Diablo 3 will bring the franchise into uncharted territory with announced console ports to Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, and PS4, though conversely, the planned expansion which was expected to have a 2013 release will not see the light of day until 2014.

According to Joystiq, Diablo for the console has not been attempted since 1998's PlayStation port of Diablo led to mixed results.

However, Blizzard has learned from the experience to make the transition a more natural one for console gamers, including changing the control scheme without the pinpoint accuracy of a mouse.

Players will now reportedly perform evasive rolls with a simple flick of the analog stick, and enemies are to attack in waves rather than the random clusters of the PC version.

In addition, items will drop less frequently but have better value, in order to handle inventory management without the quick adjustments of a mouse.

Hardcore, traditional Diablo fans will no doubt bristle at the changes, but Blizzard is determined to make Diablo's introduction to console gamers an easy one, while still retaining the challenge of hardcore mode, if players so desire.

Diablo 3 should arrive for consoles sometime this year.

Sadly for PC Diablo players, a previous expected expansion will most likely not be released this year. Although Blizzard affirms it is not a delay.

"We haven't officially announced an expansion to [Diablo 3], so there's no release date," said a Blizzard spokesperson to GameBeat.

Allegedly, Blizzard has assigned team members from other projects to hasten production.

Hopefully, the expansion will drop earlier in 2014 rather than later.