Starcraft 2: No LAN Support Summary

I know this is old news already. But let me post a compilation of what has been said by Blizzard and how the community reacted.

The Announcement

StarCraft II will not have LAN support.

Speaking with IncGamers, Blizzard’s vice president of game design Rob Pardo made it spectacularly clear that players won’t be able to play against each other the old way -- without the Internet. Instead, players will have to use the revolutionary Battle dot Net service to host, create and join matches.

“We don’t have plans to support LAN,” Pardo said shortly before putting the statement in stone with, “we will not support it.”

- Brad Nicholson

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Blizzard defends Starcraft II's Lack of LAN Support

Yesterday, it was revealed that long-awaited RTS Starcraft II would not have LAN support, sending a number of PC gamers into a frenzy, despite the fact that they had the Internet so it shouldn't really be a problem. Blizzard has naturally responded to the nerd rage, defending its position and making sure to mention piracy as a contributing factor. "We don't currently plan to support LAN play with StarCraft II, as we are building Battle.net to be the ideal destination for multiplayer gaming with StarCraft II and future Blizzard Entertainment games," confirms a Blizzard rep. "While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy.

"Several Battle.net features like advanced communication options, achievements, stat-tracking, and more, require players to be connected to the service, so we're encouraging everyone to use Battle.net as much as possible to get the most out of StarCraft II. We're looking forward to sharing more details about Battle.net and online functionality for StarCraft II in the near future."So, an equal mix of piracy and Blizzard pushing its own gaming platform are to blame. Still, hardcore traditionalists who don't like change will likely be unsatisfied by this and shall continue to get all stroppy. You know what they should do? They should boycott it. I hear that's the cool thing to do!

-Jim Sterling

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Starcraft II Gets LAN Petition

Oh, Internet, you and your silly petitions that nobody will ever bother actually reading. Hot off the back of Blizzard revealing that StarCraft II would not support LAN, a bunch of hardcore StarCraft fans have banded together to petition the studio and demand that the feature be reinstalled.

The petition is at least respectful, imploring Blizzard to bring LAN back, and pointing out that Internet connections aren't always available and that it was LAN that cemented StarCraft's popularity in the first place. The petition currently has 25101 signatures, so it's not quite a Left 4 Dead 2 boycott yet, but it's early days.

That said, do these petititons really ever work? Only when they're a marketing stunt, and I have a feeling that Blizzard isn't yoinking out LAN simply for publicity. We'll see if the democratic process wins out this time, but it's highly doubtful that Blizzard will reconsider because of an Internet petition.

-Jim Sterling

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Over 100,000 Nerds Sign Starcraft II LAN Petition

When Blizzard announced that Starcraft II would be ditching LAN support, people got upset. Local play has been a staple of Starcraft for centuries, and it was quite shocking to see that the sequel would not allow for that most ancient and noble of nerd traditions, the LAN party. Naturally, an online petition started up.

Futile as I may find online petitions, I still admire the willingness of gamers to make their voices heard, especially as they're usually a ludicrously apathetic bunch. The petition has broken the 100,000 signature mark, making for quite a loud voice indeed. Seems that, despite having the Internet, there's no substitute in many peoples' minds for good ol' fashioned human interaction.

Of course, with Blizzard being the right arm of evil publisher Activision, this collective outcry could fall on deaf ears. Blizzard is keen on pushing Battle.net with all its might, and if that means sacrificing the happiness of a mere 100,000 people, then so be it.

-Jim Sterling

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10 men who changed the video game industry forever

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The video game industry has grown leaps and bounds, from a mere fad to a world wide phenomena and a multi-billion dollar industry. P8I.com presents a list of 10 men who, in our opinion, changed the video game industry forever:

1. Ken Kutaragi - The former CEO and now honorary Chariman of Sony Computer Entertainment, the “Father of the Playstation” is commonly regarded as one of the most commercially and financially successful video game executives of all time. A skilled engineer and innovative thinker, Kutaragi was responsible for researching and developing the initial Playstation, and pushing Sony into the video game market from its niche as an electronics developer. Known for his aggressive business tactics and his ability to adapt to difficult situations, Kutaragi kept Sony alive during the launch of the Playstation and kept it the frontrunner during the console wars of the early second millennium. During Ken Kutaragi’s reign as CEO, Sony did not suffer a negative fiscal year, surviving almost two decades. Thanks to Kutaragi’s diligence, Sony continues to be one of the most profitable and largest video game companies ever.



2. Shigeru Miyamoto - The main brain behind many of Nintendo’s famous franchises such as The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong and the iconic Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto has enjoyed a perpetually successful career as one of the top video game designers of all time. Able to create vivid and mythical adventures based off of real life experiences and an overactive imagination in addition to lasting and endearing characters, Miyamoto has proven to be perhaps the longest running game designer of all time as well. To his credit, Shigeru Miyamoto has produced, designed or worked on famous titles which have defined Nintendo such as, Super Mario Kart, the entire Mario series, all of the Star Fox games and every Zelda game created. Timeless, Miyamoto has been involved with Nintendo since 1980, and continues to develop games for Nintendo, his latest popular success being Wii Music and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Shigeru Miyamoto brought fresh innovation, an unfaltering work ethic and personal dedication previously unseen in the industry, and with it, games which have touched the hearts of millions. Miyamoto was also notably involved in the conception and creation of the revolutionary Nintendo Wii.



