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Interview: Blizzard's Greg Canessa on Battle.Net
by Kevin Kelly 
{ Sep 4th 2009 at 5:30PM } 
In recent years, Greg Canessa has bounced from Xbox Live to PopCap Games and now onto Blizzard, where he's heading up the Battle.Net team. Version 2.0 of the service is an ambitious undertaking, and we spoke with Greg during BlizzCon about its pending launch and many of the new features. Head past the break for the full interview!
Gallery: Battle.Net (BlizzCon 2009)
Blizzard interview: Samwise Didier talks Starcraft 2
by Kevin Kelly { Aug 31st 2009 at 6:40PM }
These days Samwise Didier is better known as the lead singer for Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain, but he's been a Blizzard employee since 1991, and has been churning out artwork (like the above Starcraft logos) for years. He also has the dubious title of the creator of the Pandaren race.
You can check out a huge chunk of his artwork in the gallery on the Sons of the Storm website. He has a massive head of metal hair, apparently never wears pants, and is overseeing the artwork on Starcraft 2. We sat down with him at BlizzCon not long before L80ETC opened for Ozzy Osbourne, and chatted him up about his job. Read on for the full interview.
You can check out a huge chunk of his artwork in the gallery on the Sons of the Storm website. He has a massive head of metal hair, apparently never wears pants, and is overseeing the artwork on Starcraft 2. We sat down with him at BlizzCon not long before L80ETC opened for Ozzy Osbourne, and chatted him up about his job. Read on for the full interview.
BlizzCon 2009: The new Battle.Net
by Kevin Kelly { Aug 25th 2009 at 6:28PM }
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.
Gallery: Battle.Net (BlizzCon 2009)
StarCraft 2 may sport semi-LAN solution
by Justin McElroy { Aug 24th 2009 at 2:30PM }
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.
BlizzCon 2009: Chris Metzen talks about casting Tricia Helfer
by Kevin Kelly { Aug 23rd 2009 at 2:30PM }
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.
BlizzCon 2009: StarCraft Ghost lives on (in spirit)
by Kevin Kelly { Aug 22nd 2009 at 9:00PM }
During the StarCraft 2 gameplay panel at BlizzCon, Dustin Browder spent much of the time talking abut the upcoming map editor that ships with SC2. If he's to be believed, it's the most powerful piece of software on the planet. Which might be a slight exaggeration. Those developers all have bias running in their veins.
However, we were fairly impressed when they showed us that the editor allows first-person game creation. What?! Yes, that even includes details as far down as UI manipulation and an inventory system. That's a lot more than you'd expect from a simple "map editor." One employee-created game was an FPS featuring a very familiar, bouncing-ponytailed Ghost that was created in just a few days.
Blizzard officially put StarCraft: Ghost on indefinite hold back in 2006, and they've been telling us here that it's still the case. Although some enterprising modder/mapper out there might just want create their own version.
However, we were fairly impressed when they showed us that the editor allows first-person game creation. What?! Yes, that even includes details as far down as UI manipulation and an inventory system. That's a lot more than you'd expect from a simple "map editor." One employee-created game was an FPS featuring a very familiar, bouncing-ponytailed Ghost that was created in just a few days.
Blizzard officially put StarCraft: Ghost on indefinite hold back in 2006, and they've been telling us here that it's still the case. Although some enterprising modder/mapper out there might just want create their own version.
BlizzCon 2009: BSG's Tricia Helfer to voice StarCraft 2's Kerrigan
by Ben Gilbert { Aug 22nd 2009 at 6:16PM } 
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.
BlizzCon 2009: The Costumes
by Kevin Kelly { Aug 22nd 2009 at 4:00PM }
With the jam-packed costume contest taking place at BlizzCon in the evening, people spent all of yesterday parading around in their ginormous costumes in preparation. That's some dedication right there! Check out our massive gallery just below, and be sure to watch a video of the contest winners right after the break. The rogue above was one of the finalists, but she was ultimately robbed (robbed, we say!) of the top prize.
Stay tuned for more images -- BlizzCon ain't over yet!
Stay tuned for more images -- BlizzCon ain't over yet!
Gallery: BlizzCon 2009 Costumes
Joystiq at BlizzCon 2009
by Kevin Kelly { Aug 21st 2009 at 1:45PM }
We're also holding out for news on Blizzard's mystery MMO, more Diablo 3 information (go Wizard! go Monk!), and, finally, something concrete about Battle.Net. Oh, and we guess there's that Starcraft 2 game everyone's been yapping about ...
