But the legislation is awful, and it affects gamers worldwide. Under SOPA, e-sports is under threat. Game streaming is under threat. In-game voice chat is under threat. In-game text chat could be turned off. Gaming forums are under threat. And the gaming media (us!) will no longer be able to exist in its current form.

The powers SOPA will grant if it passes are broad and troubling and spell doom for certain sections of gaming. Copyright holders will be allowed to seek court orders against infringing websites, and in its current form, against companies that provide services for them. That means that under a SOPA order, a copyright holder could demand restrictions from not just the site itself, but partner companies and clients such as the hosting domain, the advertising networks that provide ads, payment facilitators and search engines.

League of Legends developer, Riot Games, are just one of many groups who have openly criticised the act.

For instance, a website hosting or streaming video from gamers could suffer not just an infringement notice against them to remove the content, but their advertising network being forced to cut ties. Their webhost could pull the plug, and any search engines that link to the content could be forced to delist them. In the current form of legislation, even linking to copyright material is infringement. SOPA also encourages automatic removal by granting immunity to any entity that voluntarily takes action, while making liable those who don’t.

That’s the technicality. Here’s an example. A game publisher is unhappy that a player is streaming live play from a recent pro-game. The uploading and streaming of game footage is only allowable with the express consent of the copyright holder, and publishers routinely protect their copyright. Right now, publishers can easily get their content taken down from a site by filing an infringement notice, and sites are given “safe harbour” – a period of time to comply. Under SOPA, they could file against their host, their ad network, a search engine and expect compliance immediately.

So: the question? Why is this bad? Why shouldn’t publishers be able to go after those who profit from copyright infringement?

SOPA could spell bad news for e-sports enthusiasts.

Firstly: it’s likely e-sports and the game media will be shot stone dead under this legislation. And not just in the US: teams and organisations worldwide will be affected.

Secondly: it’s hugely detrimental to games developers, publishers and the community. Link to a clip on a forum, and that forum can be taken offline. The possible apocalypse scenario: playing music or quoting streams of text will make the game provider liable for copyright infringement. Game creators and providers will become liable for the infringements of their users.

This isn’t workable. This isn’t right. And this isn’t going to prevent piracy.

Don’t just take our word for it. Wikipedia has an excellent summary of the act, while major web companies like Google, Amazon and Twitter all drafted an open letter to congress explaining their objections. If you’re based in the US – please, call your local congressman and express your objections. If you’re not, please try to educate those who are.

If SOPA passes, gaming as a hobby could be damaged beyond recognition. And we can’t let that happen.

Here’s what we can do. If you’re in the US; talk to your congressman, and talk to your gaming friends and family. If you’re not in the US, ask the developers and publishers of your favourite games what their stance on SOPA is via Facebook, Twitter and their forums. And if they support the legislation, challenge them.

Gamers can defeat this, but we need to get the word out now. And fast. Congress reconvenes in just a few days. Let’s rush them.

Are your Zerg rushes constantly being hampered by filthy buildings? Stupid industrious capitalist jerks—always getting in the way with their “progress.” Stick it to Ayn Rand with this Protip, in which Josh teaches us how to clear a path with a StarCraft II tactic that’s as explosive as it is gooey: the Baneling Bust. Watch the introduction above, and see the strategy play out versus both Protoss and Terran bases in the following videos.

Baneling Bust vs. Protoss

Baneling Bust vs. Terran

We’ve also got two high-quality MLG Providence passes to give away to the first two people who comment with the name of a previous MLG StarCraft II winner below. Be quick about it, mind.

The special merchandise is available from now until November 18 at 10 a.m. PT. To gain access to the items, sign into the site with your Blizzcon 2011 ticket, virtual ticket or Blizzcon 2011 Pay Per View pass. Then enter your credit card details and bankrupt yourself!

Let us know what’s in your basket/wishlist in the comments. I want the Diablo 3 t-shirt featured in the thumbnail image, lots. Whoops! I just contradicted the first line of this post. Sorry.

But why were they there? Sites like Teamliquid swirled with rumours prior to the event: they were there to perform show matches, playing 1998′s Brood War on the big screen to foreign fans. They were there to test out the next StarCraft II expansion, Heart of the Swarm. They were there to mark their transition from professional Brood War – still the majority esports share in Korean viewing schedules – to StarCraft II. But Blizzcon came and went, and the four players were absent from headlines outside of citizen-papparazzi snaps and videos. Why were they there, flown out to Anaheim from their Korean home? The answer is simpler than you might expect. Read on to find out why.

They were there to see how StarCraft II – and esports in general – is consumed in the west. Confirmed by a Blizzard representative, Jaedong, Bisu, Fantasy and Jangbi (along with a representative from the Korean e-Sports Association that runs the league they play in) sat in on the StarCraft II tournaments taking place at the show – the GSL finals and the Blizzcon Invitational – to see first-hand the changes that have taken place in international pro-gaming during 2011, after hearing of a widening fan-base in the west. The players were reportedly blown away by the noise and spectacle of the events.

The crowd for Blizzcon’s GSL finals was humongous, dwarfing the groups found at the tournament’s regular season Code S and A games. They even outstripped previous finals – not only in size, but also in noise. Korean crowds are, by all accounts, more reserved and respectful. Exposing players raised on those experiences to the full-force of an American sports crowd must’ve been an impressive experience.

The Blizzcon GSL finals may become something of a turning point for esports. Not only was the event orders of magnitude larger than Korean GSL finals, but according to veteran esportsers like Major League Gaming’s Slasher, the games played between SlayerS`MMA and IMMVP were watched by the largest crowd ever seen in North American esports. The cheer for the winning player (spoiler-free for you VOD-watchers) was so loud from the front row that I felt the floor of the hall shaking under my feet.

The reasoning behind Jaedong and co’s visit might disappoint those hoping for an imminent switch of the world’s best macro/micro masters to a more recent game, but contractual wrangles are likely to hold a potential shift up. The four players were being chaperoned by a KeSPA representative (as I ascertained by peeking at a branded clipboard during a fortuitous lift ride with them during the show). GomTV (the creators of the GSL) still hold exclusive rights to broadcast StarCraft II in South Korea: meaning that there would either need to be a shift in that thinking to allow KeSPA to show SCII; or they would lose the rights to some of the best players ever seen.

Time will tell what the visit means for esports. But from an outside perspective, the players couldn’t have picked a better event to attend. The games in both the GSL finals and the Blizzcon Invitational were of a ridiculously high standard, and the crowd heaped so much audible love onto the stage that GSL co-casters Artosis and Tasteless cracked their steely nerd-baller exteriors and had tears in their eyes.

We’ll be contacting both Blizzard and KeSPA to get a response to this information, and will let you know if there is any more information.

Protoss

Upon analyzing data from their most recent battles, the protoss have identified a few areas of improvement that would help them maximize effectiveness against their enemies. Based on their findings, the protoss have augmented their arsenal with a second psionic unit, a new way to counter flocks of Mutalisks, and a new form of enemy harassment.

Tempest
Description: The tempest is a new capital ship that deals massive area-of-effect damage to air units. It also has a standard ground attack, but its chief role is to help gain air superiority.

Oracle
Description: The Oracle is a psionic warship, built from a Stargate, that uses several unique abilities to raid and harass the enemy. The first is Entomb, which can temporarily block mineral fields from being harvested. Another ability, Preordain, grants vision of a targeted enemy building, allowing the protoss to see which units or technologies are being researched. Rounding out its kit is Phase Shift, which phases a target building, preventing it from being attacked, using its abilities, or granting technology. Not only can structures like missile turrets be prevented from attacking, but using this ability on a zerg Spire would block the production of Mutalisks, Corruptors, and air upgrades.

Replicant
Description: Replicants have one ability: to transform itself into any non-massive unit. They’re expensive, so cloning a Zergling would not be very cost effective, but transforming into a specialized unit like a Raven, Infestor, or Siege Tank could open up interesting strategic options for the protoss.

New Abilities
A new ability called Arc Shield has also been added to the nexus — this ability will temporarily add additional shield and building armor, as well as a weapon very similar to a photon cannon. The weapon does the same amount of damage as a regular photon cannon but only damages light units. This ability will help the protoss buy time to defend in the case of an unexpected drop from an enemy. Another ability, Mass Recall, has also been added to the nexus, which allows protoss players to teleport armies from out in the field back to the nexus. The recalled units are stunned for a few seconds when recalled.

Retired Units
As we add units to the multiplayer game, sometimes it’s necessary to remove units or alter others’ abilities to maintain game balance and eliminate redundancy. In the current design of Heart of the Swarm, the protoss are not able to deploy Motherships and Carriers, though these and other units that don’t exist in Heart of the Swarm multiplayer will still be available in Wings of Liberty multiplayer and the solo campaign.

Terran

The resourceful terrans have also been improving their technology to better survive their battles in the Koprulu sector.

Description: The Shredder is a new unit built from the Factory that allows the terran player to control the battlefield. In its mobile form, the Shredder has no attack — but when set to stationary mode, it channels area-effect damage to both the air and ground. If a friendly unit enters the range of the Shredder, the weapon shuts off.

Warhound
Description: The Warhound is a small, walking ground mech that wields an effective anti-air weapon with splash damage, much like the Thor from Wings of Liberty. The difference is that the Warhound is smaller and much more nimble, though it gives up some range on its anti-air missiles in exchange for this mobility. The Warhound also wields a small ground attack weapon that does additional damage to mechanical units, making it particularly well suited to taking out enemy Siege Tanks — though it’s not particularly effective against non-mechanical units.

Thor (Modified)
Description: While it was always quite effective against ground and air, one of the biggest problems with the Thor has been that it’s too big and bulky to move around well… so the terrans decided to made it even bigger. In Heart of the Swarm multiplayer, terran players will be limited to having only one Thor at a time, but this new behemoth hits even harder with its regular ground weapons and can absorb a tremendous amount of damage. The terrans have also swapped out the Thor’s anti-air weapons for a bombardment ability that does a huge amount of damage to a wide swath of ground. The Thor will need time to set up its bombardment cannons, as well as time to repack them after an attack, much like a Siege Tank. Of course, fielding such a powerful weapon requires a hefty investment in technology, so both an Armory and a Fusion Core will be required before a Thor can be built.

New Abilities
The Hellion has been upgraded to a transforming unit similar to the Viking. When transformed into its new battle mode, the Hellion will gain in hit points and get a stronger flame attack that covers a short arc in front of it. This makes the Hellion more effective in late-game fights against large clusters of light units such as Zealots. The Ghost’s Cloak ability has also been modified — it will no longer be a toggled effect. Instead, there will be a one-time energy cost to activate Cloak for a specific time duration. Energy regeneration will continue while cloaked, and Ghosts can re-cloak while nuking without interrupting the call-down. The Battlecruiser will gain a speed-boost ability called Redline Reactor, which is governed by a cooldown. And finally, the Reaper no longer has a special building attack, but instead has a passive health-regeneration that allows it to recharge hit points quickly when out of combat.

Zerg

The zerg continue to evolve and adapt to changing environments, particularly the dangers they face on the battlefield. New creatures will help the zerg stage more effective sieges and add unique enemy-manipulating abilities to their arsenal.

Viper
Description: The Viper is a new flying unit with three unique abilities. Blinding Cloud temporarily reduces the attack range of all ground units inside the cloud to melee range, and prevents energy-based abilities from being used. Abduct allows the Viper to physically pull a unit to the Viper’s location. Finally, the Viper has a one-time ability called Ocular Parasite, which allows it to detach its eye stalk and meld it onto any friendly, non-massive unit, turning that unit into a detector.

Swarm Host
Description: The Swarm Host is a slow-moving ground unit that has no standard attack. When burrowed, the Swarm Host spawns a continuous stream of slow-moving melee units called Locusts that can be used to lay siege and pressure entrenched enemy positions.

New Abilities
The Corruptor’s Corruption ability has been replaced by a new ability called Siphon that allows Corruptors to target buildings and slowly damage them. This damage is converted into resources for the zerg at the same time. Ultralisks have a new Burrow Charge skill that lets them dive underground and instantly surface at a target, allowing them to initiate the fight faster on a crowded battlefield. Finally, the Baneling has evolved tunneling claws similar to the Roach, which allows them to move while burrowed — this new evolution will mean other races will need to be even more wary about hidden drops and making sure to have detectors with their army. Finally, the Hydralisk has a new upgrade that allows them to move faster while not on creep.
Retired Units
The Overseer has been cut; its detection ability has been replaced by the Viper and its Ocular Parasite.

One game that certainly will be there will be Diablo 3, will Blizzard add new features to the beta? Perhaps they’ll take some time to tackle the controversial Diablo 3 real money auction house at the Diablo 3 open Q&A panel.

Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm will be present too. Blizzard have recently been teasing Starcraft units for the game, and with a major tournament taking place at Blizzcon, it would seem the sensible place to unveil them. E-sports enthusiasts will have a lot to look foward too, as we’ll also be seeing the GSL finals reach their thrilling conclusion.

It’s been a long time since we heard anything about Blizzard’s Battle.net marketplace, for selling mods and maps via Starcraft 2. However with Starcraft Universe on show, we could be seeing more from it soon.

Blizzard Dota is also on the schedule. With League of Legends enjoying phenomenal success, and Valve’s DOTA 2 on the way Blizzard could be looking to get their own entry into the MOBA genre on display soon.

Finally, there’s the outside bet, the mysterious Project Titan. It’s unlikely that we’ll hear anything about this closely guarded secret, but who knows? It’s Blizzcon. Anything could happen.

What do you expect to see at this year’s Blizzcon? Alternatively, what are you hoping for?

Purchasing PC Gamer Digital Episode 2 also scores you the Killer Exclusive hat in Team Fortress 2. (It’s extremely sexy!)

If you haven’t checked out Digital yet, it’s a brand-new interactive environment which houses all-original games coverage and strategy guides from the editors of PC Gamer. There’s nothing else like it, so if you want to really know what it is, we highly recommend that you grab the free base application (which includes Episode 0 with free content) to experience the future of games coverage for yourself. PC Gamer Digital is currently only available in the US, but we’re working through legal stuff and load testing as quickly as possible so that we can launch elsewhere – we’ll let you know as soon as we have an international release date. For answers to more questions, give our announcement FAQ a glance.

Here’s a little more about what you’ll get in Episode 2:

BioShock Infinite – Step into Columbia’s Downfall
You’ve seen the trailers, but you’ve never seen BioShock Infinite like this. Experience the beauty and discord of Columbia as you explore 360-degree panoramas with commentary informed by Creative Director Ken Levine.

PCG Plays: Frozen Synapse – Tactical Showdown!
This week, we’re playing Frozen Synapse, an elegant game of tactics and psychology from indie developer Mode 7 Games. Not only that, PC Gamer’s Evan Lahti got to test his wits against one of the game’s creators, Mode 7 co-founder Ian Hardingham. See how he fared!

Tribes: Ascend – Interview with Todd Harris
We visited indie developer Hi-Rez Studios to talk to Executive Producer Todd Harris about Tribes: Ascend, which promises to bring back the large-scale, kinetic CTF action the series pioneered, as well as introduce new facets, not the least of which is a free-to-play model.

StarCraft II – Protip: The Baneling Bust
Are your Zerg rushes running up against pesky buildings? Damn industrious jerks. Learn how to clear the path with a tactic that’s as explosive as it is gooey: the Baneling bust.

Video Settings Explained: Part 2 of 2 – Advanced Settings Demystified
How does ambient occlusion work? What is tessellation? Discover the effects of five rarely-explained graphics settings with our direct on/off comparisons and narration.

Feedback to the new unit is varied. “Dunno what it is, but it’s definitely OP” says one Facebook user. “Probably a mobile washing-machine” says another. Rich ‘Did I mention I’m in Platinum League’ McCormick says “It looks like a mechanised E.T.” We’ve contacted some Starcraft pros for more insightful feedback.

The new units will be revealed in their entirity at this year’s Blizzcon, which is due to kick off October 21. Keep an eye out for Rich if you’re attending. He’ll be one of the guys cosplaying Kerrigan.

Hey you, internetter! If you’re reading this on Sunday evening, you’re just in time to catch the planet’s best professional StarCraft II players at Major League Gaming’s Raleigh finals. If that sounds interesting – and it sure does to me – then have a look at the stream above. Some quick background of who’s left and who’s playing who below the cut: people who’ve got family over for the weekend who inexplicably don’t play games and are instead waiting for the VODs and killing people who spoil the winner for them (hello!), might want to avoid looking below.

It’s only Korean players left over on the two StarCraft II streams – the red stream being commentated by friend-of-PC Gamer Day[9] and Husky, the blue stream by GSL casters Artosis and Tasteless. To choose between the two, pop over to either the Red or Blue steams on the MLG site.

Earlier today, we saw the first MLG League of Legends champions – congratulations to Counter Logic Gaming, who took the championship at the game’s first MLG outing.

This commemoration of StarCraft 2′s first year of release, entitled “One Year Down,” has got it all; the highs of tournament success and worldwide recognition, the lows of crushing defeat and near misses. Praise be to Laxx for putting it all together, and kudos to the SC community for embracing their passion.

Hm? No, I’m not crying. I just got something in my eye, that’s all.

The already excellent matchmaking system will benefit as a result. The wider audience will result in less waiting time for ranked games and more accurate matchmaking, no matter what league you’re in. If you’re a chatty player you could potentially make a bunch of new friends too.

Region management appears to be a contentious issue for e-sports developers. Blizzard combine, but League of Legend’s Riot Games separate. Why can’t we all kill whoever we want, whenever we want?* Things would be much simpler and friendlier that way.

For more on the update, check Blizzard’s official FAQ.

*Blame the speed of light.

On paper, the highlight of the day may be a match between MC and BoxeR—an historic meeting of the young, current SC2 master and the former Brood War champion. Start popping that corn (or preparing creative methods to watch at work), and read on for more details.

What’s the NASL?

There are only a few ongoing StarCraft 2 leagues. Last year, the Global StarCraft 2 League in Korea established itself as the premier StarCraft 2 competition. There are plenty of tournaments, but no comparable league to the GSL on other other side of the world—that is, until the North American Star League (NASL).

Season One of the NASL kicked off on April 12th. It started slowly, amid larger, single-weekend events like MLG and DreamHack. With no “stage” to speak of, and their pros playing in the tournament remotely, it was uncertain whether or not the NASL would earn enough attention. After three months of constant improvement, that question has been answered—the NASL includes some of the best players and commentators in the world. With daily broadcasts throughout the week, an exciting ranking system, and a huge, $100,000 USD prize pool, the NASL has become the go-to StarCraft league for many fans.

No matter who you're up against, the pressure's on.

Today through Sunday, 16 of the world’s best players will be competing from the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, California. The commentators will be none other than Gretorp, Incontrol, Day[9], and the “casting Archon,” Tasteless and Artosis. If you’re lucky enough to be in the area, go and check it out in-person! If you’re at home, tune in to the NASL internet stream.

All of the players in the NASL finals are top-tier, but if you are unsure of where to start, or which players are the talk of the town, read on for my “chosen champions” of Zerg, Terran, and Protoss.

The Favorites

The NASL’s favored Zerg, Terran, Protoss in the finals

TLAF-Liquid`Ret

(Zerg)
Ranked #1 in the NASL Season One with a direct seed into the round-of-16, Ret is a former StarCraft: Brood War pro who trained in Korea. He is known today for winning the StarCraft 2 tournament “Assembly” and having a macro-heavy style.

SlayerS_BoxeR

(Terran)
Lim Yo Hwan. The Emperor. The man who started it all, and the Michael Jordan of StarCraft: Brood War. He is easily the biggest name in the NASL finals (and in E-Sports). To quote “riptide,” the TeamLiquid administrator and former TeamLiquid Editor-in-Chief, “Lim Yo Hwan is The Emperor because he embodies the very spirit of the game. His style of play can only be properly described as in flux, with the only constant in his gameplay being change.” Simply put—you have to watch this man play.

oGsMC

(Protoss)
The “Protoss President” has been considered the best Protoss player on the planet for a long time now. He has two GSL first-place finishes and a DreamHack gold medal, among many other notable tournament placements. MC is consistent with his results, and is usually the scariest player in the tournament. But in an wonderful, early-tournament twist, he’ll be playing the legend, BoxeR, in the round-of-16. Do not miss that game!

Things To Click On

Schedule: NASL schedule
Stream: NASL internet stream
Info: NASL website, TeamLiquid.net, Liquipedia
When: July 8th – July 10th
Where: The Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, California

But I didn’t always love e-sports. If I went back in time to exactly one year ago, found myself, and said “YOU WILL LOVE E-SPORTS IN A YEAR’S TIME!”, year-younger me would’ve scoffed in my face. I’ve been aware of e-sports for as long as I’ve been a PC gamer: I lived through the false dawns of the early 21st Century, the Sujoy Roys and the Jonathan Wendels coming so close to pushing the activity of pro-gaming into the spotlight, then falling short at some intangible hurdle. Time and again I was promised the rise of Quake, or Counter-Strike, or some other competitive game in the televised market; time and time again they failed to ignite among the wider gaming community.

I could well have reacted like Kotaku’s Jen Schiller did, when she repurposed an interview between Team Dignitas‘ David ‘Zaccubus‘ Treacy, and top-end PC hardware types Alienware. Her post treats e-sports as weird and unnatural: a vestigial limb on the wider gaming animal that we’d all do better to hide under a coat. She makes her feelings about pro-gaming clear:

“Don’t get me wrong, I love watching people who are better than me at video games play them for money, especially when I don’t know those people.

Oh wait. No I don’t.”

Jen penned another response, after seeing the reaction her original post dredged up from the e-sports community. Jen defends herself by claiming ignorance of the scene. A year ago, I could’ve claimed the same.

For me, that year’s length – and the month of July in particular – are key. StarCraft II came out on July the 27th, 2010. I bought a copy, installed it, and left it alone. I’d played the original’s single-player for a spell, and had become vaguely aware of a kind of mad, otherworldly pro-gaming industry that had built up around in off in South Korea. It sounded strange to my western ears, like those Japanese shows we see Youtube clips of where a man attaches himself to a bungee rope and tries to run at some meat. Why would they play StarCraft, of all games? Have they not heard of TF2?

I can’t remember what it was that called me to StarCraft II’s multiplayer – boredom, sirensong, my overtly competitive nature – but I’d built the mythical South Korean scene into a monstrous mass of talent, all ready to smash my tiny face off should I step into the online ring. Something weird happened. I won my first game. I won more. I lost lots, but I lost because I failed at completing an observable task. Here was a game I could demonstrably get better at.

And I did. Perhaps the defining moment in my attitude switch toward StarCraft II – from multiplayer timewaster to genuine practice – was my first foray into e-sports.

I began to watch other people play. People better than me, people playing videogames for money, people I didn’t know. I had no illusions that I’d ever join their ranks, but the sheer pleasure of nabbing tips and tricks that high-level players used, reappropriating them in my games, and watching myself get better was one that I couldn’t replicate.

That’s largely in part to the community. The old e-sports organism survived as contained cells – little pockets of internet that the general wanderer would come across, get bewildered by, then quietly close down. With years to get acquainted with their games, the news posts referred to mysterious tournaments, their forums dropped arcane terms like they were real human words. For the outsider, these places were scary. That was old e-sports.

In this space-year 2011, more new personalities have arisen in the world of competitive gaming than (I’d wager, not technically knowing) have ever before. In my personal StarCraft II sphere, we’ve got figureheads like Day[9] (who I had the pleasure to interview), djWHEAT, JP McDaniel, and commentators like Artosis, Tasteless, Husky and Diggity. League of Legends has a similar range of figures, people like Reginald from Solomid.net, Phreak, and FourCourtJester often allowing other players a window into their world by streaming their games. Even Street Fighter IV – with its focus on the coughspit consoles – has mini-celebs like Mike Ross and Gootecks pushing their infectious enthusiasm and hardcore knowledge.

E-sports is currently the healthiest it has ever been. There’s always the fear that these are famous last words, the things inscribed on the gravestone in two years time when the sponsorship deals dry up, but I’ve been to the future and I can tell you that’s incorrect. Here, I brought back facts to back me up.

Fact one! We’re currently blessed with a set of triple-A quality games that at an early stage in development set out to be sports. These games – with StarCraft II, League of Legends, and Street Fighter IV leading the charge – were tested to the ninth plane of hell, and came back near-perfectly balanced (quiet with the “imba!” chatter). Previous e-sports darlings weren’t. Counter-Strike was a great mod that got lucky. Blizzard never knew StarCraft would explode in the east like it did. And Quake III – while it has the best claim – didn’t benefit from the on-the-fly game adjustments today’s internet connections allow.

Fact the second. Most previous pro-gaming titles were shooters; modern heroes aren’t. It’s incredibly hard to present footage of a classic team deathmatch game. As the observer, you’re either tied to a player, or stuck floating around the map like a flustered ghost, late to the action. Recent pro-gaming vehicles are strategy or fighting games: much easier to watch from a detached, overhead view while still receiving all pertinent information.

Third fact. Current e-sports are bright, colourful, and surprisingly easy to read. Take StarCraft II as an example: common sense says ten men kill five men when they’ve both got the same guns. A child could make the connection, and see why one player is doing notably better than the other. A particularly alert dog probably could. There is, of course, infinite layers of nuance behind each unit, action, and decision – but for the basics you don’t need a rulebook. Man shoot, other man fall down, everyone cheer. Yay!

The Kotaku article references a downturn in e-sports. Zaccubus – who I’ve had the pleasure to get absolutely robo-pwned by – has a history in professional shooters. This corner of the market was propped up by pro-gaming behemoths Counter-Strike and Quake III: both of which are now well over a decade old. A mild lull, while players get reacquainted with new games, set their talents loose on similar mechanics encased in prettier games, or move onto new sectors, is to be expected. Jen, in her article, equates the slow decline of games released in the 20th Century with a general death of an entire sector of entertainment.

To suggest e-sports is declining is empirically incorrect. Not when companies across games and across oceans competing to give away the largest prize pot – Riot Games handing $50,000 to their season 1 LoL winner, GomTV giving $100,000 to GSL winners. Not when 1.7 million people tune in to watch the very first televised League of Legends professional season. Not when 15,000 people turn up in the city of Columbus, Ohio, to attend the travelling Major League Gaming event – joined by 22 and a half million stream views from people across the globe. This kind of basic research undermines Jen’s point that it’s not something she’s interested in, and therefore has no exposure to it: these tournaments have pushed so far into the mainstream space that they’re no longer confined to their own little hospice wards.

