tweaking Diablo 3 for consoles and plans to bring it to next-gen

The console version of Diablo 3 looks and feels like Diablo 3, but using a controller changes everything. The game maps each character’s various moves to all available buttons, and the moves equipped appear in a labeled UI section that runs horizontally across the bottom of the screen.

Diablo 3’s console version will also include drop-in multiplayer, which is how we joined the demo in progress. We hopped in with a button press, selected our class and the game kept up with the axe-wielding of two Barbarians effortlessly.

The developers also tweaked the loot drop system. The console version will not include the PC version’s Auction House, real money or otherwise. To compensate, there’s a higher probability that you’ll find relevant loot for your class.

“For loot, because we don’t want you looting through your bags like crazy,” said Jason Bender, lead designer on console, “we reduced the amount of loot that drops by quantity, so a lot of it converts to gold. But we target it so that it is more likely to be for you. The amount of upgrades you get are about the same as you get on PC, but you’re sorting through, in some cases, like 70 percent less loot.”