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Blizzard Announces New Starcraft Game
About a zillion readers wrote in to tell us about all the commotion over at the Blizzard site. Following a countdown, they've announced the latest Starcraft game, Starcraft: Ghost. Note that this game will be console-only, and the FAQ is very adamant that this is not a Starcraft 2.
The last time Blizzard tried to make something with another group of developers, it turned out to be such crap that they canned it...
Tim
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
Its gamecube and X-Box, not ps2.
But i agree. This will cause a violent reaction among some of blizzard's loyal fans. While i don't begrudge them trying to make different games and reaching a different audience, not developing it for pc is a major, major oversight.
Everyone who plays pc games knows blizzard, and they would have instant sales in the pc area. Cutting it off to consoles is a slap in the face to loyal fans, and really there is no excuse. Their developing it for x-box, why not the pc?
Think nothing is impossible? Try slamming a revolving door.
"We began our early development efforts in console gaming, and we have always been excited about returning to this arena. Additionally, we've wanted to revisit the StarCraft universe for some time. With StarCraft: Ghost, we are able to do both."
n _ghost_character.
Translation: We wanted to use Blizzard's name and a great game title to enter into the console market.
I'm not meaning to flame here... But it looks like that to me. It could turn out to be a great game. However I do question how much it will be starcraft and how much it will be star_based_game_set_in_space_with_aliens_and_huma
If It's good (which I do hope. I've always supported Blizzard), I guess I'll have to buy a console.
How depressing that bringing down a funny script with halfassed 3D graphics is "a new level." Not necessarily a better level, I guess! Gimme pixelated sprites any day.
And I've never even USED bnetd. That's how upset what they did makes me.
Actually, the insistence that this isn't "Starcraft 2" should be a strong clue that PC gamers aren't really missing out on "the next big thing" from Blizzard. This sounds much more like a completely different game, trying to cash in on the popularity of the Starcraft name.
If you were laughing before at the suggestion that the PC game market would dry up with the new generation of consoles, keep on laughing. Unreal Tournament 2003 will be out for the PC before XBox or PS2 has it. Starcraft 2 is still slated to be on the PC first, from every indication they've given.
Come on guys, it's not that hard.
Warcraft 3 is the fastest selling PC game of all time. It continues to top the charts since its release. In fact, this week is the first time it wasn't #1.
With those kinds of numbers, its obvious Blizzard will do an expansion for it - its easy money!
Now imagine they announced Starcraft 2 would be out next year. That would cannibalize sales of Warcraft 3, and kill any opportunity of an expansion. Everyone would be waiting for Starcraft 2 instead.
This is why they didn't announce Starcraft 2 today. In fact, the PR guys confirmed several days ago that Starcraft 2 isn't even in development - they are focused on making as much as they can from Warcraft 3 right now.
Who knows what will come after the Warcraft III expansion - something with Diablo? Something new? But I don't think we will see Starcraft 2 for at least 3 years.