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After Math: Gamer, set, match
Gaming enthusiasts had a lot to cheer for this week. Google revealed the results of a competition between its Starcraft II AI and a pair of pro players, though there wasn't much "competition" in the 10-1 bloodbath. GDC's State of the Industry survey revealed broad support for unionization initiatives among respondents. And of course Farming Simulator now has its own eSports league.
DeepMind AI AlphaStar goes 10-1 against top 'StarCraft II' pros
After laying waste to the best Go players in the world, DeepMind has moved on to computer games. The Google-owned artificial intelligence company has been fine-tuning its AI to take on StarCraft II and today showed off its first head-to-head matches against professional gamers. The AI agent, named AlphaStar, managed to pick up 10 wins against StarCraft II pros TLO and MaNa in two separate five-game series that originally took place back in December. After racking up 10 straight losses, the pros finally scored a win against the AI when MaNa took on AlphaStar in a live match streamed by Blizzard and DeepMind.
Blizzard esports app keeps you on top of league matches
BlizzCon is right around the corner, which means big tournaments are imminent -- and Blizzard unsurprisingly wants to be sure you can follow along. It just launched a Blizzard Esports app for Android and iOS that provides news, schedules, score and live viewing (including alerts) for competitive events in the developer's various franchises, such as the impending finale for the Overwatch World Cup. If you're stuck at work when the US team is taking on South Korea, you won't have to dig through news sites to get scores or tune in.
'Starcraft II' finally gets a store for player-made maps
Newer Blizzard titles like Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm are free to play, but they do offer as many paid extras as you can shake a stick at. That's normal these days, of course, but StarCraft II was first released in 2010 -- a simpler time when you tended to just buy a video game and play it. There have been many paid expansions and cosmetics added over the years, but Blizzard originally promised a marketplace through which the community could sell custom-made maps and take a cut of the revenue. This feature was first mentioned way back in 2009, before StarCraft II even launched, and nine years later it's finally debuting in the impending 4.3.0 update.
'StarCraft' 20th anniversary brings freebies and a short film
Blizzard is keeping up its habit of marking the anniversaries of major games. The original StarCraft is turning 20 on March 31st, and the studio is promising a slew of extras across its games to mark the occasion, including the classic real-time strategy title itself. You can log in to StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft II after March 6th to get commemorative interface skins, plus portraits and decals if you sign into SCII by April 6th. And if you're not particularly big on those titles, there are plenty of other ways to obtain perks -- you might even prefer them to the ones you get with StarCraft proper.
Blizzard marks 20 years of 'Diablo' with events across its games
Believe it or not, Diablo is turning 20 years old on December 31st. Yes, the classic clickfest has been around for long enough that some adults weren't even alive when the first game launched. It's a historic moment for gaming -- and Blizzard is marking the occasion by bringing Diablo-themed events and extras to several of its games. Diablo III, unsurprisingly, gets the most lavish treatment. It's going to get a Darkening of Tristram event that lets you visit a "reimagined" version of the original game's cathedral, including some familiar pick-ups.
Blizzard deal lets you stream its games on Facebook Live
Blizzard is about to make it much, much easier to share your gaming exploits with the world. The developer has unveiled a deal with Facebook that will let you stream its games directly through Facebook Live -- you won't have to do much to broadcast your latest Overwatch marathon for your friends. There isn't a firm timeline for when this will be available, but it won't be limited to Overwatch when it arrives.
Professional 'StarCraft 2' players, coach accused of match-fixing
South Korean authorities have arrested nine people, including two professional players and their coach, on charges of fixing professional StarCraft 2 matches, according to translated reports on the Team Liquid forums. The site says PRIME head coach Park Wae-Sik ("Gerrard"), and professional players Choi Byeong-Heon ("YoDA") and Choi Jong-Hyuk ("BBoongBBoong") have been arrested and charged with manipulating the outcomes of five matches throughout 2015. They're suspected of receiving between 5 million and 20 million won ($4,400 and $17,600) for fixing the games. At least three other people have been arrested and charged with match-fixing in the same sting, and two additional people have been indicted but not arrested. One other is at large, the report says. The Korean eSports Association plans to ban Gerrard and YoDA from the organization for life, a statement translated on TeamLiquid reads.
