Playing 'Diablo 3' ona console is a different kind of hell

diablo-3

Yannick LeJacq NBC News

4 hours ago

Blizzard

After almost two decades, Blizzard is bringing its acclaimed "Diablo" series to video game consoles for the first time. But does the game survive the transition from the PC?

For its legions of fans on the PC, Blizzard's epic demon-slaying video game "Diablo 3" is practically synonymous with hours upon hours of mouse clicking. Changing that up would be like trying to turn football into a touchscreen smartphone game: it doesn't really work. So when Blizzard revealed during Sony's PlayStation 4 unveiling that it would bring its 2012 PC game to current and next-generation video game consoles, "Diablo" purists met the new with equal parts of horror and trepid excitement. The Xbox and PlayStation had both produced many impressive games of their own, no doubt. But would Diablo on a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 really be Diablo?

Not necessarily. Matthew Berger, a senior level designer at Blizzard who was brought into the company to assist with "Diablo 3's" transition to the console, told NBC News this week that the studio hired a whole new team alongside him to retool the game for the gamepad and joystick. "Diablo 3" on a PlayStation 3 still gives players the journey to hell they waited more than a decade to play through once again. But it's a different kind of hell than the PC game that Blizzard fans know and love.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, mind you. But seeing a new shape and size was unsettling for a game that's long been celebrated for its rare ability to preserve a thematic and tonal consistency through three major releases, spread as they were across 16 years of a barely 30-year-old industry's history.

When I first started playing the PlayStation 3 version of "Diablo" this week at a preview event in New York, it didn't remind me of "Diablo" at all. Rather, it felt like a sleeker version of an old-school dungeon crawler like the "Gauntlet" arcade games of gaming's past. The tactical precision of the mouse and keyboard was replaced by the button-mashing chaos of the DualShock controller. Instead being able to carefully aim my magic spells and arrows, I could now roll back and forth to dodge enemy attacks.

These small adjustments will undoubtedly become divisive points of contention within the "Diablo" community. But in bringing "Diablo 3" to consoles in the first place, Blizzard is less interested in keeping placating existing fans than it is in attracting new ones.

It's not like "Gauntlet" was a bad game, after all. It's just that sitting at home on the couch playing a cartoonish hack-and-slash game like "Gauntlet Dark Legacy" was a much more casual, lower-stakes game than trying to compete (or cooperate) with fellow "Diablo" fans online through Blizzard's Battle.net servers. But even Berger seemed to accept that the console version of "Diablo" is a different beast entirely when he walked me through a small slice of the first section of the game.

"One of our mottos throughout the project was: 'One couch to rule them all,'" Berger said. It's a version of "Diablo" you'd want to play for a bit after getting home from work, or when relaxing with friends. Maybe not the same "Diablo" I fought off sleep to play more times than I'd like to admit when I was in middle- or high school, but still a version of "Diablo" nonetheless.

Then again, I only got a chance to play through about 20 minutes of the PS3 version of "Diablo." And this is a game that made headlines last year when one particularly devoted fan died after playing it for 40 hours straight. Whether on a couch or sitting at a desk with a mouse and keyboard, "Diablo 3" will no doubt continue to attract the same level of devotion from fans.

They'll be able to find out soon enough when "Diablo 3" is released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on Sept. 3. Blizzard announced this week that the next-generation version of the game will not be released for the PlayStation 4 until next year.

Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered technology and games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at: Yannick.LeJacq@nbcuni.com.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663301/s/2eced85e/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cplaying0Ediablo0E30Econsole0Edifferent0Ekind0Ehell0E6C10A6580A0A7/story01.htm

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Ouya readies new kickstarter campaign to spur game development

OUYA will launch a second campaign on crowdfunding site Kickstarter next month to accelerate the development of new titles for its Android-based video game console.

According to the Wall Street Journal, every developer who pledges between $50,000 and $250,000 to create a new game will then have their funding matched by OUYA.

The Kickstarter page will go live on August 9 and OUYA will continue to match the funding until the campaign total hits $1 million. If developers fail to pledge this amount by August 10, 2014 ? although that?s pretty unlikely ? the campaign will be closed automatically.

?The kicker, at the end, is whichever raises the best will get a $100,000 bonus,? Julie Uhrman, CEO of OUYA said. ?We?re saying, ?hey, you?re a rock star.? ?

