IdrA and Artosis Get Personal

Earlier today, IdrA and Artosis had the chance to spend some quality time together inside an elevator which got stuck for 30 minutes at the TG-Intel Open in Seoul, Korea. What do you think these two supposedly socially awkward men talked about during the time they spent secluded together? Let us know in the comments!

News of course has been slow lately, as we anxiously await BlizzCon and the next patch for Starcraft II itself. Fear not though, you can get your Starcraft fix by tuning into a GOMTV stream and catching the round of 64 at the TG-Intel Open as it progresses towards the finals.

http://www.sc2.tv/
http://www.gomtv.net/2010gslopens1/live/
http://www.teamliquid.net/video/userstream.php?user=Fisher

 

TG-Intel Open

We're less than an hour away from the Starcraft 2 TG-Intel open. You can catch all the action at either of these links:

http://www.sc2.tv/
http://www.gomtv.net/2010gslopens1/live/

We look forward to some interesting games and great moments. Best of luck to all players involved!

Starcraft II Sales

The official sales numbers are in following the initial million (1,000,000) sales on day one; Starcraft II sold over three million (3,000,000) copies in the first month. Looks like Bobby Kotick and Activision-Blizzard will be sleeping on a bed of $100 bills tonight.

Are you displeased with the $60 price of Starcraft II? Was the game worth it if you bought it? Let us know in the comments!

Day[9] Daily #169

Last night, Day[9] did his 169th daily which focused on multiple variants of the Protoss 4-gate strategy. His brilliant analysis partnered with his deep knowledge of the game gives an extremely insightful look into one of the most popular and strong strategies developed for the Protoss race.

Do you have a favorite strategy you follow in your games? Let us know in the comments!

Also be sure to check out Day[9]'s daily live every Sunday to Thursday at 7:00 PM PST:
http://www.ustream.tv/day9tv
You can check out Day[9]'s daily archive here as well:

http://day9tv.blip.tv/

Desert Strike

We haven't talked about any UMS since we moved the blog, so we're going to plug one of the most popular maps on Battle.net right now: Desert Strike.

It's a classic tug of war map which focuses on the classic concept of using a worker to build spawning structures which in turn spawn creeps at regular timed intervals. This allows the players to create a constant flow of troops while choosing to focus on economy, tech, or unit upgrades . You can compose an army of your liking, and choose to either counter or out-mass your opponents.The map also plays on some new original abilities which allow you to add additional offensive or defensive measures (as seen in the video). Also following suit with many other tug of war maps, the author (squarelycircle) adds his unique version of sudden death which pits a final wave of each team's army composition against each other should the game reach a point where the critical mass of units causes far too much lag. Feel free to try it out.

I'll also toss out a blog question related to the topic for today:

What's your favorite UMS map that you've played since the release of Starcraft 2? Let me know in the comments.

Potential Starcraft Movie

According to Rob Pardo (executive vice-president of game design at Blizzard), Activision-Blizzard is open to a potential Starcraft film. He stated that "it's really important to us that we find creative people that are really talented but also really excited about our properties. I think if Jim Cameron came to us tomorrow and said, 'You want to make a 'StarCraft' movie?' we'd probably sign that." The director of the 2009/2010 blockbuster Avatar is currently tied up in various other projects, so the chances of this happening in the near future are quite slim. There is a shining light in the distance for Blizzard fans though - a World of Warcraft movie currently being directed by Spiderman director Sam Raimi.

I'm disappointed with the fact that these movies will/would be going in the live-action route, as we've all seen how beautiful Blizzard cinematic CGI can turn out. Would you prefer a live-action or CGI movie? Let me know in the comments.

A Lesson in Starcraft

While university classes in Starcraft were somewhat heard of in many top tier universities in Asia, it never quite appeared to have a practical use, that is until now. Pioneering universities such as the University of Florida and University of California-Berkeley have begun teaching Starcraft classes. Ph.D candidate Nate Poling's (University of Florida) studies suggest the stress and micromanagement aspects of Starcraft have practical applications in the real world. Using his classes, he believes he can teach his students to be better critical and consequential thinkers in situations of extreme stress when in the working environment, making them primary candidates for managerial positions. Do you think this is a relevant and practical application of the skills required in Starcraft?

Starcraft 2 iPhone App.

Soon you'll be able to control your units in Starcraft 2 using either your iPhone or iPad. The application will allow you to perform all basic unit functions, abilities, and movements. This is somewhat ideal for someone who has to leave their computer for a short period of time during a UMS game - not so much for a legitimate ranked melee game.

http://kotaku.com/5625185/play-starcraft-ii-from-your-iphone

Bronze League At Its Finest

These never get old.

HuK Takes MLG Raleigh 2010

HuK (left) took the MLG championship for Starcraft 2 in a 4-2 victory against Kiwikaki in an epic PvP battle. HuK made off with over $7000 in prizes, and the top 8 also received some consolation prize money. MLG Raleigh left us with some great games, great moments, and great learning experiences.