Starcraft2
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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.
The Lawbringer: Buying precedent
Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Running parallel to the games we love and enjoy is a world full of rules, regulations, pitfalls and traps. How about you hang out with us as we discuss some of the more esoteric aspects of the games we love to play? The following is an opinion piece dealing with Blizzard's ongoing litigation. The opinions and views expressed are solely those of me, Mathew, the columnist. You might have heard that Blizzard and its lawyers have recently started new litigation against three StarCraft 2 hackers in District Court. To a lot of people, this looks like another case of Blizzard going after more hackers for screwing with the online experience. To me, I see Blizzard's lawsuits as positive EULA-builders with huge benefit to the independent game market. It sounds crazy, but less so when you think about the concept of buying precedent.
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 2 spoofs Apple with the iPistol
I'm going to guess that if you had any interest in StarCraft 2 at all, you probably spent the better part of last week playing it, as Blizzard Entertainment finally released their sequel to one of the most popular real-time strategy games of all time, and according to the critics, it's just as good as it was a decade ago. Just like all of Blizzard's games, StarCraft 2's Mac version actually comes shipped on the same DVD that the PC version comes on, which means that day, date and version are all available for us Mac gamers. Even in the days of Steam on the Mac, that's going above and beyond the call for those of us who like to do our gaming on the Mac. But Blizzard's got another little bonus for us Mac fans -- the game contains the parody ad above, presenting the iPistol, complete with a dancing Space Marine showing off the personal weapon unit. Funny. Of course the reference is a little dated -- we haven't seen those dancing ads on TV in years. But this game's been in development for a while, and seeing that Marine break it down is pretty funny, so we'll give them an iBreak on this one. [via Engadget]
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]
Blizzard responds to common Real ID concerns
Nethaera (Blizzard community manager) posted answers to some of the common Real ID questions and concerns on the forums today. With the PR disaster that was Blizzard's original Real ID on the forums concept, a follow-up aimed at easing tensions in the community -- even after the retraction -- was to be expected. While Blizzard offered some good news on things people have been requesting, they also dodged other points for the moment in true Blizzard style. Some highlights from the announcement: no current plans for an online handle to be used in game with Real ID instead of your name feature to disable your name's appearance in Friends of Friends list coming around the time of StarCraft II plans for some sort of unique ID on the WoW forums The full announcement is after the break.
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 Starcraft II and Xbox 360 peripherals hands-on
Razer's meteoric rise from second-tier mouse maker to top-shelf peripheral guru has been nothing short of incredible, and its success has enabled it to start to focus a little more on the niche groups. Such is its latest addition: a keyboard, mouse, and headset designed just for RTS gamers, and specifically for Starcraft II. We spent some time sampling their APM-enhancing abilities, and checked out the latest revision of the company's upcoming Xbox 360 Onza controller too. It's all after the break. %Gallery-95630%
Blizzard bans 320,000 WarCraft III and Diablo II players
Blizzard appears to be cleaning house in preparation for its StarCraft II release as well as its Battle.net revamp. In a recent announcement on the service's forums, Blizzard rep Bashiok revealed that over 300,000 accounts were punished for violations of the terms of service for Warcraft III and Diablo II for using hacks and illegal third-party tools (which are essentially hacks). For those of you who have had past experience with Battle.net, these numbers probably don't surprise you. The network has had a long reputation of being fairly easy on people using hacks as Blizzard tends to save up over a long period of time in order to do a massive batch of bans at once. This means that those who are using hacks have a long period of time to abuse the system before anything is done about it. The hacks for some games were rampant enough that other players began using hacks that detect other hacks. Regardless of the reason behind using a hack, it is still against the terms of service and means if you get caught, you're out.
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]
Blizzard VP: Starcraft 2 Trilogy on the 3-year plan
Blizzard's Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo wants us to think about Starcraft 2's two followups, containing the Zerg and Protoss single player campaigns, as expansion packs, so does that mean they won't contain as much gameplay as the Terran-based initial game? Plus, you'll have to wait at least whole year between "expansions." Said Pardo, "With any luck, it would be like a year for each successive one, but that's going to be a target date, that's not a promise."Since SC2 won't be out until 2009, you won't be able to play the Protoss single player until at least 2011. That's a long time to wait. Check out what Rob said after the break, and start yer speculatin'.
BlizzCon 2008: New Starcraft II gameplay footage and images
Been itching for some Zerg action? Now you have it, in video form. Check out the new Starcraft 2 video above, and the new screenshots down below, straight from BlizzCon. We'll have a full hands-on with Starcraft 2 and the Zerg experience later.%Gallery-34229%
BlizzCon 2008: The costume and dance contest
One day of BlizzCon is already behind us, and with it came the announcement of the Wizard class for Diablo III, the fact that Starcraft II is going to be a trilogy, and the truism that World of Warcraft players really love their costume and dance contests.Check out the video of the pants-off dance-off above, hit the links below that for some highlights, and then be sure and crawl through our galleries below for all that we've seen so far. Today brings more panels, more Diablo III news (omg wtf?!), and a closing ceremony featuring Patton Oswalt, Video Games Live, and Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain. We'll be bringing you audio and video, so keep watching.%Gallery-34251%%Gallery-34238%
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?
