Diablo III Finally Rated in South Korea, Cinematic Nominated for VES Award & Grasp of the Dead Preview

Update #1: Our interpretation of what was included in the version of the game approved by the GRB was off, added clarification.

Game Rating Board Drama in South Korea Ends

The word out of South Korea this evening is Diablo III has finally received it's much publicized rating, ending weeks of speculation and putting to rest any fears of the game's global release being delayed by the uncertainty that was surrounding it. As expected, the game was given a rating of 18+ (Source)

The Game Rating Board had concerns with the real money auction house and gambling implications, so back in December Blizzard was forced to resubmit the game with the cash-out features disabled. Unfortunately for South Korean gamers looking forward to the RMAH, that version of the game was the one that was rated, so you will not be able to withdraw money as it stands. Players in other regions are not affected by this restriction.

-- Update --

It appears our initial report on the announcement had a few misinterpretations on the terms of what had been announced. The Korea Times reports that Blizzard submitted a version of the game that did not include the real money auction house at all, and if the company should ever attempt to include it in South Korea, it will face a new round of evaluations by the Game Rating Board.

Black Soulstone Cinematic Nominated for VES Award

The Visual Effects Society (VES) recently announced the nominees for its 10th Annual VES Awards ceremony recognizing outstanding visual effects artistry in 23 categories of film, animation, television, commercials, special venues and video games. The critically acclaimed Diablo III Black Soulstone cinematic unveiled during the opening ceremonies of BlizzCon 2011 was among the list of nominees for the Animated Commercial / Video Game Trailer award. 4 of Blizzard's staff were named to accept the award should they take home the hardware, so good luck to them!

Witch Doctor's Grasp of the Dead Skill With Runestones (Commentary)

We're trying something a little new with these videos. We felt they were missing something and after adding voiceover commentary we think we've found it. Given how glitchy some effects may be, it's important to clearly relay that across, and by throwing in some informative morsels into a neat little package it should be more entertaining to watch.

We had a lot of audio issues setting this up, so if Chris sounds a little exhausted at some points it's because it's take 16. This whole process was uncharted territory for us so after a few videos we should be able to pump them out without a hitch!