Blizzard Entertainment today announced an HD version of the classic RTS StarCraft. Called StarCraft: Remastered, the game includes all the content from the base game and the Brood War expansion.
The graphics have been boosted to "4K ultra high definition," while the audio is upgraded as well. Additionally, new features such as matchmaking have been introduced.
"StarCraft is a pure distillation of Blizzard's DNA--its story, its balance, and all the little details reflect our long-running commitment to epic entertainment, and it's been a staple in competitive gaming and esports for almost 20 years," Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime said in a statement. "With StarCraft: Remastered, we're modernizing the original game's visuals, audio, and online support to ensure that players can enjoy StarCraft for another 20 years and beyond."
In terms of specifics, here is a rundown of what StarCraft: Remastered offers:
Widescreen UHD support for up to 4K
New illustrations to "enhance storytelling" in the campaign missions
"Advanced matchmaking"
"Full connectivity" to Blizzard's online network
Cloud saves for campaign progress, custom-made maps, keybinds, and replays
Eight new languages in addition to the five that came with the original
"While these improvements will bring StarCraft to the modern era, gameplay and balance have been precisely preserved, for an experience that will feel identical to veteran players," Blizzard said.
StarCraft: Remastered is in the works for Windows PC and Mac and is slated to come out this summer. Pricing will be announced later.
Microsoft isn't the only platform-holder teasing its E3 2017 plans. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Fox News that Nintendo has "big" things in store for this year's show.
"E3 is always a big time for Nintendo," he said (via Nintendo Everything and NeoGAF). "We look at each E3 as a unique opportunity to tell our story. And we're gonna have a big E3 this year. We're going to be showcasing a variety of games."
While Fils-Aime shied away from offering specifics about Nintendo's plans, he said Nintendo will have Nintendo Switch and 3DS games on display.
"I'm not gonna tell you all of the various games and all of our little secrets for E3, but I can tell you that E3 is going to be a major opportunity for us to showcase not only Nintendo Switch, but also content coming to Nintendo 3DS," he said.
Fils-Aime also mentioned the fact that E3 2017, for the first time in the show's history, is open to the public, though he did not provide any specifics on how Nintendo's plans might be tailored to that.
Also in the interview, Fils-Aime talked about how it's not easy to predict where the video game industry is going.
"I think anyone who says they know where this industry is going is really not knowledgeable about the industry, given that at its heart, it's all about innovation and creativity," he said.
It's been a few years since Nintendo has held a traditional E3 briefing, instead opting for offsite Nintendo Direct presentations, as well as Nintendo Treehouse livestreams.
What would you like to see from Nintendo at E3 this year? Let us know in the comments below!
With E3 2017 still a few months away, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has now spoken out to say that fans can expect Microsoft to dedicate more time to games during the presentation.
Writing on Twitter, Spencer said, "I want to give our games more time on stage at E3. I sometimes feel like we rush telling the story of our games at E3."
This is not to say that the briefing will be exclusively focused on software. It most certainly won't be, as Microsoft's Project Scorpio is coming out this year. However, Spencer's new comments do lend further credence to the suggestion that Microsoft may hold an event dedicated to Scorpio before E3.
The retailer's fourth-quarter profits in 2016 had dipped by 13.6% since those from the prior year, prompting its stock to plunge by 31%. These losses were made in sales of both new games and new consoles, which GameStop attributed to "aggressive console promotions by other retailers on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday," as well as "weak sales of certain AAA titles."
As a potential silver lining, GameStop also reported a 27.8% increase in its collectibles sales over the year, mostly thanks to strong sales of Pokemon merchandise and the success of affiliate brands such as the geek-culture merchandiser ThinkGeek and the AT&T technology retailer Spring Mobile. Accordingly, it plans to open roughly 35 new collectibles stores and 65 new technology stores.
The Hearthstone Championship Tour (HCT) kicked off its 2017 season this week in the Bahamas. Thursday and Friday's play saw an early end for four players; the remaining 12 now compete for their share of the $250,000 prize pool and one of four seats at the HCT World Championship later this year.
All matches are in best-of-seven conquest format with a ban, meaning each player must bring five different classes.
Players who make it through Saturday's double-elimination quarterfinals will proceed to a single-elimination bracket on Sunday; each of the four finalists will all secure an invite to the HCT World Championship. To keep an eye on who's still in the running, check out Blizzard's HCT Winter Championship bracket.
This may be the last we'll see of some of the most popular decks in the current Standard format. The new expansion, Journey to Un'Goro, is set to roll out in April, and fans should keep an eye out for new strategies evolving over they year.
Matches last from 7:00 AM PDT Saturday and 9:00 AM PDT. Watch the action live here, or at Hearthone's Twitch channel.
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