In 1998 a real-time strategy game based on an intergalactic war was introduced by a company called Blizzard Entertainment. The Zerg, Terran, and Protoss races in the game called Starcraft have since propelled Blizzard into the realm of untouchable software developers. There can be no debate that Blizzard has, with not only Starcraft but the later installments of the Warcraft series as well, created the gold standard for RTS games and has forever cemented its foothold in the very fabric of online, competitive gaming. Over the past 9 years since the release of Starcraft, and enhanced only further since late 2004 with the introduction of World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment has accumulated a fan base unlike that of any other software developer, or any other company for that matter, in the world. These rabid supporters of Blizzard, from the forever-loyal Korean Starcraft crowd to the borderline-insane WoW enthusiasts, have since 2005 made the bi-annual (?) pilgrimage to Southern California to be amongst their brethren; BlizzCon.

Historically, and I use the term loosely due to this being only the second such event, BlizzCon has been a place where the Blizzard development team can demo their latest and greatest projects, host tournaments that feature the very best players (of competitive Blizzard games) in the world, and create a general buzz in a normally Mickey Mouse-centric town that could only be accomplished by such a large gathering of proud and practicing nerds. BlizzCon 2007 was no exception. Blizzard’s Starcraft Invitational, which drew the top Korean superstar Starcraft players, including Zerg powerhouse Savior, was a disgustingly huge success, as it was in 2005. The final of Savior vs Nal_rA drew what had to be about 4,000 people, some sitting on the floor, few sitting in chairs, and most standing in the vast, dark convention center hall. The Global finals of Warcraft 3 and 5v5 WoW PvP Arena were also large crowd bringers and were, by all accounts I have heard, quite a huge success. Despite the unanimous praise and tremendous reception from fans, Blizzard’s commitment to the spectacle of BlizzCon seems to be wavering in some regard; case in point: BlizzCon 2006 (which did not occur). Sure Blizzard said that BlizzCon was not intended to be an annual event, but why tease thousands of lunatic fans by bringing it back in 2007 after skipping 2006?


To be perfectly honest, I totally don’t care. The only, and I repeat the ONLY reason I attended BlizzCon 2007 was to get a taste of Starcraft 2, the title that I have been waiting for, along with about 10 million others, for nine painstakingly long years. My impressions of Starcraft 2, a game that in its current form is very clearly still in the developmental stages, are comparable to a bowl of Lucky Charms; the oat pieces are just whatever, while the marshmallows are spectacular. The new units are certainly cool. The new graphics, while clearly just a copy/paste from Warcraft 3, are a welcome change to a game that, even to some of the most die-hard fans, was becoming dated. I played two games against two dudes who had been jockeying the line all day and were on their seventh dose of the game. I got rolled in the first game while experimenting with some of the new units, then reverted back to oldschool tactics and held my own in a 1v2 in the second game. Unfortunately we could not play as Zerg, the race I consider myself to be most proficient with, as apparently the development of the game is not that far along quite yet. I was definitely satisfied enough with my roughly 15 minutes of playtime that I did not have to partake in another two games; granted, I did not have to wait in line for nearly two hours (woot for being press!).


Another huge draw at BlizzCon 2007 was the playable demo of the new World of Warcraft expansion called Wrath of the Lich King. The swarms of gamers eager to play this add-on were at times more numerous than those waiting to play Starcraft 2, which is definitely saying something about WoW. Unfortunately for all you residents of that cyber World, I have absolutely no desire to play, watch, or even learn anything even remotely related to WoW, so I cannot speak on whatever advancements have been made with this new expansion. One thing I can say, however, is that WoW characters are somehow inspiring to young beautiful girls, which leads them to dress up in scantily-clad costumes and go to BlizzCon. The whole notion that beautiful women would turn up at a video game convention without being paid all follows some sort of incredibly backwards logic that I do not even want to consider, but the fact remains that these girls were present in numbers and for that I am grateful.

Besides the panel discussions, in which thousands of fans sit down for a basic Q&A/briefing about current and future Blizzard titles, the next-largest draw at BlizzCon seemed to be the Dell/Intel/NVIDIA booth area, which featured high-powered PCs from manufacturers Dell, ibuypower, Cyberpower, Project Warmachine, and Vigor Gaming. All of these PCs were pumping graphics onto 30” Dell monitors in the form of either World of Warcraft or World in Conflict. While I did not dwell at length in this sea of humanity (poorly organized area, guys) I can say with pride that the two games of World in Conflict that I played resulted in impressive victories for my team, characterized by my complete dominance of the scoreboard in every regard.


Next along the western wall of the facility was Bigfoot Network’s booth that was prominently sporting, you guessed it, KillerNIC memorabilia. Upon meeting up with Harlan “Tytus” Beverly, the man behind the KillerNIC, I entered a contest that required proposing a new slogan for the KillerNIC. Before this happened I was handed a sharp metal heatsink to wear around my neck in the form of bling. After being poked a few times, the slogan, “Can be used as Ninja Star” seemed to be appropriate. If you see that phrase emblazoned on the KillerNIC website in the near future, then you know who it came from.