StarCraft II

SC2 logo.

Starcraft 2 is the sequel to Blizzard's classic RTS title. The sequel was released on July 27, 2010.

You can read more about StarCraft II at the StarCraft: IncGamers, and the site's wiki.

Starcraft 2 System Requirements

Fans often ask about Diablo 3's system requirements. While Blizzard won't make those known until much closer to the game's launch, we can look at the SC2 minimm requirements for some insight. Here's what Blizzard says, on their B.net support page. [1]

PC Minimum System Requirements

Due to potential programming changes, the Minimum System Requirements for this game may change over time. Mac Requirements

• Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Updated with the latest Service Packs) with DirectX® 9.0c
• 2.6 GHz Pentium® IV or equivalent AMD Athlon® processor
• 128 MB PCIe NVIDIA® GeForce® 6600 GT or ATI Radeon® 9800 PRO video card or better
• 12 GB available HD space
• 1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users)
• DVD-ROM drive
• Broadband Internet connection
• 1024X720 minimum display resolution

PC Recommended Specifications:

• Windows Vista®/Windows® 7
• Dual Core 2.4Ghz Processor
• 2 GB RAM
• 512 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX or ATI Radeon® HD 3870 or better

Mac Minimum System Requirements:

• Mac® OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.2 or newer
• Intel® Processor
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT or ATI Radeon® X1600 or better
• 12 GB available HD space
• 2 GB Ram
• DVD-ROM drive
• Broadband Internet connection
• 1024X720 minimum display resolution

Mac Recommended Specifications:

• Intel® Core 2 Duo processor
• 4 GB system RAM
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600M GT or ATI Radeon® HD 4670 or better

Diablo 3 Easter Eggs in Starcraft 2

Blizzard continued their habit of working in inter-game Easter Eggs, by placing a couple of amusing Diablo 3 items in Starcraft 2.

Diablo Decals

Diablo decals in Starcraft 2.

Decal'ed Marine.

Diablo head decals are amongst the many offered for customizing your units in Starcraft 2. These may be unlocked through achievements over Battle.net, their exact function isn't yet known.

They can be used to customize units on player-made maps, as the example Terran Marine shows. The images were first found on the Battle.net site, on July 18, 2010.

Deckard Cain Achievement

A smaller Starcraft 2 Easter Egg features Deckard Cain's classic "Stay awhile, and listen." line of dialogue as the name of an Achievement. A fan reported on where this achievement was obtained. [2]

This achievement is after you finish the Gates of Hell mission in planet Char. There’s a cinematic right after, then you see an interactive Raynor, General Waterfield and Tychus with a char background. The achievement suddenly pops when that loads. It’s interactive as in you hover the mouse over Raynor, the General and Tychus, and they become silhouette-highlighted, you click them and they have a cutscene-dialogue.

Burning Diablo

Diablo in SC2.

The first and most dramatic is an appearance of a miniature Diablo in a SC2 single-player mission called "The Devil's Playground." Diablo is just a "critter," one of the forms of ambient life, but it's definitely Big Red, though he's small and gloriously burning, the model looks to be the same one used for the World of Warcraft mini-pet.

A screenshot can be seen to the right. See the original news post for more details and a movie of the little guy.

Diablo Marine Avatar

The Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector's Edition contains four avatars accessible in the Battle.net Rewards tab, Portraits section. The avatar is titled onscreen as Diablo Marine (Devoted fan).

Starcraft II: Collector's Edition

The SC2 collector's edition was released on July 27, 2010, the same day as the regular game. There has not yet been any word about Collector's Editions for SC2 parts 2 and 3. The Diablo III Collector's Edition will not contain the same stuff as the SC2:CE did, but the loot will likely be fairly similar.

The SC2:CE contained:

• An art book. (Hardcover, full of concept art for Starcraft II and notes from the artists.)
• A 2 GB flash drive modeled after Jim Raynor’s dog tag with the original StarCraft and Brood War expansion preloaded.
• A behind-the-scenes DVD.
• The StarCraft 2 soundtrack.
• A StarCraft 2 comic book.
• Unique avatar portraits for use on a player's Battle.net account.
• A unique model for the in-game Thor unit in multiplayer.
• A World of Warcraft virtual pet.