Stay awhile and listen...

We learned today that Diablo III would be coming to consoles. This wasn't a huge surprise for some, given that a rumored Diablo III console release has been circulating for some time now. Heck, Blizzard was pretty candid about their Diablo console plans going all the way back to last November, but it seems like no one wanted to believe them.

Blizzard community manager Micah "Bashiok" Whiple confirmed the long-running rumors today in response to a fan wondering about the game's console fate. Whiple simply responded, "Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the Diablo console project."

Well, guess that's it then! We still don't know what consoles the game will appear on or even when they would appear, but the news has still sparked tons of chatter on the interwebs.

Personally, I don't think it's a big deal. Blizzard actually has a pretty decent track record of translating their games to consoles, going all the way back to Starcraft 64, which was received surprisingly well. This is especially noteworthy since RTS games don't have much of a postiive history on consoles, period. Of course, no one will ever forget the vaporware that was StarCraft: Ghost, but that was an entirely new game.

Adequately delivering a game like Diablo III to consoles seems a lot more plausible than if Blizzard were to attempt to bring StarCraft II over, despite their relative success with StarCraft 64. The main differences in terms of gameplay would be in the control scheme, but given the number of hack-and-slashers you can already play on consoles it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. What I'm more interested in seeing is how Blizzard integrates Battle.net with the console experience or even the controversial RMT auction house the game will feature.

What are your thoughts on Diablo III for consoles? Share 'em in the comments below!