Gaming’s rapidly shedding its social stigma. Over half of the people in the UK are considered active gamers: our hobby is not the preserve of the maladjusted or socially weird. Why then, articles like Jen’s feel the need to disparage a rapidly growing, incredibly exciting offshoot of general gaming, purely because it’s not a traditional prism through which to view games?

When I spoke to Sean ‘Day[9]‘ Plott about the social attitudes to gaming, he said that he’d always responded to any insults with genuine enthusiasm: “oh, do you play games? Let me tell you why they’re great.” This is the approach we should take – particularly us as PC gamers. I am so very glad I discovered e-sports. The pro-gaming community is passionate and knowledgeable like few others, and they grew from our platform. A year ago, gaming at large could’ve claimed ignorance. To do so now is inexcusable. Watching people ‘better than you at video games play them for money, especially when you don’t know those people’ might not be your cup of tea, but dismissing the subject out of hand is exactly the kind of closed-minded reactionary behaviour we rail so hard against when it’s directed at gaming as a whole.

You never know, you might grow to love e-sports. I know I did.

Day[9] is one of the most charismatic, knowledgeable, and downright likable shoutcasters on the Starcraft II scene. Rich MCC loves him a little bit more than most. That’s why we sent our staff writer to meet Day[9] earlier in the week, armed with a recording studio and pair of microphones.

He returned with bumper, Starcraft II-themed edition of the PC Gamer UK podcast where the pair talk about future expansions, what it’s like to live a life laced with Starcraft II, and the current state of e-sports.

Download the MP3, subscribe, or find our other podcasts here. For more Day[9] check out his YouTube channel. For more Rich, click here.

“SC2 is much more open in terms of opportunities.”
Newcomers to the exploding StarCraft scene may be surprised to know that in 2009, long before StarCraft 2 was released, Jung Hoon was living the life of a professional gamer. Going by the ID “Clare,” he played for the Korean pro team MBC Game. If you weren’t around to keep track of the Brood War scene, all you need to know is that this was a huge deal.

Getting a prized spot on any pro Brood War team is hard. Jung Hoon earned his spot, and even a few short cameos alongside his former teammate, Jang Min Chul, in the classic Brood War show “Hyungjoon Becomes a Pro gamer.” In tournaments, however, Jung Hoon garnered little success. In June of 2010, with no improvement and StarCraft 2 burning on the horizon, he played his last official game of Brood War. Four months later Jung Hoon shed himself of the name “Clare” and made “the switch” with his entrance into the GSL Open Season 2.

Jung Hoon executes a classic, two-base marine attack and uses his exceptional unit control to avoid being surrounded.

Starting anew, Jung Hoon’s chose “Boxer” as his first StarCraft 2 ID. The Korean community, which knows players primarily by their real names, gave small reaction. But the foreign (outside Korea) StarCraft community was outraged. The real Boxer, SlayerS_BoxeR, aka Lim Yo Hwan, aka The Emperor, had also debuted his StarCraft 2 career in the GSL Open Season 2. Jung Hoon was immediately dubbed “Foxer” (Fake Boxer) and was known as such for the rest of the tournament. With mounting pressure from his foreign fans, Jung Hoon eventually changed his moniker to “MarineKing.” (Unfortunately, not Optimus—”OptimusPrime” would’ve been the coolest name in StarCraft history.)

In the GSL Open Season 2—Jung Hoon’s first major tournament—he debuted his now-trademark specialty of all-Marine play, blasting through the likes of “Rainbow,” the ultra-aggressive “Kyrix,” and, most notably, the winner of the previous season, “FruitDealer.” As the tournament progressed, Jung Hoon’s opponents scrambled in Darwinian fashion for a response to his whirlwind play. By the time the grand finals rolled around in November, Jung Hoon’s personality and playstyle had sucked in thousands of fans, making him an icon.

With marauders positioned at the front of the army to absorb damage, Jun Hoon's marines are safe to stim and continue the attack.

“A good jinx…”
The grand final was one of the most nail-biting in the history of the game. Jung Hoon took the first two games, lost the third and fourth, then won the fifth. Up 3-2, he was one game away from taking the tournament and being hailed as one of the first “greats” of StarCraft 2. But he was being outclassed. One of his wins was from the ever-risky rush strategy: marine and SCV all-in. Another win was the result of a huge micro blunder from his opponent “NesTea,” that Jung Hoon capitalized on. Win or lose, NesTea had proven that MarineKing could not just be beaten, but dominated.

A shaky, indecisive strategy in game six tied up the series, and took it to the rubber match. Here, Jung Hoon attempted another all-in and emulated his idol, Boxer, by playing a game highly reminiscent of the ageless, StarCraft: Brood War 2004 EVER OSL semi-finals between Boxer and his rival, “Yellow.” Boxer won his game; Jung Hoon lost his. The failed gambit ended the tournament and his chance at becoming the Boxer’s successor in StarCraft 2.

Nine days later, he placed runner-up to Kyrix in the GSTAR All-Star Tournament. Two months after GSTAR, he lost to MVP in the first season of GSL’s Code S. In April, he lost to MVP again in the final of the GSL “World Championship” tournament.

Jung Hoon has made it to the grand finals in four of the world’s largest tournaments and never taken home a gold—but he’s an iconic, irreplaceable figure for the community. Jung Hoon’s wicked style, soft manner, and tearful responses to both wins and losses made him the poster boy for Terran, and for a time, maybe even for StarCraft 2 as a whole.

Jung Hoon uses the enemy's mineral patches as a wall to create a narrow choke for the Zerg units to attack through. This position keeps his army safe from a flank and at the heart of the Zerg economy.

“I’ll always try hard to play well and deliver fun games.”
Jung Hoon has yet to clinch a title, but he’s still made a cool $60,000 USD in his GSL second place earnings—no small amount, considering his lack of gold medals. He’s well-known, sitting at the top of the StarCraft 2 food chain at a time when the StarCraft 2 scene still has a ways to go before reaching its peak.

The game is still young, and Jung Hoon’s still full of potential, with no reason to falter. Perennial runner-ups Hong Jin Ho and golf pro Jack Nicklaus each still won a rack of gold medals. There is no reason why Jung Hoon cannot do the same.

If all goes well, competitive StarCraft 2 will turn into a behemoth of mythical proportions, rivaling even the Korean Brood War scene. Jung Hoon is one of the most engaging, captivating, entertaining and promising players that’s leading the community. Every time he gets close to finals, viewers have to wonder whether he will finally win a tournament, or continue to forge a legacy of silver. His story is compelling, his character full of good manners, and his playstyle is as entertaining as they come. If you aren’t yet a fan, you ought to be.

Thanks to my colleague Kwanghee Woo, aka “Waxangel” on TeamLiquid, we were able to get in touch with Jung Hoon’s team, “Prime,” and ask for an interview. Jung Hoon responded in his usual cheerful manner and shared his thoughts on his runner-up status, the transition from Brood War to StarCraft 2, and on much more, including his non-Marine related interests.

The prince who would be king.

PC Gamer: Hi, Jung Hoon. It’s a pleasure to be able to interview you for the foreign community. Do you ever follow foreign tournaments? Are there any foreigners that you want to play against?
Lee Jung Hoon: Hi, this is MKP, Lee Jung Hoon. I would like to face ThorZain who is doing well in foreign tournaments lately, or Greg Fields who has left Korea.

PCG: Which foreign tournament do you most want to compete in, and why?
JH: MLG, DreamHack, NASL, IEM—I would like to compete in all of them. Because I have little international experience, I would like to compete in any [overseas] tournament.

PCG: How does your “runner-up” identity affect you as a player? Is it something you ignore, or does each second-place finish make you that much hungrier for a win?
JH: I think it’s a good jinx. It gives me motivation to work harder and get rid of it.

PCG: What was the hardest StarCraft 2 game that you ever played? Which game is the most memorable for you? Many foreigners think that your games against NesTea in the GSL Open Season 2 made for one of the most exciting finals.
JH: The tournament games that I thought were the most fun were my quarter-final games against Kyrix in the GSL Open Season II. It went all five games, and because it kept going back and forth, it was fun. Of course I remember it because I won, keke (losing to Jaedeok hyung*[NesTea] in the finals is another unforgettable memory, but since I lost…)

PCG: How do you compare the team league oriented StarCraft: Brood War scene, with the Proleague, MSL and OSL, to StarCraft 2′s GSL and GSTL? Which aspects of the Brood War system would you like to see adopted by GOM? Team leagues like the GSTL are very popular in the foreign community.
JH: I think the ideal system is for the GSL and GSTL to grow with similar importance, like SC1, where it’s not too team league oriented.

MKP with his game face on.

PCG: Foreigners have recently been discussing the fact that none of the top Brood War players have switched to StarCraft 2. This has led some people to think that StarCraft 2 pro gamers do not practice as hard as Brood War pro gamers, and that all of the good StarCraft players are still playing Brood War. As a current StarCraft 2 pro gamer, and former StarCraft: Brood War pro gamer for the team MBCGame HERO, what are your thoughts on this?
JH: I think it was an amazing choice for SC1 players who were falling out of competition and were producing [unsatisfactory] results to switch to SC2. SC2 is much more open in terms of opportunities. Hmm, I think if SC1 gamers with skill at the TaekBaengLeeSsang level came over, they could be in the top tier of SC2. But now SC2 teams are being run very systematically around large amounts of practice, just as much as SC1 teams. So even if top SC1 players switched, they would need a lot of time to come up the ranks.

PCG: Who are you closest to in the Prime house? Do you keep in touch with anyone from MBC Game?
JH: The average age in the prime team is high, so I thought at first it would be difficult to make friends. But now I get along with everyone! If there’s anyone who I get along well with in particular, it would be “Maka” Kwak Han Eul, who’s of a similar age and I’m very friendly with. “Polt” Choi Sung Hoon and “AnyPro” Lee Jung Hwan are also very good to me. From MBCGame Hero, I stay in touch with Jaehoon hyung*, “Shark” Seo Gyeong Jong hyung, and “Tyson” Park Su Beom hyung.

PCG: What do you do in your spare time? What are your hobbies?
JH: Mainly I hang out with my friends, or watch TV shows or movies.

PCG: What’s your favorite movie and favorite music group?
JH: I can’t really pick my favorite movie, but of the ones I’ve seen recently, Inception sticks out. Of singers, IU is my favorite.

PCG: Thank you for your time, Jung Hoon. Any last words for all of your foreign fans?
JH: Thank you to my foreign fans who always love and cheer me on. Whether it’s Korean or foreign tournaments, I’ll always try hard to play well and deliver fun games, so keep your eyes on me!

*“Hyung” means “older brother” in Korean. The people do not necessarily have to be related. “Hyung” is used only by males.

The screens show off two early missions, Charr and Kaldir, the two new Zerg characters, as well as the new Zerg ‘evolution chamber’ upgrade system.

As part of Razer’s line of StarCraft II gear, the Marauder’s main feature is nifty dynamic backlighting that gauges your APM (actions-per-minute), exclusively in SC2; in other games, it simply glows a static color. And, annoyingly, this smallish keyboard requires two USB ports to make the lights work. Depending on how many actions you’re spamming, the Marauder shines from a Protoss blue (when you’re almost comatose) all the way to blood-red (when you’re a GSL superstar). Unfortunately, the APM colors might show you how bungling of a SC2 player you really are.

While playing against platinum-league vet Norm Chan, my keyboard never surpassed green (one step above lifeless blue); I could only achieve a satisfying red through rapid-fire-clicking waypoints while my fingers played a drum solo on the hotkeys. After Norm ruthlessly thrashed me, the Marauder added insult to injury by blinking red to make sure I knew I lost. Gee, thanks.

Without the Lite-Brite gimmick, the Marauder is a less-than-stellar keyboard. Razer inexplicably decided to smash the arrow keys and Insert/Home/Page Up block into the numpad—this jarring change left me constantly fumbling for keys. Still, you can reassign almost all of the buttons, and each key has a nice tactile feel: they’re sturdy, springy and have an aesthetically-pleasing gloss. But paying $120 for what’s essentially a StarCraft mood-ring—that spectators will enjoy more than you do—just doesn’t make sense.

$120, www.razerzone.com ◆ Category: Dream

PC Gamer US Podcast 272: Monstrous

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#4: TLAF-Liquid`Nazgul vs EG.Idra

November 7th, 2010
TLAF-Liquid`Nazgul (Blue Protoss) vs EG.Idra (Red Zerg)
Nazgul used a 1-base, mass Blink Stalker build to overwhelm and defeat Idra.

At MLG Dallas 2010, the legendary pioneer and founder of Teamliquid.net, Nazgul, showed up to compete. Inactive since the end of beta, everyone expected him to be crushed and swept underfoot by the previous MLG champion and top foreign player, Idra. Even after a decade since the height of Nazgul’s pro gaming career, he shocked everyone when he won the series 2-1 on MLG’s livestream, using his now-trademark mass-Blink Stalker build.

#3: IM.Mvp vs Mill.Adelscott

March 26th, 2011
IM.Mvp (Red Terran) vs Mill.Adelscott (Blue Protoss)
Adelscott set the pace of the game early on and held it, outplaying Mvp until the very end.

Going into the TSL, Adelscott was a total unknown. The Frenchman had entered one of StarCraft 2′s largest tournaments and found himself paired against a champion of Korea’s most prestigious league–the GSL. A TeamLiquid bracket poll showed that only four percent of fans were confident that Adelscott’s Protoss would win—but the odds meant nothing to Adelscott. Game 1 lasted 19 minutes, and Adelscott dominated every second of it. It took him another 20 minutes to win game 2. Defying all expectations, Adelscott swept the best Terran in the world in two straight-up macro games.

#2: ESC.Goody vs IM.NesTea

March 26th, 2011
ESC.Goody (Red Terran) vs IM.NesTea (Teal Zerg)
A strong timing push and miracle defense from Goody clutched him out the win.

As the GSL Open Season 2 champion and team anchor for Incredible Miracle, everyone knew NesTea would be invited to the TSL. Goody, on the other hand, was a player who had gained a modicum of infamy for his turtling mech style of play and low actions-per-minute. Only three percent of TeamLiquid chose Goody to advance. When NesTea won just one game by the skin of his teeth, StarCraft fans around the world began to question the dominance of Korean SC pros.

#1: TSL_FruitDealer vs Prae.Thorzain

March 19th, 2011
TSL_FruitDealer (Blue Zerg) vs Prae.Thorzain (Red Terran)
Thorzain’s relentless aggression and well-timed expansions kept him two steps ahead of FruitDealer, ultimately winning him the game.

Going into the TSL, Thorzain was just another European Terran. There was little hope for him against FruitDealer, the hero Zerg who had cut his teeth on Terran bones, having demolished Korean Terran player Virus in the GSL only four days before the match. With the Korean-dominated IEM World Championship still fresh in memory, only eleven percent of TeamLiquid thought Thorzain would advance. But when the time came, Thorzain toppled the GSL Open Season 1 champion like a domino on a windy day. It wasn’t even close.

Great sporting moments are also great human moments. Tears, incredible fightbacks, and skin-of-the-teeth survival in the face of overwhelming odds – this Starcraft 2 match, from the semi-finals of the GSL’s World Championship, has it all and then some.

Best of all, it’s free to watch. But fair warning: the World Championship has now finished, and if you haven’t watched past the quarter-final stage and want to avoid spoilers, don’t click through. If you’re up for some incredible action, though, join us through the link.

This semi-final match is between MarineKingPrime and MC – two top Korean pros, who respectively play Terran and Protoss. MKP plays for team Prime, MC for team oGs.

If you have any issues watching the game, click the fullscreen button or watch it at GOM.tv.

Some context: MC is regarded by many as the best Protoss player in the world, if not /the best player in the world, and he’s a cocky so-and-so: the kind of pro who glories in demolishing lesser players before humiliating them in post-match interviews. But there’s no denying his brilliance: MC’s a two-time GSL champion, and a terrifying opponent.

MarineKingPrime is, first of all, less of a dick. Initially known for his infantry-based play (hence the name), he’s a two-time GSL finalist and one of the most exciting Terrans around – his superb micro control and willingness to base-trade perhaps his defining characteristics.

The first to win three games wins the match, and if you skip the talky bits between games this will take you less than an hour to watch – in terms of excitement and sheer punch-the-air YEEEAAAHHH moments, this game was our highlight of the World Championships. If you like it, the final and all other games are easily found on the gom.tv website, and the whole thing is free to watch.

We won’t say any more: watch this game!

Read on for the details.

Blizzard have posted instructions on how to play Auir Chief, Starjeweled and Left 2 Die on their official website. You’ll need to read up if you want to earn all 20 of the new achievements.


Aiur Chef

• Executor Chef – Cook at least one of each dish in all three rounds of one game of Aiur Chef.
• Virtuoso -Win a game of Aiur Chef. Awards Zealot Chef portrait.
• Supreme Cuisine – Score over 2000 points in a game of Aiur Chef.
• The Heat Is On – Kill another zealot chef when hit by the Great Equalizer.
• Allez Cuisine! – Cook two dishes within 30 seconds of each other.

Left 2 Die

• Live and Let Die – Complete the “Left 2 Die” scenario on Normal difficulty.
• Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em – Kill a Stank before it kills anything on Hard difficulty. Awards Stank portrait.
• Die Another Day – Complete the “Left 2 Die” scenario on Hard difficulty.
• Here Comes the Hammer – Complete the “Left 2 Die” scenario before the fifth night on Brutal difficulty.
• License to Kill – Complete the “Left 2 Die” scenario on Brutal difficulty.
• Night Of The Living – Survive 5 Infested Horde Attacks in the “Night 2 Die” mode of the “Left 2 Die” scenario.
• Night Of The Living II – Survive 10 Infested Horde Attacks in the “Night 2 Die” mode of the “Left 2 Die” scenario.
• Night Of The Living III – Survive 15 Infested Horde Attacks in the “Night 2 Die” mode of the “Left 2 Die” scenario.

StarJeweled

• Tag Team – Win a 2v2 game of ‘StarJeweled’ with no A.I. players.
• Jewel Crafter – Win a 1v1 game of ‘StarJeweled’ against a Medium A.I. opponent.
• Jewel Star – Win a 1v1 game of ‘StarJeweled’ against a Hard A.I. opponent.
• Jewel Super Star – Win a 1v1 game of ‘StarJeweled’ against a Very Hard A.I. opponent.
• Jewel Rock Star – Win a 1v1 game of ‘StarJeweled’ against an Insane A.I. opponent.
• Jewel of Denial – Heal 3000 points of damage in a game of ‘StarJeweled’ using the Healing Wave ability. Awards Ornatus portrait.
• World of Orecraft – Do a 6 combo gem break and receive “For the Swarm” notification in a game of ‘StarJeweled’.

Blizzard have also posted some handy tutorials which should help you make your own creations. Let us know how you get on.

The second one, obviously. Fortunately, if you’re at a loose end now, you’re just in time to tune into the Major League Gaming Dallas StarCraft II finals. The games have been rumbling on all weekend, with some of the world’s best professionals going mouse-to-mouse, casted by delightful talky men Day[9] and djWHEAT. We’ve included a stream of the games below. Tune in right now, and you’ll catch the second set of semi-finals, with the finals to follow at 7pm CST.

I’m not going to spoil the finalists, in case you’re reading this after the event, but the tournament’s seen a lot of the favourites drop early on, leaving a pool of lesser-known professionals displaying mad new strategies. MLG‘s one of the best places to start if you’re new to e-sports: it’s presented with the same slickness and panache as a major sporting event, and knows how to appeal to a wide crowd.

Professional StarCraft 2 is constantly growing. Whether you are new to the scene or a veteran, the TeamLiquid.net calendar, tournament tracker, player database, and Liquidpedia are great resources to follow upcoming events, tournament results and players. 2011 is going to be full of tournaments. In particular, keep an eye out for the GSL, TSL, MLG and IEM tournaments which are sure to have some of the big names listed below.

#5 – MoonGlade

The Careful Opportunist

Team: FXO
Name: Andrew Pender
Hometown: Brisbane, Australia
Age: 24
Race: Zerg
Notable wins: 1st IEM Season V SEA Championship, 2nd Pan-Pacific Championship 2010, 1st CyberGamer Live Ladder 2010, 4th IEM Season V World Championship, 1st CyberGamer Psi Storm 2010
Style of play: MoonGlade is a Zerg player of unusual qualities. He is not scared to try for a win with his first group of Zerglings, but is also careful not to over-commit his forces. Rather than engage in a battle that has an unpredictable outcome, MoonGlade will contently whittle his opponent down to the bone. A vindictive player, he is swift to brutally counter-attack after a successful defence and end the game in a flash.
Known for: Living in the GOM foreigner practice house in Korea, being a WCG representative for Australia in WarCraft 3, making funny faces at the camera, defeating Koreans at the IEM World Championship.
“Real” sports counterpart: Steve Nash, the elusive and aggressive point guard on the Phoenix Suns.
Why he’s worth watching: Like a hurricane, the undisputed King of Southeast Asia has hit the international scene by storm. After having gone under the radar for months, MoonGlade stole the spotlight first by winning the IEM S.E.A Championship, then by having a deep run in the IEM World Championship, in which he took a winning record over Korean pro and 3rd-place finisher, Squirtle. Like a riptide, MoonGlade drags his opponents into his pace of game. A quirky personality and recent breakout performance has left many waiting in anticipation for his next major tournament. Big things are expected of MoonGlade in 2011.
Top matches: MoonGlade vs. Loner, MoonGlade vs. Squirtle
Other links: Liquipedia page, Interview, Fanclub

#4 – White-Ra

Ukrainian Roulette

Team: Duckload
Name: Oleksiy Krupnyk
Hometown: Odessa, Ukraine
Age: 30
Race: Protoss
Notable wins: 1st Homestory Cup II, 1st SCReddit Invitational #1, 1st Root Gaming WARZONE 2010-2011, 1st Global Gamers Invitational 2010, 2nd IEM Season V European Championship, 1st TL Open #11
Style of play: Unpredictable, well-timed. White-Ra’s style is hard to define. One game he will try to rush his opponent down with an all-in or cheese, and the next he will fast-expand. His potential for the unorthodox, combined with a reputation for stalwart strategies, makes him an unpredictable and fearsome opponent. If left undisturbed, White-Ra will tweak his unit composition until it is perfect and win with a devastating timing attack.
Known for: Defeating SlayerS_BoxeR in StarCraft: Brood War, winning three StarCraft 2 tournaments in one weekend, having one of the longest and most successful professional StarCraft careers among foreigners, qualifying for the TSL.
“Real” sports counterpart: Nicklas Lidström, the Detroit Red Wings’ high-scoring defenseman and hockey legend who has only become better with age.
Why he’s worth watching: White-Ra is a roulette table of ever-changing tactics. Whether it be a cannon rush, Void Ray timing attack, or positional game of map control, White-Ra has the experience and skill to do it all. White-Ra’s variety gives his games color, and usually throws his opponent off-balance. His unorthodox style has provided for some of the most intense and odd-defying games, in which White-Ra or his opponent won by the skin of their teeth. Affectionately known as “Grandpa Toss,” many marvel at how White-Ra grew in skill while others his age got left in the dust.
Top matches: White-Ra vs. TLO, White-Ra vs. Machine
Other links: Liquipedia page, Website, Interview

#3 – Huk

The Mothership Madman

Team: TLAF-Liquid`
Name: Chris Loranger
Hometown: St. Petersburg, Florida
Age: 21
Race: Protoss
Notable wins: 1st MLG Raleigh 2010, 1st Evil Geniuses Masters Cup #1, GSL March Code S Qualifier 2011, 3rd IEM Season V American Championship, 3rd MLG D.C. 2010
Style of play: Aggressive, adaptive. Huk’s style is flexible and versatile. Though he uses standard build orders, Huk’s unit control and decision-making are so precise that he can change strategies without hesitation. He is a master at making the most out of every unit and sustaining aggression for as long as possible. Supported by top-notch mechanics, Huk’s merciless tactics can crack even the strongest players.
Known for: Making Protoss Motherships, clutch use of Sentries, post-game ceremonies, impeccable unit control, playful in-game banter, hearts, proclaiming himself as “top three unit control in the world.”
“Real” sports counterpart: Lionel Messi, the master dribbler on Barcelona who is renowned for his aggression and speed with the ball.
Why he’s worth watching: Huk’s Korean housemates call him “psycho,” but also one of the best players in the world. His Mothership rush against Select at MLG D.C. has become arguably the most famous game of StarCraft 2 to date, and his in-game chat to Select (“thats halo dont worry,”) as the crowd erupted at his tactic became a widespread and popular meme. Huk is confident. He loves indulging the camera, but he’s also very nervous on stage. A newcomer to the professional scene, he jumped at the opportunity to live and train in Korea. Since then, his playful personality and unique style has won him a legion of fans.
Top matches: Huk vs. Idra, Huk vs. Lalush
Other links: Liquipedia page, Live stream, Interview, Fanclub

Click on to read our top two.

SlayerS_BoxeR has applied to join the startup North American Star League. The NASL’s inaugural season kicks off on Tuesday 5th April, a North American alternative to Korea’s superb Global Starcraft League (GSL), with 50 players and a prize pool of $400,000 dedicated exclusively to Starcraft II. So why’s Boxer applying? Click more for the details and his application video.

In the first place, he has to: teams or individuals not expressly contacted by the NASL are required to make a public application, hence the above. And despite what cynics will say, it probably has little to do with the fact, [GSL SPOILER ALERT], that Boxer was demoted from Code S in the GSL to Code A earlier this week, after losing a crucial Up / Down match.

At the tender age of 30, Boxer is older than the majority of his competitors but there’s no question of his being washed-up – he’s been seriously in the running for a few GSL championships, his best result a 4th place finish in Season 2 (last November). His heyday was in the first Starcraft, however, at the turn of the millenium, when Boxer took the then-unfancied Terran race to new heights in a game simultaneously booming in popularity.

And he’s not the only GSL player to be applying to join the NASL, not by a long shot. If you have time, we recommend you check out oGsNada’s application, which must be the cutest thing ever:

That guy is one of the world’s best ever progamers, and look at how nice he is.

A lot of other professional gamers have applied to join the NASL. Watch their applications here. Should Boxer’s application to the NASL be successful, and surely it will be, he – along with players like ST_July and oGsMC – will bring a special star quality into their lineup. As we said in last week’s ‘10 Best Starcraft II Games you Can Watch Now‘, Boxer isn’t a Starcraft legend – he’s the legend. And why is he doing it? Why is Nada doing it?

From here, it could look like the start of a shift in momentum, as western esports attract the big players and find big audiences. It could look like that, and only time will tell. But we’ll just throw something else out there: $400,000? That’s a spicy meat-a-ball. You would, wouldn’t you?

