Citation: May 18, 2007 - Editor's note: I'm writing this from a wireless connection on Blizzard' WWI show floor. Their opening ceremony is set to start any minute now. As the ceremony continues there'll be fragmented updates below. Expect more details throughout the presentation unless this wireless connection screws up. Also, expect typos. All timestamps are local time in Seoul, South Korea. 4:07 - Just uploaded first ever screens of StarCraft 2. Enjoy. 3:50 - Blizzard has not yet announced a release date for StarCraft 2. 3:44 - Had to run out of conference room to plug in laptop - there's an hour long information session starting in about 30 minutes - don't know if there's an internet connection there so I might not be able to update until i get back. As for initial StarCraft 2 impressions - the game looked very similar to SC1 - nearly identical user interface - graphic styles and unit proportions nearly the same - more flashy lighting effects but it seems like Blizzard didn't want to mess with SC's underlying formula very much. The screens they showed the video on didn't display the video very clearly, unfortunately, but the game still looked pretty with some nice animations. We'll have to wait to bring you any updates on what kind of story elements are in SC2 - hopefully they're in the panel discussion. Anyway, gotta run - thanks for reading and we'll update as soon as possible. 3:31 - Announcements are over - transitioning into a musical act - hopefully it's not as bad as the music they were playing before the ceremony. 3:26 - Showing another video of "things to come." concept art for SC2 - zerg landscapes - ruined terran structures - freen filds - SC2 looks, at least visually, strikingly similar to SC1 - both in unit and map designs. Now showing a giant rush of zerglings - probably over 100 of them, swarming with no slowdown - mroe character art - finishes with the StarCraft II logo. 3:23 - now showing terran and protoss fight - marines and zealots clashing on the ground - mothership and battle crusers in the air - framerate seems relatively stable as more units stream in - hard to tell - about 100 units on screen right now - a few of the new protoss units just came in - nuclear launch detected warning - every unit on screen destroyed - three nukes were launched at once - then zergs rush in and spell "GG" while turning into suicidal bombs. 3:18 - warprey also very effective against structures - very vulnerable to small unit fire - shws warpreys getting wiped out by terran marines. Physics system lets debris from warpreys roll down a ramp. Showing one more unit - warped in in a serious of cubes - giant floating base - called a protoss mothership - can only have 1 at a time - cost big resources - special abilities include timebomb that slows all enemy missiles inside - shows terran missle launcher shooting in projectiles that stop in the field before they reach the ship - when field ends missiles drop the ground - planet cracker attack - giant lasers stream from ship to ground - ship can be moved around while planet cracker laser is active - the ship looks like a metallic, triangular sand dollar - mothership can create a black hole anywhere it wannts to - creates distortion that actually sucks ships in and destroys them - in the demo the black hole destroyed four terran battle cruisers in about ten seconds. 3:16 - showing space platform environment, land mass floating over planets / nebulae. Showing phoenix units failing to destroy terran battle cruisers - new protoss unit - Warprey - flying unit that does increased damage the longer it hits a target with it's continuous blue laser. 3:15 - Zerglings can mutate into suicidal bomb things thar roll across the ground - very powerful explosions. Colossus using new IK system to move across differences in terraing height. Colossus extremley weak against air strike - New unit for protoss - Pheonix - can overcharge guns for multiple projectile blast - but after blast the ship is rendered inert for a short period. 3:14 - Protoss colossus - huge unit that can blast out dual lasers and use long legs to traverse differences in terrain height - in the demo two of them obliterate about fifty or so zerglings. 3:10 - Terran reapers - can hop across unever terrain with jump packs - two types of small pistols that don't activate immortals. Protoss now have the ability to create shields whereever they want. Protoss can now warp in units from manufacturing facilities anything within pylon range. New protoss unit - stalker - can teleport - quadripedal thing - can keep blinking forward - seems to be a shot cooldown on the ability. Zerg start coming in, giant worms pop out of ground unleasing zerglings. Protoss can use phase fields and teleporting abilities to create an army anywhere on the battlefield, according to Blizzard. 