With more than 1.5 million copies sold in its first 48 hours, Blizzard Entertainment's sci-fi sequel is the best-selling PC game of 2010 and the fastest-selling strategy game of all time
IRVINE, Calif., Aug 03, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that StarCraft(R) II: Wings of Liberty(TM) achieved a day-one sales milestone of more than 1 million copies sold worldwide, making it the best-selling PC game of 2010 within its first 24 hours of availability.* The game went on to sell a total of more than 1.5 million copies in its first 48 hours, setting the record for fastest-selling strategy game of all time.*
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was released simultaneously in North America, Europe, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on July 27. More than 8,000 stores throughout the world opened their doors at midnight to celebrate the release, and Blizzard Entertainment developers were present at several locations to commemorate the event with players and sign copies of the game.
"We launched StarCraft II in 11 different languages and on 5 different continents because we wanted to make sure as many players as possible were able to log on and play on day one," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're pleased that so many people around the world have already picked up a copy of the game, and we look forward to welcoming even more players to Battle.net(R) in the weeks and months ahead."
"GameStop had more than 3,000 stores open at midnight, so our StarCraft players got a jump start on playing the epic experience Blizzard consistently delivers with its games," said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop. "StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is officially GameStop's fastest-selling PC game since Blizzard launched World of Warcraft(R): Wrath of the Lich King(R) in 2008."
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to Blizzard Entertainment's 1998 hit StarCraft, which has been hailed by players and critics worldwide as one of the top real-time strategy games of all time. Sporting a vibrant 3D-graphics engine, StarCraft II once again centers on the clash between the protoss, terrans, and zerg, with each side deploying legions of veteran, upgraded, and new unit types. Unparalleled online play for StarCraft II is available through a new version of Battle.net, Blizzard Entertainment's world-renowned gaming service. Battle.net has been redesigned from the ground up to be the premier online gaming destination for Blizzard gamers, with several enhancements and new features, such as voice communication, cloud file storage, leagues and ladders, achievements, stat-tracking, and more.
The solo campaign for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty continues the epic saga where it left off in StarCraft: Brood War(R). The story line chronicles the exploits of marshal-turned-rebel-leader Jim Raynor and features both familiar faces and new heroes. Players are able to tailor the experience, choosing their own mission path and selecting technology and research upgrades to suit their playing style throughout the 29-mission campaign. Several challenge-mode mini-games are also included, with focused goals designed to ease players into the basics of multiplayer strategies.
For more information on StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, visit the official website at http://www.starcraft2.com. Blog
Blizzard started to provide free trial promotions of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty as this ad campaign by EVGA seems to confirm.
EVGA is offering an activation key code good for 7 hours of continuous gameplay, or 14 days to play StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (whichever comes first).
This free trial is available when you purchase eligible EVGA GeForce® Graphics Cards purchased on or after July 27, you will have the option to collect a code on your product page (product registration is required).
Simply click on "View Details" and scroll down to promotions. You will see detailed instructions there.
Terms and conditions apply. Go to www.GeForce.com/TryStarCraft2. Blog
Recently, we spotted plenty ofsearches for StarCraft three on Google – even when StarCraft 2 became just launched – consequently we decided to write an editorial about it. It’s been almost twelve years and the usual StarCraft nonetheless continues to be insanely general.
StarCraft II is a complete remake of StarCraft and a guarantee that StarCraft is here to remain, for a very long time. So, what do you think StarCraft three could seem to be like? Right here are some one could features:
* permanently non-linear tale with dozens of optional quests;
* a brand new race secretly created by way of Xel’Naga, now on its maturity;
* voice command for speedy and tender management over your base;
* a state-of-the-artwork campaign, continuously switching among
missions played before everything-user (FPS) and strategic projects.
In StarCraft II, after finishing missions, you can wander round your deliver and discuss to quite a few characters, all having some thing to say based on the venture you simply accomplished. It’s safe to imagine that in StarCraft 3 you can still navigate within the atmosphere with first-person view, when making an attempt to make it adequately to the hangars, in order to desert a ship overrun by the Zerg for illustration. Imagine the feeling of immersion one will get after one of these Halo-type challenge.
