iGame Radio

Blizzard’s latest RTS, StarCraft II, experienced its midnight launch last night amid fanfare and trumpets. Or, at least, I suppose that somewhere it did. Where I was located it was more like a quiet milling around, and an attempt not to make too much noise talking.

That was the scene at the local GameStop I visited last night for the successor to Blizzard’s long awaited space-based real-time strategy game. StarCraft II would be available at both midnight launches of select GameStop (as well as Walmart and Best Buy) locations, and for digital download. The catch was that, though the digital downloads could be started before the launch date, the activation couldn’t happen until 10 am today. Core fans would decide they just couldn’t wait, and purchase the game at midnight (some doing a pre-order for a coveted Collector’s Edition).

But just how many core fans are there for StarCraft II?

In my area, not many. Admittedly, I live in a little town called Burien, just south of Seattle, but most of the GameStops in the King County area (the most densely populated in Western Washington) were closed because they were in malls. So, if you wanted to get it from a GameStop, there were five locations all told, and Burien was one of them. And really, are you going to celebrate a StarCraft II launch at Walmart?

I arrived at a little after 11 pm, and there were only four other people before me. By the time the midnight launch had occurred, only about 20 people had showed (though it was enough in such a small store to create a line out the door). Speaking to the staff, they had expected more around 40.

Should we be surprised? Staff members mentioned that they figured that a lot of people were going to take advantage of the digital download opportunity. In fact, one of them would have had it not been for his employee discount.

A 1Up poll performed the day before the launch also showed some interesting numbers, with only 30% showing that they would get the game on the first day, and of that, 5% stating that they would do a collector’s edition pre-order. In the same poll, 44% said that they would buy the boxed edition, and 16% getting the digital download. Parse the numbers together, and you come up with a small percentage that actually intended on attending the midnight launch parties to begin with (statistically, probably about 20%).

A big question is whether this is the beginning of the end of midnight launches. This information is of course based on only a small sample size, but the fact is that as Blizzard becomes more popular in a wider audience, that audience is not as hardcore in total as it used to be. And a smaller percentage of the number of fans that would have come out for an event like this will do so. Would it be financially viable for a company to even try to put on a midnight launch?

As fewer and fewer people show up for a launch of this type, the value of selling the game becomes less than the cost of keeping the physical store open. And that, my friend, is the deciding factor.

The big launch of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty begins early tomorrow morning, at midnight specifically. But if you don’t want to wait in the lines that have already formed to purchase a boxed copy, you can download it right now.

If you intend on buying the digital version of StarCraft II: WoL, Blizzard announced a program wherein you can download the digital copy ahead of time at your leisure. Then when the digital version of the game launches tomorrow at 10am PDT, you can simply pay for your purchase and begin playing immediately. Of course, it means you won’t be playing at 1am in the morning like everyone who stayed in line, but for many who can’t do the lines for one reason or another (coughworkcough), this becomes an invaluable method for getting the game.

Virtual Programming has released their new expansion for Hearts of Iron III…Semper Fi. The latest expansion pack for this real-time strategy game, Semper Fi promises improved game AI, more multiplayer options, impacts from changes in patriotism, and more.

Semper Fi introduces an greater cooperation with allied troops, allowing you to request additional troops, convince them to attack specific targets, launch multi-stage invasions, pursue more strategic production of resources, and more. You can also compare the game’s alternate timeline created through gameplay with the real events, including a new 1940 scenario to fill in a previous timeline gap.

Semper Fi also introduces a new patriotism influence to the game. You can designate certain ships with the term “Pride of the Fleet”, granting them bonuses in battle. But if those ships sink, or you change which ship’s carry that title, your home country takes a hit to patriotic support for your cause.

Multiplayer combat support is provided up to 32 players, with hidden victory conditions that can be chosen by UK, Germany, and USSR faction leaders at game start; theaters of war defined with a simple drag-box system, new air and naval map modes showing recent engagements; and much more.

System requirements:

• Mac OS X version 10.5.8 or later
• Any Intel processor
• 1GB RAM
• 128MB video RAM (Nvidia GeForce 7300 or ATI Radeon HD 2600/4850/4870 or better; Intel GMA integrated chipsets and ATI Radeon X1600 and X1900 video cards are not supported)
• 2GB of hard drive space
• A broadband Internet connection is required for Internet play and product registration.

Hearts of Iron III: Semper Fi is available on the Virtual Programming site for $19.95US, £14.95UK, €19.95EU.

TellTale Games has released the fourth episode of Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse. Beyond the Alley of the Dolls is now available for download from the TellTale website.

As the episode begins, an onslaught of oversized canine clones akin to a zombie apocalypse has our heroes running for cover in a barricaded ramshackle diner. And it gets even stranger from there. In this last episode before the epic season finale, the forces that have been pulling the Freelance Police’s strings begin revealing themselves in a tale that will change the way you look at Sam & Max forever! Who can possibly be responsible for this march of flabby dog flesh? The creepy old sorcerer? The creepier space ape? The even creepier diner owner? Or some other creep?

