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StarCraft 2 Poll Results – a Vote of Confidence

Anderson Mccutcheon — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:29:54 +0000

Time has come to conclude another SC2Blog Poll. Just like the previous poll, concerning StarCraft 2 fees, this one ran for enough time to reach a large audience and has stayed up through multiple important announcements over several months – the WWI event, the Zerg unveiling, and numerous build changes.

2746 unique votes have been cast, which constitute more than enough for a significant statistical representation of SC2Blog readers. Keep in mind, however, that the average SC2Blog reader is not the average Blizzard gamer - our audience is composed of the sort of people who follow news about Blizzard games in the pre-beta stage.

The results are in, and we are delighted to report that only a mere 12% are disappointed with what they’ve seen so far. The most popular choice was actually “Better than I could ever Imagine“, which hopefully makes a few Blizzard employees happy in their pants.
For most readers, the impressions of StarCraft 2 can only truly be judged against two reference points, and both are Blizzard games – the masterpiece predecessor, and the Micro-oriented WarCraft 3. Despite the fact that StarCraft 2 is heavily influenced by multiple successful titles, the games Blizzard create tend to reside in a league of their own, each serving as the gold standard of its genre.

StarCraft 2 System Requirements Revealed

Zetaras Xal'Kurat — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:33:28 +0000

A Spanish gaming magazine, Micromania, has conducted an interview with Blizzard reps while visiting their headquarters. The only new information that’s been gathered is these system requirements for StarCraft 2 (read on for the translation).

Minumum Requirements
GFX: GeForce 7/8 Series or Radeon 1000/2000 with 256 MB RAM
CPU: Pentium 4
RAM: 1 GB
Internet: ADSL 1 Mbit

Recommended Requirements
GFX: GeForce 8000 or Radeon 2000 series with 512 MB RAM
CPU: Core 2 Duo or Athlon X2.
RAM: 2 GB
Internet: ADSL 3 Mbit

Optimal Requirements
GFX: Geforce 9000er or Radeon 3000er Series
CPU: Core 2 Duo 3 GHz or Athlon X2
RAM: 2GB with DualChannel mode

Blizzard games usually do not require high end computers, and it looks like StarCraft 2 will not be an exception. Many gamers already possess systems that surpass the recommended requirements and some even the optimal ones. As well, buying a StarCraft 2-capable computer should not require emptying one’s savings account.

The graphic requirements have increased from those that have been leaked during Blizzard’s recent visit to Korea and China, and it seems like the game will now require a Pixel Shader 3.0 capable video card.

It’s interesting to note that the distinction between “minimal” and “recommended” also includes a 2 Mbit difference in connection bandwidth. We already know StarCraft 2 and Battle.Net 2.0 will feature built in VoIP support, but a 1Mbit connection should suffice for that. Does Blizzard hold more surprises in store?

Zerg Swarm Guardian and New Terran Nomad Screenshots

Zetaras Xal'Kurat — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:43:56 +0000

Coming in a bit late, today we’re reporting that StarCraft 2 Forum has gotten their hands on two in game screenshots with what looks to be the new Zerg Swarm Guardian unit.

In the first picture, the Swarm Guardian can relatively clearly be seen in the top right corner. Another unidentified unit is found in the lower left corner – possibly, this is the new design for the Nomad.

The second picture shows a more blurry Swarm Guardian. The StarCraft 1 Guardian icon is visible in the GUI, confirming that this is indeed the StarCraft 2 version.

These screenshots appear to be legitimate, though we have not been able to track the source.