If you're hungry for WoW info, head over to our sister site WoW.com. Like, the entire website is about that game.
Gallery: BlizzCon 2009
The best of WoW.com: August 11-18, 2009
by Mike Schramm { Aug 19th 2009 at 2:30AM }
News
- World of Warcraft: Cataclysm leaked
Spoilers aplenty in this roundup of leaks about the expected new expansion. - Onyxia returns in patch 3.2.2
The big black dragon is back for another go-round. - Possible new race/class combinations datamined
A new PTR hints that certain races might be able to take on new classes soon. - Patch 3.2.2 PTR: New Onyxia loot revealed
What'll she drop? Find out here. - Felicia Day unleashes geeky pop single
The Guild folks release a pop song that's as geeky as it gets.
Features
- Raid Rx: Raid bosses that brought healers to their knees
Our raid healing series looks at bosses that give healers an extra challenge. - Breakfast Topic: What if you knew the day WoW would go offline?
Would you play differently? Or not at all? - PTR Patch 3.2.2: First impressions of Onyxia
First look at the big 5th anniversary boss fight. - All the World's a Stage: Reflections on the passing of a roleplayer's mom
Very sad but poignant column -- a must read this week, whether you're an RPer or not. - Totem Talk: Starting a Shaman
How to begin being a totem-dropper.
Interview: Dustin Browder talks StarCraft 2 development and delays
by Kevin Kelly { Aug 17th 2009 at 5:59PM }
Still, Browder talks about the reasons for the delay, and ultimately gamers are going to be happy that they chose to make the game better, rather than rush it out for the holiday shopping frenzy. Read on for the full interview with him where we talk delays, easter eggs, the new matchmaking system, the single player experience, and hidden items in the game, including a fully playable Lost Viking arcade game with a data editor that will let you make your own scrolling shooters.
Interview: Andy Chambers on writing StarCraft 2
by Kevin Kelly { Aug 17th 2009 at 4:29PM }
Andy Chambers has a lot of industry work under his belt, having worked at Games Workshop for more than 14 years before joining Blizzard in 2006. He's currently the creative director on Starcraft 2, which makes him the perfect guy to quiz about the single-player aspect of the game. It's an enormously ambitious project, which still hasn't been entirely figured out yet -- and that's the main reason for the delay Blizzard announced recently.
New Starcraft 2 videos: cinematic trailer and some single player gameplay
by Kevin Kelly { Aug 17th 2009 at 3:14PM }
Feast your eyes on all of the Protoss kicking Zerg butt in the Starcraft 2 cutscene above (or download the massive 490MB high-def version here), and then head beyond the jump to see more than four minutes from the single-player version of the game. Sadly, it doesn't feature the fully-rendered Jim Raynor that you'll control throughout (read about that in our hands-on), but it does pimp out the unit upgrading and the new video screens. And plus ... it's Starcraft 2. Do we really need to say more?
Hands-on: Starcraft 2 - the single-player experience (finally!)
by Kevin Kelly { Aug 17th 2009 at 2:57PM }
Forget everything you know about StarCraft 2. Well, forget everything you know about the single-player campaign in StarCraft 2. Which at this point is pretty much ... nothing. We've told you all about the multiplayer and its upcoming changes, but the single-player experience has been one gigantic black hole. Until now. We recently spent a day at Blizzard's campus learning all about StarCraft 2's Wings of Liberty Terran campaign, the first in a series with the Zerg and Protoss expansions coming at a later date.
One thing is for sure: this isn't anything like the old StarCraft single-player campaign. Read on to find out what you'll be doing with Jim Raynor throughout the 30 or so missions in StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty.
One thing is for sure: this isn't anything like the old StarCraft single-player campaign. Read on to find out what you'll be doing with Jim Raynor throughout the 30 or so missions in StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty.
Razer announces line of 'tournament-grade' StarCraft II peripherals (and also a bag)
by JC Fletcher { Aug 12th 2009 at 11:36AM }
According to the press release, the devices will actually be a little more than cheap USB peripherals with the logo on them: Razer is working with Blizzard to develop the line, which will have "unique exclusive features to cater to the StarCraft II community." They should be really good thanks to the extra time the two companies have to work on them.
Razer is also releasing a StarCraft II messenger bag, which may or may not also be "tournament-grade." Lucky ticket buyers and Ozzy Osbourne will be able to get a look at the bag at BlizzCon.