If you are looking for the Mac or Windows version, look no further. You can pick up the entire series for a mere $34.95, and start playing four of the five episodes today.

Slitherine Strategies has announced the availability of the Commander series as a digital download. Both Commander: Europe at War and Commander: Napoleon at War can be purchased for £ 19.99 ($30.50 US) each from the Slitherine online store.

Originally co-developed by Slitherine and Firepower Entertainment, then ported to the Mac by Freeverse, the digital version is being released via Slitherine’s Kameleon Project. Though the boxed versions are still available via Freeverse’s site, the support forums have closed. I spoke to Slitherine, and they said that they would continue to give support from their forums.

The Commander series is a turn-based strategy war game. In Europe at War, the scenario is set during WWII and spans the entirety of the European theater. Players can play either allied or axis sides. Napoleon at War is set during the Napoleonic era, in which players can take the side of Napoleon or the Allied Coalition.

Aspyr Media has officially launched their European and UK GameAgent digital download platforms. To celebrate, they are offering 15% across the board on all digital download game sales. The sale lasts through July 28th, but unfortunately won’t include anything on MarketStream, so you won’t get the discount for any Civ for Mac games.

They have also opened up new forums as well, and are encouraging folks to participate. Right now a poll is ongoing about what old school Aspyr Mac port you want to see sent to digital.

Otherwise known as “Omaha can’t go to Casual Connect, Day 2, cause she’s sick”. Yeah, waking up in the morning sounding like a frog gives you a new appreciation for Frogger, let me tell you. But that’s no way to go through life podcasting, girl. So, I’m staying home, getting rest, and hoping the frog will be hit by a semi or fall off the log by tomorrow.

Meanwhile, enjoy this from Paul and Storm.

A couple of weeks ago, Plimus launched their new Buy Anyware eCommerce platform. Plimus is at Casual Connect, and I sat down with Simon Jones, Vice President of Strategic Solutions at Plimus, to see how Buy Anyware has been received by developers, and what changes we might see from the platform based on the response.

There are a number of Russia-based casual game developers here at Casual Connect, and I had the opportunity to speak with two of them today. Playrix, based out of Vologda, is known for their Fishdom and Call of Atlantis games. They made an announcement at the conference to pursue, as they put it, a “cross-platform development strategy”. Their press release state that all future projects would be developed for all platforms that Playrix currently develops for.

I stopped by the Playrix booth today and had a chat with Sean Elliot regarding what this really meant. He said that the announcement was more than just a move towards multi-platform releases. Though Playrix would strive towards near simultaneous releases for PC, Mac, and online, they were also intending on integrating cross-platform thinking in game design from the beginning.

“We feel it’s very important from the early ideation phase to see where this will work beyond just the PC and Mac platform,” said Elliot. “Customers are looking for rich gaming experiences, so when we build games, we will be able to bring that experience to a broader audience.”

Playrix has several games that are slated for Fall 2010 launch, so we should be looking forward to some more interesting games from this developer.

Realore Studios, a Russian-Lithuanian game development company, released a prediction today that the volume for the Russian game market would reach $130 million by the end of 2010. This is based on the fact that the Russian market has already hit $65 million in the first six months.

Realore is responding to this by launching Realore Social, which will turn many of their current titles into online social games, first on Moy Mir (the Russian equivalent to Facebook), and then more globally.

I spoke briefly with Natalia Zhuravleva of Realore about their Mac, iPhone, and new iPad titles. Zhuravleva said that more titles would be coming out soon for the iPhone, including Jane’s Zoo, possibly as early as August. Two titles were also going to be coming out soon for the iPad as well, an iPad version of Jane’s Zoo, and Dress Up Rush, a time management game.

Zhuravleva said that Realore is hoping to bring future titles to the iPhone and iPad, and continue to bring out titles for the Mac.

I was introduced to Zuma Blitz for Facebook at the PopCap luncheon today. A merging of the ball shooting game Zuma with the fast-paced arcade concepts of Bejeweled Blitz, players in Zuma Blitz must face attacks from two sides in a limited time period to gain points. Time for attacks can increase in game with the right powerups.

Though the game is weeks from release still, there are plans for some pretty awesome social gameplay, such as players being able to level curses on each other to hinder gameplay, or sharing points, etc.

I also confirmed that the lovely rumor from July 12 about a possible Plants vs Zombies 2 is just that…rumor. I spoke directly with Garth Chouteau of PopCap Games to get the skinny on this rumor once and for all, and found that the “announcement” is really a celebration regarding the release of Plants vs Zombies for XBLA.

Gamespot reports on it in detail about the same time I was getting the info, so I’ll let them tell you more. I’m too heartbroken. Other than to say that Chouteau did say that while he wouldn’t rule out a Plants vs Zombies 2 game, there aren’t any plans for one right now.