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LIVE BLOG
Arcade games and more DOTA info.
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The games industry is unique in a number of ways. It’s certainly the youngest of the major entertainment forms and, arguably, it’s also the spriteliest. Native to computers and later to the Internet, games have thrived where the rotund film, music and television industries have recently been emaciated.
But games also have a unique relationship with their audience. The cost and complexity of games creates a barrier to entry that often makes them seem arcane to those who are merely passing curious. On the other hand, those with the requisite skill-set and interest to graduate to gamerdom are soon endowed with an emotional and financial attachment to their favourite titles and to the industry, which sees them more engaged and invested than they might be with other forms of entertainment.
The same can rarely be said of the one-night stands so many of us regularly carry out with film and TV: So it’s so super-awesome that you’re still here, Dame Judi Dench, but I have this thing on soon. There’s a bus timetable on the fridge and half a fare’s worth of change on the counter – by Thundera, if you’ve stretched out my original Atari tee...
The South-East Asia StarCraft II Invitational begins this weekend with eight of the region’s top players competing for a prize pool of USD$13,000 and the chance to compete at BlizzCon in October.
The tournament will be held over two days, beginning at 3pm NZST on Saturday. The grand final will take place at 9pm NZST on Sunday.
The tournament will be streamed live on Twitch TV.
Blizzard has announced the eight players to compete in the South-East Asian StarCraft II invitational, including Sung “nGenJazBas” Cho from New Zealand.
Held over the 17th and 18th of September, the players will compete for a prize pool of NZ$15,470, and the chance to represent the region in the global invitational, to be held at BlizzCon 2011 in late October.
nGenJazBas will play as Zerg in the invitational. You can find his profile here. More information, including interviews with the players, will go up on the SEA StarCraft II community site this week.
Blizzard has announced that it will be coupling various StarCraft II multiplayer regions upon the commencement of Season 3.
North America will be linked to Latin America, Europe to Russia, and Korea to Taiwan. There appear to be no plans to link South-East Asia – the default region for New Zealand and Australia – to another region.
However, Australasian StarCraft II players are also able to play on North American servers. Those doing so will also be connected to Latin America.
The Korean-based Global StarCraft League (GSL) finals are to be held at BlizzCon in Anaheim this year, organisers GomTV and Blizzard Entertainment have announced.
The GSL’s Head of Operations, Chae Jung Won, said, “I don’t want StarCraft II to become an e-sports title like StarCraft Brood War which was [exclusive] to people inside of Korea.”
“Currently, Korean gamers are competing with Korean gamers inside of Korea,” continued Mr. Chae. “However, thanks to the emergence of frequent foreign tournaments, they are willing to fly over to compete.”
Blizzard occupies a unique position within the realm of videogames, both for gamers and for the industry. Even if it has been used so frequently as to teeter on the precipice of cliché, there's a reason Blizzard is often referred to as a "golden goose", a developer that, if it lays its eggs but once every few years, always delivers a blockbuster.
To that end, the standard to which Blizzard games are held by critics and gamers alike appears to be much higher than that afforded to other developers. Make no mistake, if the company ever delivered a game that was anything short of spectacular, a horde of secateur-wielding Tall Poppy advocates would scramble to straddle the corpse of a giant.
But if Blizzard's success occasionally raises the ire of spectators who champion underdogs, or stokes the envy of onlookers within the industry, it's not at all reflected in the company itself. Talking to the employees of Blizzard is a lesson in practiced humility, in the art of under-selling and over-delivering. "We're excited," they'll say, or, "We really hope people like it." It's worlds apart from the bevy of baseless blustering that clutters our inboxes on a daily basis, and no-one better personifies this corporate modesty than Blizzard's quiet-spoken co-founder and CEO, Mike Morhaime.
It's funny the things you learn when listening to a quarterly financial earnings call. Naturally, the vast majority of what is discussed is irrelevant to gamers. How much a developer earned (or failed to earn) has little direct impact on our day to day gaming.
More interesting are the tidbits of information companies are obliged to divulge to their shareholders regarding their products, and Activision-Blizzard's recent financial report certainly over-delivered in this respect. News that Guitar Hero and DJ Hero were no longer in production rattled headlines and dominated editorial speculation in the week following.
Pushed down the page by this news was another interesting item: when the call was turned over to the deliberately understated and emphatically polite CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Morhaime, he began - with perhaps the faintest trace of pride - by announcing that the company had celebrated its twentieth anniversary just the day before.
Blizzard has defied convention and announced dates earlier than usual for BlizzCon 2011. The gathering will take place on the 21st and 22nd of October at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
BlizzCon is a celebration of all things Blizzard and the company’s primary platform for announcements and revelations regarding its blockbuster franchises Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo.
Ticket sales haven’t been announced but they usually sell out within seconds of becoming available, so if you happen to know you’ll be in California in October, or if you’re considering heading to the event, watch this space closely.
