Only three things in life are certain: Death, Taxes, and the fact that Blizzard will never, ever create a new IP. Okay, maybe that’s not entirely certain, but why would they take a risk like that?

World of Warcraft has been printing money for them since 2004, and if they ever decide to release Warcraft 4, it’s a guaranteed success. Starcraft is about to recieve its second, third, fourth and fifth incarnations, and even with their poor decision to split it up, it’s also a guaranteed thing.

So, that’s two of their three franchises, and if you don’t know what their third is, you should probably turn in your gamercard. After you do that, you can find out after the jump.

Everyone was expecting Blizzard to announce Diablo 3, we just had absolutely no idea when it would be. The announcement came in June at the Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational in Paris, France. The reveal was immediately met with great anticipation, then the fanboys began ripping the game a brand new one due to the “cheery” graphics and “bright” colors that were in the very few screenshots they released. What I love most about Blizzard is that they decided to take these criticisms and make fun of them by showing a splash screen of Diablo 3 with unicorns and bubble text during the Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain performance at the Worldwide Invitational.

I can understand the criticism, but seriously. It’s a game called Diablo. The screenshots showed fountains of blood, albiet very red and vibrant blood, but it certainly wasn’t cheery. It’s been 8 years since Diablo 2, the engine has changed and the graphics have greatly improved. I would much rather it look vibrant and colorful instead of the greys and browns of most of the current-gen games.

While you may not agree with some of the changes in art, leveling, or the chosen classes, Blizzard’s track record has given me great confidence in their choices in the direction they’re taking. They’re not messing with the base formula that made the first two games such classics.

Now we just need an announcement as to the release date.  Here’s hoping it’s before 2011!

Being able to surprise us by announcing something we already knew was coming is why the Diablo 3 Reveal is #81 on our list of Top Gaming Moments of 2008.

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