Honestly, it has been a good long while since I've played any StarCraft, but seeing as StarCraft II is on the horizon, I've been meaning to polish up my real-time strategy (RTS) chops in the hopes of not getting massacred on day one of its arrival at Battle.net. So, needless to say I wasn't terribly upset when the 2008 release date for the initial StarCraft II release was pushed (there will also be two expansions). It's just more time for me to get ready. Right now, I think that a reasonable expected release date is late February '09.

Also, and to the real point of this post, Blizzard today released the first of several StarCarft II Battle Reports. These video reports are designed to demonstrate both for players new to the RTS genre and StarCraft, as well as hardened veterans, what StarCraft II gameplay is all about. This first report features a match between Matt Cooper and David Kim, two of Blizzard's StarCraft II game balance designers. It is a little long, but gives some nice detail on battlefield tactics, units and strategy. Its pacing is a little fast, since that is the nature of the game, so those not overly familiar with the StarCraft universe should probably check out the StarCraft site to get a look at the game features, playable races, units, etc. Looks like this is going to be a good one, so stay tuned.

--Hobson's Choice

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