Like its predecessor, StarCraft three will seemingly be released as a trilogy, each campaign extra compelling and rewarding then the single before it. The 1st installment of Starcraft three, specifically ‘Harbinger of Dying’ will revolve round Sarah Raynor, Jim Raynor’s daughter with Kerrigan.
StarCraft 3
She’s now on her early 1920s, a compassionate leader, yet nurturing reliable emotions of revenge for the deaths of her parents, which either sacrificed their lives to stop the Zergs from overrunning the galaxy.
2 hundred years after the ‘Satisfactory Fall’, the starving Zerg close to buried the human race, one planet at a time. There have been survivors right here and there. Much less than a hundred,000 souls embarked in a damaging quest to discover the Xel’Naga homeworld, their most effective hope. In the first enlargement set of Starcraft three, Sarah Raynor will lead a ragtag fleet of survivors to either their salvation or their extinction. The Zerg can’t be bargained with; can’t be reasoned with.
Fortunately, t
he Xel’Naga domestic planet conceals an artifact that could positioned an end to the entire discomfort. In any case that’s what the legend says… But the Terrans, the Protoss and the new race will have to work in combination if they are to survive, because the Zerg grew extra highly effective than ever. Just like prior to, S
nowfall will controlled to make StarCraft three feel immediately general, whilst still preserving the entire ac
In case any of you are having a hard time in multiplayer, which is a different beast from the single player, the guys at Shacknews have popped up a new article entitled A Beginner’s Guide to StarCraft 2 Multiplayer - Part 1. While most you you will be experts after the beta test, it may be useful, or not so useful, dependng on whether you agree with the strategy proposed in the article. Blog
OK, we all know there are most likely one hundred things we love about StarCraft 2, but the for those who had to slender it down to solely 10, would you agree with the list up on Gamesradar which options their prime 10. Two that stand out within the listing that I am not sure about is UNN (which is funny and I’m sure based mostly on FOX information) and Mercenaries which I’ve not used a lot on the only player at all. Blog
The latest Cataclysmscreenshot from Blizzard is shown above. That’s purple like you mean it!
If you’ve missed any of the previous Cataclysm screenshots of the day or you want to see a high-res version of today’s image, check out the gallery below.
Today the atlantica online section has a brand new layout. A new gaming news area has been added for it as well. So now not only does the main page give players a much easier layout for navigation from the main atlantica online page, they can now check out the news much more easily. Be sure to check it out and enjoy.
The results are in: according to our very recent poll, 48% of the our readers have hardware concerns that might prevent them from fully enjoying StarCraft 2: Wing of Liberty.
For many, getting to play StarCraft 2 is as easy as going to the store, buying and installing the game; for others, who have fallen out of the race to maintain a modern computer, capable of playing new games, it may not be so simple. Now that StarCraft 2 is finally out, the time has come to get some new gear, and one of the main things to consider is the graphics card.
Nvidia has just released a new graphics card – the GeForce GTX 460 – targeted at those wishing to get a cost-efficient gaming system without breaking the bank, and we will review it here today. As well, we’re going to go over some more hardware and recommend the best parts for a system built to play StarCraft 2.
At 9 (9 for the 1GB variant) and including a trial coupon for the game, this card is positioned to compete in the mid-range graphics card arena and provide exactly the right amount of GPU-juice for StarCraft 2. Can the card really live up to this claim? The guys at Nvidia have sent us a shiny new EVGA GeForce GTX 460 with 1GB of memory to test just that.
THE CARD
First of all, let’s go over the card’s story and specs. If technobabble isn’t your thing, skip right ahead to the results down the line.
The GTX 460 is Nvidia’s second Fermi (GF104 core) graphics card, released after the GeForce GTX 465 – a more expensive variant that was essentially a stripped down version of Nvidia’s higher-end GeForce GTX 480 card. Not priced competitively, it didn’t do so well in the market.
