Koreans Rejoice! 'Starcraft II' Dated

It's been over 12 years since the original Zerg-rushin' StarCraft was unleashed unto the world, defining the  real-time strategy genre since its release in 1998.

Since it was originally announced in 2007, the game's hotly-anticipated sequel, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, has been on the radars of gamers everywhere, particular in South Korea, where StarCraft gaming is practically a sport.  While there are ratings issues in the country that Activision Blizzard is attempting to appeal, I'm certain that many games are happy to finally be graced with a release date:  July 27, 2010.

"We've been looking forward to revisiting the StarCraft universe for many years, and we're excited that the time for that is almost here," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Thanks to our beta testers, we're making great progress on the final stages of development, and we'll be ready to welcome players all over the world to StarCraft II and the new Battle.net^® in just a few months."

The game will include both a solo campaign (continuing where StarCraft: Brood War left off) and the legendary multiplayer via a completely revamped Battle.net.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will be available on PC in multiple flavors: a $59.99 standard edition and a $99.99 collector's edition.  Prepare your vacation days accordingly.

PAX East Achievement GET!

What a weekend! More detailed posts will be coming soon but for now, I present, The Awesome List.

• Xbox 360 breakfast at the Msoft NERD (New England Research and Development) Center.
• Hands on with StarCraft 2 (Spoilers: It's amazing)
• Hands on with the Microsoft Surface and the D&D tech demo.
• Tried out NVIDIA's 3D tech.
• Demoed some awesome table top games from Steven Jackson Games.
• Slam Bolt Scrappers, brings Tetris to a whole new level.

I wish I had gotten my hands on some more games, but the lines were nigh impenetrable. I know the Fridgemaster was able to get his hands some games I didn't, so I'm sure he'll help fill in the gaps. Stay tuned for my impressions on SC2 and the Microsoft Surface. Also, keep an eye out for some tabletop game reviews!