The second 'StarCraft II' expansion arrives November 10th
It's been a long time coming, but the second StarCraft II expansion is nearly here: Blizzard has announced that Legacy of the Void will arrive on November 10th. As with both the original game (Wings of Liberty) and Heart of the Swarm, this latest title will focus primarily on one species. In this case, you're reuniting the mysterious Protoss so that they can confront a dire threat and reclaim their homeworld. You'll also get new units for all factions, and there are fresh multiplayer modes that include shared bases and objective-based co-op. It's not really a revolution, then. However, this also represents the end of the StarCraft II story line -- if you're determined to see the conclusion to Blizzard's five-year sci-fi saga, you'll want to check this out.
SRK contest produces a 26-button Starcraft II arcade controller, probably won't stop Zerg rushes (video)
Almost as a dare, Shoryuken (SRK) challenged its fans to produce a fighting game-style controller for Starcraft II. Mauricio Romano took them up on that contest and won with a surprisingly polished arcade stick of his own. Its cornerstone is a heavily modified Ultrastik joystick that's turned into an on-controller, two-button mouse. You didn't think a PC gamer would cling to a plain joystick, did you? In the process, the usual 101 keys of a typical keyboard have been pared down to a set of 26 buttons most relevant for Blizzard's real-time strategy epic. Packaged up in a single, polished USB peripheral, the one-off prototype's design is good enough to imagine a Major League Gaming pro taking it out on the road. We'd put that idea on ice for now, though: as Mauricio shows in the video below, the learning curve is steep enough that most players won't be fending off diamond-league marine and zergling blitzes anytime soon.
MSI outs its latest GE620DX gaming laptop, orcs prepare for virtual slaughter
Spilled Mountain Dew on your last laptop during that marathon session of Starcraft II? MSI's got your back buddy, with its newly announced GE620DX. There's a serious bit of dedicated gaming punch lying under this notebook's brushed metal finish thanks to its 2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M card and the audio tag team of MSI Premium Sound and THX's True Studio Pro. In addition to its 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 HD display, this "dream machine" sports a 720p camera, an HDMI out port and USB 3.0. The company's also thrown in a GPU Boost feature, which frees up the internal graphics chip should you be running any graphics-intensive apps. Unfortunately, your zerg Swarm-slaying hands will have to wait for an official price and retail date, but when you do get a hold of it, make sure to keep that caffeinated brew far from the keyboard.
Blizzard giving StarCraft 2 players 30 days of WoW
Blizzard has quietly begun giving players with active StarCraft 2 accounts free 30-day WoW accounts. Verified by several sites and lots of SC2 players, Blizzard just flipped the WoW switch on many players' Battle.net accounts, inviting them to come join the world of Azeroth. Battle.net is a great asset to Blizzard, as it allows the company to easily facilitate subscriptions from all its games and create potential customers to its other games through the common account. Giving away WoW subscriptions is an easy and practically costless move that might get even more people hooked. If you know any StarCraft 2 players who haven't set foot in Azeroth yet, maybe it's time that they gave the game a whirl. WoW Patch 4.1 is on the PTR, and WoW Insider has all the latest news for you -- from previews of the revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub to new valor point mechanics and new archaeology items.