Kinect hacks are pretty cool. Mixing Kinect with the Source engine is a completely different deal. Check out coder John Boiles as he kicks many Dr. Kleiners across a map with DOG in Gary’s Mod. There’s also much box hurling, and a whole lot of ragdoll creepiness going on.

Seeing Gary’s Mod in action again reminded me of some of the great machinima people have created using the Source engine. A personal favourite is Garrymon – whilst not the best animated Gary’s Mod machinima, it is basically a scene-for-scene perfect parody of the first episode of the Pokemon anime. Relive your Saturday morning cartoons with a Valve twist.

This week in trailers, we’ve got the Oman video from Battlefield Play4Free. Relive your memories from the glory days of Battlefield 2, set to a head-banging soundtrack. The trailer unsurprisingly features a LOT of aerial combat, possibly in apologies for the fact it was pretty much ripped out entirely for Bad Company.

On an almost as explosive but far more serious note, Operation Flashpoint: Red River made another appearance this week to inform us all that the Chinese Liberation Army is bad, and America must shoot them. Or something to that effect. Fans of the word’s most productive country need not apply.

Futuristic weaponry, bouncy-suspension jeeps, jet-packs, and 30ft tall dinosaurs. If this gets you excited, check out the trailer for Orion: Prelude. It essentially looks like what would happen if some Turok code fell into a multiplayer match of Halo. If Jurassic Park has taught us only one thing for the last eighteen years, it’s that fighting dinosaurs is fun. You can put that to the test in the game’s multiplayer beta, coming this summer.

The GDC trailer for The Secret World made it online this week, and it’s a looker. Whilst the developer team commentary mainly focusses on the significant levels of choice the game will have, the most striking thing here is the highly varied art style. From contemporary London and NYC to a fantasy-looking Egyptian landscape, The Secret World is one of the best looking MMOs we’ve seen. Plus, the Illuminati and the Templars are playable factions, which is an awesome departure from the more traditional fantasy camps.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North was rated M for Mature this week, and in the new ‘brutal’ trailer you can see evidence as to why. Heads will roll apparently, and jump off orc shoulders with a squirt of blood. Even the remixed ‘The Bridge of Khazad Dum’ theme sounds more foreboding and brutal.

This week in StarCraft news, Korean plater Cella manages to take out an entire army using a swarm of Zerg Drones. ‘You’re a genius’ proclaims his opponent. ‘I know’ replies Cella. No room for modesty on the intergalactic battlefield evidentially.

Do you wish that Valve would get on with their classics, like Counter-Strike? Have you been waiting for CS:S2 for, like, ever? A more tabloid website would inform you that COUNTER-STRIKE 2 IS COMING AFTER DOTA2! But we know better than that. Still, check out Gabe Newell claiming that there may be a chance it appears after Valve have shipped Portal 2 and DOTA 2.

Lucas stood victorious over Anthony’s body. Anthony lay on the ground, a broken man, crimson blood dripping from his freshly-broken jaw. Lucas held his swordpoint to Anthony’s throat, ready to deal the finishing slice that the fans were chanting for. But he hesitated, and instead hurled his sword into Josh Augustine’s chest, killing him instantly. “Are you not entertained?!” Lucas screamed, as Dan and Evan continued their work. “Is this not why you are here?!”

In the shadows, Anthony fought through the pain and crawled to safety, his shattered arms barely able to pull his lacerated body. With a grimace, he turned back to look at Lucas with a cold, hateful stare. “This…isn’t…over,” he whispered.

Is this not why you are here?!?

 
This arena’s topic:
With StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm looming on the horizon and e-sports enjoying a pleasant resurgence, it seems that Blizzard’s space mega-franchise is on a roll. But what are the negative repercussions to all this new content?

Will SC2′s expansions do more harm than good?

Lucas: YES. You either pay to play or you get left in other players’ collective dust.
Anthony: NO. Some people will play the original game, others the expansion, but both co-exist.

Lucas: Now, don’t get me wrong. I love me some Blizzard games, including (but not limited to) the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Lost Vikings series. But if you ask me, the seemingly-omnipotent developer is about to make a serious misstep by giving Heart of the Swarm a separate ladder—the same mistake they made with Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne. Blizzard should add all of the new multiplayer-only units, free of charge. Then nobody gets left behind, and it won’t feel like you have to make 3 easy payments of $59.99 in order to get the most out of StarCraft II.

Anthony: Blizzard isn’t forcing anyone to purchase the expansions. They are optional, and as such, multiple communities are born through this process–and that’s not a bad thing. If you were forced to buy the expansions, there would only be a single community. But let’s look at SC: there is a SC community and a Brood War community. Same with Warcraft 3. While the hardcore tournament players will always get the expansion to stay on top, the casual players are often happy just sticking with the original game.

Lucas: Why you gotta play me like that, Kerrigan!?

Lucas: But why should competitive people have to shell out in order to stay relevant? The way I see it, a professional-level Frozen Throne player is somebody, and a professional WC3-vanilla player is nobody; being skilled at the outdated model is like trying to impress someone with your first-generation iPod. What if I want to buy the Protoss expansion pack, Legacy of the Void, without HotS? Will I be trapped in some kind of multiplayer limbo? Blizzard is essentially locking you into an ultimatum: either you give them your money, or you fall by the wayside into obsolete multiplayer ghettos.

Anthony: I think you are comparing apples to oranges. Think of it in terms of the boardgame Risk: you can play regular ol’ Risk or you can play the massively expanded version that includes tons of different units. Both are full games, and both have full communities, and they’re equal because they’re both under the Risk banner. Blizzard will be smart with LotV: they’ll create ladders for every combination of game they put out. It doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to compete with others—you’ll still able to play against people who have Wings of Liberty and LotV. If you never get an expansion, you will continue to be able to have a great experience just with the original game.

Anthony: You won't see Grom Hellscream in the expansions!

Lucas: But by definition, having seven individual ladders (Wings of Liberty, HotS, LotV, WoL+HotS, WoL+LotV, HotS+LotV, WoL+HotS+LotV) would drastically fragment the SCII community. Put it this way: I bought the new WoW expansion, Cataclysm, simply due to the compulsion I felt to stay current and not get left behind. It’s the same reason hardcore raiders and patch-notes theorycrafters do what they do. But I barely played Cataclysm, and thinking back, I can’t really justify the amount of money I paid for the game plus a month’s subscription. I just hope the same feeling doesn’t creep over me when I inevitably (and bitterly) buy the new StarCraft expansions.

Anthony: Ok, they most likely won’t have separate ladders—maybe Blizzard will take the WoW approach where if you want to play LotV you need HotS. Just like if you wanted Wrath of the Lich King, you needed Burning Crusade. But if you didn’t buy the expansions, would you really have been left behind? Like I said, Blizzard is smart. Just because you don’t have the expansions doesn’t mean that you can’t experience the rest of the world with everyone else. With World of Warcraft, you wouldn’t be in some bizzaro Azeroth where it’s only you and a handful of people who didn’t pick up the expansions. You see everybody all the time. True, you can’t go to Outlands or Northrend, but you didn’t want to—otherwise you’d get the expansion. Smart programming on Blizzard’s part keeps WoW from becoming fragmented, and should do the same with SC2. Blizzard loves their fans, so whatever they do with SC2, I know it’ll be worth whatever we pay and will work out in the end.

The Verdict:

As always, the lives of these wretched interns rest in your devious hands. Tell us who you think won, and King Logan will be pleased with a new champion of the arena while the other is fed to the lions. PS—no Josh Augustines were harmed in the writing of this article.

“We did anything we could to make this a more watchable viewing experience,” says Browder. Anyone obsessed by the intricacies of Starcraft II, and PC Gamer is guilty as charged, would say mission accomplished. But what if you’re curious rather than obsessed? Don’t know a drone from a battlecruiser? Where to start?

Over the following pages we’ll take you through ten awesome games of Starcraft II, old and new, where you’ll never see the same strategy twice. They showcase some of the world’s top players, commentators, every race combination, and the majority of each race’s units. Some of our favourite matches are on GOM.tv, but they require a paid-subscription to watch. Our picks are free for everyone.

We’ve taken the liberty of preparing a basic glossary, but we’ll leave the rest in the capable hands of the casters. No excuses: stick the kettle on, sit back, and let’s get ready to rumble.

1. MvP vs Idra

Terran Vs Zerg
Shakuras Plateau
Cast by: Artosis

An incredible, incredible game – if you watch only one match, watch this. MvP is currently the top ranked Starcraft II player in the world, champion of the most recent Global Starcraft League (GSL), and a titan of a Terran. Idra held S-Class status, the top rank, in the GSL before his departure last month: he is a Zerg monster.

Cast by Artosis, one-half of the GSL’s S-Class commentating team, this is the closest thing here to the Korean professional games (though you get one for free at GOM.tv before having to subscribe: we’d recommend Tuesday’s between July Zerg and Nada). This match is a long, involved battle fought on multiple fronts, and an absolute belter.

2. White-Ra vs LaLush

Protoss vs Zerg
Shakuras Plateau
Cast by: Day[9] and SOE

(If you have any issues viewing this match, watch it on Blip.tv)

CAN ANYONE STOP THE MONSTER THAT IS WHITE-RA?!? So scream a jillion nerds awed by the Ukrainian Protoss and his mastery of their deathball. White-Ra (at the moment going by Duckload-Ra thanks to a sponsorship deal) is currently the top player in Europe, has a nasty tournament-winning habit, and if you need any more build up then he’s also known as The Beast From the East.

What lamb shall come to this slaughter? Step forward, LaLush! Not the most promising name, but this smiley Swede is a killer in disguise. This game begins with a fight, has fights all the way through it, and ends up in a massive endgame battle that showcases a certain unit perfectly. It’s a great game, a real slugfest of a match, and the ever-excellent Day[9] and SOE do it full justice.

3. Huk vs Mana

Protoss vs Protoss
Delta Quadrant
Cast by: xHydrax

Huk is a Canadian progamer currently playing in Korea, and all you need to know is what his fans call him: Huk Norris. Bosh! Mana is less well known but certainly no patsy, as his appearance in the final of December’s Dreamhack tournament showed. This PvP has great micro throughout, with beautiful use of Dark Templars and some exquisite dancing from both player’s Stalker armies.

This one’s commentated by xHydrax, who deserves a shoutout: a Portuguese caster, he doesn’t quite have the name of an HD or Husky yet, but fully deserves to. He’s analytical, passionate, and (to paraphrase Brian Clough) speaks better English than my friends from the home counties.

He also spoke about Starcraft II’s e-sports focus: “We’re going to maintain the e-sport values. We’re still working on it. These values are real. We’re not going to chicken out on e-sports in Heart of the Swarm.”

According to Browder, every aspect of Starcraft II’s development centred around the idea of making the game balanced and enjoyable to spectate: “Multiplayer was hugely impacted by e-sports. We took a ton of damage in trying to make this game’s multiplayer. A huge amount of effort. We were completely screwed around for five or six years. The art team got hit hard by the decision to make this an e-sport. Even the vision and the story were affected by the fact that this was going to be an e-sport. We did anything we could to make this a more watchable viewing experience.

Towards the end of the talk, Browder made a plea for gamers to give e-sports a chance: “This stuff is cool! This is a way for us to come together, as a community of gamers in ways we haven’t done before. If you haven’t already, I highly suggest you check out GOM or go to Major League Gaming, or go to youTube. They’re all over the place. Watch one of these matches and see if you agree. See if you feel like: ‘This is pretty fun to watch. This is pretty exciting stuff.’”

The PC Gamer team watch a lot of competitive Starcraft II already, but what about you guys? Share your favourite matches, Starcraft II or otherwise, and pay a visit to the PC Gamer Starcraft II forums if you’re looking for someone to play with. Alternatively, eloquently explain why e-sports suck.

World of Warcraft. Starcraft. Diablo. We’re extremely glad that Mike Morhaime and Frank Pearce founded Blizzard 20 years ago. This video just popped up on Blizzard’s youTube channel. Watch it and accept their thanks graciously.

What would you like to thank Blizzard for? I like cloaked Banshees best.

Patch 1.3 adds a new Grandmaster League to the 1v1 ladder matches. This league is available to the top 200 players in each of StarCraft II’s global regions. Additionally, the usual fixes of balance changes and general bug fixes are all present and correct, along with some improvements to the Join Custom Game feature and the game’s editing tools.

The full patch notes can be found over at the StarCraft II forums.

[via Big Download]

In March, RTS players the world over will divide. Some will take up blades and form regiments with great historical accuracy, walking into battle in some very pretty armour. Yes, Shogun 2 will be epic. Tremendous as it is, some will share my personal preference for close combat with giant hammers that crackle with energy. In space. Take a look at the above video of Dawn of War II: Retribution to see why war in the 41st Millennium is truly the war of real men! (and Orks. And Eldar and Tyranids – let’s not be racist!)

If Rich’s climb up the StarCraft II league ladder inspired you to climb to similar great heights, it’s time to start looking at how the professionals do it. Take a look at Husky’s video from this week where he gives a good overview of Terran and Zerg tactics on the Shakuras Plateau map.

But when it comes to impressive gaming feats this week, nothing manages to topple the astonishing achievement of engineering student Terry Garrett, who despite being blind, has managed to complete both Abe’s Odyssey and Abe’s Exodus. Catch his interview here, where you can also see how completely flawlessly he plays.

The big reveal this week was without a doubt the first footage of Skyrim. Whilst many have ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ over the dual-wielding combat and the stunning vistas, what took me aback most was just how ferocious Bethesda have made the dragons. With these mythical beats being the backbone to Skyrim’s story, Bethesda can’t afford to get them wrong. Thankfully, it looks like we could be seeing a new age of dragon technology here (exceptionally poor pun intended).

Staying with new gameplay reveals, some new creepy monster-filled footage from Bluehole Studio’s MMO Tera have been released. Tera claims to be an action-orientated MMO, but there’s little bloodshed to be seen in this latest clip. Still the monsters look ugly, and who doesn’t want to beat down an ugly brute?

We finally got a look at some in-game footage from Battlefield 3 this week, and it looks glorious. Explosions, bullets, soldiers cowering for cover and some lovely lighting effects made this look like one hell of a ride. It’s been commented that the trailer looks a little Call of Duty-ish, but with DICE confirming 64-players on PC and the return of jets and prone, this feels like it could be the purest Battlefield game for several years.

In the run up to it’s March 22 release, Crysis 2 is pumping out the trailers, and here we have a new story-based video explaining the campaign from Prophet’s point of view. Less explosive than previous trailers, here we are provided into an insight into the controversy behind the Nano-suit.

For those who like their action open-world and OTT, rejoice that Prototype 2 will involve swinging helicopters by the tail boom and smashing them into tiny pieces.

The highly-anticipated Minecraft documentary hit the web this week, and it a real must-watch for anyone with an interest in the game itself and indie development.

Finally – and on a slight aside note – here’s a little something to make you proud of being a PC gamer, and not one of those Nintendo Wii lovers. Take a look at Ubisoft’s latest stunning title for the system: We Dare. It’s a ‘sexy, quirky, party game that offers a large variety of hilarious, innovative and physical, sometimes kinky, challenges’ apparently. It’s also rated 12 by PEGI, so it’s sexy fun for all the family!

Blizzard have provided a list of the new maps and those that have been removed, along with commentaries explaining the decisions, which you can read here. The developer has also promised more maps in the coming weeks, “including a user-made 1v1 map that is currently being featured in the Global StarCraft League”.

[via Big Download]

My prior experience came secondhand; stories of Korean men fighting other Korean men at the speed of light. I watched a few videos. “Their poor wrists” was all I could think. People said words like ‘APM’ as if they were real things, made jokes about needing more pylons. Haha! What’s a pylon?

StarCraft II makes you play at least five practice matches before you’re allowed onto Battle.net’s permanently ranked ladder system. I tried one. I knew I’d lose.

I won. I won again. And again. I lost my fourth and fifth games, but we don’t talk about those. I was – as my placement in the silver league now confirmed – Not Bad At StarCraft II. For my spare time, that was bad news.

Day 1

Stats: 100 wins/95 losses
Division: Archon Hawk (Silver)
Rank: 18th

I am a competitive man and I will fight you if you say otherwise. My placement in the silver league made me inordinately happy for a short time – exactly as long as it took me to realise that ‘silver’ is shorthand for ‘might as well be last.’ Even the worst generals get to play in bronze. Silver, in the face of this stratification, was a slight.

Saturday was the day my plan came together. Standing astride Kulas Ravine, my little Terran command centres occupying nine of the map’s 14 resource points, I should’ve been happy. I wasn’t. I spoke to the people who’d understand me.

“Marines, I am unhappy.” I aimed my criticism at my monitor. “Not with you, tiny marines. You have done your job, killing everything I’ve pointed you at and injecting yourself willingly with confusing green goo whenever I press T – and I press T a lot.” I was wearing my most warlike dressing gown, so they knew I was serious. “We’ve been through a lot, marines. We’ve risen from a midtable placement, across 200 matches in this silver league. We’ve punched through wall-ins together, we’ve fallen to mutalisk harassments together. I shouldn’t ask anything more of you.”

I stood as my opponent signified his destruction with a curt ‘gg’. “But marines, we have a greater challenge, and I need your help. By the end of this week, I will have slipped the surly bonds of this silver league and risen. In seven days, I will be in the gold league.”

Day 2

Stats: 105 wins/98 losses
Division: Archon Hawk (Silver)
Rank: 10th

Clever silver league play is about fundamentals, and I’d spent nearly 200 matches nailing them down. I’d developed an internal metronome that regulated the basic tenets. Tick, build more workers, tock, check supply depots, tick, OH GOD DARK TEMPLAR, tock, expand to your natural.

My opening gambits were hardwired. Versus Protoss: three barracks and a ball of troops. Versus Zerg: a set of Hellions to roast my opponent’s vital drones. Even my Terran opponents seemed to be lagging in production or direct unit management. I’d soon totted up eight wins on the bounce, pushing my ranking from the mid-teens to a serviceable tenth in my division.

My ninth game was tougher. When I tried to harass my Protoss opponent’s secondary bases with Banshee gunships, they were met by a weighty Stalker force, the anti-air robo-bastards using their blink ability to teleport into shooting range. My attempt to transition back into a troop-heavy force was lanced by a quadrupedal Colossus.

Through sneaky medivac work, I managed to drop grenade-launching Marauders into my foe’s largest concentration of harvester Probes. His production crippled, he thanked me for a good game, and quit. I stood and punched the air, my mouse hand sweaty. My next game was simpler, with a chattier opponent. I brought it to a close after half an hour. He messaged: “gg. what league u in?”
“Silver. You?”
“lol, doin my placement matches.”

My foe, who’d held me up with competent macro-management and neat Roach control, had played four games of StarCraft II in his entire life. It took me half an hour to deliver a killing blow. Until that point I’d assumed Battle.net selected opponents from the same league bracket as you.

I still had an open chat window to my previous opponent, the one who’d nearly thrashed me. I tapped: “What league are you in?”

His reply: “Bronze.”

Fuck.

Day 3

Stats: 110 wins/105 losses
Division: Archon Hawk (Silver)
Rank: 8th

I’d closed the game down in disgust on Sunday evening, my burgeoning pride dented by the realisation I’d been bullying lowly Bronzers. Man, some of those Bronze league guys were my friends. I tried to imagine poor Tim, or poor Jaz, left helpless by an early cloaked Banshee rush, single tears rolling down their cheeks. Walloping people just made me feel cruel. Until I played the man who got me angry.

“haha u come with weak banshees?”

StarCraft’s playerbase is – as a rule – friendly. But every community has its twats, and when you’re matched up against one of StarCraft II’s, you soon know it. The negative comments invariably came at the end of a game, after I’d ground an opponent into the dust. “You suck,” they gobbed at the same moment they ragequit.

Not this guy. He was just mean.

“lol more air units. u noob.”

Taunted and teased, I felt like a poked bear chained to a pole of idiocy. My bastard foe would knock me off-balance with a prod, sending in two Void Rays and setting me off down an anti-air research path, before flipping his build and massing a land army. I never stood a chance, and he never let me forget it. His final assault sliced my SCVs up with invisible supermen and cauterised my troops with long-range lasers.

I packed up and left the game without a ‘gg’. The monster followed me out, messaging me for 20 subsequent minutes.

“u play in silver?! man u suck. such noob tactics.”

I didn’t win a game for the rest of the day.

Day 4

Stats: 111 wins/115 losses
Division: Archon Hawk (Silver)
Rank: 13th

I didn’t sleep well. Seconds before I woke on Tuesday morning, my girlfriend told me, I squeaked “but I have blocked my ramp!” I’d broken my life. StarCraft was in my brain, killing my dudes.

I had to get back on the spacewagon, potential embarrassment be damned. But my current tactics were built on shaky foundations: a set of build orders I’d committed to muscle memory. When my foe came to me with an army makeup that differed from simple archetypes, I panicked. I needed inspiration.

As so often in life, that inspiration came from a load of men in a room shouting at a monitor on the other side of the world. Conveniently, I was trying to up my game during preseason rounds of the GomTV StarCraft League. I’d long been absorbing videos from superlative StarCraft commentators such as HD, Husky, and Day [9], but watching the GSL prelims was like cracking a new door into the game. I started taking notes.

My Tuesday was overcome with arcane scribblings, with writing mad things like “Raven rush an option!?!?” on Post-its and sticking them to my monitor. In one day, I took in more details about StarCraft II’s competitive scene than I had in three months. Later on, I played one match. I won it comfortably.

Day 5

Stats: 111 wins/115 losses
Division: Archon Hawk (Silver)
Rank: 13th

Partly as a training regimen and partly because I’d been alone in my attic communicating in single letters all week, I started shouting my next moves to an empty house. It helped.

“IT’S SUPPLY DEPOT TIME!”, I screamed, facing up against a welldrilled Zerg foe. The metronome I’d put together earlier in the week had turned obnoxious to compensate for my pasting at the hands of Monday’s mean man. Anyone walking past the school opposite my house hopefully wouldn’t have heard me yelp “MARAUDERS IN YOUR FACE!” as I took down my opponent’s first expansion, but I was pretty loud.

Wins weren’t guaranteed. I was playing fast and loose with my strategies, testing skits I’d seen performed by pros on my video binge. I tried a Raven-only assault and without the necessary micromanagement, was incinerated by a hugely confused Terran army. I chalked it up to experience. The next game, I incorporated my findings – that three Ravens, one deploying defence drones and two lobbing autoturrets, can clear a base of vestigial defences – and won.

Day 6

Stats: 124 wins/116 losses
Division: Archon Hawk (Silver)
Rank: 5th

He’d overcommitted. We were playing on the confined Steppes of War map, and my foe had four siege tanks directly outside my base. But they were stuck at the bottom of my blocked ramp, and couldn’t get a firing solution on any of my units.

I sent a Viking to scout, skirting my foe’s major concentration with its huge sight range. I found secondary tanks further back, undefended. Floating further out, I noticed he was gearing up for an expansion. I had to hit all elements simultaneously, while setting up a new base of my own. I started talking to my marines. I was wearing my warlike dressing gown again. This was going to work.

The Banshees hovered above the forward set of tanks, as I loaded a set of marines into a medivac transport. Another medivac picked up a lone tank from my main base and sited it on an overhang watching the gold mineral line. A final medivac picked up four hellion buggies and nosed its way around the corners of the map, studiously avoiding contact with the enemy. Commence operation My Fingers Hurt.

I struck with the Banshees first, twatting the tanks with rockets. Two went down before my foe used a comsat scan. I used the rear medivacs to drop a handful of marines directly onto the remaining tanks. My own tank dug in and fired at the weak SCVs. At the same time, I dropped four hellions directly into his home, their upgraded flamethrowers crippling his economic lifeline. He was dead in the water.

“Damn. gg.”

This pattern repeated itself several times throughout the day.

Day 7

Stats: 133 wins/120 losses
Division: Archon Hawk (Silver)
Rank: 6th

Overnight, I dropped a place to sixth as my peers won victories of their own. That made today’s objective a smidge harder, but my resolve was unswerving: I would, by the end of the day, top my silver division and ascend to gold like a phoenix who’s really good at clicking on little men.

I started my day early to make up the hundred or so points I needed to lead the table. The game looked more beautiful than I’d ever seen it, obvious actions playing out as I anticipated them. A fast expansion went up, and I’d taken it down before my Zerg enemy even got a drone out. My actions per minute were in the high 50s, more than they’ve ever been, but I was calm. Seventeen minutes down the line, I won, and allowed myself a little air fist pump. I must be in fifth now, easily. A little box popped up.

“Congratulations! You have been promoted to the gold league.”

Wait. What?

I checked my profile. I checked my ladder ranking. There it was, a glowing yellow octagon denoting my new home. I wasn’t even top of my silver league.

Maybe it’d be the same? I fired up a game. Fourteen minutes in, I was squelched underfoot, someone sixth in their own gold league splitting apart then murdering my entire army with a handful of high templars and some masterful sentry work. Afterwards, I closed StarCraft II and sat in silence for a while.

I was scared. I’m still scared of what I’ll find in gold, of who will kill me and how. But, man, am I proud.

At PC Gamer, we love StarCraft. A lot. When we’re not playing StarCraft, we’re probably thinking about it, or watching it online. We love Day9′s daily updates. Here, Day9′s normally cheeky little face is removed from sight with the death of his webcam, and thus our hero must resort to other options. Naturally, many comic moment ensue.

It’s baane a week of reveals. Just look at the reveal trailer for Dead Island. Hauntingly bleak eh? The slow melody that plays over the top of this CGI flick emphasises the tragedy of the events. A fresh and appealing view of the zombie genre after Left4Dead and Dead Rising’s more ‘kick-ass’ approach? Expect a preview soon.

Talking about the kick-ass approach, things couldn’t be less than in Crysis 2′s new campaign trailer. Here we get our first proper look at the story behind the NYC invasion, with scenes evoking some of the most iconic science-fiction. The scale of destruction and devastation look tremendous, even if the plot lines of infectious plagues and alien invasions have become overly familiar.

Also looking familiar but thankfully so is the trailer for America McGee’s Alice: Madness Returns. Looking more Tim Burton-like than Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, it’s arrival is long overdue.

Linking in with the twisted madness of Alice is the latest snippet of gameplay from FEAR 3, showing of the psychic capabilities of new playable character Fettel. Watch how he reduces no fewer than four helpless grunts into a shower of red mist with just the power of grey matter.

Almost as effective in a firefight as Fettel is freddiew, probably one of the most accomplished action directors on YouTube. Take a look at Aimbot for a quick lesson in why cheating is the first step to losing popularity.

One of the most exciting reveals this week though has without a doubt been that this summer a Dragon Age web series – Redemption – will be hitting our monitors in the summer. Excitement is increased by the fact the series is led by Felicia Day. Wearing elf ears. If this isn’t a FTW move, we don’t know what is. American talk show host Jimmy Fallon interviewed Felicia on his Wednesday night show, where the very first trailer of Dragon Age: Redemption was shown. Check it out in all it’s glory below.

Naturally, everything here was overshadowed with Valve’s delightful Aperture Laboratories Romance Safety Compliance Guide, which not only offered helpful advice and alerted us to the fact Portal 2 was available to pre-order, but on that most joyous/depressing day of February 14, we were all reminded that Valve really does love us all very, very much.

Click more for the details.

Ulvareth’s post on the Official Starcraft blog manages to explain some of the the intricacies of the ladder system. Here are some of the main points:

• Leagues are each roughly 20% of the player total so the skill difference within a league can be massive.
• A promotion does not mean that your next matches will suddenly be more of a challenge than your previous ones.
• No matter what league you’re in, you may very well find yourself playing against opponents from other leagues than your own. In short: what league you’re in does not affect matchmaking.

What’s your experience of Starcraft II’s matchmaking system? Are you top of your league, or sadly moping around 92nd place?

The first of the three new games is Aiur Chef, a free-for-all for up to 8 players. The game mode has quite the sense of humour about it, revolving around cooking. Players will have to scout out the map searching for ingredients, before returning to the kitchen in the centre of the map to put together a dish. Dishe’s created with the match’s themed ingredient will award points and bonuses. Players with the most points will be awarded the most honourable title of “Executor Chef, culinary guru of the entire Koprulu Sector”.

Next up is StarJeweled; Blizzard’s take on Pop-Cap’s popular gem puzzler. Combining jewels unleashes energy which can be used to train units and cast spells. By playing the puzzle tactically, players will be able to defend their own base and destroy their opponent. Each game will last five rounds.

The last game is an interesting co-op set up called Left 2 Die. Here, two players will have to help each other survive a version of the Outbreak mission from the Wings of Liberty campaign. The map cycles between day and night, and when the sun goes down hordes of infested Terran come out to play. Daylight hours will give you and an ally time to boost defences and train units in time for the moonlight siege.

You can find all the finer details over at Blizzard’s StarCraft II website, where you can also leave feedback on the modes. There’s no official launch dates as yet for any of the modes. It’s not just Blizzard who are having all the fun. Modders have been creating amazing things using the StarCraft 2 mission editor. Stay tuned to the site for our pick of the very best custom made maps for StarCraft 2, coming soon.

Artosis actually gets into the house 3.25 into the video. You might want to skip the first bit.

At 7:08 John explains exactly how players get to live there. “At the beginning of the season send an email to gsl@gomtv.com. Send your nationality, a copy of your passport, and how long you plan to stay. If the person does not have many accomplishments it’s based on the ladder score… they have to buy their own plane tickets but as long as they’re here they don’t have to pay bills or rent. Everything is free except the food… we’ve had very many people who have applied”

Sounds simple to us. We’re drafting the mail right now. Which Starcraft II league are you in? Have you ever used “I’m going pro” as an excuse for an all night session?

SwoJ battled his way through the playoffs without a single loss before going head-to-head with Polish Terran player Tarson in the semi-finals. Demolishing him with an epic 3:0 victory, SwoJ went on to face ‘the beast from the east’ and home-soil favourite White-Ra. In a stunning finale, SwoJ played with admirable skill and swiped victory, gaining the title of European Champion.

[via Team Dignitas]

Cooked up by a new company called Gamer Food, the bars (which come in flavours such as Mana and Health) are supposed to give gamers a boost between matches and raids. They’re completely natural and hand made, and feature organic clover honey, rice cereal and more.

For those less fond of Blizzard’s MMO, there are bars based on it’s space-faring cousin StarCraft. Protoss Delight and Zerg Push are all well and good but we can’t help but notice that there’s no Terran-inspired munch available. Everyone knows that Terran are OP anyway, so it’s not a big deal. OUCH. Rich just punched me in the face.

The bars are $9.99 for a pack of three, or a twelve bar pack for $32.99. If you’re salivating just at the thought of such cullinary delights, jump over to Gamer Food’s website and put in your order. What would you call a Starcraft/Warcraft-inspired bar? Owen has gone with “Chrono Boost” whereas Rich likes “Creep Tumour”.

[via Big Download]

Game of the Year/Realtime Strategy Game of the Year

Starcraft II – Wings Of Liberty

Years from now, PC gamers will remember 2010 first and foremost as the year that StarCraft finally returned. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty hasn’t just wowed the hardcore PC faithful, it’s a beacon that’s drawn hordes of gamers back to their PCs, and reminded them what they’ve always loved about the kind of gaming experience you can only get here.

Its accomplishments are dazzling. With outstanding and innovative campaign mission design, and a meticulous, artful graphical update to its classic factions and multiplayer battles, it’s revitalized and restored confidence in the traditional resource gathering, base building realtime strategy game formula. We’ve heard suspicions voiced over the years that this formula had become outdated or in need of reinvention to be relevant, but StarCraft II has proven that the old-school model didn’t abruptly become un-fun five years ago.

What’s more, by applying the between-mission story mode (which harkens back to classic PC games like X-Wing and Wing Commander), to realtime strategy, Blizzard has cracked a problem that has plagued the RTS genre since its inception: making the characters who appear tiny on the battlefield feel like larger-than-life heroes, and bringing us in close to immerse us in the universe we usually only get to see from far above.

Finally, the spectacular multiplayer action is so exciting that it doesn’t even need to be played to be enjoyed—StarCraft II has successfully introduced gamers to the idea that games can be enjoyable as a spectator sport. In just a few short months, the audience for commentated professional-level matches and tournaments has exploded from a small and dedicated niche to a thriving community of hundreds of thousands of viewers who regularly tune in to view games on YouTube, GOMtv.net or Major League Gaming, and follow their favorite players.

In those ways and more, StarCraft II is a monument to PC gaming. It’s a game that can be enjoyed by everyone, from the newest and most inexperienced players to the gamer’s equivalent of the world-class athlete—and even those who’d rather just sit back and watch.

Next page: PC Gamer US’s choices for Shooter, Puzzle, and Free-To-Play Game of the Year.

If you sliced Sean Plott’s arm open, you wouldn’t find any blood – you’d be hit in the face with arterial sprays of StarCraft. Day[9], as the internet knows him, lives and breathes the strategy series, making a living at one point as a professional StarCraft: Brood War player. He now dedicates most of his time to helping fellow players up their StarCraft II game through daily video tutorials and commentating sessions.

Talk show

His ‘dailies’ are the centrepoint for a rabid and friendly community, an amazing following for hour and-a-half videos of a man in a room talking to a webcam. I asked Sean why he started recording his thoughts.

“I was low on time and I missed thinking about StarCraft,” he explains. “So how do I both think and watch the pro matches I want to at the same time? I couldn’t just sit in a dark closet and think about StarCraft for 45 minutes a day – commentary was the way. I made it a daily thing because I tend to be a little bit overambitious.”

Sean’s experimented with his format: on some days he puts out 90 minutes of hardcore analysis; others, he turns into fun sessions. His Funday Mondays ask players to go through a game in a non-standard way, and get a huge response from the audience. Sean reminisces about these template deviations. “At that point in time, I was getting around 6,000 to 7,000 live viewers per night. Then Funday Monday came along and we hit 11,500. It was because people went onto Battle.net and spread the word.”

Surely it would be easier to record videos ahead of time? Not so. “Pressure wakes my brain up. Sometimes the community will be really curious in the chat window – they just want more strategic depth. Other times I go in there and they’re just talking about silly childish things, and I’ll read the goofy mood and go in goofy.”

Star power

But there’s a business sense behind the webcam dancing. StarCraft II’s rise has shoved e-sports back to the top of the PC agenda, with organisations such as Major League Gaming in the West setting a course for development. Sean’s life has been intrinsically tied to competitive gaming, and he’s got plans. “I definitely think that StarCraft II is going to be long remembered as the game that made an e-sports dent in people’s minds. I see e-sports having a position between sports as seen on television and chess. Ten years ago, when e-sports first rose to public consciousness, virtually all the content that was produced had an executive producer at the head, hired to just bark orders at people. But executive producers don’t get gaming. Gaming is not an activity, it’s a lifestyle. What do I do on a Friday night? If I’m a party hound, I’m going to get trashed. If I’m a gamer, I’m gonna be gaming. No one really got that ten years ago, but the people that grew up with it are starting to get these jobs.”

Even if he’s the man to lead the charge, I can’t see Sean dropping his daily duties. Nowhere else in gaming can you find a personality so welcoming, patient, and selfeffacing. I get the impression that even with a fraction of the monumental audience he has with each entry, Sean would still be in his room, talking to his computer about the game he adores. “The absolute best part about doing the dailies is when someone says something like, ‘Dude, I’ve been in the silver league since the start of StarCraft, and now I’m a diamond, and I give you credit for that.’” That genuine desire to help his fellow nerds makes him our gamer of the year.

Since CODBLOPS’ whack-a-mole shooting isn’t my style, I’ve only dabbled in that one the past couple of days. Instead, I’ve invested most of my time into improving my Zerg skills in StarCraft II. My first 100 or so 1v1 games over the past couple of months were a monument to Blizzard’s matchmaking software – I was batting exactly 500, treading water in the Gold league. But now I’ve put some time into studying the replays of my Zerg idol, Idra, and I’ve improved my macro play dramatically. The result: yesterday I won nine of 10, putting me so close to the Platinum league I can taste it.

Pride cometh before the fall.

The downside to playing SC2 while sick: it’s exhausting. A close game really gets your pulse pounding, and after a few of those I was ready to pass out for a good long nap.

For a more relaxing pace, I’ve been checking out the beta for the Galactic Conquest expansion for Gratuitous Space Battles, which adds a single-player campaign to the set-up-and-go space war game. My StarCraft skills have not transferred well, though, as I’ve yet to successfully conquer a planet (I’m going to blame that on the cold).

Next up: jumping back into Fallout: New Vegas and revisiting Civilization V.

What do you guys play when you’re sick?

The Supreme Court has been abuzz with talk of video games lately as they tackle the question of whether or not states are allowed to ban minors from buying violent video games. But you don’t have to read through hours of transcripts to find out what’s going on–our heritage-based legal counselor, Dan Stapleton tells us what’s going on in that big white court of theirs. We also prepare for the end of the world…of Warcraft as the first signs of the Cataclysm creep out of Azeroth, discuss who want to win this weekend’s StarCraft II MLG tournament, find out how excited we are for CoD: Black Ops, and of course, answer listener questions.

Download, and receive your free legal counsel*
*you get what you pay for.

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Be aware that while Blizzard has taken pity on your lackluster callsigns today, if the developer’s World of Warcraft policy is any precedent, it might eventually cost $10. Rename your online identity here.

But wait, that’s not all! Click through to see what else, and how to win it!

Update: Winners have been drawn, and notifications are going out. We’ll post the list of winners soon!

Update 2: Winners posted!

We’re also giving away sweet, shrink-wrapped, aromatic Collector’s Editions of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Fallout: New Vegas, Civilization V, Mafia II and Plants vs Zombies. That’s a total of six fabulous, planet-shattering prizes, all up for grabs. Click here to see them all!

But wait, there’s even more! We’ll pick a seventh lucky dawg who’ll receive a copy of Borderlands Game of the Year Edition! The giving just won’t stop!

So how do you get in on the action? Just “like” us on Facebook, then comment on this post on Facebook (not our comment area below) with a list of the three games you’re most looking forward to in 2011 (in order of preference). That’s all! (If you’re already a fan, just comment with your list.)

On Monday, November 1 at 10am Pacific time, we’ll draw seven winners from the comments (with the help of everybody’s random friends at Random.org,) and contact them via Facebook. Winner #1 gets first choice. (We suspect they’ll pick the Valve code.) Winner #2 gets to choose between the remaining prizes, then winner #3 gets to pick, and so on.

This contest is open to US residents only. Sorry, rest of the world! We’d let you enter if The Man would let us.

*Provided the sun doesn’t burn out before it’s released.

Our winners are:
Michael Hudak: Magic Valve code
Craig Fender: StarCraft II Collector’s Edition
Phillip Front: Fallout: New Vegas Collector’s Edition
Jeremy Sanchez: Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition
Darien Sumner: Civilization V Collector’s Edition
Justin Anderson: Mafia II Collector’s Edition
Zack Jones: Plants vs Zombies Collector’s Edition

Thanks to everyone who entered!

They’ve also revealed Left 2 Die – a co-op version of the zombie defense mission in the Starcraft II single player campaign.

Blizzard have described Blizzard DOTA as “like Super Smash Brothers for Blizzard games”, a fun place that can provide “a fun change of place”.

Both maps were created entirely in the Starcraft II editor, and will be available to download, for free, soon.

We’ll be posting full impressions of both maps shortly.

The last time I looked into the competitive scene thoroughly was for a feature on it in 2006. I was sent out to the E-Sports World Cup in Paris, not to cover the results of the tournament, but to watch the games, interview the players, and just tell you guys if this was something you’d enjoy if you got into it. I came away impressed by the talent, intelligence and even personalities of the players I met, but no more able to actually follow a tournament match and understand it.

4 years later I’m sitting on a train, transfixed by my laptop screen, pulse racing. I’m watching Cool play oGsTop on Kulas Ravine, and I care more about the outcome of this game than any I’ve played myself in months. Top has a screen-filling swarm of Thors, mechs the size of buildings, streaming in to Cool’s base. Cool has nothing. But Cool has just done what Cool does, what you can never let Cool do if you ever play him: he’s hatched 12 Ultralisks.

The resulting battle actually makes me gape. I don’t think anyone on the train notices, but if they did they probably wondered what the hell I was watching. What else can you watch that makes you sit bolt upright, mouth agog? Pro gaming isn’t just a good spectator sport, it’s now one of the most exciting and entertaining ways to waste your time.

What happened, really, is that the scene grew up. Commentary got good. Spectating got better. Sites sprung up to organise and collate replays. It’s now trivial to find easy sets of YouTube clips, cast (commentated) by pros who understand the significance of what’s happening, and who know how to give you a feel for it even if you don’t understand all the terms.

But all of this happened while StarCraft 1 was still the best competitive strategy game out there, and it’s so damn ugly that the Western world stopped paying attention to it. The E-Sports World Cup I attended didn’t even have a StarCraft league.

That’s why StarCraft 2 is a pivotal moment in pro gaming. It’s inherited the massive competitive interest in the first game by preserving that delicate asymmetrical balance, but it’s also a new, sexy, accessible game we’re all playing and talking about. The scene that’s got so good has just shed its skin, and in its new shiny, easily understood form, it deserves to catch on.

The funny thing is, I don’t even particularly like StarCraft 2. You don’t have to, to enjoy watching it. Any more than you have to be an athlete to watch the football. I find micro-management fussy and frustrating at the competitive level, but I love to see a seasoned pro get a perfect surround with his Zerglings on a hapless fleeing Reaper.

If you don’t know what that means, it doesn’t matter. Without spending a lot of time explaining terms, well-commentated StarCraft 2 matches have a way of teaching you the game by osmosis. I finally know what 6-pool and 14-pool mean: it’s the number of resource-gathering drones a Zerg player creates before making a Spawning Pool to unlock offensive units. 14 is standard, safe play. 6 is “Fuck the economy, I’m going to kill you or die trying right now.”

The match I mentioned with Top’s Thors and Cool’s Ultralisks was part of the Korean GomTV StarCraft 2 League – the GSL – with English commentary by Tasteless and Artosis. The smart, witty and nail-biting narrative they give the games is what finally turned me into an excitable e-sports fanboy. Tasteless is personable, often funny and self deprecating. Artosis is an encyclopedic font of nerdy details about the mechanics of StarCraft 2, often able to predict a player’s full game plan – and its chances – from the first few units they make. And they’re both pros themselves – at one point Tasteless has to get a replacement partner, because Artosis is actually playing the match they’re commentating.

When you’re watching big armies clash, it’s obviously exciting. But at the highest level, a game like StarCraft 2 involves subtle plays with enormous significance that you could miss without good commentary. There’s a moment in an earlier match of the GSL when TheLittleOne uses an invisible Ghost unit to call in a nuclear strike on a large group of oGsHyperdub’s tanks. It creates a huge red marker on them, so of course they pack away their stationary guns and move out of the way. Since it’s no longer going to hit anything, the Ghost cancels the nuke.

I’d normally find this pretty disappointing – nothing really happened. But the commentary makes the true significance – and genius – of the move clear. Without firing a shot, taking a hit or spending any resources, one tiny unit had just negated a massive enemy force, rendering them powerless to stop an assault on a base they were built to protect.

Watching pro StarCraft 2 players, commentated by pro StarCraft 2 players, has changed the way I think about all games. Not just intellectually, but as I’m playing them. If I shot off a few rockets in Team Fortress 2 without killing anything, I used to think “Oh well, I guess that annoyed them at least.” Now I think “Oh wow, I just crippled that Medic. He’s going to have to leave his Heavy to go and get health, and that’s going to take the backbone out of their offense. Now I can force the Heavy to wind-up his minigun to retaliate, and duck behind that ledge so he wastes time or ammo without getting a hit.”

It’s not exactly the level of the pros, but it makes tactical play a clear and satisfying accomplishment, rather than a vague series of failed kills that gets you no points. I now have an internal commentator scratching his head at my screw-ups, applauding my sprees and analysing my decisions. I don’t know if it’s making me a better gamer, but it’s making it a lot more fun.

I started with SC2Casts.com – I recommend it. It pulls in pretty much every YouTube video of a professional match, all with commentary, and tells you who played and what tournament the match is a part of – if any. Some are just one-off ladder matches between sparring pros, some just for fun. Other times huge sums of money are at stake, and once you see a few good matches of a tournament, you’ll find yourself following it slavishly.

Husky and HDStarcraft are the titans of StarCraft 2 commentary – anything cast by them is going to be a good, and accessible. In our new issue, Rich picks out an epic match between TheLittleOne and Hasu as a classic Husky cast, and “a ridiculous game of Zergling and mouse” cast by HDStarcraft. All these are free.

But if you want to follow an incredibly exciting tournament, or if you’ve ever wanted to hear a grown man shout Edgar Allen Poe in excitement over a Raven-class science vessel deploying a point defense drone at a crucial moment, you should watch the GSL. The first season has just finished, with a spectacular conclusion and a surprise champion, and a season ticket to watch all 63 matches on their site is currently half price at $9.95. To avoid spoiling who makes it to the final, I’ll just link the very first match and you can take it from there. The first round of every match is free to watch, but you need an account.

Or you can just click around on SC2Casts and you may find someone else is to your tastes. Either way, link us your favourites in the comments.

Download and enjoy.

This week we cover:

• Valve selling items in Team Fortress 2
• StarCraft 2 gets it’s first patch–who get’s nerfed and who doesn’t?
• Blizzard gives more privacy options for their Real ID
• Final Fantasy XIV launches, with a creepy warning
• Guild Wars 2 cover story issue starts hitting subscribers, will totally rock your world.
• Interview with Markus Pearson A.K.A. Notch, the creator of Minecraft.

   
  Want to subscribe to us on iTunes? Follow these instructions to add the podcast to iTunes manually:
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  Push OK, and that’s it! The podcast will now auto-download whenever an episode is released.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/10/01/pc-gamer-us-podcast-242-%e2%80%93-craftastic/feed/ 30 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/30/interview-blizzards-chris-sigaty-on-the-future-of-starcraft-ii/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/30/interview-blizzards-chris-sigaty-on-the-future-of-starcraft-ii/#comments Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:13:05 +0000 Rich McCormick http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=16358 [..]]]> Chris Sigaty is StarCraft II’s lead producer, and rhythm guitarist in Blizzard house band The Artists Formerly Known As Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain. His business cards are lengthy and hairy. I interviewed him the other day about StarCraft II’s launch, its first patch, and the game’s future. Here’s what he said.
  

  

  Rich McCormick: So how did StarCraft II’s launch go?

  Chris Sigaty: Overall it was really good. I was actually at an event in Sweden, so that was extremely exciting. We had an estimated 1,300 people at a store in Stockholm, and that was just one of twelve midnight launches. It was really exciting to work on a game like this and to be able to go to a launch and have that many people show up, feel their excitement, and participate in their excitement.

  Rich McCormick: What does the game’s launch say about the state of PC gaming at the moment?

  Chris Sigaty: I think it says that PC gaming is not dead, despite the news that has come out in the last few years.

  

  Rich McCormick: So what would you have changed about the launch, if anything?

  Chris Sigaty: I think for me personally I would have hoped that we could have had the Chinese version of the game done at the same time. That was a personal goal of mine, but it didn’t make it, so we’re working on that now. Other things – there’s regrets from my side only around features that didn’t make the cut at the time. Most of those things are high level features things that we intend to now release over time via patches, things like chat features on the online service. There’s group functionality that we definitely want to get into the game at some point, but these are internal things that we’ve tried to get done that didn’t make it in time.

  Rich McCormick: Is the intention to release them, via patch?

  Chris Sigaty: It depends on our bandwidth at any given time but yeah a lot of things are going to come online at the feature level, in patches, and then some of them will be parts of the expansion.

  Rich McCormick: The first patch came out in the last few days. Could give us an insight into what you’re planning to do with the next patch?

  Chris Sigaty: The next patch is largely our e-sports patch, is the best way to describe it. A couple of main, big things that’ll be in there are support for the season rolling – that just means players can look at previous history of how they did in the past in past seasons. Chat is another thing that we intend to get in there in the next patch. Of course there will be bugfixes, balance changes and tweaks, and several other things that I really don’t want to speak about yet because the list is constantly changing.

  

  Rich McCormick: Are there any units you’re looking at at the moment that you think need to be rebalanced?

  Chris Sigaty: We’re looking at all of that very carefully. You can go and read on the forums at any one time and there’s a bunch of different theories about balance and imbalance, and we’re being very cautious about making large swinging changes right now because at the highest level things are actually very strong.

  The things that we’ll probably be addressing are the 2v2 and larger scale games. Ultimately, the 1 to 1 is the are we want to keep as sacred as possible, but right now there are some things that we need to address in the 2v2 at the higher level. At the moment, there’s issues with what race types players pick. The actual matching is working very well, we’re very happy with how well its matched, to the dismay of some players who always want wins, but ultimately our goal is to get it where each game is challenging, and whether you win or lose you feel like you could have won. They’re not walks in the park, you know? But as far as 2v2 and six, eight player games, it’s really a matter of – if it’s two Zerg versus two Protoss, is there a huge imbalance there? We want to make sure those are as equal as we can get them, and that’ll be an ongoing process that’ll take a year or longer. Even after Brood War was released we still patched and continued to drive towards a solid final balance. But honestly, the 1 v 1 is the purest form of competition in Starcraft 2 and is going to win when we have to make choices in that direction.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/30/interview-blizzards-chris-sigaty-on-the-future-of-starcraft-ii/feed/ 7 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/27/starcraft-2s-first-patch-how-does-it-play/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/27/starcraft-2s-first-patch-how-does-it-play/#comments Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:54:49 +0000 Rich McCormick http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=16022 [..]]]> StarCraft II’s first major patch since its launch has arrived, and it’s tweaked a few things. I’ve spent many an evening with the game since patchification and now feel qualified to weigh in on the changes, having already lost days to the vanilla version. Polite note: those of you unfamiliar with StarCraft’s intense multiplayer, please be mindful that the addition of five seconds to a unit’s build-time is a game-changer; those of you who play regularly, WTF THEY NERFED THE SIEGE TANK!?
  
  The Terrans bore the brunt of the switchups – as they do the most vocal criticism from fans currently. With careful mech/bioball play and early enough expansion, the Terrans go from being the race best adapted to any situation to potentially the most powerful late-game force (particularly against the Zerg (and particularly if you ask IdrA)). The newly fiddled Terran force is – on space-paper – mildly weaker and less speedy to the field. But it’s not just the space-cowboys that have changed. As we discussed before, the Protoss have also had their attack blunted somewhat, increasing Zealot build and unit warp-in times. The Zerg were fiddled less so – the little-used Ultralisk losing his cute little anti-structure headbutt. But what does this mean on the all important ladders to each of the races?

  Terran

  Not much yet. I consistently play Terran, and made a point of using Siege Tanks as much as possible in recent matches. They’ve been squished in attack stakes, their previous 50 damage reduced to a piddling 35. “Ack!”, thought I pre-patch, “this plays havoc with my favourite doom-drop tactic!” – that is, Medivac-transporting a tank or two to a spot overlooking an enemy’s supply line and letting rip. But because the tank retains its weighty splash damage, and successful tank use demands infantry (or mech) backup, there’s always someone around to whittle off the extra hit points. I found the tactic still delightfully viable. That said, in battlefield tests I was able to run a group of ten or so marines inside a tank’s firing arc before they were burst like meaty sacks – I couldn’t do that before. The lesson: support your tanks with troops. But you were doing that anyway, right?

  Battlecruisers have had two damage shaved from their ground attacks, but the game is typically so messy by the stage the capital ships hit the field that the decrease in killosity is hard to judge – particularly when the hard counter to Battlecruisers tend to be air units. The ponderous ships are still best used as support units to another force, and still retain their monumental Yamato cannon – a flat 300 damage when it fires.

  It’s the increases to Reaper and Bunker build lengths that stand as the most intriguing points, to be judged in replays and pro matches. High level games regularly revolve around careful jamming of Reapers into well-placed Bunkers in super-early stages. For the time extension to be an issue, you’ll need to be using both as offensive weapons – building a bunker on or outside a foe’s base and using the range increase it bestows to launch attacks. The five-second window that both build-times have been boosted by could see a drop-off in their pro-level usage. Speculation for now, but keep an eye on Korea for the latest gambits.

  Protoss

  Halle-shitting-lujah, the five-second increase to their build time means no more Zealot rushes. Perhaps an overstatement, but my tests show going from dealing with one every third Protoss opponent to none for days is a relaxing change of pace. Zealots are lethal to Terrans should they beat down the wall early-game – those five seconds give valuable breathing time to park your first marine behind cover, get repairing, and pop his space-elf head off. Zerg, too, benefit from that extra time – more than enough to squelch out a few Zerglings and overwhelm the blade-handed Zealots before they cause irreparable damage to the resource line.

