Summary
On social media, a video from 1996 that featured the firstDiablogame on the PBS showThe Computer Chroniclesresurfaced and went viral. In the three-minute segment of the show, former Blizzard North Vice President and co-founder Max Schaefer talked about and showed off a beta build ofDiablobefore it first hit store shelves a year later.
Originally released in January 1997,Diablowas Blizzard’s first real foray into the realm of action RPGs, and was the first new IP since the 1994 release ofWarcraft: Orcs and Humans.Diablowas developed by the now-defunct Blizzard North, which was once known as Condor before joining Blizzard nine months beforeDiablowent to market. Unfortunately, Blizzard North was shuttered in 2005 following both the release ofthe critically acclaimedDiablo 2: Lord of Destruction, and a canceled build ofDiablo 3which did not meet the standards of Vivendi, Blizzard’s ownership group at the time. Though Blizzard North has long since been abandoned, that has not stopped fans from bringing up memories of how theDiabloseries was first shown off to audiences in the 1990s.
On Reddit, a user named CTXCI posted a three-and-a-half-minute video fromThe Computer Chronicleson the r/diablo subreddit. The clip was taken from season 14, episode 15 of the show, with the episode titled “Computer Games (1996).“The Computer Chronicleswas created and later co-hosted by Stewart Cheiflet, and it aired on PBS television stations across the US from 1984 to 2002. The video that made the rounds on social media showed Cheiflet speaking with Schaefer aboutDiablo, who briefly demonstrated what the fledgling IP was about. InDiablo, the village of Tristram was plunged into darkness. Eventually, the powerfulWarrior that would eventually be known as Aidenventured into the catacombs of Tristram Cathedral to face down Hell’s armies and eventually Diablo himself.
During the demo, Schaefer showed the Warrior class in action and explained how the game’s UI was made with simplicity in mind, in both single-player and multiplayer via Blizzard’s Battle.net service. Schaefer explained to the audience thatDiablofeatured diagonal movement by way of mouse-clicking, procedurally generated dungeons and levels, and three classes: the Rogue, the Sorcerer, and the Warrior. While theRogue and Sorcerer made appearances inDiablo 4, the Warrior was succeeded by another close-quarters fighter thatDiablofans know today as the Barbarian.
Though the original developers have since left Blizzard,Diablo + Hellfireis still available via GOG, where it iscurrently discounted for its winter sale. Although the game’s graphics and animations are considered primitive today,Diablolaid the foundation for what the series would grow into.
Diablo 4
WHERE TO PLAY
Diablo® IV is the ultimate action RPG experience with endless evil to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish dungeons, and legendary loot. Embark on the campaign solo or with friends, meeting memorable characters through beautifully dark settings and a gripping story, or explore an expansive end game and shared world where players can meet in towns to trade, team up to battle world bosses, or descend into PVP zones to test their skills against other players – no lobbies necessary – with cross-play, cross-progression, and couch co-op on Xbox.This is only the beginning for Diablo® IV, with new events, stories, seasons, rewards, and more looming on the horizon.
