Drumroll please…

Posted by Tritone on Saturday, May 19, 2007
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Today Blizzard announced what will be their next, soon-to-generate-more-income-than-most-third-world-countries (especially in Korea, where STARCRAFT is a national sport) game: STARCRAFT 2. Featuring an all-new graphics engine and…well, an all-new graphics engine, STARCRAFT 2 looks to retain the same races, units, and map styles of the original. No new races. No new innovative, genre-busting gameplay. Don’t get me wrong, I love the original STARCRAFT–it’s one of the classics of all time and even today, still an entertaining title to play, despite its 10-year-old graphics–but c’mon, Blizzard: you have access to the richest resources in the industry, and THIS is your new supersecret project? This is at best side dish, a mod, a bone thrown to the faithful who are salivating for the next Blizzard Masterpiece. Am I totally messed up or is this as cynical and uncreative a move as I think it is?

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4 Comments »

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Comment by Dodongo

5/19/2007 @ 11:56 am

Well, I remember the plans for Warcraft 3 changing drastically from the first press to its release. I seem to recall upwards of 7 races announced, then there was going to be a Dwarf race, etc. I think it’s unlikely that they would leave the gameplay unchanged, though it’d still make them millions of dollars. There will probably at least be some hero characters with RPG elements added to them. Some non linear choices would be nice.

With games like Spore on the horizon, it would be a bad idea to get lazy now.

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Comment by taybinator

5/21/2007 @ 8:27 pm

Why mess with success? Even after all these years, Starcraft is still awesome. I hope they go forth with well thought out steps, ala Valve.

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Comment by Tritone

5/21/2007 @ 11:32 pm

Why mess with success? Well, unless you take a risk–and with Blizzard’s clout, money, and personnel, who better to take a risk–you just get more of the same. Hey, the cinematic looks awesome but the game seems more like a remake for the new graphics cards than a real sequel.

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Comment by Ruckus

5/24/2007 @ 12:11 pm

This is a slam dunk for success. It’s hard to question a decision like this one from a business standpoint. Sure, it’s not Starcraft: Ghost or World of Starcraft, but given the sales potential for the required effort you can’t fault them for it.

It’s a disappointment that this is not World of Starcraft - which many were convinced was coming and may still be coming - but hey, I still play the original. I’ll pay to play the sequel as well.

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