I'd like to step back from the usual Xbox 360 and Games for Windows posts to tip my hat to my favorite video game of all time.  Although I don't expect it before 2010, I wanted to show respect as I await the release of the recently announced sequel.

Upon getting home at 2am from a business trip the weekend of June 29th, 2000, I found the pre-ordered copy of Diablo 2 my brother left me on my computer desk.  We proceeded to install, and play the game for the entire weekend, taking breaks only to nibble on some crackers, and to use the facilities.  I slept about 4 hours that whole weekend because Diablo had my friends and I in it's grip.  Never before, and never since has a game sucked me in this way.

Exactly eight years later, Blizzard has announced Diablo 3, and I cannot wait until the game actually arrives on store shelves.

To preemptively crush any rumors, I have no insight if Blizzard is planning to bring the game to the Xbox 360 console.  (I've seen a Joystiq interview stating there are no plans, and a Guardian interview stating that it hasn't been ruled out.)

But what's the big deal?  Diablo 2 is currently rated 88 on Metacritic - it's not even in the top 100 PC games!  Diablo 2 has only sold half of what Halo 3 has sold (D2 = 4 million, H3 = 8)!

The big deal is that upon the D3 announcement, the internet has exploded.  Since the D3 release announcement there are:

  • 2+ stories on Destructoid
  • 4+ stories on Kotaku
  • 16+ stories on Joystiq
  • Evil Avatar has 4+ threads, totaling over 1300 posts
  • NeoGaf has a 1769+ post thread (not counting the Diablo 2 threads, this is 1769+ posts JUST on Diablo 3)
  • Heck - even X3F had a story

The big deal is that after Diablo 3 was announced, four of my friends (who had never played a Diablo game before) bought Diablo 2 and the expansion - which Blizzard brilliantly released as digital downloads.

Actually Destructoid pointed out that on Amazon shows Diablo 2 as the top selling PC game.

If you haven't played Diablo 2, you should.

If you refuse to play old PC/Mac games, check some similar titles on the 360 such as Marvel Ultimate Alliance, the upcoming Too Human, or even Arcadian Warriors.

I wanted to warn Tony and John that I think I'm coming down with the flu in 2009, 2010, or whenever the game gets released, so I won't be in for a week or two because it's a really bad case...