Blizzard has fully embraced the wonderful technologies of the interwebz and launched a StarCraft 2 video cast dubbed Battle Report to keep the fans updated and close to the feeding trough.

Check out this beautiful footage of Matt Cooper and David Kim, two of SC2's game balance designers, going head to head as Protoss and Terran! Hopefully we get to see some Zerg action in the next Battle Report, eh?





If you want to check out the full transcript of the cast, check out the official Blizzard Battle Report.

If you went to Blizzcon 2008, you have a beta key for the StarCraft 2 demo when it comes out.

If you're interested in providing updates and writing for Spawning Pool, reply here or shoot me a private message.

Maybe you just want to play SC2 with other beta participants? If so, leave your Battle.net account in a reply!

Blizzard announced at their annual Blizzcon event yesterday that, due to the fact that the actual campaign for the singleplayer storyline in StarCraft 2 is so large, that it will actually be broken down and sold individually as separate products.

http://kotaku.com/5061980/starcraft-ii-single-player-is-a-trilogy

Wings of Liberty - Terrans
Heart of the Swarm - Zerg
Legacy of the Void - Protoss




Hopefully, they only choose to do this for the singleplayer, and you don't have to buy a race's game pack to pay as them online.

Some great videos just released from the Penny Arcade Expo demonstrate a lot of the basic Terran strategy in StarCraft 2, and they show just how tactful the Reapers really are!

Following up on the Officially Cancelled Terran Units & Buildings announcement, here is the list of officially cancelled Zerg units and buildings.

Cancelled StarCraft 2 Zerg Units


Reaver: The classic battle slug of the Protoss, the Reaver. This unit was briefly in Starcraft 2 and was seen in a few gameplay videos prior to Blizzcon 2007. It was later removed from the game seeing as how the Colossus was a greater replacement.


Soul Hunter: The hunter rode on a hovering platform and wielded a large ranged weapon which fired arcing electricity. Many fans think the unit resembles the Vindicator from StarCraft: Ghost. The hunters beam grew stronger every time it killed a unit, by absorbing its soul. It proved to be a substantial anti-infantry unit but was later scrapped due to overlapping roles, unbelievable lore and the fact it wasn't visually appealing.


Star Relic: The Star Relic was a caster air unit that was ideal at supporting aerial units. It offered many abilities that consisted of Hallucination, Field Cloak (cloaked all units around its radius) and a self destruction ability. The self destruct was a beam directed at an enemy unit, the longer the charge the stronger the blast.

Stasis Orb: The Statis Orb was the replacement for the Star Relic. It was also grounded and was built from the Gateway. It helped support ground troops by slowing down enemies with each of its attacks. It has since been replaced by the Nullifier.

Strike Fighter Escorts: Strike Fighter Escorts cost resources (and about one second) to build and last only 45 seconds, but add a decent amount of firepower to a Carriers attack. A Carrier can have a maximum of 4 Escorts. Escorts are given attack orders to focus-fire on whatever the Carrier is attacking and they can be destroyed independently of the Carrier or each other.


Tempest: The Tempest was the Dark Templar successor to the Carrier. It housed 12 Shurikens that were similar to Interceptors but instead sliced and diced its enemies at melee range. It also was accompanied by an Resistant ground shield that absorbed extreme amounts of damage from units on the ground but was susceptible to air attacks. It was later scrapped for the classic Carrier.

Cancelled StarCraft 2 Protoss Buildings

Robotics Support Bay: The Robotics Support Bay provides upgrades for all robotic units. It was also needed to unlock the Colossus. It was later replaced by the Observatory and its upgrades were given to the Null Circuit.

[SOURCE: SC2 Armory]