Blizzard's Bob Colayco explains why Starcraft II took so long
Speaking at the AMD "Cinema 2.0" event in New York City yesterday, Blizzard's Bob Colayco took some time to talk about the shrouded-in-mystery Starcraft II. One of the more interesting points of the discussion: why it took so long for Blizzard to finally announce a sequel to the multi-million selling title.Colayco noted that the original Starcraft was built on a 2D engine, in spite of the competition having largely switched over to 3D engines. The savings in processing were applied to larger, more epic battles with dozens of units being rendered on the screen at the same time. The crowded battlefield "captured the gamer's imagination more" than the barren fields of competing 3D games at the time, and helped cement Starcraft's place in videogaming culture.In spite of their success, the team at Blizzard wasn't going to rush into a 3D Starcraft unless it could capture the same feeling of the original. "The truth is that only recently have we had this kind of 3D power where we're able to create a real Starcraft experience in 3D. What we want to see are hundreds of vehicles and creatures clashing on the battlefield, with dynamic lighting and shadows and all of these dazzling special effects -- that's the kind of gaming experience that our players expect from us."%Gallery-3311%
World of Warcraft achievements will expand to other Blizzard titles
It's no secret that World of Warcraft will feature an achievement system that will roll out with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. The writing's been on the wall for a little while now. New details have emerged, revealing that the achievement system will not be limited to World of Warcraft alone. Ultimately, the achievements will connect WoW with Blizzard's other major titles, namely Starcraft II and Diablo III. MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John recently spoke with WoW Lead Designer Jeff Kaplan about the impending first incarnation of this system, which will be character-specific, as well as Blizzard's plans for account-level achievements that focus more on classes and professions. Hit MTV Multiplayer for more details on account-based achievements, WoW points, and the 'Blizzard Level' -- that all-important ranking which will soon command the attention of most Blizzard fans.
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 4: Q&A
Q&A with Rob PardoQ: How will the planet systems be used?A: The star map in the story campaigns is you mission selector. You will explore the story and have a lot of different paths to follow. You can choose from 2-7 missions depending on where you are in the story. There is a starmap in all three campaigns. but different for each race. For example, in the Terran campaign you will take a lot of mercenary missions for money to pay for technology.Q: What role will hero and multiclass players play?A: We are de-emphasizing heroes in Starcraft2. That's what Warcraft 3 is for. There will be some missions where you play named characters like Raynor, but not much. Mostly dialogue and story characters, not much as gameplay chars.Q: Is the Zerg building infestation ability working on Protoss?A: Yes.Q: Will there be an Apple and PV version release at same time?A: Yes, all of our PC games will also be available on Macs.Q: Is there a Terran version of Queen/MothershipA: No. Mothership not as unique as Queen and players can build multiple Motherships.Q: What role is the roach unit supposed to have?A: It doesn't have much health, but it does have very high regeneration. Its good to go up against enemy units with low damage output like marines, zealots, etc.Q: Is the black hole still planned for the Protoss?A: It used to be on the Mothership, but was taken away when the Mothership became a defense unit in the development of the game. It may come back later in a different way in the development process but no promises.Q: What lies ahead in the evolution of units?A: The Terran Thor unit is hard to find a role for. Right now it is much like the sieg tank/battle cruiser. It could get more abilities to differentiate it.Q: The Merc Haven can't train reavers, just enables you to build them. Why?A: The Merc Haven has gone through five or six designs, but we never fell in love with one. It needs more tinkering.Q: What kind of units will come out from Protoss infested buildings?A: I misspoke earlier. They [the Zerg] cannot infest Protoss buildings, but we're still deciding for sure.Q: Will the Ghost unit get telekenisis or telepathic abilties like in the books and manga?A: There is much experimentation right now with the unit and it's centered around the lore. There is a good chance, yes.Q: Is it possible to play the story line in co-op mode?A: No. It's been discussed, but it's too difficult to have two players both be the main character.That's all from Paris. We'll have some hands-on write ups with the new Zerg demo they have set up. Check back soon.
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 ===>
Rob Pardo talks about free WoW, Starcraft, Activision
Rob Pardo, SVP of game design at Blizzard, gave the keynote speech at the Game Developer's Conference held in Paris this week. Here are some WoW-related tidbits from his talk and the Q&A session held afterward.About WoW WoW was first conceived as free to play, being supported by advertising. However, the non-subscription business model couldn't support Blizzard's goals for the game. Pardo suggested that Blizzard approached the MMO genre "very naively, or else we might not have done it." He once hired a WoW player who sent him a 16-page diatribe about the game because, even though the guy was wrong, "he was passionate" about improving the game. About Starcraft 2 Blizzard has no problem putting intellectual properties on hold for a while, hence the wait for a Starcraft game. Pardo says that they wanted to make a real-time strategy game but were "tired of green-skinned orcs" so they moved away from Warcraft to Starcraft. Starcraft 2 is at a playable stage in its development and he's having a lot of fun with it. Read more about Rob Pardo's keynote speech.
