It’s been a long time since the last Diablo game was released, 2000’s Diablo II. Finally, twelve years later, at midnight this past Monday, Diablo III, the follow-up to one of the most popular RPGs of all time, was released. That’s a long time to wait for any form of media (imagine if your favourite band took that long to release their next album), so the hype surrounding the launch both surprises me (you’d think people would have given up hope by now that it would ever come out), and pleases me (I am glad that people are so devoted to a game on the platform that people keep referring to as “dead”).

Blizzard fans sure are a patient bunch, but their patience has been rewarded with an ultra-polished, super-balanced end product. Blizzard are perfectionists, who subscribe to the “it isn’t done till it’s done” philosophy of game design, and we are all better off for it. While I haven’t had time to get into the full game myself, from the time I spent with the beta a few weeks ago, I am confident Diablo III will probably end up being one of the best games, on any platform, that I play this year.

To celebrate the launch of Diablo III, Future Shop opened all their stores across Canada (apart from those in Sudbury, ON, and Quebec) at midnight to throngs of passionate Blizzard fans. In Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver, Future Shop also hosted special launch events, with cosplay contests and plenty of prizes to give away to happy fans. I was on-hand at the Yonge and Dundas Toronto event, and you can check out the pictures I took at it after the break.

Mention the name Daniel Radcliffe and Harry Potter fans around the globe know he is the iconic face behind the circled glasses and wizardry. For 10 years, Radcliffe has been the face of Harry Potter, one of the biggest grossing movie franchises ever. Now that Potter has ended the 22 year old actor has moved on, and hopes his audience will follow along.