Starcraft II Launched Today (goodbye free time)

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/launch?ref=/sc2/

by MikeCapone • 16 years ago

91 68 16 years ago

us.battle.net

bsiemon• 16 years ago

I feel a funeral for a distant but important relative approaching.

incomethax• 16 years ago

I am confused as to why this is Hacker News.

_pi4• 16 years ago

Obviously all hackers learned their leet skillz from the Starcrafts.

adamilardi2• 16 years ago

I'm confused as to how you're confused.

robryan• 16 years ago

A rare game that gets even those that have put their gaming years behind them back into it.

It would be hard for any other company to have the ability to spend this much time and put this much polish into a game. Given the long development time and the relatively few changes being made from the original and thus far only the one campaign. Guess that's the luxury you get from developing the cash cow that is WoW.

crystalis2• 16 years ago

Duke Nukem Forever had a longer development time, but a sadder ending.

Team Fortress 2 from Valve had a similar development time and has had over a hundred patches since release, in addition to a fair amount of media developed outside of the game.

It's true that both have had significant backing bankrolls. However, you can also look to some indie 'studios'. Cave Story was a one man project that took 5 years (of spare time) to complete, and is often lauded as an indie star. Dwarf Fortress has only ever had one programmer (who is now supported by user donations), and probably deserves noting even if it doesn't quite attain any significant degree of polish.

pclark3• 16 years ago

starcraft 2 will gross $1Bn over next few years.

why is an oil spill related to hacker news? or why we buy airplane tickets? or wikileaks?

hell, if anything starcraft 2 is a factor of 10 more relevant than any of those, you know, because starcraft 2 is on a computer

not only will starcraft 2 reiterate what a big deal video games are, it's going to shape popular culture, it's going to be played by millions of players each and every day for the next decade or so.

starcraft 2 is a game that values practice is thinking out of the box more than anything else, I know far more starcraft players amongst startups/hackers than settlers of catan, or anything else.

hell, nothing unites startups more than a good old lan party. (i'm aware of the irony of this point)

but most importantly, its related to Hacker News because over 30 people have said it is (upvotes)

_pi4• 16 years ago

>starcraft 2 is a game that values practice is thinking out of the box more than anything else, I know far more starcraft players amongst startups/hackers than settlers of catan, or anything else.

I love it when people say games value thinking out of the box. Yeah! My Zerglings can beat a Yamato Cruiser right? Because they can like jump off of a cliff onto it... or something. Every game has a tiered structure of what works and doesn't SC2 is no different. At competitive levels of play there's only a handful of strategies people use, they'll work them selves out over the next month or so and then be set in stone unless people find glitches in the game that don't get patched like the original SC. SC2 is a game of rock paper scissors at the core. Every strategy game is.

>not only will starcraft 2 reiterate what a big deal video games are, it's going to shape popular culture, it's going to be played by millions of players each and every day for the next decade or so.

You know every other pop music group is listened to by millions of people some for even 3 or 4 decades! Example Led Zeppelin, so how come Led Zeppelin posts aren't on HN? SC2 is entertainment pure and simple, essentially by posting entertainment links it's going against the spirit of the rules. It's essentially cat pictures. And you know those are big on the internet which we're on, and that argument makes as much sense as your "on a computer clause".

what• 16 years ago

   but most importantly, its related to Hacker News because over 30 people have said it is (upvotes)

This article clearly gratifies people's intellectual curiosity. Just look at the great discussion it has generated.

Plus, I wonder how many people would have downvoted this to express disinterest. Flagging is extra work and pretty much pointless now, the only option is to ignore. There is no way to drown out a small, vocal group.

fizx2• 16 years ago

Are you more or less confused that the apple trackpad is sitting at number one? Actually, somewhere around a year ago, Hacker News became less "all startups, all the time" and more "news for nerds, startups featured."

mattmanser• 16 years ago

I've been reading here two years and it's never been "all startups, all the time".

DeusExMachina• 16 years ago

I think that flagging the item (as I understand it) is a better way to show dislike for some item. Comments are filling up with "why is this on HN?".

pixelbath• 16 years ago

Join the club: http://www.google.com/search?q=%22this+hacker+news%22+OR+%22...

Also, http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

sown• 16 years ago

I think that for many of us SC2:Wings of Liberty is picking up right where high school left off.

zacharypinter• 16 years ago

Before internet gameplay really took off, my friend and I used to use our parent's fax lines to connect directly and play Starcraft against each other.