The 460 is everything the 465 should have been in the mid-range market: as a slightly updated design, it performs more efficiently per clock cycle; it also has a higher price/performance ratio than the rest of Nvidia’s GTX line. It is indeed priced very competitively, performing better than the equivalent AMD model – the Radeon 5830. Not only that, it also overclocks like a champ: enough to outperform much more expensive cards and go toe to toe with its older and more powerful brother, the GeForce GTX 470; but more on that later.
We tested 3 different cards in different price ranges, attempting to isolate GPU performance and determine the sweet spot for StarCraft 2 gaming. As well, two different CPUs were used to evaluate the impact of the CPU on performance.
System #1: Old/Mainstream
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @ 3.6GHz
Motherboard: Asus P5B
Hard Disk: Intel X-25V SSD X 2 (RAID 0)
Memory: Kingston DDR2 800MHz 1GB X 4
Video Driver: Nvidia – 258.98 WHQL; ATI – Catalyst 10.7
Operating System: Windows 7 64 bit, freshly installed
System #2: New/High-End
CPU: Intel i7 860 @ 3.8 GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
Hard Disk: Intel X-25M SSD
Memory: Kingston DDR3 1600 MHz 2GB X 2
Video Driver: Nvidia – 258.98 WHQL; ATI – Catalyst 10.7
Operating System: Windows 7 64 bit, freshly installed
THE TEST
Two different replays were used. The first is of a typical 15 minute 1v1 game on Kulas Ravine, testing normal gameplay conditions with two players only. The second is a 2v2 game, meant to test our systems in an environment with 200-food armies clashing.
We tested the GTX 460 under many conditions: 1680X1050 using the high graphics option preset and high texture levels; 1920X1200 using the ultra graphics preset and ultra texture levels; 1920X1200 ultra with 4xAA/8xAF; and 1920X1200 with 4xAA/8xAF – overclocked. We also tested the impact of the windowed fullscreen mode on performance.
As well, we compared the GTX 460 using 1920X1200 ultra against ATI’s low-range Radeon HD 5750 card and Nvidia’s high-range GTX 470 card.
We measured the minimum, average and maximum frames per second (FPS) in each test. The more powerful a system is, the more frames it can churn out in a given time frame. In the 1v1 game, we started measuring at minute 5:00 in the game and stopped at the end. For the 2v2 game, recording started at minute 26:00 and lasted till the end once more. If you wish to replicate our test with your system, download Fraps, play the replay until the aforementioned time point, hit the Fraps benchmark hotkey while simultaneously unpausing the game (Hotkey “P”), and let it record on “Faster” speed until the of the replay.
RESULTS
We began by benchmarking the GTX 460 and quickly noticed that it’s highly CPU-bottlenecked when tested on the main benchmarking system with the relatively old C2D E6700 CPU, even with its high overclock speed. Therefore, to make future tests more GPU-dependent, all tests were conducted with “Physics” turned off and “Effects” turned to low, as both of these options rely mostly on the CPU.
To start things off, we compared the different cards to see how the GTX 460 holds up against them. We used the highest quality settings – without anti-aliasing (AA) or anisotropic filtering (AF), as the ATI drivers don’t support them in StarCraft 2 – to make sure the different graphics cards show their strength.
Since StarCraft 2 isn’t a particularly graphics-intensive game, it’s not entirely surprising to see the 9 GTX 460 performing almost as well as the much more expensive, 0 GTX 470. It’s also easy to see that our 2v2 test was heavily influenced by the CPU, as the different cards show very little difference between them in the minimum FPS measurement.
Next, we evaluated the GTX 460′s performance using different quality settings and added a test to determine the effect of fullscreen windowed mode as well.
