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Leaked Game Manual, Release Window Q1 2012, Korean GRB Update and Incredible Fan Art

Posted January 6th, 2012 at 1:09am by Astray
Update #1: No decision was reached by the Korean GRB on Diablo III's rating today.

Leaked Pictures of Manual and DVD Case


A few low quality camera pictures of what appears to be the game manual and DVD case for Diablo III have surfaced on the internet. The earliest instance of these pictures I could find were Reddit user Haxican in the post titled "Can't be too long now...". Given the lack of a reliable source (he knows a guy), I can't confirm one way or another if they are legitimate so take these with a grain of salt.



Cryptic Development Update, D3 Currently Slated for Q1 2012


Bashiok, Diablo's vocal community manager hit the official Battle.net forums late in the evening to help explain the current state of development to the restless masses as carefully as he could, confirming they're still looking to release the game in Q1 2012.

Blizzard Quote (Source)
What does polish mean?

It's making sure everything is perfect. We're not really in a strictly polishing phase yet though, although certainly that's true for some areas of the game. Still, we're in the process of working on some rather large game system changes, some of which we'll be sharing shortly before or with the next beta patch.

So this means that once those large game system changes are set, that will be the time when the D3 team goes in the "strictly polishing" phase?

I wouldn't get hung up on thinking about it that way. It's a big game and each individual piece may be at some different level of development.

So is the rune system set and is currently being implemented entirely?

Not yet. Once we have an implementation and we're at least moderately sure it's going to work out we'll share all the details.

Are far are you guys (generally) from being able to ship a game that is polished? In other words is it still an early 2012 planned release? (which quarter is planned would be most appreciated, not month, but quarter).

We don't know. We were shooting for the end of 2011, and now we're shooting for first quarter 2012. As soon as we're sure of something (release date or otherwise) we'll be sure to let you know.


Korean Game Rating Board Update


Fans anxiously following the Korean GRB saga received some bad news today as it appears no decision on Diablo III's rating was reached, and it's currently unknown when it will be up for review again (the board meets for reviews every Wednesday and Friday). "Committee members are conflicted about what to do with Diablo 3 because of Blizzard's information on the game's auction house feature" explained a board spokesman last Tuesday. Blizzard removed the cash-out feature of the RMAH in their latest submission to the board back on December 22nd, but they continue to struggle for approval.

Despite Blizzard adamantly denying it, many fans still believe the board's delays on this matter are a major cause of the unknowns surrounding D3's release date due to Blizzard's commitment to a simultaneous global release for the game.

Incredible Diablo Fan Art


We don't normally find the time or place to fit fan art into news, but this piece by Tyler James is just so chillingly good that I had to share it (it's now my wallpaper and I'm sure it will be indefinitely!). You can click the thumbnail below to see it and I encourage you to visit his website at artofty.com if you like what you see.




  • Comments (6)
2012-02-16 11:15:12     Score: 7 PM TheFragMan   Member
I don't know about you, but I'm always impressed by what some fans are capable of when it comes to fan art.
2012-02-18 20:01:21     Score: 3 PM amezarak   Member
This is fantastic, i like keeping my game boxes and manuals, i still have my manuals from D1 and D2 and other complete games like NWN 1 and 2, Sacred and WoW... this is going to be an awesome asset to my collection, so very happy!!
2012-02-19 12:22:57     Score: 3 PM Scoty   Member
It looks so good, I want one ASAP!
2012-02-20 09:54:33     Score: 3 PM napi   Member
I just Like it! so much :D
2012-02-21 06:16:11     Score: 1 PM ba1tazar2012   Member
its really cool fan-art
2012-02-22 01:30:44     Score: 1 PM brendanOZ   Member
That is high quality artwork, very impressed!

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