Even if it's not directly Hacker News, I'm sure many readers have similar fond memories of playing Starcraft in their past.

darklajid2• 16 years ago

But why? Surely you read about all the neat things the producer added to the game to make it more profitable. To monetize it in a better way?

  - Tournaments only allowed if you ask Blizzard kindly
  - LAN play is gone
  - Integration with 3rd party social network partners

This is a good example for having a good idea, a (as far as I can tell from reviews) decent implementation but you try to overarchive on the monetizing part and ruin it for some. I guess there's a lesson in here for startups somewhere..

thecircusb0y2• 16 years ago

I still hate how they remove LAN play from games now'a'days. My buddies and I have lan parties all the time, and its getting harder and harder to have them when lan play isn't allowed and you can't host a local server.

pclark3• 16 years ago

I like to be flippant and just blame Activision for that nonsense.

francoisdevlin• 16 years ago

Even Hackers have fun, you know.

jw84• 16 years ago

Maybe you're not a hacker. Maybe your opinion is different from others. Maybe it doesn't really matter. Maybe you don't have to click the link and comment.

mfukar• 16 years ago

Is Korea still alive?

fizx2• 16 years ago

Quick, invade! ;)

MikeCapone4• 16 years ago

Don't let Kim Jong Ill hear you...

apu• 16 years ago

Wrong Korea.

adamilardi2• 16 years ago

goodbye free time hello bliss

sabj• 16 years ago

I can't do it, I just can't. I want to give in too badly.

jcromartie• 16 years ago

I hear that if you pre-ordered it from Gamestop, you might spare your free time for at least another day.

simonsarris• 16 years ago

Why? Has there been a shortage problem with Gamestop?

My little brother pre-ordered with Gamestop so he could get it at midnight, and there seemed to be more than enough copies for everyone when we went last night.

I actually pre-ordered my own copy from Amazon (Conveniently, it shipped from the Amazon warehouse in Nashua, NH to my house in Nashua, NH)

jonpaul• 16 years ago

I pre-ordered from Gamestop and picked up two copies pretty quickly after midnight.

Qz2• 16 years ago

Sadly I pre-ordered this so long that it's being shipped to my old address. Not sure what to do about that...

thecircusb0y2• 16 years ago

I just went out during lunch and bought the collectors edition from best buy. Waiting to get home to open it ...

GrandMasterBirt• 16 years ago

So this is the first launch of a PC game that is 60 dollars (base value)? Wow. Even xbox games that are also out on pc the same day are 50.

pclark3• 16 years ago

the real kicker will be if they do not allow you to disconnect your game serial from your battle.net ID - eg: you can't resell it.

astrodust• 16 years ago

Leave it to Activision to figure out how to screw you every way possible.

ptomato• 16 years ago

I think that was Modern Warfare 2.

Magneus• 16 years ago

Not the first launch at $60. Warcraft 3 was also like this. I imagine there are also other titles at the same price point.

MikeCapone4• 16 years ago

That's still a lot less expensive per hour of entertainment than most other games, not to mention eating out or seeing a movie.

Still doesn't beat getting a good book at the public library, though...

sgoraya2• 16 years ago

$60 for this particular release - I believe this release only includes the 'Terran' missions - subsequent releases, each $60, will include the 'Zerg' and 'Protoss' specific missions.

Thats what got me...I would have purchased it but the pricing out for each set of missions and removal of LAN play has made me postpone purchase...Shoot, I'll try to wait till it comes out in a 'combo' release in a few years...I'll try!

jergason2• 16 years ago

There is actually nothing but rumors and speculation about the price of the future expansions. Blizzard has said nothing about the price, so it is a little sensationalist to assume they will all be $60.

listic• 16 years ago

I have been thinking for some time: is 60 US dollars sort of price limit for a game or have there been more expensive games? I'm more interested in the cases where the price of the game is determined by the merits of the game itself and not by the price of the necessary stuff (controllers, pricey distribution media etc.) that the game needs to operate, so I'd like to factor that out. But It's still interesting to know: how much did they sell for those games that need special controllers to run (i.e. guitar) or those games distributed on cartridges with pricey ROMs and ASICs?