StarCraft II continues the epic saga of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. These three distinct and powerful races will clash once again in the fast-paced real-time strategy sequel to the legendary original, StarCraft. Legions of veteran, upgraded, and brand-new unit types will do battle across the galaxy, as each faction struggles for survival.
Featuring a unique single-player campaign that picks up where StarCraft: Brood War left off, StarCraft II will present a cast of new heroes and familiar faces in an edgy sci-fi story filled with adventure and intrigue. In addition, Blizzard will again offer unparalleled online play through Battle.net, the company's world-renowned gaming service, with several enhancements and new features to make StarCraft II the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game.
Features:
* Fast-paced, hard-hitting, tightly balanced competitive real-time strategy gameplay that recaptures and improves on the magic of the original game
* Three completely distinct races: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg
* New units and gameplay mechanics further distinguish each race
* Groundbreaking single-player "story-mode" campaign
* Vibrant new 3D-graphics engine with support for dazzling visual effects and massive unit and army sizes
* Full multiplayer support, with new competitive features and matchmaking utilities available through Battle.net
* Full map-making and scripting tools to give players incredible freedom in customizing and personalizing their gameplay experience
StarCraft II FAQ:
What is StarCraft II?StarCraft II is the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game, and the sequel to the hit original, StarCraft. The game will include three completely distinct and balanced races, the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg, which have been overhauled and re-imagined with a number of new units for each, as well as new tricks for some of the classic units that are returning.
When is the game coming out?At this point, it's too early to provide an initial estimate on the release date. As with all Blizzard games, we will take as much time as needed to ensure the game is as fun, balanced, and polished as possible.
How will StarCraft II be different from StarCraft?StarCraft II will run on a vibrant new 3D-graphics engine that will be capable of rendering beautiful landscapes as well as massive individual units and army sizes.
We're also introducing a number of distinct new units to the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg, and even some of the familiar units that return in StarCraft II will have new tricks up their sleeves, which will give the game its own unique flavor.
In addition, Battle.net will be overhauled with some new and exciting features to enhance online play and competition, while the story-mode campaign will also offer some unique aspects for players who enjoy single-player content. We'll have more details on all these aspects in the months to come.
Will there be both single-player and multiplayer components?Yes, StarCraft II will include a unique story-mode campaign, as well as multiplayer capability over Battle.net. We'll provide more detail on both of these aspects a little further along in the development process.
What will StarCraft II's story line be? Will any of the characters from the original StarCraft make an appearance in StarCraft II?It's a little too early to get into details on the story. Once we're able to discuss the single-player campaign in detail, we'll also share some exciting information about the story line for the game.
How many cinematic cut-scenes will be included?We know that StarCraft II players will expect to see some Blizzard-quality cinematic content in the game, and we have definite plans to include multiple cinematics, starting with a cinematic intro. We'll provide further confirmation once final determinations have been made.
How many races are in StarCraft II?In StarCraft II, players will see the return of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races. Our goal is to ensure that all the factions in the game play even more distinctly from one another than in the original StarCraft, while still maintaining the fine balance that helped make StarCraft such a classic. We're also introducing a number of new units to each race, as well as modifying some of the familiar units returning in StarCraft II. With these design refinements and the new features we have planned for the single-player and multiplayer elements of the game, StarCraft II will offer a next-generation StarCraft experience.
StarCraft II has some big shoes to fill - is there added pressure in developing a follow-up to one of the most beloved games of all time?We recognize that the bar is set pretty high, but this type of pressure is not new to us. Warcraft III had to follow in the footsteps of Warcraft II, and Diablo II had to follow the original Diablo. Creating a StarCraft game that's bigger and better than the original is definitely a big challenge, but it's one that we fully intend to meet and exceed.
Will the game be released in multiple countries? Will the release be simultaneous? Which countries and what languages will the game be localized in?Our goal is to release the game simultaneously across the world in multiple languages. As we get closer to release, we'll have more details to share.
Will there also be an expansion, and if so, what features will it contain?Our focus has been and will continue to be on developing and refining the core StarCraft II experience, so we haven't really had much time to consider what types of things we would include with an expansion for the game if we were to do one.
Will there be a console version of StarCraft II?StarCraft II is being developed for the PC. We have no current plans to bring the game to any console platform.
What are the system requirements for StarCraft II?We'll have more details on specific system requirements closer to the release date.
Will the game run natively on Windows Vista?StarCraft II will be fully compatible with Windows Vista, as well as XP. We'll have more details on system requirements closer to release.
Will StarCraft II be available on Mac simultaneously with PC?As with all of Blizzard's recent releases, StarCraft II will ship on both PC and Mac simultaneously.
Will StarCraft II take advantage of DirectX 10? What other graphical goodies are included?The game will be compatible with DirectX 10, and we're still considering whether there will be exclusive DirectX 10 graphic effects, but the graphics engine will also be very scalable to ensure that a wide range of different systems will be capable of running StarCraft II. The new engine is also capable of rendering very large units, as well as large numbers of units on screen together. Havok physics have been integrated into the engine for added realism as well.