  Warp-gates have been less of an issue for me – purely because any proxy setups will have been scouted by the time the Protoss researches the technology, but it makes calling in instant reinforcements trickier for a Protoss in peril. I finished a game yesterday with a marginal force against a Protoss foe, destroying a warp-gate powering pylon miliseconds before a host of Stalkers popped into existence. Five seconds shorter, and I’d have been lasered into a fine mist. For me and my Terran chums, a good thing. Protoss players, your thoughts?

  Zerg

  The Ultralisk is traditionally so late game that if one is on the field, the opponent either has anti-ground fliers, or has had their face in the dirt for a long time. Either way, all the decrease in stats (the bug-elephant now does five less damage to armoured opponents) means is a slightly longer time spent mopping up.

  Other changes

  A litany of changes to the powerful editor should make it even more powerful – when your other games’ editors make phenomenons like Defence of the Ancients, you can see why Blizzard want to push this functionality.

  Most importantly though, over all this talk of build times and minus five damages – research icons have been coloured in. This is the real story at the heart of the patch, and we’ve included a selection of the prettiest below.

  

  It's beaaautiful.

  Look! The stim-pack is all green! Ever wondered what colour the Marauder’s concussive shells are? THEY’RE SILVER WITH SOME ORANGE BEHIND THEM! You can’t wonder any more!

  How are you finding the patch? Did you also physically squee with delight when you saw the combat shield upgrade was now coloured in grey? Are you a child like me?

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/27/starcraft-2s-first-patch-how-does-it-play/feed/ 5 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/25/no-starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm-at-blizzcon/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/25/no-starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm-at-blizzcon/#comments Sat, 25 Sep 2010 16:47:11 +0000 Tim Edwards http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=16080 [..]]]> The second part of the Starcraft II trilogy will not be shown at Blizzard’s fan festival this October, says Starcraft II lead designer, Chris Sigaty. Speaking to PC Gamer, Chris explained that the next game won’t be on display, or shown. There is hope – a story panel the Blizzard team are planning might answer some of your questions, but don’t expect to know what happens to Kerrigan and the gang.

  “We’re still working on the details [of the expansion],” explains Chris, “and the last thing I want to do is to talk about theoretical things instead of talking about what’s real.”

  The Starcraft II team will be delivering a story panel at the show, where fans will be able to ask the team what’s next for Starcraft II. “We will be featuring a Q&A to talk about story,” says Chris, “but that will largely just to tie up any loose ends and questions players have about what was happening during the story. We won’t be going into details about what’s going to happen in Heart of the Swarm.”

  Blizzcon takes place over the weekend of October 22nd and 23rd, at the Anaheim Convention Centre. PC Gamer will be there.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/25/no-starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm-at-blizzcon/feed/ 3 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/21/starcraft-ii%e2%80%99s-weakpoint-a-mediocre-story-spoiler-free/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/21/starcraft-ii%e2%80%99s-weakpoint-a-mediocre-story-spoiler-free/#comments Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:35:46 +0000 Dan Stapleton http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=15538 [..]]]> I’ve just finished StarCraft II’s single-player campaign. I know I’m late to that party, but between slogging my way through the game on Hard difficulty (earning all the achievements along the way) and the constant harassment over Battle.net to quit playing the single-player and join in a multiplayer match, it took some time to complete.

  Having now finished, it’s astonishing to me that, after so many years in development and so much masterful game design, the story of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is so pedestrian. Don’t get me wrong—it’s far from the worst thing I’ve ever seen (action movies set a very low bar when it comes to intelligent writing), and everything is beautifully presented, so that makes up for a lot. But with all the effort that Blizzard went through to create the high-quality cinematics and adventure game-style story mode, and the studio’s huge budget and proximity to all the writing talent that Hollywood has to offer, I was expecting something grander than a giant helping of bland action cliché.
  

  The tale is pretty straightforward: rebel leader Jim Raynor wants to overthrow Arcturas Mengsk’s Terran Dominion and restore his Zerg-infested love interest, Sarah Kerrigan, to human form while stopping her genocidal rampage. There’s only one real twist to the tale, when it’s revealed who is controlling the mysterious organization who’s been paying Raynor to collect ancient alien artifacts; the rest is mostly tangential side-missions where Raynor builds up his army to take on both adversaries, then heads into a climactic battle.

  A run-of-the-mill story can be enjoyable if the characters are there to support it, but Raynor himself is only barely interesting enough to carry it. Next to all the great space-cowboys that have come before (most notably Star Wars’ Han Solo and Firefly’s Malcom Reynolds) he’s nothing special—just one gruff hero stereotype after another. As the one guy in the cast with an ulterior motive, Tychus Findlay’s probably the most interesting one in the mix, but his actions are telegraphed so far in advance it’s impossible to be surprised by anything he does. And arch-villain Kerrigan is almost as much of a non-character as Stetmann, the resident pimple-faced science nerd aboard the Hyperion. She has no grand plan, executes no treachery—if not for all of her generic smack-talk (“You’re meddling with forces you can’t comprehend!”) she might as well have been an asteroid in a Michael Bay movie.

  

  "Sorry Jim, even I can't describe my own character."

  The character who bugged me the most, though, was Captain Matt Horner. He’s Raynor’s right-hand man—the guy Raynor says he’d leave in charge of the rebellion if he ever decided to step down, and commander of the flagship Hyperion. He’s the man that Raynor confides in during his moments of self-doubt, and the (totally ignored) voice of reason when Raynor decides to do something on the border of heroism and stupidity. So he’s a fairly important guy to the story, right?

  But Horner has all the personality and charm of a Styrofoam cutout. Even in the comic relief scene dealing with the pink-haired mercenary Mia Han, (to whom, it is revealed in supplemental story materials, Horner was once married) he’s as stiff and dull as a wooden spoon. He reminds me of the part in the famously damning review of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace by Red Letter Media, in which people are asked to describe the characters of Qui-Gon Jinn and Princess Amidala without describing their role in the movie or what their costume was. Matt Horner would fail this test—miserably.

  I don’t think that StarCraft II’s story was terrible (it’s miles better than, for example, the jumbled mess of Supreme Commander 2’s story), and I do think it’s a great game with fantastic single-player campaign mission design, I just think that it’s a huge wasted opportunity. It had all the tools to tell one of the greatest stories in gaming history, but it used them to tell a mediocre one.

  What do you think? Were my expectations too high?

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/21/starcraft-ii%e2%80%99s-weakpoint-a-mediocre-story-spoiler-free/feed/ 35 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/14/blizzard-promises-swift-retribution-against-sc2-cheaters/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/14/blizzard-promises-swift-retribution-against-sc2-cheaters/#comments Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:37:02 +0000 Dan Stapleton http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=14499 [..]]]> Not all’s fair in three-way inter-species war. Blizzard PR sent out a warning today to all of those who would use unscrupulous means to win in StarCraft II. The gist: if they catch you cheating or hacking in any way, you’re in violation of the terms of service and your Battle.net account will be banned. It’s a tough-on-crime, one-strike-you’re-out policy that sounds good in principle – there’s nothing worse than being unfairly slaughtered in SC2, especially considering how often I lose legitimately.

  But, false-positives aside (remember the Steam/Modern Warfare 2 banning fiasco?) there’s a slightly chilling part about this: with StarCraft II, you must sign into Battle.net just to play the single-player campaign or skirmish against the AI. If you’re banned from Battle.net, you would lose access to your game entirely, and your $60 purchase would be flat-out gone. Not that I feel sorry for cheaters, but is it perhaps a disproportionately cruel and unusual punishment? Should bad multiplayer behavior cost you your single-player fun too?

  Update: Blizzard PR confirms
  “If a Battle.net account is banned, a player will no longer have access to the single and multiplayer content.”

  Update 2: Blizzard PR clarifies on WoW ramifications
  “If you are banned from StarCraft II, you will still get access to WoW.”

  Read Blizzard’s full statement after the jump.

  P.S. Yes, I know that’s WoW art, but there’re no hammers in StarCraft.
  
  

  

  Banhammer smash!

  Cheating in StarCraft II
  Blizzard Entertainment has always taken cheating in any form in Blizzard games very seriously, and that’s no different for StarCraft II. If a StarCraft II player is found to be cheating or using hacks or modifications in any form, then as outlined in our end user license agreement, that player can be permanently banned from the game. This means that the player will be permanently unable to log in to Battle.net to play StarCraft II with his or her account.

  Playing StarCraft II legitimately means playing with an unaltered game client. Doing otherwise violates our policies for Battle.net, and it goes against the spirit of fair play that all of our games are based on. We strongly recommend that you avoid using any hacks, cheats, or exploits. Suspensions and bans of players that have used or start using cheats and hacks will begin in the near future.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/14/blizzard-promises-swift-retribution-against-sc2-cheaters/feed/ 28 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/08/the-five-wonders-of-pc-gaming-pax-panel/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/08/the-five-wonders-of-pc-gaming-pax-panel/#comments Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:51:58 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=13722 [..]]]>
  Still bummed out that you weren’t able to make it up to PAX this year to participate in the PC Gamer panel? Be bummed out no longer, faithful readers! We’ve uploaded the audio of the entire shindig onto our website for all to enjoy.* In the panel, titled “The Five Wonders of PC Gaming”, we talk about everything that makes gaming on the PC a uniquely awesome experience, including the recent indie blowup Minecraft, StarCraft II, the classic Chex Quest, and flight sim enthusiasts.

  Download it here!

  *For maximum enjoyment, shout out your own questions during the Q&A segment and pretend that we’re responding directly to you!

  Full list of the links included in the slideshow presentation:
  moddb.com
  l4dmaps.com
  garrysmod.com
  minecraft.net
  gog.com
  goldeneyesource.net
  tacticalgamer.com
  sleepisdeath.net
  armaholic.com
  flightsimworld.com
  chexquest.org
  youtube.com/hdstarcraft
  quelsolaar.com

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/08/the-five-wonders-of-pc-gaming-pax-panel/feed/ 25 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/01/pc-gamer-uk-october-issue-portal-2/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/01/pc-gamer-uk-october-issue-portal-2/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:55:39 +0000 Graham Smith http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=12102 [..]]]> PC Gamer 218 has already emerged through the letterbox-shaped portals in our subscribers’ doors. You can now buy it via the newsagent-shaped portals in your town or city. Do you see the rhythm I’m building here? This month we sent Tom to Valve in a plane-shaped portal, and he came back not just with the first information on Portal 2′s brand new co-op, but interviews with Gabe Newell about Valve’s follies, future and Left 4 Dead’s fairy origins. Oh my.

  

  “But,” you croak. “My computer won’t be able to run these games! It is a pitiful thing, puny and pathetic, putrid and petrified of Portal 2 and its prettiness.” Don’t worry. We’ve put together a ten-page manual that explains everything you need to know about buying and building a new PC. What should you look for in a motherboard? What happens if you bend a CPU pin? How does it all fit together, and how do you make it boot when you’re done? Our guide will take you through it all.

  If you’ve already built your beastly PC gaming rig, then all you need are the games. This month we fire our explosive critic-beams (Rich’s is often particularly deadly) at some of the year’s biggest, reviewing Civilization V, StarCraft II, and Need for Speed: World.

  Not content? We also spin our grand eye of gaming toward our glorious future with previews of Medal of Honour, FIFA 11, Stronghold 3, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Magicka.

  PC Gamer Issue 218 is a magazine-shaped portal to gaming wonder (with a possible application as a shower curtain). It’s on sale now, both in shops and online.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/01/pc-gamer-uk-october-issue-portal-2/feed/ 5 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/10/my-mad-quest-for-sc2-achievements/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/10/my-mad-quest-for-sc2-achievements/#comments Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:37:44 +0000 Dan Stapleton http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=10087 [..]]]> I’m not an achievement whore by nature. In fact, generally I find the very existence of achievements abhorrent. Most of them, in my experience, are just there to reward repetition of mindless tasks or to give me a meaningless pat on the head for doing things I was going to do anyway, like complete a level or build a unit. And I have no patience for most games that force me to do some task X number of times to unlock new content – and yes, that includes Team Fortress 2.

  But with StarCraft II, I’m out to get them, but not just to have them. I’m using them for a different purpose: to make the game harder.
  

  I decided from the start that, after waiting 12 years for this game, I was going to drag out the experience of playing the campaign as much as possible. To that end, I’m playing through on hard difficulty (I usually play on normal, ‘cause it’s the normal thing to do) and challenging myself to not just beat the game, but to beat the living hell out of it. I aim to hurdle over the raised bar of earning all of the achievements.

  

  I'll get you next time, Brutalisk...next time.

  I’m roughly half way through at this point, and I’ve found that, aside from the usual “complete all the mission objectives” achievements, StarCraft II does an excellent job of avoiding lame grinding achievements. No “You’ve built 1000 Marines!” or “You’ve harvested 1,000,000 crystal!” Those would be pointless—play long enough and you’d earn those with no additional effort. Instead, they give you two extra goals you must accomplish per mission, like winning within a certain time limit on hard difficulty, getting through with your stealth hero untouched or killing an enemy you might’ve otherwise avoided. They’re tests of skill (and/or persistence), not tests of patience. It definitely makes things more challenging—insanely challenging in some cases—and it’s definitely extending and enhancing my StarCraft II experience.

  There have been a few that have thus far escaped my grasp, though. For example, the Red Lobster achievement on the Devil’s Playground mission, where the objective is to kill the mega-Zerg Brutalisk by luring him into the low ground just before the lava rises. I’d actually achieved this one a couple of months ago during a visit to Blizzard, but somewhere along the line someone tweaked the Brute’s behavior. Now he seems so nervous about the 30-second warning going off that he wouldn’t chase my Reapers far enough to get caught in the lava. The most I could do was singe his toes a little, but he still managed to escape before even reaching extra-rare status. This drove me nuts, since I was only able to attempt it every four minutes, making every failure extremely time consuming. (Yeah, I could save and reload over and over again, but that’s just not sporting.) Eventually I gave up and moved on, so I’ll have to come back and try again later to get my satisfaction.

  I’m currently on the last Protoss mission, which is going to be a real bear to accomplish. If you’ve played it, you’ll know why.

  Other than a smug sense of self-satisfaction, have achievements ever improved your gaming experience?

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/10/my-mad-quest-for-sc2-achievements/feed/ 32 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/30/last-chance-to-win-a-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/30/last-chance-to-win-a-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:19:56 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=9296 [..]]]> This is it, folks: your last chance to win! As our StarCraft week draws to a close, so does our SteelSeries Action Pack giveaway. The action pack includes the StarCraft II-themed Zboard and the looks-tough-feels-soft Terran Marine mousepad.

  Congratulations to Thursday’s winner, Igor Pavlenko of Connecticut!

  We’ve got one more Action Pack to give away, so read on to enter in today’s giveaway.

  
  

  To enter, send your name and address to contests@pcgamer.com with “Ghost” in the subject line. Enter now to win! We’ll announce the winner tomorrow. And if the suspense is simply too much to bear, you can purchase a set of your own here. Check out SteelSeries’ mice and headsets, too—we love them.

  This contest is limited to US residents only. That’s because of laws that vary from place to place: if it were up to us, we’d give each and every one of you one of these badass sets.

  Full details on the products from SteelSeries below:

  StarCraft II Zboard:
  The SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition StarCraft II gaming keyboard offers players the ultimate gaming tool as they jump back into the epic struggle between the protoss, zerg and terran races in StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™. With its ability to adapt up to 150 games through a combination of removable keysets and profiles, the SteelSeries Zboard is unlike any other gaming keyboard on the market. Its “anti-ghosting” feature allows up to 7 simultaneous keystrokes opposed to the standard 2-4 on most keyboards. It can be fully customized through the use of the included SteelSeries Z Engine software which enables macros to be dragged and dropped onto specific keys by use of the program. The SteelSeries StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard is equipped with 2 USB ports and includes the SteelSeries Zboard base with Z Engine software, a standard QWERTY keyset for everyday use, and the co- developed StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ Keyset. The custom keyset for StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ offers players dedicated short-cut keys, complete key remapping for full keyset customization and beautiful game graphics that will enable quick mastery of the game, increase the users’ actions per minute (APM) and deliver unparalleled levels of engagement.

  QcK Tychus Findlay Edition:
  The SteelSeries QcK Tychus Findlay Edition mousepad is made of a high quality cloth material, providing a precise and consistent glide. The special surface graphic on this SteelSeries QcK is of recognized character, Tychus Findlay, from StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/30/last-chance-to-win-a-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/feed/ 1 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/29/thursday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/29/thursday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:11:45 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=9251 [..]]]> As part of our Week of Starcraft, we’re giving away awesome StarCraft II Action Packs from SteelSeries all week long! The action pack includes the StarCraft II-themed Zboard and the looks-tough-feels-soft Terran Marine mousepad.

  Congratulations to Wednesday’s winner, Mitchell Ryan of Texas!

  We’ve got more Action Packs to give away, so read on to enter in today’s giveaway.

  
  

  To enter, send your name and address to contests@pcgamer.com with “Hanson” in the subject line. Enter now to win! But hey, if you don’t win, don’t sweat it: We’ll be giving away one final Action Pack tomorrow, July 30. We’ll post each day’s contest subject and announce the winner the following day. And if the suspense is simply too much to bear, you can purchase a set of your own here. Check out SteelSeries’ mice and headsets, too—we love them.

  This contest is limited to US residents only. That’s because of laws that vary from place to place: if it were up to us, we’d give each and every one of you one of these badass sets.

  Full details on the products from SteelSeries below:

  StarCraft II Zboard:
  The SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition StarCraft II gaming keyboard offers players the ultimate gaming tool as they jump back into the epic struggle between the protoss, zerg and terran races in StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™. With its ability to adapt up to 150 games through a combination of removable keysets and profiles, the SteelSeries Zboard is unlike any other gaming keyboard on the market. Its “anti-ghosting” feature allows up to 7 simultaneous keystrokes opposed to the standard 2-4 on most keyboards. It can be fully customized through the use of the included SteelSeries Z Engine software which enables macros to be dragged and dropped onto specific keys by use of the program. The SteelSeries StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard is equipped with 2 USB ports and includes the SteelSeries Zboard base with Z Engine software, a standard QWERTY keyset for everyday use, and the co- developed StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ Keyset. The custom keyset for StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ offers players dedicated short-cut keys, complete key remapping for full keyset customization and beautiful game graphics that will enable quick mastery of the game, increase the users’ actions per minute (APM) and deliver unparalleled levels of engagement.

  QcK Tychus Findlay Edition:
  The SteelSeries QcK Tychus Findlay Edition mousepad is made of a high quality cloth material, providing a precise and consistent glide. The special surface graphic on this SteelSeries QcK is of recognized character, Tychus Findlay, from StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/29/thursday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/feed/ 0 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/29/counter-the-rush-in-starcraft-ii/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/29/counter-the-rush-in-starcraft-ii/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:33:31 +0000 Erik Belsaas http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8873 [..]]]> Now that StarCraft II has been out for a bit, you may think about venturing into multiplayer. Our experience is that no one likes being rushed and having their game of StarCraft II ended in minutes, but if you’re new to the game, it can be difficult to avoid. Enter our handy guide with strategies guaranteed¹ to help you fend off that first wave of attackers.

  ¹Not in any way guaranteed

  Protoss

  
  

  1. The Photon Cannon.

  Photon Cannons are Protoss’ best defensive structure. They can take down Zerglings in two hits, and have enough health to hold off an early rush of just about anything. Their biggest weakness is their need for Pylons — the Protoss building that distributes power to all others. These Pylons will be enemies’ main objective, so redundancy is a good thing.  A good combination with Pylons is  Zealots, especially if you haven’t blocked up entances to your base yet. Place the Zealots in front of your photon cannons, where they can take and dish out some early damage before retreating them back behind into your base, allowing your cannons to deal with the rest.

  2. High Templars

  If you’re thinking your opponent is going for a large rush, a bit later in the game, another good counter unit the protoss has in it’s grasp is the High Templar. If you really min/max your resources you can get one out mid game, and using his psychic storm ability, the high templar can set up large fields of AoE damage — devistating against Zerglings, Marines or Roaches. However, similar to Photon Cannons, you’ve got to protect them with a frontline of zealots or they’ll get toasted.

  Zerg

  
  

  1. The pre-rush rush

  Unfortunately for the Zerg, early game defense isn’t their strongest point. One option is an earlier game rush to try to cut off early resources, allowing you to continue to grow while they rebuild. Constant harassment with Zerglings and Roaches helps with this strategy, but requires heavy amount of micromanagement.

  2. The Scout-and-Counter

  Another option revolves around scouting your opponent early and often, and building an army tailored to his rush’s weaknesses. Once again, this strategy takes a lot of micromanagement and you’ll need to spend time learning how to counter every unit, but in the end you’ll have an unstoppable gameplan.

  Terran

  
  

  1. Build a Wall

  Every Terran base needs supply depots, and at least one barracks, so you may as well put them to extra use. Build them on top of the ramp leading into your base, blocking off early access to your vital Command Center and SCVs. Plus, in StarCraft II Supply Depots can be lowered into the ground allowing your units to pass over them freely.

  2. Marines

  A wall is great against ground units, but against a Void Ray or Mutalisk rush it’s no use. Here’s where Marines come in handy. A large group of Marines can take down air units quickly, without taking massive losses. Keep ‘em in bunkers for extra defense!

  We want to know your best anti-rushing strategies too! Drop them in the comments!

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/29/counter-the-rush-in-starcraft-ii/feed/ 9 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/28/wednesday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/28/wednesday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:14:20 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=9006 [..]]]> As part of our Week of Starcraft, we’re giving away awesome StarCraft II Action Packs from SteelSeries all week long! The action pack includes the StarCraft II-themed Zboard and the looks-tough-feels-soft Terran Marine mousepad.

  Congratulations to Tuesday’s winner, Kristina Waters of North Carolina!

  We’ve got more Action Packs to give away, so read on to enter in today’s giveaway.

  
  

  To enter, send your name and address to contests@pcgamer.com with “Tosh” in the subject line. Enter now to win! But hey, if you don’t win, don’t sweat it: We’ll be giving away another every day until this Friday, July 30. We’ll post each day’s contest subject and announce the winner the following day. And if the suspense is simply too much to bear, you can purchase a set of your own here. Check out SteelSeries’ mice and headsets, too—we love them.

  This contest is limited to US residents only. That’s because of laws that vary from place to place: if it were up to us, we’d give each and every one of you one of these badass sets.

  Full details on the products from SteelSeries below:

  StarCraft II Zboard:
  The SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition StarCraft II gaming keyboard offers players the ultimate gaming tool as they jump back into the epic struggle between the protoss, zerg and terran races in StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™. With its ability to adapt up to 150 games through a combination of removable keysets and profiles, the SteelSeries Zboard is unlike any other gaming keyboard on the market. Its “anti-ghosting” feature allows up to 7 simultaneous keystrokes opposed to the standard 2-4 on most keyboards. It can be fully customized through the use of the included SteelSeries Z Engine software which enables macros to be dragged and dropped onto specific keys by use of the program. The SteelSeries StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard is equipped with 2 USB ports and includes the SteelSeries Zboard base with Z Engine software, a standard QWERTY keyset for everyday use, and the co- developed StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ Keyset. The custom keyset for StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ offers players dedicated short-cut keys, complete key remapping for full keyset customization and beautiful game graphics that will enable quick mastery of the game, increase the users’ actions per minute (APM) and deliver unparalleled levels of engagement.

  QcK Tychus Findlay Edition:
  The SteelSeries QcK Tychus Findlay Edition mousepad is made of a high quality cloth material, providing a precise and consistent glide. The special surface graphic on this SteelSeries QcK is of recognized character, Tychus Findlay, from StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/28/wednesday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/feed/ 2 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/starcraft-ii-tech-support-2/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/starcraft-ii-tech-support-2/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:04:07 +0000 Erik Belsaas http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8813 [..]]]> The day we’ve all been waiting for is here! StarCraft II has launched, and most of you are probobly too busy playing to even read this post. However, we’re here for the unlucky souls who bought the game only to find they can’t get it to run. We’ve compiled a list of known issues that we will update throughout the day with known solutions. If you guys have any problems, feel free to leave them in the comments and we’ll try to help out!

  Q – On my Nvidia card during cutscenes, framerates drop into the single digits.

  • A – Change the shaders option from Ultra to high. This is a known issue with the cutscenes due to the models.

  Q – Compatibility modes don’t work

  • A- Attempting to run StarCraft 2 on a compatibility mode (Windows XP SP3 from Windows 7, for example) will make it crash. Please run the game normally.

  Known issue –

  Certain screens make your hardware work pretty hard

  Screens that are light on detail may make your system overheat if cooling is overall insufficient. This is because the game has nothing to do so it is primarily just working on drawing the screen very quickly. A temporary workaround is to go to your Documents\StarCraft II Beta\variables.txt file and add these lines:

  frameratecapglue=30

  frameratecap=60

  Q – I see nothing but a black screen!

  • A – There have been multiple reports of black screen issues being related to the use of a Quick Cam webcam. Uninstall the software for the camera in order to resolve the problem.

  There are also reports where some security programs like Comodo firewall can cause the game to black screen

  Q – Starcraft keeps crashing and I’ve got funny lines on my screen. How can this be with my l33t overclocked rig?!?

  • A – You’ve just stated your problem I’m afraid. StarCraft II will tax your processor more than most recent games. You should remove your overclock and try again.

  Q - I get a message telling me that “There is a temporary out age of Battle.net. Please try again later.”

  • A – Log into Battle.net and reset your password. Battle.net should work for you again within 30 min.
  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/starcraft-ii-tech-support-2/feed/ 15 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/tuesday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/tuesday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:45:26 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8814 [..]]]> As part of our Week of Starcraft, we’re giving away awesome StarCraft II Action Packs from SteelSeries all week long! The action pack includes the StarCraft II-themed Zboard and the looks-tough-feels-soft Terran Marine mousepad.

  Congratulations to Monday’s winner, Josh Littell of New York!

  We’ve got more Action Packs to give away, so read on to enter in today’s giveaway.

  
  

  To enter, send your name and address to contests@pcgamer.com with “Tychus” in the subject line. Enter now to win! But hey, if you don’t win, don’t sweat it: We’ll be giving away another every day until this Friday, July 30. We’ll post each day’s contest subject and announce the winner the following day. And if the suspense is simply too much to bear, you can purchase a set of your own here. Check out SteelSeries’ mice and headsets, too—we love them.

  This contest is limited to US residents only. That’s because of laws that vary from place to place: if it were up to us, we’d give each and every one of you one of these badass sets.

