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StarCraft 2 may still be a long ways off (coming out in 2084, right?), but that thankfully hasn't stopped Blizzard from releasing a steady trickle of updates on the game. The latest involves platform support, as a Blizzard employee recently popped onto the game's forums to verify that SC2 support PC and Mac right out of the box. Sounds all well and good, but what about those who go the download route?

"Further details on digital download possibilities will be released as we get closer to the ship date," the forum post reads. While we'd like to speculate on what these "digital download possibilities" are, it would be just that: speculation. It's not really our bag and, besides, you've got better things to do than finish reading this post -- like organizing your collection of figurines by alphabetical order and taking the trash cans to the curb like your grandma asked you to do over an hour ago.

[Via Big Download]

Halo Wars
Yeah, that's right, Halo Wars. I've already caught enough flak for putting this on my best-of list for 2009 (it's hard to even remember that it came out way back in February), but it deserves to be recognized ... so pay attention once your laughter has died down. Ensemble Studios (RIP) proved that you could bring a real-time strategy game to a console, and still make it enjoyable. Sure, you'll never have 1:1 parity mapping everything a full-sized keyboard offers onto a controller, but this game came close. It's a pity Ensemble closed, since we'll never see any expansion packs or a sequel. The good news is that, since it wasn't received with blaring trumpets and the sounds of cash registers ringing, you can pick this up for under 20 bucks for some good fun.

Speaking to Gamasutra, Blizzard's J. Allen Brack said the company will "definitely" return to console game development ... "at some point." Brack dismissed criticism that Blizzard is "anti-console," assuring that the developer simply wants to make "the right game for the right platform." He elaborated that StarCraft II will be "a better game" on PC than it would on consoles -- something StarCraft 64 players can probably attest to.

Still, Brack noted that Blizzard is "a company of gamers." "We will definitely work on a console game at some point. I have no doubt about that." This is a statement we've heard from Blizzard before, previously from COO Paul Sams and specifically in regard to Diablo III. Of all the known games coming down the pipe from the studio, Diablo III certainly seems to fit the console mold the closest.

Then again, StarCraft: Ghost was never officially canceled, right? Right?!

[Via The Escapist]

Remember that silly, insane rumor from back in 2008 about Diablo 3 being released by Blizzard before StarCraft 2? Turns out that Blizzard's Rob Pardo thinks that's a bunch of hogwash. Rather, that's at least what we can infer from his recent conversation with Techland on the subject. "We always announce all of our games too early," he says. "I think it's safe to say that, yeah, [Diablo 3] is not going to be out next year."

Considering StarCraft 2's delay to 2010, we think it's fair to assume that Diablo 3 will in fact not be arriving before a StarCraft sequel. Pardo adds that it's not a question of lacking resources, as "each game has individual development teams; it's just that the way that we develop games, we develop them very iteratively." Worse yet, there doesn't seem to be a finish line in sight for D3. "Now when we announce [a game] we just go, 'Here's the game we're working on, we're going to start talking about it and who knows when it ships.'" If any of you were still holding your breath for Diablo 3's release, now might be a good time to exhale.

[Via Big Download]

Okay gang, fun's over. We all had some good times with the few non-delayed Q4 2009 blockbusters that dropped during the past two weeks, but now it's time to start agonizing over every scrap of news for next year's highly anticipated titles. We'll kick things off: Hey, the StarCraft II site just received a major update, delivering a whole mess of feature articles and screenshots to the series' fast-clicking fanbase!

The articles include a short story about the ever-devious Zerg Changeling, a design overview of the campaign story, insight into creating one of the multiplayer maps, and character bios for three of the game's combatants. Are you adequately excited by these updates? Good. Now, prepare to not play the game for an undisclosed period of time. Yeah, it's all coming back to you now, isn't it?

[Via Big Download]

To be clear, we can't be certain that the massive creature seen above is actually called a Brutalisk. We're just assuming so, based on the image's filename. That said, look at that thing. It's humongous. The StarCraft II Twitter account implies that the massive creature is a "custom" unit from the single-player campaign. Given that the first installment of the game, Wings of Liberty, will focus on the Terrans, we get the feeling that players won't be controlling this bad boy. Our suggestion for dealing with the insectoid pest? Two words: Yamato cannon.

[Via Big Download]

Blizzard finally unveiled the much-hyped new version of Battle.Net at BlizzCon and, as expected, it's a huge leap forward from the service that was first introduced with Diablo in 1996. Although, in typical Blizzard fashion, this is still a work in progress and could change by the time it eventually comes out. In 2013. (We kid, we kid.)

Everything shown was modeled from inside of Starcraft 2, which Blizzard is calling the Battle.Net 2.0 launch title. The developer will be working to expand it to older titles, possibly including legacy games like the original Starcraft and Warcraft. It's also safe to say that Blizzard must be working on a client-only version of Battle.Net, so you don't have to be inside a game to see when your friends are on.

Check out the gallery below, and you can read about all the new details of what Blizzard wants to be the "premiere matchmaking service out there," after the break.

You'll likely remember almost two months ago when Blizzard announced there would be no LAN support for StarCraft 2. No? It was that time you tried angrily tearing your favorite Kerrigan poster in twain before collapsing breathlessly on the floor of your grandmother's rumpus room.

It may be lucky your attempt failed, though: Blizzard tells Shacknews it's working on a "pseudo-LAN" solution to the problem, that might allow play very similar to a regular LAN party, with Battle.net only being pinged once or periodically for authentication purposes.

Even better, Shacknews also reports that a similar system will be included with Diablo III. While it's not quite offline play, we're hoping it's close enough to keep both developers and fans happy.

We snagged a couple of minutes with Blizzard's Chris Metzen as he strolled across the BlizzCon floor in search of fresh air and daylight, and we asked him about the voice casting of Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrigan in the upcoming Starcraft 2, and both expansions as well. They're going to keep her around for awhile. "For the road that Kerrigan will be set upon for the arc of the storyline, I just felt that Tricia had the right depth and emotional resonance that would work one to one," Metzen explained.

Metzen himself has done a couple of voices as well, including the "Battlecruiser operational" line from the original Starcraft, and as Thrall in several Warcraft games. Listen to the rest of the audio interview right below, where he talks more about Helfer, and obliges us by doing some of the voices.

During a StarCraft 2 lore panel taking place at BlizzCon this weekend, Blizzard vice president of creative development Chris Metzen revealed the voice replacement for Sarah Kerrigan. Battlestar Galactica star Tricia Helfer will replace Glynnis Talken as voice over actress in the upcoming sequel(s).

It seems as though the BSG star is getting her fair share of video game voice over work these days, as she'll also be voicing a character named Dare in Halo 3: ODST. We're thinking if she gets to talking with gaming's every man Nolan North and they work out a monopoly, we'll have a serious issue on our hands.