NVIDIA trots out GeForce 400M series laptops, shows off StarCraft II gameplay (video)
You might have hoped that NVIDIA's introduction of the 400M series of mobile GPUs would bring about a slew of hot new laptops to drop into our gaming boudoirs, but we are in fact left facing more of the same. Externally, anyhow. The chipmaker rolled out the green carpet for a set of upcoming machines in London today, but they were refreshes, rather than overhauls, of current hardware. The big news is to be found within, as the new GTX 460M has made a home inside the updated ASUS G53, Toshiba Qosmio X505, and MSI GT663. The common thread among these three is that they're all big and hefty, and all emit a subtle vroom sound every time you touch them. What we learned from NVIDIA today is that the GTX 480M will remain an exotic (you might even call it quixotic) GPU reserved for large-screen gaming stations, the GTX 470M will similarly be an enthusiast part, and the GTX 460M will be the company's big play for the mainstream performance market. It also became clear that even the third GPU in the company's mobile hierarchy will need quite a bulky cooling setup (and a proportionately huge charger) to do its job, but NVIDIA's promises of much-improved performance might just make it worthwhile. As to the more sane among us, there was a selection of pleasingly thinner machines, like the ASUS N53 and Acer Aspire 5745, which make do with the lower-specced GT 420M and GT 425M graphics chips. Those are expected to be NVIDIA's biggest sellers, and the video demo after the break of the 425M churning through StarCraft II is certainly appealing. We should note, however, that the latest (though definitely not greatest) Prince of Persia game was also on tap on one of these machines and its frame rate gave us a delightful old-timey feeling any time we entered combat with its emulation of stop-motion animation. So, as ever, it's looking like great graphics will require great rigs, but we can probably expect a decent -- not game-changing (get it?) -- leap in performance among the lighter options as well.%Gallery-101899%
StarCraft II easter eggs include iPistol, BSOD, and misplaced characters (video)
You'd think with all the pressure of making a StarCraft sequel worthy of the name, Blizzard wouldn't have time for humorous insider references, but StarCraft II begs to differ. The game's designers have expended some of their creative juices on concocting a jolly little iPod-esque advert for a fictional iPistol, which is supposed to let you "take your shot at life." And just in case anyone thought them biased, the Blizzard devs have also had a little swipe at Microsoft, with a Blue Screen of Death adorning the control console of a drill inside the game. Other than those techie witticisms, the eagle-eyed gamer will be able to spot a dancing Night Elf and a Tauren Space Marine from World of Warcraft, as well as Diablo from, well, Diablo -- but we'll let you play the game and figure out where they are for yourself! Skip past the break to see the iAd homage and BSOD screenshot. [Thanks, Michael]
Thaddius encounter recreated in StarCraft II
Ever wonder what happens to raid bosses when they get bored? For Thaddius, it seems he has been spending some time moonlighting over in StarCraft II. While he was there, it also seems like he's picked up a few more tricks and upgraded his armor. After all, Naxxramas was only a setback! IIam4 used Thaddius as an inspiration for his entry into the custom ability contest on SC2Mapster by recreating his Polarity Shift. While he was recreating this ability, he also decided to add a few new features of his own. Shocking Grasp A random target will be paralyzed and take damage over time. If any other unit comes within range of the afflicted unit, Shocking Grasp will jump. This can create a chain reaction. Spawn Volatile Spark Two volatile sparks are spawned, serving as summoned adds that should be DPSed down right away. These abilities combine to create a very interesting and creative boss battle using the StarCraft II editor. The amount of micromanagement required to keep all of your units alive adds a nice level of complexity to the boss encounter. I personally like that Thaddius is a giant Maruader unit. This video is a nice showcase of the tools that were available even in the beta and exactly what could be done with enough motivation. StarCraft II is set to release on July 27, 2010. While I'm absolutely certain it will be a fantastic game in its own rights, I can't help but wonder if we will see any more player-created World of Warcraft crossovers with the tools that are shipping with SC2. Can you imagine a campaign where the end boss is casting Defile while you try to micromanage all of your units safely around it? How about navigating your troops into position for a Shatter or managing Burning Adrenaline. Maybe a little Doomfire for good measure! This could bring a whole new level of fun to Tower Defense and Mastermind-style game mods! So, if you could recreate any one boss or ability from WoW in a StarCraft II fight, what boss would it be?
Razer shows off Starcraft II series of gaming peripherals
Razer has been teasing these for months, but it's just now given us our first look at its new Starcraft II series of gaming peripherals. Those include the Razer Spectre gaming mouse, the Razer Marauder gaming keyboard, and the Razer Banshee gaming headset, which all boast the same Starcraft-themed designs complete with blue LEDs, and all the gamer-friendly touches you'd expect from Razer -- 1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response on the keyboard, 5600 dpi resolution and button force adjustment on the mouse, and a detachable mic on the headset, to name just a few features. Of course, they'll also demand a bit of a premium price -- look for the Spectre mouse to run $80, and the Marauder keyboard and Banshee headset to each set you back $120 when they roll out sometime in the third quarter of this year (presumably alongside Starcraft II). Head on past the break for the complete press release, and hit up the gallery below for a closer look at the whole lot. %Gallery-95569%
Razer preys on unsuspecting StarCraft fanboys, teases new mouse, keyboard and headset
We wouldn't go so far as to say that Razer is taking a note from the teasers over at Voodoo, but the gaming accessory outfit is definitely hoping to play on the emotions of anxious StarCraft fanatics. With the long (long!) awaited sequel finally nearing release, Razer has decided to link up with Blizzard in order to develop a new mouse, keyboard and headset designed specifically to cater to future StarCraft II gamers. For now, all we have to go on is the image above and whatever our imagination deems fit for believing, but we suspect all will be revealed when Blizzcon kicks off later this month. You can hardly wait, huh?[Via HotHardware]
BlizzCon 2008: All Blizzard games playable including Diablo 3
Though the WoW Insider team has arrived en masse to cover all things WoW at BlizzCon 2008, our eyes can't help but wander over what other shiny offerings Blizzard has to display. Our sister sites Joystiq and Big Download will be covering Starcraft II and Diablo 3 extensively, but having already been to the Anaheim Convention Center today to get our press badges we couldn't help but notice in the program (see above) that a playable demo of Diablo 3 will be available for the first time.Don't worry we won't let it distract us from -- is that the new class for Diablo 3? It's class weapon does what?? Shoot witches!? Sorry. What were we saying?
News from the Starcraft II panel at the Blizzard Invitational
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Starcraft_II_info_explosion'; Amid all the hype for Diablo 3, you may have missed hearing about the StarCraft II developer panel helmed by Blizzard's Rob Pardo at this weekend's Worldwide Invitational in Paris. Joystiq was there to catch all the details on the latest build of the game. See what team Blizzard had to say about the newfound power of the Zerg Queen, the upgraded Protoss Mothership and the reason behind de-emphasizing heroic classes. All this after the jump.%Gallery-3311%
Starcraft II WWI '08 panel part 2: Protoss
The Protoss are a force to be reckoned withPardo moved on to talk a bit about how the Protoss are progressing in the development of the game. Their psionics are the key theme to their race and Blizzard pushed that further, but also pulled back on the emphasis on spellcasting.First he showed an example of their new force field ability used to control the battlefield. A video showed a swarm of zerglings rushing a Protoss base, but the Protoss force threw up a series of connected force fields that formed a funnel forcing the zergs into a choke point where they were easily destroyed.While high damage Protoss spells like Psi Storm are returning, Blizzard also wanted to introduce some early game casters. Nullifiers were mentioned. And Stalkers were given a teleport ability that had interesting strategic potential. In another video of game play, force fields were raised forcing an attacking army to go around it. The Stalkers then teleported themselves to the other side of the force fields, behind the attacking army, and took them out from behind. The return of the MothershipThe Protoss Mothership also makes an appearance. While not as powerful as the Zerg Queen, it has been given powerful support abilities. It is now a mobile battlefield teleporter, able to zap in troops to wherever it is at. It is also heavily armored and has an emergency ability called Time Bomb which renders it immune from damage for a short period of time. Since it isn't as versatile as the Zerg Queen, Protoss players will be able to have more than one Mothership in play at once. NEXT: The Terrans and the diminishing Hero ===>