When iPhone App Store came along, it brought with it its own price conventions i.e. it's normal to sell games for $0.99, or $9.99 tops. Does anyone sell games for $60, or at least $30 on iPhone? Form a developer's point of view I see no reason for iPhone games to be priced cheaper than PC or console counterparts. Development of any game doesn't become 10x cheaper because it is for iPhone, does it?

The reason I'm interested in it is the following: I am thinking about how can indie game developers get compensated for their work? There's the notion that if the game is "big and good" ("AAA" titles released by major publishers) it deserves to be paid top dollar for ($60 currently, I assume; though $60 seems to be "very top" by todays standards); indie games from obscure developers deserve much less. I don't see why the opposite couldn't be true; "big" games, though require big budgets for their production, will sell many copies anyway, while indie ones appeal for much narrower audience (that needs them nevertheless), for which they have to compensate with higher price, which said audience will have to pay. Does history have any examples of this kind? If not, maybe, as PG noted[1], we're not actually paying for content in games, not just in music and print?

[1] Paul Graham: Post-Medium Publishing http://www.paulgraham.com/publishing.html

xiaoma• 16 years ago

Actually, I'd say games are getting cheaper. In the mid-80s, it wasn't uncommon to see $50-$60 dollar Nintendo games, and inflation has cut the value of a dollar approximately in half since then. Today's equivalent of SMB3 would be a $120 game.

sprout• 16 years ago

Anyone up for a game of Age of Kings?

jordanroher• 16 years ago

It feels strange to consider myself a hardcore gamer, with gaming PC, Xbox 360, PS3, etcetera, and to have never played the original Starcraft. Not a big RTS fan, I suppose, but I love most other genres. And yet here I am with a Wings of Liberty box sitting at my desk.

Read through the manual, especially the nine (!) pages they devote to the plot in teeny tiny text. For a newcomer it's extremely confusing. The Zerg make sense, but the constant shifting of Terran allegiances and Protoss character names make my head swim. IGN's five minute video summary helped, though I had to watch it three times.

I take it Kerrigan is the anti-hero everyone loves, vaguely like FFVII's Sephiroth. And there appears to be some slight debate as to whether there's any humanity left in her, though her temporary alliances appear to be more for strategic convenience than any real compassion.

What I'd like to know from my fellow HN gamers is the emotion of it. What were the shocking moments? The tearful bits? Were there any? What would I feel about Jim Raynor if I played through Starcraft and Brood War? Am I supposed to think Kerrigan as the Queen of Blades is sexy, or am I supposed to be repulsed by the... things growing out of her back?

albertsun• 16 years ago

The story was never the strong point of StarCraft. It's a fairly generic cowboys in space run into Aliens and Vulcans type plot.

What made StarCraft stand out was the incredible depth of its competitive multiplayer that allowed for emergent strategies to be discovered. The map editor was also brilliant and let people create incredible new variants.

moultano2• 16 years ago

The transition from the terran campaign to the zerg campaign in the original was the only real genius of the plot I felt. Leaving Kerrigan to die was one of the last things that happens before you start playing as the zerg. As the zerg, you have to guard this mysterious chrysalis for the first several missions without having any idea what it contains. It was a real "Oh Wow" moment when out pops zerg-Kerrigan.

Qz2• 16 years ago

Am I supposed to think Kerrigan as the Queen of Blades is sexy, or am I supposed to be repulsed by the... things growing out of her back?

That's a rhetorical question right? :)

Oompa• 16 years ago

There's a story to Starcraft? Huh…

teilo2• 16 years ago

Blizzard must not be up to the traffic. I tried to purchase the digital download. It errored out. Tried different browsers. Same thing. Tried calling Account and Billing support. Busy signal. The one thing you absolutely do not want to fail on a popular product launch is your digital purchases. I'm going to venture to guess that this is their largest product launch ever.

moultano2• 16 years ago

I got errors when I had spaces in my credit card number. Removing the spaces let me purchase. (true story.)

teilo2• 16 years ago

No spaces here.

MikeCapone4• 16 years ago

I bought the game at a store, and I'm having trouble playing multi-player. Guess they are overloaded.

MikeCapone4• 16 years ago

Update: Multiplayer seems to be working now.

mlinsey• 16 years ago

http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html

mrinterweb• 16 years ago

I'm going to wait till it is sold on Steam, if that ever happens.

Starcraft II Launched Today (goodbye free time)

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