3. James Allard - The CEO of the Entertainment and Devices Division of the global mega-corporation Microsoft, Allard co-ordinated and directed the development of the X-box 360 and the X-box. Heavily involved in the orchestrating of the development and creation of the X-box live and game creation software for developers, Allard’s stern business practices and proven leadership skills allowed a viable competitor to finally emerge in a market previously dominated by Sony. Though not directly involved in the programming or engineering of video games, his crucial leadership provided the framework for one of the most successful consoles ever. Allard altered the infrastructure of the market, expanding it from a two man show with minor side acts to a three way brawl.



4. Kazuo Hirai - A long time member of Sony’s executive team, Hirai is known as the businessman of Sony. Known for expansive and precise marketing strategies, emphasis on global diversification and implementing meticulous product quality standards, Kazuo Hirai helped create a brand name around the Playstation synonymous with high end and quality. Hirai also established positive relationships with second party developers which helped push the Playstation to the upper echelon of the video game industry, an underutilized technique in the industry. Responsible primarily for the growth of the Playstation and its subsequent developments in the Western hemisphere, Hirai used imaginative business tactics to expand the Playstation past the typical “nerd” image to the populace at large.




5. Peter Moore - Responsible for the death of the Sega Dreamcast and Sega’s shift from hardware to software, Peter Moore was president of Sega of America during the brief tenure of the Dreamcast. Moore is most famous for giving the okay to shut down the production Sega Dreamcast. In an act of submission to the impending release of the titanic Playstation 2, Sega shifted business structure and achieved success outside of his leadership. Moore sailed ships to Microsoft in 2003, helping bring Microsoft smoothly into the next generation. Moore is now head of Electronic Arts sports division. Sega transitioning principally to software and video game development allowed for the production of many quality titles and the expansion of popular series such as Yakuza, Virtua Fighter, Phantasy Star and our favourite blue hedgehog. Furthermore, Sega became more quality conscious as a result, and fortunately for us, with the Dreamcast, died Ecco the dolphin. Moore also helped bring online gameplay to video games with the revolutionary Dreamcast, though it would be years before the idea was refined.



6. Hironobu Sakaguchi - The mastermind behind the most long lasting and popular role playing series of all time in Final Fantasy, Sakaguchi has defined what is now standard of games in the RPG genre and is responsible for creating a story centric style of gaming. Developing the original concept of Final Fantasy and the characters which fuelled it, Sakaguchi has produced some of the most beloved games and fan favourite characters ever. Once the president of Square, Hironobu Sakaguchi produced all of the Final Fantasy titles, up until Final Fantasy IX. In addition to his work on Final Fantasy, Sakaguchi also played a key role in the Kingdom Heats series. Through his private video game development company Mistwalker, Sakaguchi is also the creative genius behind the Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey series. Sakaguchi is also responsible, in some part, for creating Square Enix, as his departure from Square in 2003 caused the merge between the two companies as a way to fuel Capital. Sakaguchi has left an impressive mark on the video game industry, producing the most appreciated and acclaimed games ever.



7. Nobuo Uematsu -The man who brought music to the mainstream, Uematsu is the “John Williams of Video Games.” Famously known as the primary composer for Square Enix and of the Final Fantasy & Chrono Trigger series, Uematsu has also composed themes for the Super Smash Bros. Series and movies such as Ah! My Goddess. Able to create emotionally charged musical scores which are both artful and expressive. Uematsu is responsible for giving video games the same status as movies, as major art pieces. He is also responsible for causing video games which followed to focus on the soundtrack as much as the concept and the design, something which early video game developers did not take into consideration. He changed the gaming industry by changing how we viewed games, from mere time killers to full fledged masterpieces.



8. Ted Price - CEO and founder of the independent game developer, Insomniac games, Price proved that the little guys do it just as well as the big ones. Insomniac games was one of the first independent game developers to strike mainstream success, being responsible for producing mainstream hits such as the Spyro the Dragon series, Rachet & Clank and Resistance. Keeping a high profile relationship with Sony and designing titles for all of Sony’s platforms, Insomniac games has kept itself relevant in a tumultuous game market and has redefined what small companies can do. Ted Price changed the gaming industry for the better, the success of Insomniac games opened the door for many other small developers to bring a level of innovation and charm that big developers couldn’t.



9 & 10. Sam & Dan Houser - One could argue that Sam & Dan Houser are responsible for bringing video games into the public limelight, however, not for the right reasons. Known as the executive producers and writers of the Grand Theft Auto series, the Houser brothers brought realistic game play saturated with real life elements and heavy violence to the mainstream, creating with their brainchild, a whole new genre of video game. One of the most controversial yet commercially successful franchises of all time, Rockstar Games catapulted itself into the video game market through the Grand Theft Auto series and brought a hailstorm of negative media attention to the video game industry.



Through companies such as Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, the video game industry has become one of the largest in all of electronics. Once a niche genre, video gaming now applies to many people, across a wide span of demographics. It is through the actions of the people mentioned in this article, that made it all possible

-End of Article-

I'm certainly familiar with most of them (except for Ted Price and the Houser brothers). Their names truly are legends and we gamers really look up to them.

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God of War 3: Official gamescom trailer

What better way to start a gaming news blog than to show this really cool trailer of God of War 3! Check it out now!



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