OUYA?s original Kickstarter page closed on August 9 last year and raised a phenomenal $8,580,359 from backers. The idea was to create a $99 gaming console that would bring more independent and mobile-style video games to the big screen.

With a remarkably petite hardware design and a dedicated controller, OUYA seemed like a refreshing departure from industry heavyweights such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.

OUYA had some trouble shipping units to its backers in a timely manner, but now that the console is available in brick-and-mortar retail stores, it finally feels like a real and competitive platform. Initial reviews have been mixed, but there?s clearly an opportunity to do something new and different with OUYA ? provided it has games.

OUYA?s current game library isn?t bad, but it?s in desperate need of a break-out hit such as Minecraft. TowerFall has filled that void somewhat, but there?s certainly room for more exclusive and high-quality games. After all, without new and interesting titles, hardware sales will undoubtedly falter in the coming months.

Whether developers will flock to the new Kickstarter page remains to be seen ? fresh funding always draws interest, but that needs to be weighed up with the extra development time and cost that is associated with creating a game for a separate platform.

Source: http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2013/07/18/ouya-readies-new-kickstarter-campaign-will-match-up-to-1m-to-spur-game-development-for-its-console/

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Wide-open field in race to succeed Boston's longest-serving mayor

BOSTON (Reuters) - The race to succeed Boston's longest-serving mayor remains wide open with none of the dozen candidates seeking the office enjoying a significant lead, according to a Suffolk University/Boston Herald poll.

The two leaders in the field to succeed Mayor Thomas Menino are City Councilor-at-large John Connolly, who had the support of 12 percent of likely voters, and State Representative Martin Walsh, who had 11 percent support in the poll, released late on Tuesday.

Boston faces its most competitive mayoral race in decades this year, following Mayor Thomas Menino's March decision not seek re-election.

Trailing them were Daniel Conley, the district attorney for the county that includes Boston, with 9 percent, and District Councilor Rob Consalvo, with 8 percent.

All the top candidates are Democrats.

"Currently the top four candidates are within the poll's margin of error, and with 40 percent undecided the race is wide open," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston.

The candidates will first face each other in a nonpartisan September 24 preliminary election. The two candidates who receive the most votes in that contest will be on the ballot in the November general election.

The poll of 600 likely primary voters was conducted July 10th through 15th and has a 4 percent margin of error.

Incumbent mayors in Boston are rarely defeated. Menino began his time in the job as acting mayor after U.S. President Bill Clinton named Menino's predecessor, Raymond Flynn, ambassador to the Vatican.

Menino is now in his 20th year as mayor.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wide-open-field-race-succeed-bostons-longest-serving-125723184.html

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Skanska ditches US Chamber over 'green' row - Real Estate Weekly

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Skanska USA announced that it has resigned as a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to protest the organization's backing of a chemical industry-led initiative to effectively ban the future use of LEED for government ...

Source: http://www.rew-online.com/2013/07/16/skanska-ditches-us-chamber-over-green-row/

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Rainy Day (or Blistering Hot Day) Fun at the River City Trading Post ...

This little trip came about because of four facts:

1. We had to get out of the house.

2. It?s hot outside.

3. I love antique shopping.

4. My kids do not love antique shopping.

I loaded up my crew and headed down to the River City Trading Post, which I call ?my happy place.? Imagine a large grocery store turned into rows of booths where people sell antiques and other loveable junk. Now imagine that this place is run by ladies who actually like children and don?t give you the stink eye when you bring them in with you. I know, right? Paradise.

My kids still needed convincing.

So I told them we were going to play a game. Boys vs. Girls. The team who finds the strangest, most unusual item under $10 wins.

We had some stiff competition. There was the Jesus pencil sharpener, which unfortunately cost more than 10 bucks.

The plaster Santa was a strong contender, but he was cracked.

We also had a piggy teapot. But it was over 10 dollars too. Yes. It was OVER 10 dollars.

I wanted these griffins bad! Can you imagine? A normal street in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Then BAM! The griffin house! Too bad they were expensive.

The ultimate winner, found by the girls of course??

The coconut pirate! It was only $6. I can?t believe someone would let this piece of American folk art go for only $6.