  Full details on the products from SteelSeries below:

  StarCraft II Zboard:
  The SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition StarCraft II gaming keyboard offers players the ultimate gaming tool as they jump back into the epic struggle between the protoss, zerg and terran races in StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™. With its ability to adapt up to 150 games through a combination of removable keysets and profiles, the SteelSeries Zboard is unlike any other gaming keyboard on the market. Its “anti-ghosting” feature allows up to 7 simultaneous keystrokes opposed to the standard 2-4 on most keyboards. It can be fully customized through the use of the included SteelSeries Z Engine software which enables macros to be dragged and dropped onto specific keys by use of the program. The SteelSeries StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard is equipped with 2 USB ports and includes the SteelSeries Zboard base with Z Engine software, a standard QWERTY keyset for everyday use, and the co- developed StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ Keyset. The custom keyset for StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ offers players dedicated short-cut keys, complete key remapping for full keyset customization and beautiful game graphics that will enable quick mastery of the game, increase the users’ actions per minute (APM) and deliver unparalleled levels of engagement.

  QcK Tychus Findlay Edition:
  The SteelSeries QcK Tychus Findlay Edition mousepad is made of a high quality cloth material, providing a precise and consistent glide. The special surface graphic on this SteelSeries QcK is of recognized character, Tychus Findlay, from StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/tuesday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/feed/ 1 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/community-heroes-starcraft-commentator-husky/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/community-heroes-starcraft-commentator-husky/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:08:26 +0000 Tim Edwards http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8774 [..]]]> This week on the site, we want to celebrate some of the heroes of the PC gaming community. People who’ve devoted huge amounts of their free time to making something awesome for the rest of us to enjoy. Today we’re talking to Mike Husky, whose commentary on competitive StarCraft 2 matches makes the bewildering action understandable, exciting and often funny for millions of gamers.
  
  

  All shoutcasters are trained to use their headphones as a weapon.

  PC Gamer: Can you remember your first introduction to StarCraft? Where did you buy it – were you looking forward to it beforehand?
  Husky: My very first introduction to StarCraft was when it had just come out and I was 10 or 11 years old. I was over at my friends house and he was playing it. At the time I was really big into the original Command and Conquer, so it was a natural step to try out the new RTS game on the market. Once I finally got my own copy about 6 months later I played it at least once a month for the next 12 years until the release of the SC2 beta.

  PC Gamer: When did you first get drawn into the pro-gaming scene? What actually attracted you?
  Husky: I had always known about the pro-gaming scene in Korea but did not follow it closely until about 3 years ago. I stumbled upon an English stream of pro-games from Korea called GOMTV, that was my very first introduction to the pro scene. Once I saw my first live cast I was completely hooked and tuned in at around 3am every week for the next year or so.

  PC Gamer: Did you play heavily on Battle.net when the original StarCraft was still popular?
  Husky: I did! I had an account with several thousand games on it that I would use to practice. I originally was not big into 1v1 but opted for more team play games as well as custom maps. Battle.net was amazing for its time.

  PC Gamer: Why did you start shoutcasting – was it the SC2 beta that prompted you?
  Husky: It just sort of happened one day. I was home from college for a couple of days and didn’t really have anything else to do. I had seen the English commentary from inside Korea but was not aware that there was a community of English shoutcasters on YouTube. Once I started up I quickly found that there were others doing the same thing I was but I kept at it because I absolutely loved what I was doing. It quickly got to a point where I was uploading 100 videos a month and slowly began to grow much larger than I had anticipated. The announcement of SC2 didn’t directly influence my decision to do shoutcasting, I had been a StarCraft fan all my life.

  PC Gamer: What’s your favourite SC2 beta match? Any must sees that you can recommend to our readers?
  Husky: I think one of the best StarCraft 2 matches of the beta would be NonY vs Moonglade from our own HDH Invitational tournament (below). This game shows how much attention and multitasking StarCraft 2 takes at the very highest levels. There are hundreds of similarly epic games from the beta though :)

  
   
  

  PC Gamer: What makes a good shoutcast?
  Husky: This is really up to personal preference. Some people prefer a highly analytical and education form of casting to improve their game, while others prefer a more casual or energetic feel. I think it really shows in the quality of the cast if the person doing it loves what they are doing and really wants to help spread the popularity of StarCraft.

  PC Gamer: What are you plans for tonight? Staying up all night to play, or going to a launch event?
  Husky: I’m going to be attending a midnight release near Portland, Oregon. It isn’t one of the official Blizzard events but I think it will still be a lot of fun. I have gone to this same place for all the Blizzard midnight releases. Once I get home I plan to hit the single player all night to test out the campaign before finally getting back into multiplayer.

  PC Gamer: If you were going to give our readers one piece of advice for playing SC2 online – what would it be?
  Husky: Have fun! No matter the skill level of the player there is a place for them on Battle.net. Blizzard has done a fantastic job of creating a unique match-making system to pair you against people of similar gaming experience. The days of getting constantly owned every day are now over so I highly encourage anyone that picks up StarCraft 2 to play at least one game online.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/community-heroes-starcraft-commentator-husky/feed/ 6 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/starcraft-ii-launchblog-plastic-kerrigan-nightmares/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/starcraft-ii-launchblog-plastic-kerrigan-nightmares/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:06:50 +0000 Rich McCormick http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8702 [..]]]> StarCraft II happened, and it happened hardest in the Oxford Street branch of GAME at midnight last night. Tim and I were there to document the game’s launch event.
  
  What now follows is a semi-formed liveblog, going on what I scribbled on my phone between dodging giant plastic Kerrigans and scrubbing strange smelling dry ice from the recesses of my eye sockets. It may be slightly inaccurate.

  8.30pm: The queue on Oxford Street is substantial but not overpowering. On the queue-o-meter, it sits somewhere between ‘niche android handset’ and ‘less impressive MMO expansion.’ We’re nowhere near ‘iPhone 4 meltdown’ critical mass just yet. We leave, to return closer to launch.

  11pm: We duck behind the blackout curtains obscuring the store’s entrance. This branch of GAME is now a swamp. Dry ice pours from no discernible source. Someone whispers they’ve seen a woman dressed as Kerrigan outside. Or is it a Kerrigan dressed as woman? That might explain the smoke.

  11.05pm: The gaggle of expectant StarCrafters has turned into a throng, growing organically. High on weird fumes and walking the length of the queue, I see a group of eggs placed gently on the floor by an insectoid drone – after a moment they pop, turning into men in their mid-twenties, clutching shoulder bags and Blizzard tat. I engage them in conversation to pre-empt their rush attack. They’re still covered in the slime from their hatching.
  
  11.07pm: It turns out that wasn’t slime, and for zerglings, they’re very nice. They were excited for StarCraft II’s singleplayer modes primarily – less of their focus was on hyper-competitive multiplayer. Out in the night air and breathing free again, I wonder if they might be real humans after all.

  11.15pm: I collared PCG reader Alex Knight – hello Alex! – who’d been in the queue for six hours. He was a big Blizzard fan, and trusted the company to produce with StarCraft II. He also looked stoic in the face of yet more queueing. Others around him were flagging. They required more pylons, I think.

  11.30pm: KERRIGAN SIGHTING. She has a powdery green face, bouncy plastic dreadlocks, and spiny wings. She screeches once, then takes to the sky, flying down the length of the queue before picking up an unlucky queuer and infesting them with horrible zerg larva.

  11.32pm: KERRIGAN UPDATE. Now she looks all uncomfortable and wobbly on her three inch heels, and is quietly escorted to the back of the shop. Either to cool down, or to feed more humans to the brood queen. One of the two.

  11.40pm: There’s a very disconcerting ‘NUCLEAR LAUNCH’ countdown on a large television. If every surface wasn’t covered in StarCraft II emblazoned junk, and there wasn’t a giant plastic woman tottering around, you’d be convinced the world was about to be destroyed.

  11.41pm: After spending too much time in the shop breathing the strange air, I am convinced the world is about to be destroyed.
  
  11.50pm: Ten minutes to go, and the crowd is audibly excited. They’re all chittering their mandibles together and oh god what is in this smoke. People snake around the inside of the shop like a big snake made of people and queueing.

  11.59pm: The nuke is about to launch deploy the countermeasures now!

  12.00am: StarCraft II launches. Not literally – it’s more handed to a very tall man in a StarCraft t-shirt, who was first in the queue. He looks pleased to receive armfuls of Blizzard stuff, and is wheeled away to talk to KERRIGAN and some ladies. That is his reward.

  12.05pm: People are having their pictures taken then digitally placed inside a marine mask. The military really are resorting to underhand tactics to recruit these days.

  12.10pm: After he’d escaped from Kerrigan’s chitinous clutches, I grabbed the first man to snare a copy of the game: one Christopher White. He was there with his friend Terence, who had been second in the queue. They’d utilised a complicated chaining technique – alternating food and booze runs – to survive six hours of standing around. Such advanced tactics can only come from the multi-tasking mind of a set of StarCraft veterans.

  12.15pm: Christopher departs, victorious. The blackout curtain is flung open now, and the air is clearer. The trickle of people turns into a flow as the path to get a copy of the game becomes obvious. After 13 years, StarCraft II can be played by all.
  
  A big thanks to all the PC Gamer readers who spoke to us, and anyone else I stuck a dictaphone in front of. GGs to you all. Tim’s now ensconced in his bunker, supply depots blocking his stairs against distractions, playing the face off the game to bring you our review as soon as possible.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/27/starcraft-ii-launchblog-plastic-kerrigan-nightmares/feed/ 9 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/monday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/monday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:01:15 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8661 [..]]]> As part of our Week of Starcraft, we’re giving away awesome StarCraft II Action Packs from SteelSeries all week long! The action pack includes the StarCraft II-themed Zboard and the looks-tough-feels-soft Terran Marine mousepad.

  Congratulations to Sunday’s winner, Riley McGee of California!

  We’ve got more Action Packs to give away, so read on to enter in today’s giveaway.

  
  

  To enter, send your name and address to contests@pcgamer.com with “Mengsk” in the subject line. Enter now to win! But hey, if you don’t win, don’t sweat it: We’ll be giving away another every day until this Friday, July 30. We’ll post each day’s contest subject and announce the winner the following day. And if the suspense is simply too much to bear, you can purchase a set of your own here. Check out SteelSeries’ mice and headsets, too—we love them.

  This contest is limited to US residents only. That’s because of laws that vary from place to place: if it were up to us, we’d give each and every one of you one of these badass sets.

  Full details on the products from SteelSeries below:

  StarCraft II Zboard:
  The SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition StarCraft II gaming keyboard offers players the ultimate gaming tool as they jump back into the epic struggle between the protoss, zerg and terran races in StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™. With its ability to adapt up to 150 games through a combination of removable keysets and profiles, the SteelSeries Zboard is unlike any other gaming keyboard on the market. Its “anti-ghosting” feature allows up to 7 simultaneous keystrokes opposed to the standard 2-4 on most keyboards. It can be fully customized through the use of the included SteelSeries Z Engine software which enables macros to be dragged and dropped onto specific keys by use of the program. The SteelSeries StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard is equipped with 2 USB ports and includes the SteelSeries Zboard base with Z Engine software, a standard QWERTY keyset for everyday use, and the co- developed StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ Keyset. The custom keyset for StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ offers players dedicated short-cut keys, complete key remapping for full keyset customization and beautiful game graphics that will enable quick mastery of the game, increase the users’ actions per minute (APM) and deliver unparalleled levels of engagement.

  QcK Tychus Findlay Edition:
  The SteelSeries QcK Tychus Findlay Edition mousepad is made of a high quality cloth material, providing a precise and consistent glide. The special surface graphic on this SteelSeries QcK is of recognized character, Tychus Findlay, from StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/monday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/feed/ 3 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/starcraft-ii-launch-day-guide/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/starcraft-ii-launch-day-guide/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:00:58 +0000 Dan Stapleton http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8481 [..]]]> Why do big games always come out on Tuesdays? Don’t publishers know that most of us have work or school then, and that now we have to weasel our way out of multiple obligations so that we can enjoy the game as quickly and thoroughly as humanly possible?

  Despair not, fair gamer, for here is PC Gamer’s guide to launch day gaming, full of tips and tricks for ensuring that come tomorrow, you’ll be able to enjoy StarCraft II to its fullest.

  Call in sick

  Face it, you weren’t going to be very productive at work today anyway. Your mind would’ve been elsewhere, so why not put your body elsewhere, too? Need tips on how to fake an illness? We recommend learning from the master.

  Gather your forces

  

  While you can always jump into the murky waters of automatic matchmaking, a multiplayer game is best enjoyed with a crew of buddies you know. Before the big day make sure to send an email, Facebook event invite or even a Google Wave if you’re crazy like that, and set a time when you can all get online and play together.

  Distract the significant other

  

  It’s hard to enjoy your game when your wife or girlfriend is competing for attention, or making you feel guilty for ignoring her while you game. If you have the means, pony up for a gift certificate to a local spa for a manicure/pedicure and maybe a facial mask. The benefits of this are twofold: you get her out of the house and entertained so that you can game uninterrupted and with a clear conscience, and you reap the rewards of being a thoughtful boyfriend/husband. Cheaper alternative: cue up The Notebook DVD on Netflix.

  Note: The above is not sexist. If you’re a woman and you’re playing StarCraft, your boyfriend/husband is not going to be hassling you, he’ll be on the phone to his buddies telling them how awesome his StarCraft-loving girlfriend/wife is and giving you a backrub as you play. The only problem you’re likely to have is if you hog the PC and never let him play.

  Give downloaders the boot

  Nothing spoils a good round of online gaming like a big dose of lag. If yours isn’t the only PC on your internet connection, make certain that word gets around to everybody on the network that this is a no-download day. That means no Netflix streaming, no Hulu, no Steam downloads and especially no torrenting. If your router supports it, look into enabling Quality of Service (QoS) filtering to make sure that your game traffic is given the highest priority.

  Stay hydrated, but don’t drink more than you need to

  In online multiplayer, having to run to the bathroom is not an option. Drink only when thirsty.

  Do not disturb

  If you’re in a dorm or apartment where people have a tendency to drop in unannounced and make distracting noises, make sure you let them know that you’re unavailable for chit-chat. Hang a sign on the door, put up an away message on IM and set your phone to go directly to voicemail.

  Plan for a worst-case scenario

  
  

  With the evils of modern online-activation DRM, even if you bought a boxed copy, the unlocking process can and frequently does go awry when activation servers are overwhelmed by everyone trying to activate at once. Don’t be surprised if you’re not able to play your preloaded game immediately when the countdown hits zero—it could be an hour or more before you can activate. Have a game standing by that you can play in a window while you keep an eye on the situation.

  Take a shower

  Please, have some dignity.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/starcraft-ii-launch-day-guide/feed/ 5 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/starcraft-ii-qa-everything-you-need-to-know/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/starcraft-ii-qa-everything-you-need-to-know/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:00:56 +0000 Andy Salisbury http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8519 [..]]]> StarCraft II launches tomorrow, but we’re still hearing lots of questions and uncertainty about the game and Blizzard’s new Battle.net mutliplayer service. We’re here to tackle those questions head-on. Read on to find the answers to every question on your mind, from LAN play to Real ID to custom maps and more.

  

  “What’s so great about Battle.net 2.0? I heard it’s not as good as the old one.”
  Yes, Battle.net is great. But Battle.net 2.0 is taking a new approach in an effort to make it even better. The new matchmaking system worked very well in the beta, setting people up with other players of approximately the same skill level. Blizzard says that connecting to games, both custom and match-made, will be speedier than ever thanks to some behind-the-scenes upgrades. Plus, with the new Real ID system you’ll be able to keep in touch with friends across Blizzard games, allowing you to chat with your WoW-playing friends from inside StarCraft II.

  What has some folks up in arms is the removal of some of the old Battle.net’s features. The big one is the lack of LAN play—I’ll cover that in a moment—but Blizzard’s also axed chat rooms. At launch, you’ll only be able to create chats with people on your friends list, rather than jumping into a public chat where Blizzard says spammers were becoming too much of a problem. However, it looks like beta feedback has changed the Blizzard hive-mind on this point, and there are now plans to add private chat rooms in a patch sometime after release.

  Finally, you won’t be able to play against friends in other regions—such as a US versus UK match—without buying a second $60 copy of the game that’s keyed for the foreign region.

  So depending on how much you care about the features that the new Battle.net leaves out, it’s either better or worse.

  

  “I heard I can’t play on a LAN. What’s the deal with that?”
  Unfortunately, this is completely true—StarCraft II won’t have any LAN capabilities. You’ll still be able to play against a guy sitting next to you on your home network, but you’ll both have to have active internet connections to Battle.net. Most people won’t know the difference, but competitive players are concerned about server downtime and the possibility of lag.

  So, why did Blizzard hamstring one of the greatest competitive multiplayer games of all time? In the name of fighting piracy, of course! Blizzard’s official line from PR Manager Bob Colayco states, “While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy.” Yar, that be most disappoint’n, Bob.

  

  “What’s this Real ID stuff? Will everyone I play with know my real name?”
  Short answer? No.
  Long answer? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
  Real ID is an optional feature of Battle.net 2.0 which will allow you to add friends you know personally to your elite list of pals using the email address that they have registered as their Battle.net account. Once this happens, you’ll be able to track your friends game to game, and server to server. There’s no other way for someone to see your real name through Battle.net.

  “I heard StarCraft II will integrate with Facebook. Will it be spamming all my friends every time I play?”
  Yes, StarCraft II will integrate with Facebook. The spam part though? That’s an untruth. Put simply: integrating StarCraft II with Facebook will let you find your StarCraft-playing friends easier, and that’s it.

  

  “Why did Blizzard break the game up into three parts? Are they trying to charge me three times for one game?”
  Well, yes and no. Blizzard definitely does want you to buy all three parts, and there’s certainly a lot of money in it for them if you do, but the question of whether or not they’re going to make it worth every penny you give them is up for debate.

  The full StarCraft II saga will consist of tomorrow’s main game, Wings of Liberty, which includes a 30-ish mission Terran campaign (with a couple of Protoss missions mixed in) followed two expansions based around the Zerg and the Protoss that Blizzard says will come out at roughly 18-month intervals.

  The amount of single-player content in Wings of Liberty is approximately the same as you got in StarCraft 1, so it’s difficult to say that you’re not getting a full game’s worth for your money. What Blizzard’s done here is basically the same thing as was done with the Lord of the Rings movies: they’ve said up front that you’re not getting the full story in the first piece, and you’ll have to come back two more times to get the complete experience. So if you feel ripped off by movie trilogies, you may feel ripped off by StarCraft II.

  How much will those expansions cost? Blizzard claims that, as usual, they’ll charge what they feel is an “appropriate price for the content received.” As for what that actually means? Nobody knows for sure.

  On the next page: Battle.net authenticators, custom maps for sale

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/starcraft-ii-qa-everything-you-need-to-know/feed/ 7 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/avert-disaster-prep-your-pc-for-starcraft-ii-now/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/avert-disaster-prep-your-pc-for-starcraft-ii-now/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:00:03 +0000 Dan Stapleton http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8468 [..]]]> Picture it: you’re holding a box containing StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in your hands. You’ve waited 12 years for this day. You feel the weight of it, the crispness and shine of the freshly-printed cardboard, the sweet scent of the Best Buy stock room. You gingerly peel off the sticker sealing the top of the box closed (you wouldn’t want to damage that box, now would you?) and spill the contents on your PC desk. The DVD goes in the drive. You can barely stand the anticipation as you watch the install bar fill up. It’s done. You double-click the desktop icon.

  The last thing you want to deal with at this exact moment is a problem you could’ve headed off the day before. Now’s your chance: let’s go through five quick and easy steps to ensure that tomorrow’s launch is everything you’ve just imagined it could be.

  1: Check the recommended system specs

  

  Note that that’s recommended system specs, not required. The system requirements are often the bare minimum you’ll need to run the game without it locking up on you, but that doesn’t mean it will play at a reasonable speed. You might be able to chug through the single-player campaign, but I wouldn’t advise playing online with a bare-minimum rig. You’ll be at a disadvantage, and you’ll get people yelling at you for slowing down the game.

  StarCraft II requires a 2.6GHz Pentium IV with 1GB of RAM (1.5 for Vista/Windows 7) and a GeForce 6600GT or Radeon 9800 Pro. It recommends a dual-core 2.4GHz CPU, 2GB RAM and a 512MB GeForce 8800GTX or Radeon 3870. That’s a pretty wide difference there, but the recommended specs are that of a system that would’ve been high-end in 2007, so not at all unreasonable. If your PC is older than three years (around the time when multi-core CPUs became the standard) it might be worth your time to look into an upgrade or two (start with the videocard and RAM) if you want to get the most out of your StarCraft II experience.

  2: Update your videocard drivers

  Think back: when was the last time you’ve updated your graphics drivers? With updates coming every month or so, it can be easy to fall behind. Old drivers can cause all kinds of problems, from poor performance to crashing to texture problems. New games will almost always assume that you’re running the latest and greatest version, so make certain that you are. Go to Nvidia or ATI’s driver page and grab the current driver for your card.

  3: Update your sound drivers

  Sound drivers: the silent killers. There’ve been several times over the years when I was close to pulling my hair out trying to track down the source of a pesky stuttering or crashing problem with a new game, and it turned out to be sound drivers.

  If you’ve got a PCI soundcard, make sure you check in with the manufacturer to get it updated. These days most of us are using the sound hardware built into our motherboards, which makes things trickier when you go to figure out exactly what software you’re trying to update. I’m a big fan of Belarc Advisor, a free program which gives you a detailed rundown of everything in your PC. Once you know what you’ve got, go the manufacturer’s site and look up the latest version.

  4: Defragment your hard drive

  

  If you don’t defragment regularly, now is a good time. A heavily fragmented drive can cause slowdowns during the loading process, and while StarCraft II will likely have some very pretty art during loading screens, we’d all rather be playing.
  Vista and Windows 7 users have the luxury of built-in defragmenting software that works while the computer is idle, keeping your drives neat and tidy, but XP users have to manually initiate a defrag. It’s easy to do: just right-click on the drive you want to work on, click “Properties” and then select the “Tools” tab. Click the “Defragment Now” button, select the drive from the list and push “Defragment.” Then sit back and watch the pretty colors. (Actually, don’t sit and watch—it could take a while.)
  Note: if you have a solid-state drive (SSD) do not defragment it. The way SSD tech works makes the process obsolete, and all you’ll end up doing is shortening the lifetime of your drive.

  5: Clean your PC

  

  A clean PC is a happy PC. A dirty PC is a potentially overheated PC, as dust and pet hair can clog up fans and interfere with the airflow that carries heat away from your CPU and GPU and out the back. Open up your case, and if there’s a good amount of dust visible, blast it out of there with a can of compressed air.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/avert-disaster-prep-your-pc-for-starcraft-ii-now/feed/ 13 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/story-recap-starcraft-and-brood-war-in-three-minutes/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/story-recap-starcraft-and-brood-war-in-three-minutes/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:30:35 +0000 Dan Stapleton http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8568 [..]]]> It’s been a while since you’ve played the campaign of StarCraft 1, hasn’t it? Something about a race of spiritual blue aliens and collecting rare minerals…or was that Avatar? It’s hard to keep it all straight, and when you introduce the triple-crossing intrigue of Brood War, things get even crazier. So to refresh the events of the previous games and prepare you to catch all the back-story references coming in tomorrow’s StarCraft II release, PC Gamer presents a super-quick version of StarCraft 1 and Brood War in under three minutes. View the video after the jump.
  

  If you want the longer (way longer) version, check out this YouTube collection of every cutscene, briefing and in-mission story dialogue.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/story-recap-starcraft-and-brood-war-in-three-minutes/feed/ 10 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/how-to-buy-starcraft-ii-the-right-way-for-you/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/how-to-buy-starcraft-ii-the-right-way-for-you/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:00:49 +0000 Dan Stapleton http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8319 [..]]]> Do you have your copy yet? If not, now is the time to make the important decision of how to get your hands on one. Here are the advantages and pitfalls of the three ways to get hold of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, after the jump.
  

  1: Go to the store and buy it

  There’s definitely something to be said for the good old-fashioned way. You get to walk out of the store with your game in hand, and have the satisfaction of popping the disc in the drive for a quick install. If you show up to a midnight event to get your copy, not only will you get to hang out with your fellow StarCraft fanatics while you wait for the clock to strike 12, but you’ll also get a 10-hour head start on anyone who downloaded the game, as digital copies won’t be activated until 10AM on the 27th. As a bonus, you’ll get all of the benefits of the digital copy—namely, being able to re-download the game from Battle.net even if you lose or destroy your original disc. Once you’ve entered your install key and attached it to your Battle.net account, you can download it as often as you like.

  The downside? Sales tax, unless you live in one of the rare areas that doesn’t have one. Also, there’s the risk that if you don’t reserve a copy or show up early, the store could sell out their stock before you elbow your way to the front of the line. And even this won’t save you from having to download anything—you’ll definitely have to log into Battle.net to activate your copy, and once that’s done there’s a very high probability of a forced-download patch before you can play. Plus, you have to leave your house.

  2: Mail order

  

  This method nets you all the benefits of the store-bought copy with none of the downsides—it’s delivered to your home or office, and as long as you order from a retailer outside your own state there’s no sales tax. And if you haven’t already reserved your Collectors’ Edition, which includes items you just can’t download, this is probably the only shot you’ve got at getting hold of one.

  However, there are catches: you’ll probably have to pay for shipping, and your copy could be delayed or lost (or “lost”) in transit. Of course, if you haven’t already ordered yours by now, you won’t be playing on launch day if you choose to go this route.

  3: Download

  

  Right now you can go to StarCraftII.com, enter your credit card number and start pre-loading the locked game immediately. When the game launches, you’ll be ready to go after a short install. No fuss, no muss, no sales tax, no shipping fees. Depending on your internet connection speed, this can be either the fastest or slowest method of getting hold of the game.

  But just like all digital purchases, there are inherent drawbacks. Collectors get cranky when they don’t get their shiny game boxes and color-printed manuals. You can’t get the impressive (and pricey) Collectors’ Edition package digitally. And there’s always the chance of a catastrophic server meltdown or unlocking glitch that could prevent you from playing after the scheduled 10AM unlock time until Blizzard sorts out the problem. And, in what is almost certainly a concession to retailers, buyers customers won’t be able to unlock their copies until 10 hours after their retail-buyer friends. Though if Tuesday is a school/work day for you, that might not be an issue.

  How are you buying StarCraft II? (Warning: Pirates will be shot on sight.)

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/how-to-buy-starcraft-ii-the-right-way-for-you/feed/ 15 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/monday-gearing-up-for-starcraft-ii/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/monday-gearing-up-for-starcraft-ii/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:45:22 +0000 Dan Stapleton http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8536 [..]]]> This is it, folks: less than 24 hours from now, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will be unleashed on the world. Epic battles will be waged. Glory will be won. Millions of hours of productivity will be lost.