While lowering the resolution and decreasing the quality clearly has an effect on speed, the GTX 460 is more than able to take on the high resolution and maximum graphics quality settings and allow for smooth play. Throwing anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering into the mix and further increasing image quality still allows an acceptable gaming experience, though the intensive 2v2 test brings the minimum FPS level below what we’d recommend for serious gameplay. For those of you who are playing on struggling systems, it is important to note that windowed fullscreen mode takes a significant toll on performance. While it makes quickly tabbing out of the game easy, it’s definitely not worth it if it means the game itself becomes less playable. (Extra note: using an SSD makes tabbing out and back in, in normal fullscreen mode, much faster!)
Next comes the overclock test. As we mentioned, the GTX 460 is an amazing overclocker. Using the EVGA Precision overclocking program, our card easily achieved a 21% increase in core clock and 18% increase in memory clock – and we were quite conservative about pushing it!Using GPUTool and HWmonitor to stress test and monitor the card, we quickly increased the speeds until finding a stable point.
And off we were again to test the card! We chose to compare the most intensive graphics settings, running the ultra quality with AA and AF benchmark.
The GTX 460 benefits very nicely from overclocking, though the system is still clearly bottlenecked by the CPU. The most amazing find in our overclocking test, though, is the fact that the GTX 460 is almost completely unfazed by the extra speeds! Temperatures and fan speed at maximum operation levels remain almost exactly the same as when operating at standard levels; a 2-3C degree change at most, and almost 30C degrees below the maximum operating temperature as stated by Nvidia. What this means is that this level of overclocking can be applied indefinitely, increasing the value of this incredible card even further.
Lastly, we tested the GTX 460 on a system with an extremely fast CPU – Intel’s recent i7 design, running at 3.8GHz. It doesn’t get much faster than that, and it showed in this benchmark.
As we suspected, the mainstream system with the relatively old CPU is indeed quite bottlenecked by it. When installed on the newer system, the GTX 460 shows just how held back it was before, and confirms that it is more than sufficient to handle anything StarCraft 2 can throw at it. To get more information about different CPUs and their effect on StarCraft 2 performance, check out Techspot’s excellent writeup on the subject.
At this point of our analysis, we can whole-heartedly confirm Nvidia’s claim: to play StarCraft 2 at the highest quality settings, one does not need more than Nvidia’s new ~0 offering – the GTX 460. And not only StarCraft 2, mind you; other reviewers have already crowned the GTX 460 as the “0 king”.
CONCLUSIONS
In order to get the best performing computer for StarCraft 2 without going overboard with the expenditure, one should get:
1) An Intel i7 750 dual core processor – another 0 wonder. Since StarCraft 2 only utilizes two cores, quad core CPUs such as the one used in our faster test system are an overkill for it and for most other games. The 750 is the current sweetspot for Intel CPUs and can also be heavily overclocked, which leads us to
2) A nice CPU heatsink/fan combo. We recommend one of the following models for their high price/performance ratio, quiet idle noise levels, and relatively powerful cooling abilities. Our first test system is equipped with a Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B, as can be seen in the picture above. Our second test system sports a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus. The Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is a nice solution that’s cheaper.
3) An LGA 1156 board such as the one in our new test system or an Asus P7P55.
4) A good graphics card. It’s hard to not recommend the GTX 460 we reviewed here – it certainly does an amazing job and can handle everything StarCraft 2 can throw at it even at the maximum quality settings. At the 0-0 price range, choosing the GeForce GTX 460 is a no-brainer.
Blizzard has chosen 500 winners of its Cataclysm Beta Guild Contest, and the winners have been notified via email. For the beta contest guild leaders had to submit a 250 word essay explaining why their guild was deserving of an invite into the Cataclysm beta. The winners receive 10 Cataclysm beta invites — one for the guild leader, and nine for guild members of the guild leader’s choice.
As with anything involving beta, this is also a prime time for phishing emails trying to steal your account info. If you received an email about winning the beta guild contest, here is what to look for to determine if it is legitimate:
The legitimate email contains no links. You just reply to the email with the information requested.
The legitimate email will ask for the full names and battle.net email addresses of yourself and your nine guild member selections.
You will not be asked for any password information.