Oh well. Their loss is our gain. Our new pirate friend has a home in our family room, and I got some whine-free antique shopping time.

Arr!

Source: http://www.stuffandthingsblog.com/rainy-day-or-blistering-hot-day-fun-at-the-river-city-trading-post/

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Internet Marketing Training for Beginners | Get The Tactical Edge

Internet marketing training for beginners is usually something that is unfortunately not only overlooked, but it is not even considered at first most of the time, but why? If you are new to internet marketing, listen up?

With all the white noise online from voices promoting and selling pieces to the puzzle one at a time, would you not rather have all the pieces and the box top? Would you not rather be given the cape, the suit and taught how to fly in the first place?

Here we will go over the basics of what you need to know online and, give you some simple steps to get going the right way, the first time for whatever niche or opportunity you have.

There is a big difference between purchasing the latest greatest software and program from the ?syndicate,? and getting real training from systems like The Brown Box Formula or, even one I have co-created, Tactical Edge Marketing.

See, the syndicate systems, and the cohorts involved, sell you stuff, the latter programs help you build, brand and manage a real business presence online.

One of the greatest mistakes you will make online, is the one you make first?buying garbage answers that lead to a garbage presence online. Sorry to disappoint, but it is true.

So, now that I have said my ?piece,? let?s take a look at what a real internet marketing presence looks like online.

First Things First, Marketing Training?

Without at least a decent internet marketing training program, I would be without ten?s of thousands of subscribers and, many of them would still be buying junk online today.

This is not a self aggrandized claim, it is the truth I hear and, the truth about my own journey to success online.

The first mistake you you ?will? make online is to skip past the training programs and get right into the ?get massive subscribers? or, the ?make money now? products and systems here. However, for all the money spent, they hardly ever work.

And, it is like I say;

?you should have known better.?

Nobody makes money over night here, while some may say they do, they either got really lucky and their mom bought something or, they made up the screenshots?one of the two.

Here are the two main reasons why people skip the training program for the get rich systems:

• they cost money
• and, they cost money

Here is the weird thing, SO DID THE OTHER SYSTEM!

However, with the affiliate guru junk, you ended up spending more on average than one of the simple internet marketing training programs that actually help.

Here is the deal, if you believe that learning ONE way of marketing effectively online is going to be the best strategy, good luck with that.

If however, you believe that effective content and inbound marketing is built across multiple channels online, well then, welcome to SUCCESS!

My own journey started with a program that cost thousands, but in the end, even though it lacked, I still came out with the basics for effective marketing and, the vocabulary to search out what other knowledge I needed.

Skipping the white noise is the first step to getting that?tactical edge? you need online. After that, it is all about applying what you learned and, never stopping.

Here are a few of the platforms and strategies you should make sure you learn and, apply:

1. Understanding the basics of SEO
2. Learn what Inbound Marketing is all about
3. Effective social media marketing
4. Blogging
5. Video marketing
6. Brand building
7. Permission email marketing
8. How sales funnels should work
9. Better your sales copy
10. Learn what platforms are fundamental and, what platforms are just the extras

Of course there are a few here I probably missed, like the fact of not getting stuck promoting the ?affiliate? guru product you bought, and focusing instead on your own passion.

For the beginner, saving money, time and your hair from pulling it out, there is no better answer than to actually start with some real training. Of course you are going to have to pay for it, but in the end, success through knowledge is usually the outcome, right? It was for me.

When the idea of turning from private training and coaching and to a simplified system, I was honestly a little afraid.

The Tactical Edge Marketing training program offers a simpler, lower investment way to learn how to build, brand and manage a business online, and that is not what I was afraid of.

What I was afraid of was getting to the point of not having as much ?personal? time with individuals because of too many members, but that was a fear I found to be completely unjustified.

Through weekly webinars (which most training do not have, but should), the personal touch I was hoping to retain worked perfectly.

What was important to this working out of course, was by making sure that the training itself was COMPLETE and EASY to understand and, most importantly for you, to implement.

Today, many people are finding success online, and almost on a daily basis!

Internet marketing training for beginners is not something ?you might think about? getting. If you want to succeed here, you get it, you learn it, you apply it.

Posts related to Internet Marketing Training for Beginners | Get The Tactical Edge

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Music, Melodrama, and Murder Most Foul ? PRC's Youth ...

