Filtered Judgment

Ok, I'll admit it. I am a self proclaimed gamer. I often make the filtered judgment to find some game to play on a rainy day like today rather than something productive, like my homework for this weekend.
Like all hobbyists, i follow all the latest news pertinent to said hobby: what new games are coming out? Do they have features I like? How was this game reviewed? All questions worth asking in the world of inflation and rising game prices. The blog I will break down today is sc2blog.com. This stands for one of the games I anticipate most this upcoming year (with any luck). Starcraft 2.

Starcraft was a title released for the PC by the Blizzard corporation in 1998 (Mac in 1999) that re-defined the genre of "real time strategy" games. this is, for all the non-gamers, a game that is not turn based; every player is working to accomplish their objective at the same time against eachother. Starcraft was based in very simple logic. You are one of three generals leading opposing armies: humans (known as terrans), the Zerg, best described as the creatures from the blockbuster "Alien" and their brood, and the Protoss, a highly evolved race of psychic beings. Each army had different strengths and weaknesses. The key to the success of this classic, like many games, was its replayable nature (It is still played avidly today). It was so well balanced that any army could win, pushing players to be better tacticians, or faster, aka pushing into the realm of skill. After nearly 10 years, Blizzard is finally releasing a sequel. Starcraft 2.

Starcraft 2 will be an amazing sequel and I wont bore you with the details.. But obviously fans like me will have many questions about new features, release information, and gameplay videos to wet our appetites. The official website by Blizzard is oddly enough not very helpful at answering these questions. SC2blog.com is a one stop shop for a massive wealth of information about it.
SC2blog.com has information on new units categorized for easy access, databases of question and answer sessions regarding changes, the nifty language translation bar, for those fans that don't speak English, and the original storyline outlined for new comers to catch up.
By far the most useful feature of this blog that the official website cant do is harness the community. It has many articles, forums, and comment archives about what the fans are talking about, something I find almost as interesting as the game itself. Giving the fans a place to discuss, theorize, and shape there hopes for this game is far more valuable than most marketing techniques out there. Let the public hype your game; it saves you, the company, the trouble..
What a valuable tool for user input! The game hasn't yet undergone beta testing, which is when they release a limited multi player only version of a new game and collect data on how things play so they can tweak unbalanced facets of the game before shipment. Until that beta test is finished, anything is subject to change. Having this blog means an organized view of the fan base for Blizzard, as well as a display of what the fans really really really want to see (excuse the bad grammar). In the end, isn't the point to make a game that your fans want to play? What's my blog doing for the community? Hopefully encouraging you to do something...What it is, who knows?
SC2blog.com is maintained by Anderson McCutcheon. His other major project is terranozergus.com.