Starcraft in Korea

While we are all waiting for Starcraft II, let us brush up a little on a phenomenon that Starcraft is in Korea.

I assume that if you are into PC gaming, then you know that Starcraft is practically the national religion in South Korea (not sure about North Korea, though). If not, then have a look at this National Geographic video:

Yes, incredible as it may seem to us, these guys have money, fame and groupies. As someone pointed out – “I should have been born there, this way I would be doing the same thing I am doing now, only I would be getting paid for it“.

A less obvious sign of how deeply Starcraft has penetrated the popular culture in Korea is this stand-up comedy show:

Yes, these people really laugh at it… Okay, okay, it made me chuckle once or twice, too. So sue me.

Continuing on our quest for Starcraft oddities, here comes English study book based on Starcraft (and I know this is not news, thank you so very much):

Surprisingly, I think this is an interesting concept. It’s always easier to learn and retain information when it relates to the things one is interested in. So I for one am all for Starcraft English book.

And finally, the icing on cake is this pack of Starcraft-branded … Dorrito chips:

Starcraft

I know, I am not the first to report this, but I simply must share it with everybody : Blizzard has just announced Starcraft II. I am overjoyed – for me this is probably one of the most important announcements of this year.

I remember spending hours and hours again playing the single player campaign. I just loved the story, the voices, the atmosphere and the music. This dark futuristic world had me drawn into it. And not only me – I still hear about people buying new computers with powerful Geforces and Intel Pentiums, only to install Starcraft as the first game…

And then there was multiplayer. Countless hours spend fighting over the LAN and internet, building up armies, trying to oversmart the opponents. There was even some diplomacy involved. The stories of how my friend managed to defend his main base with his last dying Archont, how I eradicated all enemy mining outposts with a small squad of Dark Templars, how my brother lost all his tanks to Psionic Storm… We all have those kind of memories, don’t we? Even now in my current company Starcraft is number one in our Cyber Sports, not to mention Korea, where Starcraft is a national religion.

Who would have thought it all begun with such ugly looks?…

In fact, it was even worse in early alpha, – if you want to read more about the evolution of Starcraft, head straight to Starcraft Legacy webpage.

And actually now, the saga continues… This image of hundreds of Zergs attacking Terran fortification sends shivers down my spine :

There are of course changes, like no more Dragoons, new units, increased numbers of the armies at player’s command, but from the movies that surfaced it looks like the core gameplay is essentially the same. I can hardly contain the excitement, even though my skeptic part tells we are probably in for a long wait.

The best way to discover all that is in store is to head to the official Starcraft II page, but also check these three trailers : artwork trailer (showing above), gameplay trailer, CGI trailer. Alternatively you can download movies from here and watch more media here, on Kotaku.

I also heartily recommend to check these fan-arts on DeviantArt : Terran Ghost, Protoss, ink art, Hydralisk, fan rendering of Dragoons, Starcraft Ghost’s Nova ink, another Nova, Nova sketch as well as lots of others.

En Taro Adun!

Starcraft

I know, I am not the first to report this, but I simply must share it with everybody : Blizzard has just announced Starcraft II. I am overjoyed – for me this is probably one of the most important announcements of this year.

I remember spending hours and hours again playing the single player campaign. I just loved the story, the voices, the atmosphere and the music. This dark futuristic world had me drawn into it. And not only me – I still hear about people buying new computers with powerful Geforces and Intel Pentiums, only to install Starcraft as the first game…

And then there was multiplayer. Countless hours spend fighting over the LAN and internet, building up armies, trying to oversmart the opponents. There was even some diplomacy involved. The stories of how my friend managed to defend his main base with his last dying Archont, how I eradicated all enemy mining outposts with a small squad of Dark Templars, how my brother lost all his tanks to Psionic Storm… We all have those kind of memories, don’t we? Even now in my current company Starcraft is number one in our Cyber Sports, not to mention Korea, where Starcraft is a national religion.

Who would have thought it all begun with such ugly looks?…

In fact, it was even worse in early alpha, – if you want to read more about the evolution of Starcraft, head straight to Starcraft Legacy webpage.

And actually now, the saga continues… This image of hundreds of Zergs attacking Terran fortification sends shivers down my spine :

There are of course changes, like no more Dragoons, new units, increased numbers of the armies at player’s command, but from the movies that surfaced it looks like the core gameplay is essentially the same. I can hardly contain the excitement, even though my skeptic part tells we are probably in for a long wait.

The best way to discover all that is in store is to head to the official Starcraft II page, but also check these three trailers : artwork trailer (showing above), gameplay trailer, CGI trailer. Alternatively you can download movies from here and watch more media here, on Kotaku.

I also heartily recommend to check these fan-arts on DeviantArt : Terran Ghost, Protoss, ink art, Hydralisk, fan rendering of Dragoons, Starcraft Ghost’s Nova ink, another Nova, Nova sketch as well as lots of others.

En Taro Adun!

Starcraft Project Revolution

Just a brief notice. I have just found a clip showing the 3D remake of Starcraft, called Project Revolution. It is not a separate game, but a Warcraft III mod. Voice acting is so-so, but the idea and execution are rather cool and the text “Even the biggest blizzard starts with one snowflake” is a masterpiece. Good luck to creators of it and here goes the trailer :