The PlayMakers Repertory Company Summer Youth Conservatory will present ?Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street? on July 17-21 in UNC-Chapel Hill?s Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre

The PlayMakers Repertory Company Summer Youth Conservatory, under the direction of Tom Quaintance, will present a youth-theater production of the Tony Award?-winning 1979 Broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on July 17-21 in the Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill?s Center for Dramatic Art. Sweeney Todd features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler, based on the 1973 melodrama by Christopher Bond. The show won eight 1979 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Book of a Musical.

?In 1979 my sister, who by and large hated musicals, came back from a trip to NYC raving about an awesome musical featuring a vengeful barber and an enterprising meat pie maker,? recalls Tom Quaintance, who is the artistic director of Cape Fear Regional Theatre in Fayetteville. ?My dad would wear the blood spattered apron she got as a souvenir whilst grilling steaks and burgers.?

He adds, ?I heard and loved the music, and was familiar with the filmed version of the original tour, but had not seen it live until the revival in 2005. I?ve always wanted to direct the musical, but have not worked on it before.?

Quaintance previously directed the PlayMakers Repertory Company Summer Youth Conservatory presentations of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, A Midsummer Night?s Dream, The Music Man, and Oliver!, as well as PlayMakers? critically acclaimed main-stage productions of Shipwrecked! An Entertainment and The Little Prince, and he co-directed The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby with PlayMakers producing artistic director Joseph Haj. ?I think [Sweeney Todd] is Sondheim?s best musical. It is positively Shakespearian in scope and execution. The end of the first act has the soaring tragedy of Epiphany, followed by one of the funniest songs in musical-theater history in ?A Little Priest.? It is like Macbeth ? with the murder of Duncan, followed by the porter scene ? only ?A Little Priest? is funnier.

?Shakespeare and musicals are my passion,? Tom Quaintance confesses. ?Sweeney Todd feels like both.?

He adds, ?The play opens with the chorus exhorting us to ?Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. His skin was pale and his eye was odd. He shaved the faces of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard from again.? Sweeney (Adrian Thornburg) is actually Benjamin Barker, returned to London bent on revenge. He partners with Mrs. Lovett (Nadia Agrourram), the struggling meat pie shop owner. Todd?s proclivity towards murder and Mrs. Lovett?s practical sociopathic tendencies are a match made ? well, not in heaven.

?Todd sets up shop on Fleet Street, cutting throats, biding time until he can wreak vengeance on the vile Judge Turpin (Andrew Cook). Wackiness ensues,? quips Quaintance.

In addition to director Tom Quaintance and PlayMakers producing artistic director Joseph Haj, the creative team for this PlayMakers Repertory Company Summer Youth Conservatory production of Sweeney Todd includes choreographer Aya Shabu, musical director Andrew J. Wheeler, assistant to the musical director Nora Burgard, production manager Michael Rolleri, technical directors Chad Rogers and Adam Maxfield, scenic designer/assistant director Christopher Tulysewski, lighting designer/master electrician Nathan Gray, costume designer Jade Bettin, assistant costume designer Adam Dill, sound designer Robert Dagit, properties director Sarah Smiley, and stage manager Heather Cooper.

?We are using every inch of the Kenan Theatre in Sweeney,? claims director Tom Quaintance. ?This is an immersive experience, loaded with tricks and beautifully detailed work.

Quaintance says, ?[Costume designers] Jade Bettin and Adam Dill have designed an exceptional show. This is a large cast that plays multiple roles, and the detail is fantastic. Pirelli?s pants alone make the show worth the price of admission.

He notes, ?Sweeney is a huge musical. Not only does it cover large swaths of period London, there is the chair. ?Is that a chair fit for a king?? sings Sweeney. Building a set without the challenge of a barber chair that sends its victims to the bake shop would be challenge enough. The outstanding crew and students in the TheatreTech program have done heroic work getting SWEENEY ready.

?Musically, Sweeney is as challenging a musical as exists in the musical-theater canon,? claims Quaintance. ?It is an extraordinary challenge for professionals. To do it with high school students requires both extraordinary students and extraordinary faith. I was not interested in directing Sweeney with students, both because of the musical and acting challenges, until I saw the [PlayMakers Repertory Company Summer Youth Conservatory presentation of] Urinetown last year. I saw this was a community of students who were up to the challenge.?

