Starcraft is still playable

Even though the game is..ten years old, Starcraft is a good and challenging game. Playing some today. We won some and lost some. Because it’s so old, the game Starcraft uses 2D sprites which means even a weak or modest graphics card can run the game without significant penalty. There are a wealth of Starcraft Broodwar videos on utube, but if you’re not a gamer they don’t mean much.

We’re no where near good enough to win against the sharks who lurk on battlenet. Some time ago I remember having my head handed to me by a high schooler at an all night LAN party. Guess there is always someone better when it comes to computer gaming. ..we still have fun playing against the computer players though.

StarCraft II

I’m starting this topic to keep track of StarCraft II and other computer gaming topics. If warranted I may have to break out StarCraft II into it’s own sub category.

In a nutshell, StarCraft II is the sequel to the hugely popular “real time strategy” game StarCraft from Blizzard Entertainment. Some gamers like RTS games and some gamers don’t. C’est la guerre.

When I say popular I mean followings beyond most people’s comprehension. I was surprised to hear that there is a StarCraft pro league, the Korean e-Sports Players Association sports league. The Koreans have got it bad for StarCraft.

There is even a StarCraft television station.

Wisconsin and Wii

My blog address, WIDoug.wordpress.com was a third attempt to find a domain with the name “Doug” in it.  I guess I could have named it WiiDoug as we do have a Wii in the house, but I’ve been from Wisconsin for a lot longer so WIDoug is probably a more apt sub-domain.

Wisconsin?  It’s a pretty great state.  Once you get over the mosquitoes and snow, Wisconsin is a gas.  Lots of tourist stuff to do outside during every season..well except possibly spring.  Floods and standing water were never big favorites of mine.   I remember telling one person from Texas that the Wisconsin countryside shines like emeralds after a summer rain. That and the mention of trees definitely peaked her interest.  Hopefully she’s had a chance to visit.

The Wii?  It’s a pretty excellent gaming console for most games except the “first-person shooter” titles. The graphics are not terrific, but then most people’s TV’s were not terrific at graphics when the Wii was designed.

Suffice to say that the Wii is not stealing any users away from the other gaming console systems like PS2, PS3 or XBox.  Rather, the Wii is bringing more non-gamers to console gaming. The sales of the Wii have gotten everyone’s attention and Microsoft (and Sony?) will be introducing spatial motion console controllers just like the Nintendo Wii has.  

Nice to get it right and have everyone play catchup, isn’t it Mr. Miyamoto? Congrats to Nintendo for releasing the Wii in the U.S., now how about a followup?