Nobody is perfect. When it comes to creating an epic story arc, awesome pre-rendered movies and a fully fleshed campaign Blizzard has done well. Now, Blizzard speaks of Starcraft 2 and the world shuts their mouth and listens to each and every word. What’s the word?
A Trilogy.
We’re not talking about the Lord of The Rings style trilogy, but three games with full stories which all end with the gamer being satisfied at the closure, not cliffhangers.
The three standalone games will be (says GameStooge):
- Terrans – Wings of Liberty
- Zerg – Heart of the Swarm
- Protoss – Legacy of the Void
Gamers are probably thinking, “so, I can play multiplayer with only one race?” No! The campaign is split into three separete games, not the races and multiplayer features. Although, each title is sure to introduce something new to the game engine, Blizzard has said:
“Nothing changes for multiplayer or skirmish mode. All three races are fully implemented from the get go. Each campaign will feel like an epic story – not a cliffhanger into the next one. They will each have separate arcs that have a clear start, middle, end – and you will feel like you’ve really finished *something* at the end of each game. More content than we’d previously planned – many more Movies, Missions, etc.” (games.on.net)
From our perspective, it seems Blizzard is itching to release the multiplayer system to the world sooner than later, considering some countries use Starcraft as a professional league, but they don’t want to rush out fast to market campaigns just to satisfy this multiplayer desire.
Instead, they’re going to take their time, in usual Blizzard style, by releasing the game as they finish it… per races story. This should give us a less watered down storyline or having one or two races with a piss poor storyline while another has a kick ass storyline because it was done first.
End result? Multiplayer gamers will be happy in the end while those that play Starcraft for the story will need to wait for each game to be completed. We know Blizzards release schedule is “when it’s ready” so we can only imagine how long it will take to reach that third game in the trilogy.
To clarify a part of Jonah’s post, my last episode as a regular co-host of the show is to be the next one.
So, we’ll do follow-ups for some of the older news items. Cool!
@Jay Wilson steps down from Diablo III stewardship
Eh, I guess that’s what happens when you focus a bit too much on making money instead of making a game. Jonah, I’m 100% with you.
I wouldn’t put the blame on the lead game designer though: if you’re not the top dog in the hierarchy, your freedom is limited.
Hmm, Brevik ? Maybe.
@The Secret World sees ‘400% increase in activity’
Buy2Play is a bit weird, since you still have server maintenance to pay for. Dunno. I can see it for an MMO that would use a p2p network system to alleviate server loads, but for a classic client-server architecture? Dunno. To me it sounds like putting a limit to the lifespan of the game.
Time, prove me wrong.
@Mojang: Minecraft XBLA outsold Minecraft PC in 2012
And here’s the XBLA gold rush 🙂
Like the iPhone gold rush before. And the other XBLA gold rush before the iPhone rush.
Joking aside, I can see people interpreting this as a sign to where to publish. Truth is, a good game sells. Regardless of the platform.
@Sony settles lawsuit with Kevin Butler actor Jerry Lambert
This is screwed up. It’s his freaking face. It’s not like Sony owns it. But what the heck, what do I know.
@Pachter: Nintendo is “a few years late” in everything they do
I think the guy has a point. In terms of performance, he’s right. In terms of peripherals, they were left behind by Kinect. As for a games library, again, he’s right.
Paul, I guess you’d like to make a zombie out of him? 🙂
@QOTW
STALKER, but! The former GSC team is working on Survarium, and the STALKER brand did get a new roof, but with a different studio.
So sure, I do want something STALKER like, it’s just I’m not sure it’ll be STALKER2 (not announced) or the Survarium game.
Dan, good news about your employment! You will be missed.
@Diablo 3 beheaded (I wish)
Meh
@Secret World
Double Meh
@Sony and Kevin Buttler
Tripple Meh. Boredom COMBO.
@Minecraft XBLA
The answer is simple. PC version is far to easy to pirate. It’s less than a megabyte and you can store it on a floppy disk. Furthermore, as funny as it sounds Minecraft multiplayer is very processor heavy. The XBLA version is a lot more stable (and even then someone gets dropped once in a while). It may be pricy and lack the mods but there is nothing like it on the Xbox.
@Nintendo is a step behind
If you may recall, I was talking about this for the past year. Nintendo’s problem is that it is fueled by tradition. The Wise Old Men who run the company call all the shots. They make what they THINK the consumer wants. And you can’t define the world by Satoru Iwata’s personal tastes. The reason why Xbox is doing so well is that Microsoft is running a business. Tablets are successful? Que SmartGlass. 3D sucks? Drop it. Kinect is popular? Make Kinect 2.
On another note, I can’t wait till you discuss the newly revealed Wii U titles. I am brewing up a shitstorm in my cauldron as we speak.
@QOTW
Man. Way to many. It’s sad to a see a franchise die just because people spend all their money on COD and FIFA. The obvious answer is Shenmue 3. The story was finished for the last 15 years. They just don’t have the funds to put it into a digital form. How sad…
A proper sequel to the Duke Nukem franchise is another. The game made a profit. They should make a new game. This time for real.
Hello long time listener, love the show especially Paul.
@QOTW : I’m going to cheat and pick two if it’s fine with ya gents, always wanted sequels to these.
1). The Brave fencer Musashi: This was my favorite kirby game growing up.
2). Misadventures of Tron Bon:Its like having your own army made of small huggable Lego people.