Diablo III Now Live!

Avid Filipino gamers have reason to be excited today as the highly-anticipated next chapter in Blizzard Entertainment's award-winning, action-role-playing-game series, Diablo III, is now available in retail stores and via the game's official website www.diablo3.com.

Blizzard has recorded more than 2 million preorders and following more than 8,000 midnight launch events at retail stores worldwide, gamers all over the world have started storming Sanctuary in hot pursuit of the Lord of Terror.

According to representatives from IP e-Game Ventures Inc., an official Blizzard games distributor in Southeast Asia, they have received around 5,000 pre-orders since they announced it in the Philippines a few weeks ago. The game retails at P3,145.00 and is now available in e-Game retail partners in the Philippines. For the complete list, head over to the e-Games website.

Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment, expressed that the launch is a culmination of many years of hard work by their development team, and many years of passionate, dedicate support from gamers around the world. "We're grateful for the enthusiasm of our players, and for the help of our beta testers in getting the game ready for release. Now that Diablo III is live, we hope everyone's ready to have a hellishly good time slaying demons and collecting loot in Sanctuary."

IP e-Games Team

I've heard a few feedback that there are people -- who don't know anything about the game, just it's name -- who have immediately written it off as something demonic or promoting un-Christian values. I'm also not familiar with what Diablo is all about but I have an open mind and proceeded to learn more about what it's all about. 

So, for the doubters and the basically uninformed (like me), here's a summary I got from the press release given to me to add to our storehouse of knowledge: "Diablo III continues the epic Diablo storyline, with players taking on the role of one of five heroic characters -- barbarian, witch doctor, wizard, monk, or demon hunter -- and embarking on an epic quest to save the world of Sanctuary from the corrupting forces of the Burning Hells. As players adventure through rich and varied settings, they'll engage in pulse-pounding combat with hordes of monsters and challenging bosses, grow in experience and ability, acquire artifacts of incredible power, and meet key characters who'll join them in battle or aid them in other ways. The game features intuitive interface, fast-paced action, and visceral gameplay that Diablo players have come to expect and enjoy.

Designed from the ground up to leverage the full functionality of the Battle.net platform, Diablo III also provides gamers with industry-leading matchmaking and communication tools, allowing adventurers to seamlessly join forces for cooperative play. Battle.net also provides the infrastructure for the Diablo III auction house, a feature-rich marketplace that Sanctuary's heroes can use to trade their hard-earned treasures." To learn more about the auction house and the other features of the game, please visit its official website.

Earlier today, I got to watch trailers of Diablo III and see cosplayers battle it out to win best getup. The only lady in the group won by loud cheers from members of the media present during the launch. She got to bring home a Diablo III installer. Congratulations! :)

Readers of this blog will also have a chance to win a Diablo III installer, shirt, and poster. Please stay tuned for the mechanics that I'll be posting soon under this blog entry.

For now, those who already have the game installed, just remember not to let it rule your whole life, okay? Make sure you also make time to be with family and perform your duties at work! A friend of mine (that's you, Eric! LOL) has already expressed his intention to hide his wife's slippers else she hits him again with one when he gets overly-engrossed about saving the world from demons again :p