Tom Quaintance adds, ?I very much enjoy working with high school students on musicals. The utter commitment and love of the work they bring to every rehearsal is joyous.

?This is an extraordinarily challenging show vocally,? claims Tom Quaintance. ?Sondheim is famously difficult material, with odd harmonies, mind-bending shifts in rhythm and the characters need wide vocal ranges. The single biggest challenge is working with young, developing voices on this material. Fortunately, music director Andrew J. Wheeler is the rare combination of an accomplished professional and a great teacher. The students sound amazing.?

Director Tom Quaintance concludes, ?Much of this production will live on past the close here in Chapel Hill. I am directing Sweeney at Cape Fear Regional Theatre in Fayetteville, where I am artistic director, this fall with much of the same production team. We will be bringing the sets, props, and costumes down to CFRT and re-mounting the show with a professional cast. The work these students have been doing this summer will have a huge impact on that production.?

SECOND OPINION: July 10th Durham, NC Herald-Sun preview by Cliff Bellamy: http://www.heraldsun.com/chherald/x177811149/Theater-of-the-intense-Students-work-through-paces-in-Sweeney-Todd (Note: You must register to read this article); and July 5th Fayetteville, NC Fayetteville Observer blog posting by Rodger Mullen: http://blogs.fayobserver.com/entertainment/July-2013/CFRT-s-Tom-Quaintance-directs?Sweeney-Todd?in-Ch.

The PlayMakers Repertory Company Summer Youth Conservatory presents SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET at 7:30 p.m. July 17-20 and 2 p.m. July 21 in the Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art, 120 Country Club Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514, on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus).

TICKETS: $15 ($10 students and children under 18).

BOX OFFICE: 919-962-PLAY (7529) or http://playmakersrep.org/tickets/single. SHOW: http://playmakersrep.org/sweeneytodd.

VIDEO PREVIEW (by Jon Haas): http://vimeo.com/69981362.

NEWS RELEASE: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/6063/107/.

PRESENTER: http://playmakersrep.org/outreach/syc.

PRC BLOG: http://playmakersrep.blogspot.com/.

VENUE: https://www.playmakersrep.org/aboutus/kenan.

DIRECTIONS/PARKING: http://playmakersrep.org/visitorinfo.

OTHER LINKS:

Sweeney Todd (character): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd (Wikipedia).

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1973 play): http://www.samuelfrench.com/p/1746/sweeney-todd-the-demon-barber-of-fleet-street (Samuel French, Inc.). Christopher Bond (book): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Bond (Wikipedia).

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979 musical): http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000075 (Music Theatre International), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd:_The_Demon_Barber_of_Fleet_Street (Wikipedia), and http://www.ibdb.com/show.php?id=8451 (Internet Broadway Database).

The Script: http://books.google.com/ (Google Books).

Study Guide: http://www.mtishowspace.com/action/file/download?file_guid=193716 (Music Theatre International).

Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics): http://www.sondheim.org/ (Stephen Sondheim Society) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Sondheim (Wikipedia).

Hugh Wheeler (book): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Wheeler (Wikipedia).

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007 film): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd:_The_Demon_Barber_of_Fleet_Street_%282007_film%29 (Wikipedia) and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408236/ (Internet Movie Database).

Tom Quaintance (director): http://www.playmakersrep.org/performances/embed_artist.aspx?id=46909a0a-d323-4387-b2f3-42a838889c81 (PlayMakers Repertory Company bio).

EDITOR?S NOTE:

Robert W. McDowell is editor and publisher of Triangle Review, a FREE weekly e-mail arts newsletter. This preview is reprinted with permission from Triangle Review.

To start your FREE subscription to this newsletter, e-mail RobertM748@aol.com and type SUBSCRIBE TR in the Subject: line.

To read all of Robert W. McDowell?s Triangle Review previews and reviews online at Triangle Arts & Entertainment, click http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/author/robert-w-mcdowell/.

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Tagged as: Christopher Bond, Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre, Hugh Wheeler, Playmakers, PlayMakers Rep, PlayMakers Repertory Company Summer Youth Conservatory, PRC, Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Tom Quaintance

Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2013/07/music-melodrama-and-murder-most-foul-prcs-youth-conservatory-performs-sweeney-todd/

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