Joystiq

Blizzard North considered making Diablo Junior for the Game Boy Color

Mike Schramm — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 03:15:00 EST

David Craddock is a freelance writer (and former Joystiquer) who's putting a book together about Blizzard North, the studio that created the enormously popular Diablo series. Up until the book's release (it is called, of course, "Stay Awhile and Listen"), Craddock is doling out some insights that he's picked up from his research on Diablo's past development.

Like, for example, the fact that a version of Diablo 2 was considered for the Game Boy Color and/or the Game Boy Advance. Following the release of the popular sequel, Blizzard North considered a single-player handheld game with the working (and adorable) title of Diablo Junior, which would have three separate cartridges on offer, each featuring a different class of hero. The game was never made, mostly due to the high costs of mobile development at that time.

Craddock says Blizzard North also considered a second expansion for Diablo 2, which would have come out after Lord of Destruction. That expansion would have focused on multiplayer features, and set up customizable guild housing and banks. In the end, however, that expansion was also scuttled, and Blizzard North got to work on the long project that would become Diablo 3.

Blizzard North considered making Diablo Junior for the Game Boy Color originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 03:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ex-Cryptic CCO Bill Roper joins Disney Interactive Media Group

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:10:00 EST

Bill Roper's cultivated an impressive resume during his tenure with the gaming industry, including executive positions with Blizzard North, Flagship Studios and Cryptic Studios. He left the latter developer -- his last place of employment -- last August, and today revealed his new home: The Disney Interactive Media Group, where he'll work as the vice president of the Marvel franchise.

Disney General Manager of Games Alex Seropian said, "With 17 years of experience in the worldwide gaming industry, we are confident that Bill has the creative vision necessary to help guide the next wave of development and product for DIMG's Marvel Games." We too are confident in Roper's abilities. And, considering his legacy, we can't wait to see how much dope loot he can squeeze into the next Spider-Man title.

Ex-Cryptic CCO Bill Roper joins Disney Interactive Media Group originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alleged screens of canceled 2005 Diablo 3 are heavenly

Richard Mitchell — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:30:00 EST

In internet time, 2005 might as well be the last century. Christopher Nolan was just beginning to tackle a new series of Batman films, many Joystiq writers hadn't even begun their illustrious careers and Blizzard North was rumored to be hard at work on Diablo 3. That is until Blizzard North was closed and most of its staff relocated to Blizzard's HQ in California, of course. Even with the closure, there was still a rumor floating around that a new Diablo would be shown at BlizzCon, a Diablo that actually took place in a Heaven being invaded by Hell.

While none of us will ever play that Diablo 3, Kotaku has nabbed some screenshots allegedly taken from the canceled project. Examining the screens, it certainly looks like the Heaven plot was a reality. It also appears that Blizzard North had abandoned Diablo's traditional 2D isometric graphics in favor of a full 3D world, which isn't surprising given the runaway success of World of Warcraft. Hit the source link for more screens.

Alleged screens of canceled 2005 Diablo 3 are heavenly originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Torchlight dev speaks about Blizzard competition, MMO plans

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST

Max Schaefer, co-founder of Torchlight developer Runic Games (and former Blizzard North staffer) recently sat down for the most terrifying interview of his life. In an interview with German gaming news site PCGames.de, Schaefer was buffeted with strongly-worded interrogatives, at one point being told to "Defend yourself!" The harsh questioning was worth it -- Schaefer opened up about similarities between his studio's game and Diablo, explaining, "we plead guilty to trying to perfect a style of game we've worked on since the early 90's."

The more intriguing part of the interview came when Schaefer discussed the future of the series -- a future which involves a free-to-play MMORPG based in the world of Torchlight. Just because the game won't put a hurt on your wallet doesn't mean Runic Games is skimping out; according to Schaefer, the Torchlight MMO will be a large production, complete with "a lot of customization, an overworld, random and instanced dungeons, PVP, and much more!"

Schaefer added that the MMO is still about two years out. The studio plans to go into pre-production as soon as it squashes all the bugs in the offline version of Torchlight, and hopes to have the game reach the community with alpha and beta testing phases "as quickly as possible."

Torchlight dev speaks about Blizzard competition, MMO plans originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Castaway Entertainment shipwrecked, suspends operations

Jason Dobson — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Business

Castaway Entertainment, a studio established nearly five years ago by former Blizzard North devs, has become the latest casualty in an alarming trend among US game developers. Gamespot has reported that the studio has suspended operations, echoing similar death knells rung earlier this year Perpetual Entertainment, Iron Lore, and Stormfront Studios.

According to the report, Castaway has cut back its staff from nearly 25 people to just six critical staff members, and that all development activity has been shelved. Since Castaway was founded in 2003 the studio has produced only a single title, the XBLA pox Yaris, with other projects such as the unreleased Diablo-style game Djinn never having made it out of the ether.

Castaway Entertainment shipwrecked, suspends operations originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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