Blizzard Entertainment has sent word that a new patch filled with balance changes and bug fixes has been injected into the world of StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty.
Most notable--according to fan reaction on the patch's announcement post--is the timing change on researching Warp Gate technology. The gate development time has been increased from 140 to 160. Read more »
The hostilities and legal battle between Blizzard and the Korean eSports Players Association over StarCraft broadcasting rights are seemingly drawing to a close. Fomos reports that Several members of the body, the self-declared representative of South Korean professional gaming, are soon to settle with the maker of the StarCraft series.
South Korean television networks and KeSPA members Ongamenet and MBC Game broadcast competitive StarCraft games without the licenses or fees demanded by Blizzard. The companies respectively had hosted the OSL and MSL, two astonishingly popular leagues for the original game, for years and felt Blizzard had no right to demand these fees. It also seemed a little cheeky that Blizzard waited until they, with other companies, had helped make StarCraft hugely successful in South Korea. Unsurprisingly, and justly, Blizzard was somewhat displeased by their refusal to play ball and called in the lawyers. Read more »
Blizzard has now updated its official StarCraft 2 mods, and released the full versions complete with unlockable achievements and avatars. The Battle.net blog teases the three cheeky mods: Aiur Chef, Left 2 Die, and StarJeweled.
As you almost certainly guessed, Aiur Chef is a parody cooking game starring the Protoss. Left 2 Die takes its inspiration from the zombie craze, instead featuring hordes of Zerg attacking at night. StarJeweled has you matching gems to generate resources that you can then use to beef up your armies. Read more »
Activision's announcement that we may not see a Blizzard game released in 2011 shed serious doubt on their two known projects: Diablo III and StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. According to Blizzard, though, there's still hope for one of them this year.
While it is still relatively early in StarCraft II's life as far as custom games go, but there's an early standout emerging on the US and EU versions of Battle.net: Star Battle.
The game is a 6v6 DotA style map that pits fleets of capital ships against each other as fighter ships push different lanes and can be killed for minerals, used to upgrade and outfit each player's ship. Read more »
Game of the Year Runner-up: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
The wait was definitely worth it with Blizzard's first non-World of Warcraft release since July 2003 and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is our second best game of 2010. There isn't much more to say that hasn't been covered in the posts for Best Multiplayer, Best Strategy, and Best PC game, which were all taken by StarCraft II. Read more »
PC Exclusive: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
It was definitely a close race between the two top games here, but in the end StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty edged out our runner-up. StarCraft II shipped with Blizzard's requisite level of polish and tons of content, which was quickly snapped up by a huge community from casual players all the way up to Korean progamers. In fact, some of us played the StarCraft II beta more than most other games this year, which continued when the game was released. Read more »
Strategy: href="http://www.shacknews.com/reviews/game.x/4110">StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Read more »
Plays Well With Others (Best Multiplayer): StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Blizzard's latest real-time strategy game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, was launched in a tough multiplayer spot with a lot to live up to. Its predecessor was still being played by the hardcore and is a national sport in South Korea. On the other side of the coin, the RTS genre had become more and more niche over the years since the company's last release, Warcraft III. Blizzard succeeded in releasing a game that was eSport ready on day one, but was also fun for more casual players. The innovative leagues and ladder system offers meaningful matchmaking and rankings to all but the most skilled players, while custom games and comp stomps sweeten the deal. With two expansions on the way and more tournaments than we can count, StarCraft II is well on its way to being played for the next ten years just like the original. Read more »
Blizzard has launched another wave of account bans for hackers and cheaters in StarCraft II, though no specifics have been revealed by the company.
Typically, Blizzard (and other game developers) will hold off on banning users for cheats, hacks, and exploits until a critical mass of electronic ne're-do-wells are caught. By banning in waves, companies attempt to catch as many people as possible before revealing their hand. Read more »
Patch 1.1.3 for Blizzard's StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is rolling out across all regions today, bringing a minor balance change, a bug fix, and new custom map filters to find games of Tower Defense and Tug of War.
StarCraft II lead producer Chris Sigaty told us to expect a minor patch in the week's following BlizzCon. A large features and balance patch should be released later this year, which will include, among other things, chat channels and the support for seasonal ladders. Read more »
This weekend, MLG will be broadcasting its 2010 Pro Circuit finals from Dallas, Texas. The events will be streamed for free at MLGPro.com, though an enhanced HD stream is available for $10.
The games being played at MLG are Halo 3, StarCraft II, Halo: Reach, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Tekken 6. A full schedule of events is available here. Read more »
As Alice reported earlier, Blizzard has announced four in-house custom maps for StarCraft II at BlizzCon 2010. They are Blizzard DOTA, Starjeweled, Aiur Chef, and Left 2 Die. I have played all of them and my brief impressions for each can be found below.
This is a trimmed down version of the Warcraft III incarnation of DOTA, which utilizes a simplified shop system--combining items has been replaced by upgrading items--and a StarCraft-influenced cast of characters. Raynor, Zeratul, and the Queen of Blades are heroes, along with other characters like Grunty, the Murloc Marine, and Patches, a version of Pudge. Read more »
Last week, CheatHappens claimed that Blizzard had banned players for using its own and other third-party "trainers" in single-player campaign and skirmish games of StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty in the developer's mass banning earlier this month.
One of the CheatHappens users, gm0ney, claimed to have never played a single multiplayer game, but was suspended for 14 days for using the trainer program provided by CheatHappens. The email he received from Blizzard listed the reason as: "Offense: Terms of Use Violation - Exploitative Activity: Unauthorized cheat programs ('hacks')". Read more »
The closing concert at BlizzCon 2010 will be headlined by Tenacious D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass), which will take the stage at the end of the two-day event on Saturday, October 23.
The performance will include "the debut of new, soon-to-be-legendary songs," according to Blizzard. BlizzCon 2009's concert featured Ozzy Osbourne.
Though the show is sold out, interested viewers will be able to see a steam of BlizzCon events, presentations, and the Tenacious D concert through DirecTV pay-per-view or a paid Internet stream. Read more »
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