  After a decade of waiting there’s so little time left, but it’s going to feel like ages. So we’re here to help make these next few hours fly by with a flurry of articles on everything you need to know to gear up for the big day tomorrow.

  The plot of StarCraft 1 and Brood War in three minutes

  Figure out which way to buy your copy of StarCraft II

  We answer your questions about the new Battle.net

  Five tips on how to ready your PC for the game

  How to clear your social calendar to make the time to fully appreciate the game.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/26/monday-gearing-up-for-starcraft-ii/feed/ 4 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/korea-day-five-over-the-top-korean-sc-videos/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/korea-day-five-over-the-top-korean-sc-videos/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:00:37 +0000 Josh Augustine http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8298 [..]]]> Sometimes it’s hard to comprehend just how much Koreans love StarCraft until you see it in action. That’s why we’re going to take a look at some of the best YouTube videos that have come out of the Korean StarCraft craze so far. Get read to laugh, cry, and be just plain confused.

  #1 PLAAAAAAAAYGU

  These gentlemen could not possibly sound more distressed if a literal plague had erupted across the auditorium, instantly turning the rabid fans into mindless zombies trying to consume one another. There are a lot of clips of Korean SC announcers freaking out (they seem to love to yell “aaaaaaaaaaaah!”), but this one shows their intense passion for the game in a way that only science vessels getting hit by a defiler’s plague can.

  #2 Ladies go wild for a man who can StarCraft…

  I’m not sure if the fans or the announcers are more in love with Firebathero, but they’re definitely all loving the show he’s putting on for them. Only the top few celebrities in Hollywood get the time to play around like this on the red carpet. And take a good look at that crowd cheering him on–almost all women. In fact, the majority of fans that attend tournaments are female and often come bearing gifts and “tasty snacks” to attract their favorite player’s attention. You can only imagine what happened when he was drafted into military service by the Korean Air Force. He became the ultimate national hero and symbol of patriotism (remember when Elvis was inducted into the military mid-career? It was pretty much like that). After his tour of duty, Firebathero returned to a team sponsored by the Korean Air Force (the only military division to sponsor a professional SC team, which makes them way cooler than the others).

  #3 …And spend their time composing video love letters

  Now that shows true dedication. If I were SlayerS_BoxeR I’d be feeling pretty good about myself right now. And also a little creeped out that someone managed to take that much handheld video footage of me across so many different locations. That’s gotta be approaching stalker status.

  #4 GG

  Professional sports need professional commentators, and this trio seems to be at all the big games, making sure that everyone watching from home knows when they should be yelling “G-Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” (the SC version of soccer’s “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAL”) at their own televisions in response to the events. That’s right, at their televisions–South Korea has an entire channel dedicated to replays of StarCraft games.

  #5 Voice impressions

  The guy isn’t perfect, and the crowd gives him a really hard time for a couple of his lesser impressions, but come on! This is a South Korean guy imitating a Southern California Blizzard employee trying to imitate a weird alien monster that no one’s ever heard before–let’s cut him a little slack! At least give him some extra credit for throwing his whole body into the performance. And for all you Boxer lovers recruited by video #3, here’s a video of him doing a few impressions of his own.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/korea-day-five-over-the-top-korean-sc-videos/feed/ 8 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/sunday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/sunday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:31:41 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8514 [..]]]> As part of our Week of Starcraft, we’re giving away awesome StarCraft II Action Packs from SteelSeries all week long! The action pack includes the StarCraft II-themed Zboard and the looks-tough-feels-soft Terran Marine mousepad.

  Congratulations to Saturday’s winner, Asher Kay of Ohio!

  We’ve got more Action Packs to give away, so read on to enter in today’s giveaway.

  
  

  To enter, send your name and address to contests@pcgamer.com with “Zeratul” in the subject line. Enter now to win! But hey, if you don’t win, don’t sweat it: We’ll be giving away another every day – including over the weekend – throughout PC Gamer’s Week of Starcraft. We’ll post each day’s contest subject line in the morning, and announce the winner later that afternoon. And if the suspense is simply too much to bear, you can purchase a set of your own here. Check out SteelSeries’ mice and headsets, too—we love them.

  This contest is limited to US residents only. That’s because of laws that vary from place to place: if it were up to us, we’d give each and every one of you one of these badass sets.

  Full details on the products from SteelSeries below:

  StarCraft II Zboard:
  The SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition StarCraft II gaming keyboard offers players the ultimate gaming tool as they jump back into the epic struggle between the protoss, zerg and terran races in StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™. With its ability to adapt up to 150 games through a combination of removable keysets and profiles, the SteelSeries Zboard is unlike any other gaming keyboard on the market. Its “anti-ghosting” feature allows up to 7 simultaneous keystrokes opposed to the standard 2-4 on most keyboards. It can be fully customized through the use of the included SteelSeries Z Engine software which enables macros to be dragged and dropped onto specific keys by use of the program. The SteelSeries StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard is equipped with 2 USB ports and includes the SteelSeries Zboard base with Z Engine software, a standard QWERTY keyset for everyday use, and the co- developed StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ Keyset. The custom keyset for StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ offers players dedicated short-cut keys, complete key remapping for full keyset customization and beautiful game graphics that will enable quick mastery of the game, increase the users’ actions per minute (APM) and deliver unparalleled levels of engagement.

  QcK Tychus Findlay Edition:
  The SteelSeries QcK Tychus Findlay Edition mousepad is made of a high quality cloth material, providing a precise and consistent glide. The special surface graphic on this SteelSeries QcK is of recognized character, Tychus Findlay, from StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/sunday-giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/feed/ 1 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/korea-day-eat-like-a-champion/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/korea-day-eat-like-a-champion/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:00:51 +0000 Andy Salisbury http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8391 [..]]]> If you want to play like a champion, you need to eat like a champion. That’s why we’ve turned to our ever-loyal, longtime Korean ally and former intern Andy Salisbury to share his generations-old Korean cooking secrets with us. These are family recipes refined by his great-grandmother and passed down from generation to generation since then. If there’s a more authentic way to learn the secrets of the food that fuels the most advanced StarCraft-playing civilization, I haven’t heard of it. So read on, grab a shovel and get ready to bury some cabbage in your backyard!

  Malgun Miok Kuk (Clear Seaweed Soup)

  Ingredients:
  - 1 cup of cut seaweed
  - 4 cups of water
  - 1/2 pound of beef
  - 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
  - 1 scallion
  - 1 tablespoon of salt
  - 1 clove of garlic

  To prepare:
  Soak the dried seaweed in warm water for 30 minutes, then rise and wash carefully. Cut the seaweed into 2-inch lengths, shred beef into 2-inch lengths and crush the garlic.
  Bring the water to a boil, and add the beef. Remove any froth from the top, and add the seaweed, scallion, garlic, soy sauce and salt. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes before serving.

  

  There are an alarming number of cabbage varieties, this is the one you need

  Image courtesy of Jon Roberts

  Kim Chee (Spicy Pickled Cabbage)

  Ingredients:
  - 3-4 pounds of nappa cabbage, sliced into 1 1/2-inch pieces (in the summertime my great grandmother would use cucumbers)
  - 1/3 cup of salt
  - 1 cup of daikon, julienned
  - 1/2 cup of carrots and/or green onion (optional, my great grandmother would put in for color mostly)
  - 1-3 tablespoons of red pepper powder, mixed with 1-3 tablespoons of hot water (depending on how spicy you like it)
  - 1 tablespoon of paprika
  - 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  - 2 tablespoons of ginger, minced
  - 1 tablespoon of sugar
  - 1 tablespoon of patis (a type of fish sauce)

  To prepare:
  Place the sliced nappa cabbage in a large bowl or sink and sprinkle it with the salt. Place a plate over the nappa and weigh it down with heavy rocks, bricks, or can. Then let it sit overnight. The next day rinse the salted nappa and squeeze out as much water as possible. Use your hands to mix the remaining ingredients into the salted nappa. Allow this new mixture to sit overnight while weighed down once more. Pack the seasoned nappa into jars and let it ferment in a refrigerator (or, if you’re feeling authentic, bury it underground like the Koreans did before refrigerators were invented). It must be cool, and it must sit overnight at a minimum. Best if left alone for a week.

  
  Image courtesy of John Joh

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/korea-day-eat-like-a-champion/feed/ 10 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/korea-day-the-professionals/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/korea-day-the-professionals/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:00:18 +0000 Josh Augustine http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8196 [..]]]> Remember those TV shows that tell you to not try this at home because the people you see on the screen are professionals? Yeah, that same rule applies to pretty much everything in this post. When a country is as passionate about StarCraft as Korea is, you better believe that their top players are going to have money thrown at them and hot Korean ladies fainting in their wake. These guys are total videogame-playing badasses and they know it.

  
  

  Chapter 1
  In which any cocky readers not yet convinced that these Korean pros are infinitely better than they are, are utterly shamed and forced to read on through bitter tears.

  Serious activities demand serious measurements of skill. That’s why SC pros (the Korean eSports Association tracks the ranking of over 200 professional players) measure their twitch and micro abilities in Actions Per Minute (APM). Most pros have over 300 APM and you’re considered slow if you can only complete 200 actions in 60 seconds. Check out this video below and while you’re waiting for it to load, I dare you to even think of 200 actions in 60 seconds.

  In the time it took your lazy eyes to watch that video, Nada took 793 actions in a StarCraft match. I bet that’s more than you’ve made in your entire last game. But don’t feel too bad, some of the pros’ matches don’t even last 3 minutes, so they have to be fast!

  Chapter 2
  In which you’re shown a series of impressive numbers that demonstrate how serious business StarCraft is there.

  There were 9.5 million copies of StarCraft sold worldwide. 4.9 millions of those (that’s over half) were sold in the small little East Asian country of South Korea. There’s only 50 million people in South Korea, that’s one copy of StarCraft for one out of every ten man, woman, and child in the country–most players there use internet cafes to enjoy the game, meaning they don’t need to purchase a copy!

  100,000 people gather annually on a beach to watch the StarLeague finals, where 12 pro teams with a combined 300 corporate-sponsored gamers battle in head-to-head matches for the ultimate SC glory. The top pros are earning upwards of $200,000 a year and even after they retire, they can get a job teaching StarCraft tactics are universities, where classes have been offered on the subject since 2009.

  [source for most data is EDGE Magazine's "Battle Stars" article, July 2010]

  

  Don

  Chapter 3
  In which you uncover that, despite all indications otherwise, these pros are still humans and have weaknesses.

  Their main weakness being money, of course. Just a few months ago, the professional StarCraft leagues in Korea lost a lot of face when a scandal erupted that revealed that a lot of top players, coaches, and even some league officials were involved in gambling rings and were throwing matches for money. Kotaku reported at the time that the bribes were between one and five thousand dollars for each game and that at least eleven pros were suspected to have taken the bait. Investigations are still undergoing, but a lot of the league’s coordinators are concerned that this will dampen excitement for StarCraft II’s launch. But then again that’s like saying it’ll only be a medium-sized avalanche wiping out your entire town.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/korea-day-the-professionals/feed/ 10 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/annyeong-its-korea-day/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/annyeong-its-korea-day/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:00:17 +0000 Josh Augustine http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8170 [..]]]> Nobody loves StarCraft more than South Korea does. That’s a simple fact of life that should be taught in schools alongside arithmetic and how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. While most nations revere movie stars, athletes and deities, South Korea efficiently turns their best StarCraft players into all three and worships them like the button-mashing wizards they are.

  Today is about honoring the fine people of South Korea, who love this game with a fiery passion and are probably freaking out right now because the release of StarCraft II is less than 48 hours away. So grab some kimchi, pull out your Korean-English dictionary and get ready to learn a thing or two about the most extreme StarCraft II fans in the world!

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/25/annyeong-its-korea-day/feed/ 4 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack-2/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack-2/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:46:34 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8408 [..]]]> As part of our Week of Starcraft, we’re giving away awesome StarCraft II Action Packs from SteelSeries all week long! The action pack includes the StarCraft II-themed Zboard and the looks-tough-feels-soft Terran Marine mousepad.

  Congratulations to yesterday’s winner, Scott Edgar of New Mexico!

  We’ve got more Action Packs to give away, so read on, good patron, to enter in today’s giveaway.

  
  

  To enter, send your name and address to contests@pcgamer.com with “Kerrigan” in the subject line. Enter now to win! But hey, if you don’t win, don’t sweat it: We’ll be giving away another every day – including over the weekend – throughout PC Gamer’s Week of Starcraft. We’ll post each day’s contest subject line in the morning, and announce the winner later that afternoon. And if the suspense is simply too much to bear, you can purchase a set of your own here. Check out SteelSeries’ mice and headsets, too—we love them.

  This contest is limited to US residents only. That’s because of laws that vary from place to place: if it were up to us, we’d give each and every one of you one of these badass sets.

  Full details on the products from SteelSeries below:

  StarCraft II Zboard:
  The SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition StarCraft II gaming keyboard offers players the ultimate gaming tool as they jump back into the epic struggle between the protoss, zerg and terran races in StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™. With its ability to adapt up to 150 games through a combination of removable keysets and profiles, the SteelSeries Zboard is unlike any other gaming keyboard on the market. Its “anti-ghosting” feature allows up to 7 simultaneous keystrokes opposed to the standard 2-4 on most keyboards. It can be fully customized through the use of the included SteelSeries Z Engine software which enables macros to be dragged and dropped onto specific keys by use of the program. The SteelSeries StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard is equipped with 2 USB ports and includes the SteelSeries Zboard base with Z Engine software, a standard QWERTY keyset for everyday use, and the co- developed StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ Keyset. The custom keyset for StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ offers players dedicated short-cut keys, complete key remapping for full keyset customization and beautiful game graphics that will enable quick mastery of the game, increase the users’ actions per minute (APM) and deliver unparalleled levels of engagement.

  QcK Tychus Findlay Edition:
  The SteelSeries QcK Tychus Findlay Edition mousepad is made of a high quality cloth material, providing a precise and consistent glide. The special surface graphic on this SteelSeries QcK is of recognized character, Tychus Findlay, from StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack-2/feed/ 17 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/vuvuzelas-and-maple-syrup-how-other-countries-probably-play-starcraft-ii/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/vuvuzelas-and-maple-syrup-how-other-countries-probably-play-starcraft-ii/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:53:30 +0000 Andy Salisbury http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8354 [..]]]> Blizzard’s seemingly forgotten fan base of RTS gamers hasn’t had a fresh title since 2002′s Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. And now that their time to shine has come once more, there will undoubtedly be a unique experience in each part of the globe. But just how will players around the world honor their heritage and play StarCraft II at the same time? I’ve got a few ideas.

  

  Firstly, there’s the great white north – Canada. Due to the good nature of Canadians, I suspect that while they’ll be engaged in hardcore unit on unit combat for minutes on end, moments before victory is achieved and one risks hurting a fellow canuck’s feelings, they’ll apologize for their callous ways and call out “gg, buddy.” They’ll then ride canoes to the local bar, drink a pint of Molson, and curl with their bearded brethren.

  Despite being given a version of the game that features less blood and gore than any StarCraft player should have to endure, the South Koreans are granted a national day of inservice by the President himself, Lee Myung-bak. In the wake of this, hundreds fall asleep at their computers from week-long gaming sessions, and students are graded on how many actions per minute they can achieve. Kimchi is awarded to honor students.

  The English, fueled by a steady diet of doner kebabs and Carling, completely forget about StarCraft II’s release. After a long day of enjoying socialized medicine and double-decker busses, they all go home to play Forklift Truck Simulator 2009. You know, because they like the number “two-hundred and nine.”

  Those of us here in the United States will of course, line up days in advance for StarCraft II. Leaving our families at home and joining our fellow fans, we’ll define dedication in the name of the collector’s edition. Conveniently, we’ll also neglect the fact that the game is being released online on launch day.

  Having just hosted the World Cup, South Africans are more ready than ever to get the celebration started. With their vuvuzelas in hand they preparBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZ BZZBZZZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZBZBZBZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZ ZBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BZ BZBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/vuvuzelas-and-maple-syrup-how-other-countries-probably-play-starcraft-ii/feed/ 13 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/starcraft-ii-around-the-globe-now-with-black-blood/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/starcraft-ii-around-the-globe-now-with-black-blood/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:04:05 +0000 Andy Salisbury http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8321 [..]]]> Next week those of us living in the United States and the United Kingdom will finally get our hands on the retail version of StarCraft II. Included in this version will be cigars, blood and the occasional curse word, but folks from other countries won’t be getting that same, authentic experience.

  German StarCraft fans won’t be treated to the same bloody explosions that those of us in the US will be, but rather a squeaky clean version that features no blood whatsoever. All in all, this seems pretty tame for a country that had no problem zerg rushing Poland (too soon?).

  Further east, the South Koreans will be getting about the same treatment as Germany. Their version of the game will be devoid of smoking, profanity, and all of the blood will be colored black instead of the typical red you expect to spill out of an exploding hydralisk. Why all the changes? Well, according to a translated Korean e-sports article, the game was resubmitted to Korea’s rating board after Blizzard failed to receive anything lower than a ‘Mature’ rating. The changes were made so that gamers as young as 12 could purchase the RTS phenomenon. Given that StarCraft sold about 4.5 million copies in South Korea alone, censorship seems like a good business decision.

  As for everyone’s favorite communist superpower – China isn’t getting the game in the foreseeable future. While Blizzard has stated that they have plans to release StarCraft II to the Chinese, there’s no set date. Given all the difficulty Blizzard has had releasing the Wrath of the Lich King expansion over there, I wouldn’t expect it to happen anytime soon.

  Most shocking of all is Japan, who won’t be getting StarCraft II at all. Blizzard has stated that they’ve got no plans to release the game in the land of the rising sun, primarily because they just don’t have a big PC gaming market. So, should you be a Japanese gamer looking to play one of the greatest RTS games of all time, you’ll need to import it. Also, kudos for going out of your way to read our lovely website. Nice, isn’t it?

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/starcraft-ii-around-the-globe-now-with-black-blood/feed/ 11 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:07:35 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8262 [..]]]> PC Gamer is pleased as punch to announce that as part of our Week of Starcraft, we’re going to be giving away awesome StarCraft II Action Packs from SteelSeries all week long! The action pack includes the StarCraft II-themed Zboard and the looks-tough-feels-soft Terran Marine mousepad.

  To enter, send your name and address to contests@pcgamer.com with “Raynor” in the subject line. Enter now to be the first to win! But hey, if you don’t win, don’t sweat it: We’ll be giving away another every day – including over the weekend – throughout PC Gamer’s Week of Starcraft. We’ll post each day’s contest subject line in the morning, and announce the winner later that afternoon. And if the suspense is simply too much to bear, you can purchase a set of your own at http://www.steelseries.com/int/products/partners/starcraft_2. Check out SteelSeries’ mice and headsets, too—we love them.

  This contest is limited to US residents only. That’s because of laws that vary from place to place: if it were up to us, we’d give each and every one of you one of these badass sets.

  

  Full details on the products from Steelseries below:

  StarCraft II Zboard:
  The SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition StarCraft II gaming keyboard offers players the ultimate gaming tool as they jump back into the epic struggle between the protoss, zerg and terran races in StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™. With its ability to adapt up to 150 games through a combination of removable keysets and profiles, the SteelSeries Zboard is unlike any other gaming keyboard on the market. Its “anti-ghosting” feature allows up to 7 simultaneous keystrokes opposed to the standard 2-4 on most keyboards. It can be fully customized through the use of the included SteelSeries Z Engine software which enables macros to be dragged and dropped onto specific keys by use of the program. The SteelSeries StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard is equipped with 2 USB ports and includes the SteelSeries Zboard base with Z Engine software, a standard QWERTY keyset for everyday use, and the co- developed StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ Keyset. The custom keyset for StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ offers players dedicated short-cut keys, complete key remapping for full keyset customization and beautiful game graphics that will enable quick mastery of the game, increase the users’ actions per minute (APM) and deliver unparalleled levels of engagement.

  QcK Tychus Findlay Edition:
  The SteelSeries QcK Tychus Findlay Edition mousepad is made of a high quality cloth material, providing a precise and consistent glide. The special surface graphic on this SteelSeries QcK is of recognized character, Tychus Findlay, from StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/giveaway-steelseries-starcraft-ii-action-pack/feed/ 18 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/sc2-week-meet-the-carrier/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/sc2-week-meet-the-carrier/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:53:50 +0000 Evan Lahti http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8242 [..]]]> There are 48 units in StarCraft 2. Through next Friday, we’re highlighting seven of our favorite pieces of sci-fi military equipment in Blizzard’s follow-up. First up: the Carrier.

  

  • THE CARRIER

  Race: Protoss
  What it is: an expensive, heavily-shielded capital ship
  Build cost: 350 minerals | 250 gas
  Build time: 120 sec
  Produced from: Stargate
  Supply: 6
  Real-world analog: Aircraft carrier
  Armament: Up to eight Interceptor fighter ships, launched from bays inside the Carrier
  Best against: Structures; Siege Tanks and other units that can’t defend themselves against anti-air
  Worst enemies: Viking (Terran), Corruptor (Zerg)
  Advantages: Mostly autonomous; clutters the screen with buzzing Interceptors
  Disadvantages: Expensive in resource and time to build; relatively slow; need adequate scouting before pushing a squad of Carriers toward your enemy
  Quote: “Carrier has arrived.”

  Who it’s for: Players that excel at winning the economic race but don’t want to fuss about with heavy micromanagement to capture a victory. Build a pack of Carriers, hover ‘em over an enemy’s stuff and watch the ships’ autonomous damage-children mill over your opponent like so many hungry laser locusts.

  Available upgrades
  Graviton Catapult (150 minerals, 150 gas) – Launches Interceptors faster.
  Air Armor (150 minerals, 150 gas) – Increases armor.
  Plasma Shields (200 minerals, 200 gas) – Increases armor.

  Our take

  Since time immemorial, armies of the world have sought to domesticate the beehive for war. Early Cherokee bands used hornet nests as impromptu grenades when their arrows were depleted, hurling the angry cylinders tens of feet before fleeing, regretting their flower-dotted headdresses. Endeared by humanity’s attempts at bee-based death, Protosskind developed the Carrier in the 25th century, perfecting the military art of putting tiny, hurt-causing things into a big, flying container.

  Carriers are the hovering, ominous beehives of StarCraft 2 multiplayer. Once they’ve received an attack order, a buzzing team of contracting, independent Interceptor ships streams from the Carrier, encircling and dive-attacking their target until it’s destroyed. Though the Carrier parent vessel remains still (and usually an arm’s length away from the fight) during this assault, the chaos caused by a messy flock of Interceptors has the added combat advantage of cluttering the screen, impeding a defending player’s ability to respond. Auto-targeting units or defensive structures (like the Terran Missile Turret) usually attack the Interceptors, not the Carrier they emanate from, meaning a player that’s defending against a Carrier usually needs to act quickly and micromanage their defending units to have a chance of surviving a raid.

  (Thanks to the StarCraft wiki for being a helpful source of fact-checking on our data for the Carrier.)

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/24/sc2-week-meet-the-carrier/feed/ 7 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/sc2-week-top-10-games-of-2010-feature/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/sc2-week-top-10-games-of-2010-feature/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:55:22 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=7867 [..]]]> As part of our ongoing celebration of all things StarCraft, we’re hosting a Starcraft smörgåsbord, with a different theme for each of the days leading up to and the week following SC2′s release. This article is a part of the “Everything We Know About StarCraft Day”, the first of the bunch, and marked the third time in a row that SC2 weaseled it’s way into our annual “best games of the upcoming year” feature. Third try’s the charm though, and we know that Wings of Liberty can’t go for four years in a row…right, Blizzard?

  

  Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

  Real-time Strategy
  Conquers PC Gaming Again

  Somehow, it’s Blizzard’s decade of bottled-up restraint, cancelled spin-offs, and lack of sequels is what’s most exciting about StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Waiting more than 10 years to revisit the Zerg, Protoss and Terrans shows Blizzard’s respect for the franchise, and this reverence permeates SC2′s design throughout, from the fine-tuned roster of simple-but-nuanced units each race is allotted to the intricate animations that bring battles to life.

  SC2′s vibrant color palette and model design communicates unit types and capabilities at a microsecond’s glance, and when the arc welder of a boxy SCV constructor crackles and its pilot reports “Job’s done!” in a casual, southern drawl, it makes building bunkers a satisfying task (nostalgia may have something to do with it). More encouraging, however, is SC2′s focus on story—Jim Raynor’s battlecruiser serves as your mobile base in Wings of Liberty, with fully-rendered versions of your crew waiting inside to chat up between missions, which you can choose by pulling up the galactic map—a feature that should come in handy as we await the release of the forthcoming Protoss and Zerg campaigns.

  

  [Annotations]
  Protoss | CARRIER
  Armament: Interceptor mini-craft, launched from holding bays
  Role: Hornet’s nest

  Terran | THOR
  Armament: “Thor’s Hammer” particle accelerators, 250mm bombardment cannon
  Role: Heavy-assault mech

  [Boxout]
  Developer: Blizzard
  Publisher: Blizzard
  ETA: JAN-MAR 2010

  

  Who is Jim Raynor?
  Full name: James Raynor
  Title: Captain,
  Battlecruiser Hyperion
  Born: 2470, Mar Sara
  Skills: Vulture pilot, Marine
  Affiliation: Raynor’s Raiders
  Quote: “The name’s Jim Raynor, pal. And I won’t be talked down to by anybody. Not even a Protoss.”

  In StarCraft, the hero of the Terran campaign saw his Protoss ally, Fenix, felled at the hands of Kerrigan, the woman he failed to save from the Zerg. In StarCraft II, Raynor dealt with this bitter history amid galactic war, alcoholism and the reign of a new Terran dictator, Arcturus Mensk.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/sc2-week-top-10-games-of-2010-feature/feed/ 0 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/sc2-week-3-part-campaign-announced/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/sc2-week-3-part-campaign-announced/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:30:32 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=7772 [..]]]> As part of our ongoing celebration of all things StarCraft, we’re hosting a Starcraft smörgåsbord, with a different theme for each of the days leading up to and the week following SC2′s release. This article is a part of the “Everything We Know About StarCraft Day”, the first of the bunch, and is an online release of Dan Stapleton’s reaction to the announcement that the SC2 campaign would be coming in three parts.

  BlizzCon shocker: StarCraft II torn into three parts

  Are three really better than one?

