real-time strategy

Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Review

Starcraft 2's main loading screen, a close-up of the hero Jim Raynor, has been replaced with his love interest and nemesis Sarah Kerrigan. Blizzard makes it clear, in its traditionally blunt manner, that things have changed. But are they for the better?

The North American Starcraft League

In South Korea, Starcraft players have attained levels of prestige the equivalent of North American sports stars, including six-figure incomes, hordes or fans and recognition on the street. Real-time strategy has become a sport unto itself: a digital chess match that requires intense clicks-per-second and incredible observational skills. Tournament after tournament presents players going head-to-head – for cash. The prestige in North America is nonexistent by comparison, the money less and the fanbase not ready to making gaming more than a casual pastime. The North American Star League is trying to change that.

Top 10 Absurd StarCraft Campaign Promises

Meanwhile, in the world of Starcraft, recent elections to replace Emperor Arcturus Mengsk have already yielded some pretty strange promises from the campaign trail. Both candidates are now staggering as interstellar populaces search for a third party candidate who can better take care of them in a galaxy almost assuredly bent on their gruesome deaths. Collected below are some of the ideas being thrown around by the candidates, and while some remain very popular, all are most definitely absurd.

Interview with
Michael Todd
of Spyeart

Michael Todd is a Toronto-based game designer known for his unique artistic sensibility and approach to gameplay. His independent one man studio, Spyeart, produces games that are as much about experimenting with new mechanics as they are about provoking an emotional response from the player.

Blizzard Evolution – An RTS Retrospective

Be warned: acquiring a copy of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty may cause your friends to giggle with excitement, bombard you with questions, and find reasons to come over before letting slip a diffident, “Oh, is that the Starcraft II?” This could be because it has been over ten years since the release of the […]

Starcraft II Midnight Launch in Toronto

Streetcar riders looked on with puzzlement late last night, as they passed by several hundred people lined up in front of the Bay and Dundas Best Buy store. Was there an iPad going on sale that they had not yet heard about? The occasion was the midnight launch of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. The […]

Command & Conquer 4 Announced

Electronic Arts recently announced Command & Conquer 4, the latest sequel to their popular real-time strategy franchise.  The game is set in C&C’s Tiberium universe; which fans know means that not only will the GDI and NOD factions be back, but so will the franchise’s most well known character, Kane.  The good news is Joe […]