 3 Lore panel, and was held on Saturday afternoon. The whole panel was audience questions, and as usual at such events, the quality of the queries varied widely.

• Panel transcript.

Diablo 3/WoW Press-Only Q&A

Not an official D3 panel, but this hour long conference interview was for the press only, and was not streamed live. See the panel page for full coverage.

• Summarized transcripts:
  • Zam.com provided the most complete transcript.
  • Gamespot and The Escapist provided summaries.

BlizzCon 2009 Diablo 3 News

Chronological highlights of the ongoing Blizzcon news coverage. These do not include the interviews, game reports, panels, and other features already listed.

• 21 August, 2009 -- The Official Korean D3 Site accidentally leaks advance word of the Monk.
• 21 August, 2009 -- Blizzcon Goodie Bag inventoried.
• 21 August, 2009 -- The DirectTV online stream of Blizzcon was broken and useless for the first few hours of the show, presumably due to heavy demand.
• 22 August, 2009 -- Rainyia's Mistress of Pain wins the Blizzcon costume contest. (Making of photos here.)
• 23 August, 2009 -- IncGamers reports that WoW:Cataclysm and Starcraft 2 are coming in 2010. Diablo 3 = 2011+
• 23 August, 2009 -- 1up.com reports on the potential for Diablo 3 to move to consoles.
• 23 August, 2009 -- Kotaku posts an info-rich item on Day One of Blizzcon.
• 23 August, 2009 -- Legit Reviews with an interesting feature about the vendor booths set up inside Blizzcon.
• 23 August, 2009 -- The OC Register with a feature on non-gaming friends and family who attended Blizzcon.
• 23 August, 2009 -- Kotaku on the Blizzcon costume contest.
• 25 August, 2009 -- Cinematic Diablo is a girl? Surprising early images of the cinematic Diablo seen during the Blizzcon Direct TV broadcast.

• 25 August, 2009 -- The Orange County Register interviews Blizzard employees about what they get out of BlizzCon.
• 25 August, 2009 -- Blizzard loves PopCap games, by The Escapist.
• 25 August, 2009 -- The Onion AV Club on Blizzcon and the games found therein.
• 25 August, 2009 -- Legit Reviews' cute cosplay girl collection.
• 25 August, 2009 -- Kotaku wonders where the Diablo 3 Rainbow and Unicorn shirts went.
• 27 August, 2009 -- Joystiq posts a large gallery of photos from the Blizzcon costume contest.
• 31 August, 2009 -- Mock up skill trees posted for all 4 classes.
• 31 August, 2009 -- More Blizzcon news tidbits surface.
• 1 September, 2009 -- AusGamers on all things Diablo 3 from Blizzcon.
• 3 September, 2009 -- More post-Blizzcon reports surface.
• 4 September, 2009 -- Collection of misc late-breaking Blizzcon news items.

August 2009: Gamescom

The first annual Gamescom convention was held in Cologne, Germany, August 19-23, 2009. Blizzard staffed a large booth and sent playable versions of Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. The interesting thing was that this event overlapped with BlizzCon's August 21-22 schedule. So while Blizzard wanted to show off new stuff in Diablo 3 at Gamescom, they had to gimp their build to withhold any details of the Monk until after the big character announcement at the Blizzcon opening ceremonies.

There were some early news reports of interesting D3 stuff from Gamescom, but the last 2 days of the event were entirely overshadowed by the much bigger news and media coverage coming from Anaheim.

• Other: 14 August, 2009. Blizzard confirms that Diablo 3 will be playable at the Gamescom.
• Preview: 19 August, 2009. Kotaku posts a hands-on from Gamescom, and some shaky cam footage of D3 in action surfaces.
• Preview: 19 August, 2009. 1up.com posts a hands-on report from Gamescom.
• Preview: 20 August, 2009. IGN posts a Witch Doctor hands-on report from Gamescom.
• Video: 20 August, 2009. Game Trailers posts some Gamescom gameplay footage.
• Preview: 20 August, 2009. More Gamescom reports and some more video footage as well.
• Video: 21 August, 2009. Four more videos of D3 from Gamescom hit YouTube.

August 2009: Pre-Blizzcon

Blizzard kept very quiet pre-Blizzcon; saving up all their big stuff for the convention. Even Bashiok was busy planning Blizzcon events and had little time for the forums.

• Blue Post: 13 August, 2009. Blizzard officially launches Twitter accounts for Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft.

• Blue Post: 11 August, 2009. Blizzard reveals that the D2X v1.13 patch] is underway, and will likely include some method of respecs.

• Blue Post: 10 August, 2009. Bashiok on "Stereo 3D" and PvP. No PvP details yet, sadly.

• Preview: 10 August, 2009. Blizzcast 10 is released, with entirely World of Warcraft content.

• Commentary: 8 August, 2009. D2 players complete the entire game, including Uber Tristram in naked, ironman mode.

• Blue Post: 6 August, 2009. Starcraft 2 is officially delayed. But we're told this delay is due to Battle.net issues, and will not affect other in-progress Blizzard titles.

• Blue Post: 4 August, 2009. Bashiok on skill rune visuals.

• Commentary: 2 August, 2009. Does player skill exist in Diablo 2? Or is it all determined by equipment and buld? And how will this translate to Diablo 3?

• Commentary: 1 August, 2009. Shared skills are debated. Should characters in Diablo 3 have the ability to use another character's skills, as some Runewords and Uniques allow in Diablo 2?

Older News

Earlier headlines and articles are archived on the Media Coverage Archive pages:

• Media Coverage: 2009
• Media Coverage: 2008