The contest rules originally stated that 100 winners would be chosen for each of the five weeks of the contest, so it seems as though they’ve decided to invite them all at once. Note that the contest period is now over — you are no longer able to enter the contest.
There’s nothing like a good yo mama joke. (And that’s nothing like a good yo mama joke./end tea party on the ceiling.)
The results are in! You voted:
Deadmines for Elizabeth Harper’s beta dungeon crawl
Female shaman for Michael Sacco’s goblin, Shockbroker
Roblinator the goblin huntress for my beta play
On Wednesday night, I’ll be streaming my Roblinator session and taking requests from the chat room. So you will be able to choose my adventures live. Here is the rest of the schedule:
Adam Holisky as Adammentat, the level 51 tauren druid, will be on Monday at 11 p.m. EDT
Anne Stickney as Annephora, the level 41 troll warrior, will be on Tuesday at 1 a.m. EDT (which is Monday at 11 p.m. Zangarmarsh time)
Robin Torres as Roblinator the goblin huntress: Wednesday, 11 p.m. EDT
Amy Schley as Patent, the level 23 troll rogue: Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT
Lisa Poisso as Prupher the proofreading druid: Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT
Fox Van Allen as Foxlight, the level 22 blood elf paladin: Friday, 8 p.m. EDT
Michael Sacco as Shockbroker, the goblin shaman; Christian Belt, as Selfloathius, the level 16 blood elf warlock; Elizabeth Harper as Faience, the level 24 troll shaman; Matthew Rossi as Andrenorton, the level 17 troll mage; Michael Gray as Grayfields, the level 17 tauren hunter; and Gregg Reece as Sandwichdoc, the level 16 troll shaman, will be making appearances as they can.
Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in <It came from the Blog>. Guild ranks of “Blog Lurker” or above can invite, so /whisper Robiness or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules — basically, don’t be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
Three new player screenshots have been added to the Player Screenshots page. Come and see the latest beauty shots of DarkAmaranth, Exeilmor, and SkimMilk!
We’ve talked about the sales figures of StarCraft 2 quite a bit since the game launched and today there’s the first bit of official news regarding sales as StarCraft 2 has tops this week’s UK game charts. It is rare that a PC title will ever top the overall platform charts so it’s great to see that StarCraft 2 is proving that PC gaming is alive and well despite what you may read.
The full list of this week’s ranks can be found over on the main IncGamers site. Blog
nDoors Interactive has partnered with Direct2Drive.com to bring players a boatload of incentives to start playing Atlantica Online. Folks purchasing the Atlantica Online Beginner Booster Pack from Direct2Drive will receive lots of terrific in-game stuff to take the ‘bite’ out of the .95 purchase price. MMORPG.COM News
MMORPG.com has been given 1000 special keys for Atlantica Online that will give you TWO great items: A Heavenly Horse temporary mount and a Blessing Licence to boost your XP gain! The quantitiy of prizes are limited as well as valuable – so get your key while our supplies last! MMORPG.COM News
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on WoW.com’s Arts and Crafts in WoW page.
That’s right, folks — you could do better at BlizzCon 2010 than a Three Worgen Moon T-shirt. No, we’re not going retro on you and suggesting you turn back to the original Three Wolf Moon tee. What you need is something more au courant, like the Three Dragon Azeroth from MagicalMelonBall at DeviantArt.com. Sadly, this cataclysmically excellent design isn’t actually available for purchase on a T-shirt … Still, we felt the design represents a worthy upgrade from its howlingly lunar predecessor.
Ready for more fresh takes on art about Azeroth? Join us after the break for a buffet with a little something for every taste.
Site and Contents Copyright 2003-2010 All Rights Reserved All information is for intellectual information and taultunleashed is a news source sharing the latest and greatest. Taultunleashed is not affiliated with any gaming company. If you are associated with any gaming company directly or indirectlys please leave now.
Today the atlantica online section has a brand new layout. A new gaming news area has been added for it as well. So now not only does the main page give players a much easier layout for navigation from the main atlantica online page, they can now check out the news much more easily. Be sure to check it out and enjoy.
Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in <
