Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm review: Zerg rushing towards resolution]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/18/starcraft-2-heart-of-the-swarm-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/18/starcraft-2-heart-of-the-swarm-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/18/starcraft-2-heart-of-the-swarm-review/#comments StarCraft 2 Heart of the Swarm review A zerg rush to the heartIn music theory, there's a series of notes called a tritone interval. (I'm a writer and a Rock Band player, not a musician, so bear with me, band members.) The tritone consists of three different whole tones: The first sets the stage, marks the spot on the musical scale that our ear can attune itself to. The second note is actually dissonant - it throws off the harmony, and introduces new elements so distasteful that the chord used to be called "The Devil in Music."

The third tone, however, finishes off the chord in exactly the right way, and brings resolution to all of the dissonance. Leonard Bernstein famously put the tritone to great use in the song "Maria" from West Side Story: "Ma-" is the beginning tone, "-ri-" shakes things up with some disharmony, and "-a" resolves the melody, justifying the lead couple's forbidden love.

Now, using that theory to talk about Blizzard's StarCraft 2 trilogy is a little unfair. The second campaign, Heart of the Swarm, isn't anywhere near "distasteful." But it does introduce plenty of new elements to the series, spinning off the RTS classic into places that Wings of Liberty never dared to go. And like that second note of a tritone, it makes sure to leave plenty of ambiguity and promise out there, making sure we're all ready for the big finale in Legacy of the Void.

Gallery: Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm

Continue reading StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm review: Zerg rushing towards resolution

JoystiqStarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm review: Zerg rushing towards resolution originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>activisionactivision-blizzardblizzardblizzard-entertainmentfour-starsheart-of-the-swarmkerrigankerrigaynorlegacy-of-the-voidpcreviewstarcraft-2starcraft-2-heart-of-the-swarmMon, 18 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Blizzard's Project Blackstone is a Heart of the Swarm viral campaign]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/07/blizzards-project-blackstone-is-a-heart-of-the-swarm-viral-camp/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/07/blizzards-project-blackstone-is-a-heart-of-the-swarm-viral-camp/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/07/blizzards-project-blackstone-is-a-heart-of-the-swarm-viral-camp/#comments Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm teaser site crackedBlizzard Entertainment registered a site called ProjectBlackstone.com late last year, and fans wondered if maybe it might be related to the mysterious upcoming Blizzard project code-named Titan. But no such luck, it seems: The domain went live this week and, soon after that, some crafty Redditors found the password. (It's "Y7_$0>0k_3<$m," if you want to try it yourself). The whole campaign has been revealed as a Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm tie-in.

Opening the site up reveals emails between various Terran characters talking about experimenting on Zerg lifeforms and presumably we'll see updates in the future that will fill out the story heading into the new game. Heart of the Swarm, the second part of the trilogy that Blizzard's Starcraft 2 has become, is due out on March 12.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

JoystiqBlizzard's Project Blackstone is a Heart of the Swarm viral campaign originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Feb 2013 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blackstoneblizzardblizzard-entertainmentcampaignheart-of-the-swarmpcproject-blackstonesitestarcraft-2starcraft-2-heart-of-the-swarmviralThu, 07 Feb 2013 01:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Activision: At least two Blizzard titles coming in 2012, if none released this year]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/09/activision-at-least-two-blizzard-titles-coming-by-2012-diablo/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/09/activision-at-least-two-blizzard-titles-coming-by-2012-diablo/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/09/activision-at-least-two-blizzard-titles-coming-by-2012-diablo/#comments Speaking during a financial earnings call today, Activision COO Thomas Tippl said that if we don't see any games from Blizzard this year, the publisher expects to see them next year. "Because Blizzard Entertainment has not yet confirmed the launch date for its next global release," Tippl told investors and press, "our outlook at this time does not include a new game from Blizzard in 2011." But don't worry, Blizzard fans, Activision's got a whip it's not afraid to crack: "Should we not release a major title from Blizzard this year, we would expect for planning purposes to launch a minimum of two Blizzard titles in 2012."

Presumably, those two titles would be Heart of the Swarm (the Zerg-based expansion for Starcraft 2) and the long-awaited Diablo 3. Blizzard president Mike Morhaime joined the call after Tippl spoke and promised that more information was coming about both. Blizzard's developers, he said, are hard at work on Heart of the Swarm, and we'll hear more "in the coming months."

Additionally, Morhaime said that he would talk about Diablo 3 "and the upcoming beta on the next call," in about three months. "Until we get to beta and have the community help us test the game," he later said, "we're not going to lock in a release date."

Blizzard is also working to get both World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Starcraft 2 out in China, but had "no specific updates to share at this time" about those releases -- or the "Titan" MMO, for that matter. Morhaime did plug both the upcoming BlizzCon and Blizzard's twentieth anniversary this year, and closed by saying that "the games we have in the pipeline represent the best and widest slate of games we have ever produced."

JoystiqActivision: At least two Blizzard titles coming in 2012, if none released this year originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>activisionbetablizzardDiablo-3heart-of-the-swarmmike-morhaimepcrelease-datestarcraft-2thomas-tippltitanWed, 09 Feb 2011 17:40:00 EST<![CDATA[Battle.net chief: next StarCraft is 18 months away]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/08/battle-net-chief-next-starcraft-is-18-months-away/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/08/battle-net-chief-next-starcraft-is-18-months-away/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/08/battle-net-chief-next-starcraft-is-18-months-away/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Blizzard's Battle.net project director, Greg Canessa, was quoted at GDC Online suggesting an early 2012 release window for sequel-spansion StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. GameSpot caught the quote during a panel, in which Canessa responded to future Battle.net upgrades by saying they are "a main area of focus we're going to be seeing on the Starcraft side over the next 18 months between now and Heart of the Swarm." However, a Blizzard representative told Joystiq "We have not announced a release date or window for Heart of the Swarm."

Blizzard's next release will be for the World of Warcraft (population 12 million) expansion Cataclysm on December 7. With that bit of news out there, hopefully BlizzCon's big reveal will end the hellish wait for a Diablo 3 release date.

JoystiqBattle.net chief: next StarCraft is 18 months away originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>BlizzardBlizzard-EntertainmentHeart-of-the-SwarmmacpcStarcraft-2Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST