Gaming on a Prayer
Gaming on a prayer...
So Diablo 3 is out today and after a long, long wait I can proudly say...
I'm going to wait a little longer...
See, Diablo 3 is one of those cornerstone games like Battlefield and Mass Effect that define a genre. As such you rarely get a discount and can pretty much be assured that paying a premium for having the game on release day will only garner you frustration.
So it was with the launch of Diablo 3 today...
It wouldn't be the first time that an anxiously awaited title fell flat on its face. Think back a few months to the Battlefield 3 launch and you see my point.
Does that mean I think these are bad games? By no means but it is bad faith. In the case of Diablo 3, It's the first game in the genre since Dungeon Siege 2 that has any hope of an entertaining co-op. World of Warcraft doesn't count by the way. That game's so mainstream they might as well sell it in the same place your mom gets her Nike running shoes.
The problems are the same that have plagued the game industry since its inception. Simply put, careless planning and sloppy execution. Considering that popular games tend to be a niche market with easily obtained metrics there's no room for the excuse of the "overwhelmed".
I can't think of any popular platform title that didn't have huge glitches on launch day in the past decade. I suppose developers and publishers aren't students of their own history.
Continued on the next page
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