Starfall

Listening to: Grum, "Can't Shake This Feeling." His real name is Graeme Sheperd, which is just asking for multiple misspellings. Grum's other stuff is a bit too electronica for me. Like I imagine trying to dance to it but finding it very difficult. I could dance to Can't Shake This Feeling though, I think.

During one of the NBA Finals games, the first Starcraft 2 commercial was shown. Frighteningly I knew what they were advertising about five seconds in when I saw the red headed ghost. One of the most highly anticipated video games of the past decade finally came out this week. While I knew any video game playing would be the death of me in college, I had many friends who lost their educational careers to the original Starcraft. Me, I was smart and waited until after I left Michigan to fire up the game. I'm not nearly as smart this time around. I've already been participating in the recent Starcraft 2 beta for a few weeks and the full on game is going to be amazing.

What is interesting is how technology has changed the way you can learn/play Starcraft. Keep in mind the original came out in 1998, probably around when you were fiddling around with a clunky homepage. Nowadays, with review sites, comprehensive blogs, immersive videos, professional gamers, and all the rest, it's so easy to study the game on a detail you never could have before. Limited to just your circle of friends or online gaming buddies, you weren't actually privy to a game changing strategy unless it was actually done to you. Now I can watch a mothership / colossus / force field combo over and over in awe.

Game changer.

And look at this NPR article about the two best Starcraft sportscasters, Husky and HD. They get over 100,000 views per video (while SC2 was still in beta) and provide more exciting announcing than most other sports' professionals.

While I know playing Starcraft 2 will likely be the death of me, I need it in my life and you do too. When the beta was down for a few weeks, I had to stave off addiction by reading guides online to sooth the ache. There are a ton of Starcraft 2 blogs already out there but a few I enjoy are Starcraft 2 Strategy Masters, The Shokz Guide, and SC2 Blog. Also I found the RPG Exploiters series of best counters to be particularly useful. I'm a Terran player myself so knowing how to beat the other races is pretty important. Here's a quickie guide as linked to from Kotaku about picking your race.

The best Starcraft 2 podcast I've found is Starcast (blog). The two hosts, Garrett and Kyle, have just the right mix of conversation and strategy talk, while not being pro-level players. It's nice to hear from people who are just like me, struggling to find time to balance my real life with Starcraft life. I'd check them out staring with episode one.

Friends, family, concerned citizens of Earth, if you don't see me for the next few months, you'll know why. "And there's the gg."