3:09 - controlling protoss zealots - still has psi blades and personal shield - new charge ability that let him quickly close range on enemies. Siege tanks shown - still the same type of behavior where they can lock down - take out zealots really quickly - new protoss unit - called immortals - have special shield that only activates upon being powerfully attacked - siege tanks could barely do any damage to them. 3:07 - Showing gameplay footage - Looks like protoss ships - floating over asteroid/ base structure - entering protoss ase - similar looking buildings - vespene gas still in the game - character pane shows up on right side - some protoss guy - shifts to terran bases floating on rockets over same type of territory - sill collecting crystals as resources - marines load out. Dustin is actually playing the game - nothing in the game is final. 3:05 - Morheim says everyone eager to see actual game - going to show actual gameplay - bringing up SC2 lead designer. Dustin Browder. 3:00 - FMV sequence in a spaceship - looks Terran - zooming in on a metal door - door opening - reveals a guy with a cigar in chains - prisoner - door shuts behind him - there's so much bass the room is shaking - guy steps into some kind of metallic devicce - legs are strapped in - guy rising toward ceiling - Korean text on screen got people very excited - another part of the machine is dropping metal arms on him - machine whirring - applying armor to his torso - extremly detailed visuals here - now guy is strapping on gloves - armor is molding together - seems like a Terran marine - rockets turn on - zerg now onscreen - Marine delivers a line - StarCraft 2 officially announced. 2:57 - Showing another movie, presumably of game footage. 2:56 - Video over - Morhaime about to make announcement. 2:55 - Now showing WoW footage - more cheers from crowd. 2:52 - Showing WC3 footage. When they showed Diablo footage the Deckard Cain "stay a while an listen" line got a cheer from the crowd. 2:51 - About to show a video now of previous Blizzard titles and WWI's from years past. Morhaime still rambling on with politically correct thanks to the gaming community. Here goes the video for past Blizzard stuff. Nothing exciting yet. 2:50 - Talking about how this is the largest WWI they've had yet - there'll be WoW tourneys as well. 2:49 - Mike Morhaime takes stage to make announcement. 2:47 - Here we go, they're going to announce something. 2:45 - Now they're taking the oath saying they'll play for "for the races of each title" and their home country whom they're representing. 2:42 - The WC3 player pulls it together and delivers a solid address to the crowd, intoducing himself and saying he's glad to be here. 2:41 - Interviewing a WC3 player. Female MC and size of crowd is making him nervous. Another joke in Korean. Now the female MC is complimenting his smile, he's visibly squirming. 2:40 - One of the MCs just tried to explain the joke in English and failed. 2:38 - Now the WC 3 and StarCraft players are taking some sort of "oath." Apparently in the spirit of fair play during the WWI. This is all being said in Korean, but one of the players just made the whole crowd laugh. 2:37 - Shrill screams of adoration are erupting randomly from the stands at the back of the arena. 2:36 - Here come the WarCraft 3 guys. One guy from USA. They're announcing names as well as which race they play in competition. 2:35 - These guys are from all over the world, from Taiwan to Poland. Wearing some kind of hybrid NASCAR / track jackets with advertisements all over them. 2:34 - Now they're introducing the professional gamers who'll be participating in the StarCraft and WarCraft 3 tourneys. More fireworks. No fatalities. 2:31 - Mike Morhaim - president and cofounder of Blizzard introduced. Continuing to introduce people in attendance, they're just sitting in the crowd, though, not approaching the stage. Chris Metzen introduced. 2:30 - Ok, fireworks just went off. Nobody is dead...yet. 2:29 - He's continuing the trend of talking about why WWI is awesome. 2:27 - Jungwon Hahn, managing director of Blizzard's Korean office speaking now. 2:26 - Still blabbing about why WWI is awesome. 2:24 - Just showing crowd on screens, welcoming everyone to WWI - lots of screaming for musical guests to perform later on. Includes Ivy. 2:20 - MCs start presentation. Delivering lengthy speech in Korean - waiting for English translation. 2:19 - Starting. Video playing on screen showing blizzard logo. 2:18 - They appear to just be shaking hands, presentation hasn't started yet and another atrocious melody is on the speakers. 2:15 - Blizzard employees currently mounting the stage, lights come on, crowd starts applauding / cheering. 2:14 - Just made an annoucement saying "the program is being delayed a little." Announcer says it'll start shortly. 2:13 - Korean press in center of floor seating is yelling and doing the wave. 2:12 PM - Still hasn't started. Some video guy in front of me is actually dancing to the abominable jazz they're pumping in here. Now he's tapping his feet. 2:08 PM - Another horrible song starting. Large video banks behind announcement stage are displaying Blizzard's WWI logo. People with video cameras are running around everywhere. Gah, this music is bad, awful jazz sax. 2:06 PM - Guitar riffs still aggravatingly cheesy. Crowds continuing to fill seating. Ceremony has yet to start. Update 2:02 PM - Announced presentation will begin shortly. Really cheesy guitar riffs playing over the speakers. The staduim seating is filling up, must be several thousand in attendance so far. Update 1:59 PM - Announcing itinerary for the rest of the event over the next two days.