  Well, I can safely say that no one saw this coming. At this year’s BlizzCon celebration, Blizzard revealed that the long-awaited StarCraft II is being broken up into three full-length games. The first, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, follows the Terrans, and will likely hit sometime early next year. Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void follow the Zerg and the Protoss, respectively, and will ship at roughly one-year intervals after WoL. Blizzard says owners of the first part will be able to play all factions in multiplayer, and the second and third parts are basically expansion packs, though they’re not yet sure whether they’ll be stand-alone or not. Each will feature new single-player content, including a unique meta-game, since the Terran model that has Jim Raynor cruising around the galaxy choosing missions wouldn’t suit the Zerg or the Protoss.

  That part was a surprise. What’s not at all surprising is that StarCraft fans are up in arms. At first glance, it’s hard to blame them—this announcement is a huge change in the format from the original StarCraft, which contained separate campaigns for each of the three races that together told a full story. For a year, we were led to believe the sequel would follow the same formula, but now Blizzard is saying we’ll have to wait up to two years after the release of the first part, and open their wallets two more times, to play the conclusion. (Blizzard hasn’t yet announced pricing on the second and third installments, but I think we’ll be lucky if they only charge for $40 each.) It certainly seems like a money-grab scheme by a greedy developer.

  

  But on closer inspection, it might not be a raw deal at all. The sheer volume of mission content Blizzard is promising is impressive. Each release will have 26-30 missions, which is a full helping of campaign for any game. By comparison, the original StarCraft featured30 missions, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 had 27. So is there any question that Blizzard will be able to tell a full story in each release, with over-arching plot elements threaded throughout all three? Not in the least. In fact, it’s an opportunity to tell a more detailed story on a more epic scale than anything we’ve ever seen in an RTS. While it is the competitive nature of the multiplayer game that has given the original StarCraft such longevity, it was the story (combined with the excellent gameplay, of course) that made it such a huge hit among non-competitive (AKA the vast majority of) gamers. So from a content perspective, has Blizzard turned greedy and decided to give you less and charge more? No, I’d say not.

  Actually, my concern is that we’ll be dealing with too much content from each race. One of the things I enjoyed the most about StarCraft was getting to go from playing one side to playing another, completely different one. Blizzard says that three to five of the 30-odd missions in Wings of Liberty will be an optional mini-campaign played as the Protoss leader Zeratul—hopefully that will give us at least some of the variety that made StarCraft such a wild ride.

  Fans weren’t pissed off at Peter Jackson for charging them three times the admission fee to see the entire Lord of the Rings saga—in fact, they would have been furious if he’d attempted to cram the whole thing into one film. Demanding Blizzard whittle down their entire planned 80- to 90-mission story into 30, or even 40 missions could render an incredible story merely OK, and I for one would rather play the entire, unabridged version. As long as these missions live up to the vaunted Blizzard standard of quality, I’m looking forward to them.

  Five games I’m playing: Fallout 3; Far Cry 2; World of Goo; Red Alert 3; Sins of a Solar Empire

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/sc2-week-3-part-campaign-announced/feed/ 3 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/sc2-week-superweapon-strategy/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/sc2-week-superweapon-strategy/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:00:43 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=7768 [..]]]> As part of our ongoing celebration of all things StarCraft, we’re hosting a Starcraft smörgåsbord, with a different theme for each of the days leading up to and the week following SC2′s release. This article is a part of the “Everything We Know About StarCraft Day”, the first of the bunch, and is an online release of Dan Stapleton’s musings on superweapons, including SC2′s nuke, from the October 2008 issue’s Strategy column.

  StarCraft II: WMD-Related Program Activities

  Sometimes, superweapons just aren’t super enough

  It has long been my belief that building a superweapon should make you feel like a power-crazed madman (kind of like Kim Jung-Il, except better looking) and grant you an awesome destructive capability more than potent enough to compensate for any shortcomings you may have been teased about in the high school locker room. I’m talking about superweapons like the nukes we get in Supreme Commander, which can easily obliterate an entire base and everything in it, save Indiana Jones hiding in a refrigerator.

  But most games don’t trust us with that kind of firepower, and instead give us weaksauce superweapons—in fact, I’d go so far as to demote them from “super” to “pretty good.” In games like Command & Conquer 3, the nuke and ion cannon are effective at taking out units, but roughly equivalent to a stiff breeze when it comes to knocking down major buildings. Sins of a Solar Empire’s weapons, like the novalith cannon, can’t hold a candle to the Death Star. The design philosophy here is to make superweapons a means to an end, rather than the end itself—launching a superweapon strike on an enemy base to soften up defenses ahead of a conventional invasion can turn the odds in your favor without making the battle too one-sided, and since people want to see huge explosions every six minutes, what’s the point of having a cool superweapon you only get to use once per game?

  I respectfully disagree with that philosophy. Hearing nuclear missile launch warnings should make you void your bowels, not sigh, “Again?” and get ready to rebuild minor structures. I’m more a fan of Chris Taylor’s technique: give players ridiculously powerful weapons as well as the tools to stop them. Nothing is more satisfying than successfully shooting down an incoming nuke and imagining your enemy yelling, “Nooooo! Thwarted again!” and then redoubling his efforts to destroy you. Nothing, that is, until you take out his anti-nuke launcher with a well-placed strategic bomber run and land a nuke of your own dead-center in his base. And really, how better to end a game than with a blaze of glory and a mushroom cloud?

  

  I’m encouraged to see that StarCraft II’s superweapons seem to lean more toward this kind of powerful-but-counterable design. According to some early numbers, the Terran’s nuke power has been increased by around 60 percent, making it much more lethal than in the original (and you can stop it by detecting and killing the ghost spotter), and the Protoss Mothership is a potential base-killer if it gets close enough, but can be taken down without too much effort. In both cases, you’ll have to make key strikes to destroy stealth detectors or anti-air defenses ahead of your superweapon attacks, rather than simply lobbing nukes in to destroy defenses. A well-defended base isn’t easy to build, and shouldn’t be so easily cracked.

  That said, there’s plenty of room in the RTS genre for both types of superweapons. In fact, when it comes to weapons of mass destruction, I find it’s often a case of the more the merrier.

  Five games I’m playing: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.; Space Siege; Sid Meier’s Colonization (1994); Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance; Sins of a Solar Empire

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/sc2-week-superweapon-strategy/feed/ 9 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/we-tried-to-install-starcraft-2-and-this-happened/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/we-tried-to-install-starcraft-2-and-this-happened/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:50:25 +0000 Tom Francis http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=8026 [..]]]> We just got our ridiculously heavy, spectacularly cool collector’s editions of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in the office. So of course, we couldn’t resist trying to install it. Blizzard are wise to our sneaky ways, though, and scuppered us at the first hurdle.
  
  
  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/23/we-tried-to-install-starcraft-2-and-this-happened/feed/ 10 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/19/starcraft-ii-breaks-the-bank/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/19/starcraft-ii-breaks-the-bank/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:46:48 +0000 Dan Stapleton http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=7253 [..]]]> Update: The Wall Street Journal has retracted the story which claimed StarCraft II cost $100 million to make. It turns out that number was in reference to World of Warcraft, not StarCraft. Blizzard has declined to say how much they’ve spent on StarCraft II, but even though it might not be a nine-digit number, it’s a hell of a lot.

  If you Google “things that cost $100 million” right now, StarCraft II tops the list.

  It’s all due to a Wall Street Journal story which claims that Blizzard has spent around $100 million on development, which would make it one of the most expensive development projects in gaming history, on any platform. From what I’m told (developers are shy about sharing hard numbers), that’s five to 10 times the typical budget of a major game, with only a few extremely ambitious and groundbreaking games coming close to the $100 million mark. (GTA IV is the only other one I’ve ever heard of to do so.)

  It sounds like an absurd amount of money—like something Dr. Evil would demand. How could anyone possibly spend that much money on a game, much less one that doesn’t push any technological boundaries and does its best to replicate the gameplay experience of a 12-year-old game?

  

  After talking to various developers around the industry, I believe that number. Blizzard spent a decade actively developing the game (they may have scrapped what they had and restarted at least once during that time, before they officially announced it in 2007) and that means paying a team of ace developers the whole time. That adds up faster than you’d think, and back when the game was first announced, Blizzard told me that they had a team of 40 working on the project. That number can only have gone up in the past three years.

  And that’s just the guys who are making the actual game part. There are other costs, including the upkeep on Blizzard’s swank Irvine, California office space, which doesn’t come cheap. There’s also a cast of dozens of voice actors. But a huge expense, possibly bigger than the development costs themselves, are the stunning, world-class rendered cinematics for which Blizzard’s games are known. You’d be shocked at how much those things cost to make. Run-of-the-mill cinematics can cost millions. A full game worth of Blizzard cinematics? Tens of millions, easily.

  The announcement trailer showing Terran Marine Tychus Finley putting on his robo-pants.

  This TV ad shows clips of a ton of amazing-looking cinematics.

  There’s also the cost of the development of the new Battle.net 2.0, which may or may not be included in that grand total.

  Doing some simple math, that $100 million price tag means Blizzard has to sell almost 1.7 million copies at the full $60 price just to break even. (And that’s assuming that Blizzard would see every dime of those sales, but retailers need to take their piece of the pie, after all.) Given that games on the PC rarely sell that many copies in their entire lifetimes, it seems like a tremendously risky proposition.

  Of course, this is Blizzard we’re talking about here, and StarCraft. To date, StarCraft has sold more than 11 million copies, and Blizzard’s other recent games have moved a million copies in a matter of days. In that context, spending $100 million to make a stand-out product seems like the safest bet in the world.

  Whether you’re excited about StarCraft or not, data like this should make you scoff in the general direction of people who claim PC gaming is on the decline. Between this news and EA confirming that Star Wars: The Old Republic is its single most expensive development project ever, no one has ever spent as much money on PC-exclusive games as they are right now. The fact that giant companies like Activision and EA are willing to make those investments shows a huge amount of confidence in the platform.

  So now the question is, is StarCraft II going to be $100 million worth of fun? Just one more week ‘till we all find out. We’ll be covering the launch on July 27.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/19/starcraft-ii-breaks-the-bank/feed/ 31 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/16/blizzard-talks-real-id-plans-for-world-domination/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/16/blizzard-talks-real-id-plans-for-world-domination/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:33:06 +0000 Dan Stapleton http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=7092 [..]]]> In the wake of the near-fiasco with Real ID, which, if implemented, would have forced StarCraft II and World of Warcraft posters to use their real names on the official forums, Blizzard has compiled a Q&A on their plans for the future of the Real ID system. It’s a lengthy read, but if you have any questions about exactly how your real name will be used by Blizzard, you may find the answer after the jump.

  My favorite quote from the whole thing? Right here:

  “...We plan to include an option that will allow players to opt out of appearing on their Real ID friends’ “friends of friends” lists. We’re anticipating this feature to be available for StarCraft II shortly after release of the game, and World of Warcraft at around the same time — we’ll have more information for you in the coming weeks.”

  
  

  Answers to Common Community Questions About Real ID™

  Since the launch of the Real ID™ system in World of Warcraft®, we’ve received a number of questions from the community about our plans for the service, features like StarCraft® II’s Facebook® integration, and how we see Real ID evolving in the future. We’ve been keeping tabs on the conversations on our forums, social media sites, and fansites, and have compiled some of the most common questions to answer for you here. We hope you find this information helpful, and we look forward to hearing your feedback and continuing the conversation in the thread below.

  Q: Do you have any plans to allow players to not show their real name to friends of friends while using the Real ID system?
  A: As with any new feature we add to our games, we’ve been evaluating how Real ID has been used since its release to identify new functionality that would help improve our players’ experience. The in-game Real ID “friends of friends” list is designed to give players a convenient way to populate their Real ID friends list with other players they know and trust in real life, allowing them to quickly and easily send Real ID friend requests to these people without having to enter their Battle.net® account names. However, we recognize that some players would prefer not to be displayed on friends lists in this fashion, so we plan to include an option that will allow players to opt out of appearing on their Real ID friends’ “friends of friends” lists. We’re anticipating this feature to be available for StarCraft II shortly after release of the game, and World of Warcraft at around the same time — we’ll have more information for you in the coming weeks.

  Q: What are your plans for Facebook integration?
  A: With regard to Facebook, our goal is to help Blizzard gamers on Battle.net more easily connect to their real-life friends and family. For the launch of StarCraft II, we are introducing an optional Facebook friend finder feature to help achieve this goal. The friend finder enables players who decide to use it to easily populate their Battle.net friends list by sending Real ID friend requests to the people on their Facebook friends list who have Battle.net accounts. We hope players will find this feature convenient, but it’s completely optional. In the long term, we hope to give players who use Facebook some fun, and also optional, ways to share what they’re doing in Blizzard games with their friends, similar to the optional World of Warcraft Armory integration now available, but we don’t have any specific plans to share at present.

  Q: How does the friend finder in StarCraft II work? What’s sent to Facebook?
  A: When you use the Add a Friend feature in StarCraft II, one of the options you’ll see is to search your Facebook friends list for people who also have Battle.net accounts in order to quickly send them Real ID friend requests. When you click this button, you’ll be asked to enter your Facebook login information, and you’ll then see a list of your Facebook friends who also have Battle.net accounts. You’ll then have the option to send any of these Facebook friends a Real ID friend request in-game. (Keep in mind that for someone to appear on the list, their Battle.net account email address must match their Facebook email address. In addition, you’ll see the names of any Facebook friends who have registered Battle.net accounts, regardless of whether they have Blizzard games attached to their account or just, for example, created the Battle.net account to make a purchase on the online Blizzard Store.)

  It’s important to note that Blizzard Entertainment does not share any personal information with Facebook as part of this process. Keep in mind that as with other Real ID features such as the “friends of friends” list, our goal with the friend finder feature is to create convenient options to help players easily find people they know in real life on Battle.net without having to remember email addresses or account names. We hope players will find the feature easy to use and convenient.

  Q: How can I prevent World of Warcraft add-ons from accessing Real ID first and last names without my knowledge?
  A: As always, we recommend that you get your UI add-ons through reliable sources. It’s important to note that without installing a UI add-on specifically designed to retrieve that information, there’s no risk of it being accessed. On our end, we’re looking into the issue and are at work on some changes that we can make to help protect against these types of add-ons. We’ll provide further details as soon as we have more information to share.

  Q: Are you secretly trying to build a social gaming platform with the new Battle.net?
  A: It’s no secret — as we’ve discussed openly since we first started sharing our plans about the new Battle.net, one of our goals is for it to serve as a social gaming service for Blizzard gamers. This was a deliberate and open design decision, driven 100% by the desire to create an even better online experience for our players by giving them powerful tools to compete with and stay connected to their real-life friends and family.

  Q: If my account was compromised, what information about my Real ID friends would a hacker have access to?
  A: We take account security very seriously, and we offer a number of ways to help players keep their account secure, including the Battle.net Authenticator and the free Battle.net Mobile Authenticator app, available for a wide range of mobile devices. Aside from your friends’ first and last names, no other personal information is shared through the in-game Real ID system.

  Q: What’s a StarCraft II “character code”?
  A: When you first log in to StarCraft II, you’re prompted to choose a single character name. This is the only name you’ll use on Battle.net, and it’s tied to your StarCraft II license. In order to allow players to select any name they wish regardless of whether another player is already using the same name, we then generate and assign a three-digit character code that uniquely identifies the player. When posting on the forums of the new StarCraft II community site, players will be posting using their StarCraft II character name and character code.

  Q: Will the new StarCraft II forum posting name format (character name + character code) carry over into the forum communities of other Blizzard games?
  A: Following our recent decision to no longer use real first and last names on Blizzard forums, we’re still evaluating how we’ll move forward with our other forums. Our ultimate goal is still to promote constructive conversations and improve the overall forum experience for our players, and we think increasing accountability is an important part of achieving that. StarCraft II already uses a character name and character code combo in-game, which serves as a unique player identifier and fits well with our goal for the forums. World of Warcraft handles player identification differently, so we still need to determine whether adding a character code system like in StarCraft II is the best solution. Ultimately, we want to come up with a system that makes sense for each community and fits our long-term vision for the forums.

  Q: Are there any plans to change the in-game Real ID system so that players will have the option to display an assigned user name instead of their real names?
  A: The Real ID system is designed to help real-life friends and family who decide to use it keep in touch with each other across Blizzard games, and our goal in using real names is to ensure that players will be able to maintain long-term, meaningful relationships on the service for years to come. One way it helps make that happen is by eliminating the need to remember who, for example, “Thrall123″ really is when you see him or her pop up on your friends list again after months — or years — of being offline. Ultimately, we think this is the best way to ensure players who use Real ID are able stay connected with the people they enjoy playing with most in the long-term, and we don’t currently have any plans to change the system so it can be used with character names or alternate handles instead. That said, Battle.net is a living, breathing service that we will continue to evolve over time as we evaluate how players are using it and identify new ways to improve the experience.

  Q: What plans are there to improve moderation since the use of real names on the forums has been changed?
  A: Our new community sites’ forums, beginning with the StarCraft II site, will have an improved moderation system as well as a post-rating system which will help our players promote the conversations they find the most constructive, as well as help forum moderators identify quality discussions. This, coupled with the unique StarCraft II character name and code, will help us to create a more positive atmosphere based on community interaction and accountability.

  http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/09/blizzard-backtrack-on-realid-changes/
  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/16/blizzard-talks-real-id-plans-for-world-domination/feed/ 3 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/09/blizzard-backtrack-on-realid-changes/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/09/blizzard-backtrack-on-realid-changes/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:55:38 +0000 Tim Edwards http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=6302 [..]]]> Blizzard have just revealed that they will no longer be requiring real names to be used on the Battle.net forums. In a message to users from Mike Morhaime, Blizzard’s CEO and co-founder, the company has said that it has been listening to the feedback from forum users and has “decided that at this time real names will not be required for posting on the official Blizzard forums.” Instead, once the new forums launch, players will be identified by their Starcraft II username and character code. The full posting is below.

  “I’d like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We’ve been constantly monitoring the feedback you’ve given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we’ve decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.

  It’s important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as conversation threading, the ability to rate posts up or down, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.

  I want to make sure it’s clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you’ll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.

  In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard’s success from the beginning.”

  Link

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/09/blizzard-backtrack-on-realid-changes/feed/ 12 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/01/the-pc-a-place-where-games-never-age/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/01/the-pc-a-place-where-games-never-age/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:10:06 +0000 Robert Hathorne http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=4833 [..]]]> On last week’s podcast master producer, Andy Bauman, asked if I thought StarCraft II was going to feel a bit antiquated after all these years. No way, if anything, the PC is the last bastion for oddballs and old school designs to not only exist, but thrive.
  

  The day this is antiquated is the day I drop gaming.

  The way I see it, we’re a blessed bunch here on the PC because there’s no such thing as out-of-style. Frankly, there’s too damn many of us, and we demand variety. When we start to identify certain aspects of a game as out-dated, that is, should no longer be used, we start limiting what we think games ought to be, and devalue the medium as a whole. Even if we’re tired of the tedious base building in Command & Conquer (whole sites are still committed to the game), surely we can’t deny the hours of enjoyment we’ve drawn from the series.

  

  Noth'n burns like a sprite.

   For a recent Game Club, the crew and I jumped into Uplink, a 2001 release that looks like something out of 1995. The entire game is played on a sparse pseudo-desktop, and all of your interactions are either clicking icons or filling in text. It’s hardly cutting edge in presentation, but what it lacks in gloss, it makes up for with timeless design and a unique style that’s yet to be matched. And that’s just it–on the PC, conventions can’t become antiquated–for every one of us that’s repulsed by the tapioca C&C shot above, there’s another that wants to marry it.

  

  What could be more sleek than eighty-four right angles?

  Okay, so some designs are just bad, and I’ll be the last to argue they’re not (I’m looking at you every escort mission ever), but old designs can still be good designs, even if we’re tired of them. Believe me, if it’s a good design, you’ll eventually be back no matter how over-played it may seem; hence the remake madness we’ve witnessed and mostly enjoyed over the last few years. What I’m saying is, it takes all kinds, and we’re lucky enough to be on a platform that permits them. So the next time you’re ready to toss a game you’ll never play again, take a step back and try to appreciate it for what it was. Be a curator and really figure what made that game so great for you in the first place, then toss it–it’ll be awhile before you’re ready to see that crap again.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/01/the-pc-a-place-where-games-never-age/feed/ 11 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/24/starcraft-ii-airlines-take-to-the-skies/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/24/starcraft-ii-airlines-take-to-the-skies/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:48:47 +0000 Jaz McDougall http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=4250 [..]]]> Blizzard have struck a deal with Korean Air to put a big picture of Jim Raynor on the side of two international planes – a B747-400 and a B737-900 – in exchange for… additional pylons? Who knows? Maybe Paul Sams, Chief Operating Officer of Blizzard does: ”As we approach the global launch of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, this promotion represents a unique, large-scale opportunity to introduce the characters and style of the StarCraft universe to gamers throughout the world.”

  The problem, though is that when you can see a plane, it’s because you’re either in one, 30,000 ft below one, or helping it taxi around a runway because you work at an airport. Silly Paul Sams! You could have put it on a billboard in Hull and reached more people! Nevertheless, StarCraft planes mark yet another cultural victory for gaming, if not a marketing victory for Blizzard.
  

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/24/starcraft-ii-airlines-take-to-the-skies/feed/ 10 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/23/starcraft-ii-event-everything-is-being-released/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/23/starcraft-ii-event-everything-is-being-released/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:31:19 +0000 Tim Edwards http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=4022 [..]]]> The Starcraft community in Korea has gone into a bit of a tizz. Tomorrow, the local media, Starcraft community, and Blizzard big-wigs have been invited to a private event at a Korean Air hangar in Gimpo Airport. The invitation suggests a major Starcraft II announcement is to take place. Full details below.

  The flyer for the event, kindly translated by Starcraft Legacy reads

  UPGRADE…99%
  You’ve waited a long time
  Everything about StarCraft II
  Is finally being released!
  June 24 11:00~14:00
  Gimpo Airport Korean Air Hangar

  

  Clearly, big news is about to happen. We wouldn’t put it past Korea Air to have replaced all their fleet with Mutalisks, or something equally mad.

  You think we’re joking. Korean Air have form with Starcraft II. Here are some commercials they recently ran. On Korean Air, Hydralisks always get the window seat.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/23/starcraft-ii-event-everything-is-being-released/feed/ 2 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/17/official-starcraft-ii-hardware-rates-you-as-you-play/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/17/official-starcraft-ii-hardware-rates-you-as-you-play/#comments Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:31:04 +0000 Tim Edwards http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=2861 [..]]]> At E3, I had a chance to sit down with the head of Razer, Robert Krakoff, to talk PC hardware. The Starcraft II keyboard (the Marauder), mouse (the Spectre) and headset (the Banshee) are outrageously OTT, sleek, and pretty cool. But they have wider implications. If you want, they can display just how good you are at the game. Despite already owning a great mouse, a great keyboard, and a superb headset, I kind of want the set.
  

  The Spectre - $80

  Each are encrusted with very special LEDs. Blizzard, when helping Razer make the hardware, opened up the game to pump out little bits of data, including a player’s actions per minute. Krakoff explained that if  you’re averaging beneath 200 actions per minute, the LEDs will glow green. Up to 400, they’ll glow yellow. Go above 400, though, and they’ll turn red. The dream scenario is that at a tournament, all the pro-players will have flashing red headsets.

  

  The Marauder - $120

  What’s more, if your units come under attack, the keyboard will flash red to alert you. You can also customise these alerts, if you don’t particularly care about people being in your base, killing your dudes. Or are insecure about your actions-per-minute.

  Finally, JUST LOOK AT THEM. You know you want them. The whole set will go on-sale after Starcraft II launches on the 27th of July.

  LOOK AT THEM!

  

  The Banshee - $120

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/17/official-starcraft-ii-hardware-rates-you-as-you-play/feed/ 13 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/12/starcraft-2-to-get-built-in-replay-uploads/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/12/starcraft-2-to-get-built-in-replay-uploads/#comments Sat, 12 Jun 2010 22:00:31 +0000 Tim Edwards http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=470 [..]]]> Chris Sigurty, lead producer on StarCraft II, has told PC Gamer that the game will eventually include the ability to upload and download replays of matches to Blizzard’s Battle.net service.

  Currently, shoutcasters are doing great things by recording commentary over the top of replays swapped by email or file-share. Soon, they’ll be able to transfer replay files over the net through a later version of Battle.net.

  “Our long term intention with replays is to make them much more accessible,” says Sigurty. “Our intention with Starcraft 2 is to save them up to the network and let people download them and watch them, paying attention to the pro and platinum leagues, so they can learn.”

  Even despite Starcraft II’s extended development, Sigurty isn’t sure the feature will make it into the game for the retail release. “It’s something we’re looking at in a basic form for ship, but it’s still unknown whether that’s going to happen or not.”

  Starcraft II releases on July 27th. You should probably pre-order it.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/12/starcraft-2-to-get-built-in-replay-uploads/feed/ 4 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/11/starcraft-ii-tv-ad-renderlicious/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/11/starcraft-ii-tv-ad-renderlicious/#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:25:23 +0000 Tim Edwards http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=1407 [..]]]> Starcraft II is mere weeks away, and that means the media blitz starts now. You can watch the HD TV ad for the game below. It shows again just how good Blizzard’s cinematics team are getting at this. Hnnng! Vibrating with anticipation of clicking on tiny little cartoon men!
  
  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/11/starcraft-ii-tv-ad-renderlicious/feed/ 10 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/10/pc-gamer-us-august-issue/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/10/pc-gamer-us-august-issue/#comments Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:32:55 +0000 PC Gamer http://www.pcgamer.com/?p=940 [..]]]> The time to stick with the prod is over. The new Deus Ex is our cover this month, and it’s sleek, shiny, and doesn’t mind breaking a few eggs – a little like PC Gamer, then. We’ve got a huge six-page preview for your conspiracy-hungry eyeballs, packed with gorgeous screens, honest impressions, and enlightening quotes from the daring developers at Eidos Montreal.

  But if bionic shades don’t grab you, how about MMOs you can play with your kids? Josh has found nine free worlds you can enter with urchins in tow. We’ve reviewed Alpha Protocol, Split/Second, and The Sims 3: Ambitions, and we’ve played three new missions of the Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty singleplayer campaign. We’ve even written about what they were like! We’re thinking of calling it a “pre-viewing” of the game. Tell us what you think.

  We’ve had to endure much, you and I, but soon there will be order again. Speaking of order, you can click here to order a subscription to the mag. Or if you’re already a subscriber, click here to login to your customer account, to change your details, deliver address, etc.

  ]]> http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/10/pc-gamer-us-august-issue/feed/ 7