There's new media to soak in, including a close look at the stars of StarCraft II's single-player campaign, Tychus Findlay, Zeratul, and Jim Raynor, plus ample background info on each. Blizzard has also added new details on the Zerg's Changeling, some updates on multiplayer mapmaking and the requisite much, much more.

It's all detailed at the StarCraft II community shout out below.

StarCraft II Content Drop [StarCraft.com]

Well, as those of you who may have read the spoiler-laden version of our StarCraft II single-player preview may already know, the Brutalisk doesn't do much more than intimidate... and die. It's one of a handful of non-playable unit types that StarCraft II brings to the table, a powerful, well armored beast that is best avoided while hunting fresh vespene geysers.

This "surprise custom unit," as Blizzard calls it, shouldn't be a multiplayer balance concern. But maybe someday we'll see more of it in one of those StarCraft II expansions coming... way, way in the future.

(Pro tip: Click on the thumbnail above to make it Brutal-sized.)

Rob Pardo came on stage to talk about Battle.Net. Launched in 1996 with Diablo, it was the first matchmaking service integrated completely into games. It's evolved with StarCraft, Diablo 2, and Warcraft 3. The service now has more players on it than World of Warcraft - 12 million to WoW's 11.5 million. "Just imagine how big that number will be once StarCraft II comes out."

Rob explained that Warcraft III taught them many important lessons about Battle.net. There was great matchmaking. It made it easy to play with your friends. Random teams were highly successful. On the other hand, chat was disorganized, the single-player experience was disconnected, new players got their asses handed to them, and the ladder system only catered to the very best players. On top of that, custom games outside of Defense of the Ancients were nigh impossible to find.

StarCraft 2's Battle.Net is split into three sections.

First, there's "The Always Connected Experience". StarCraft 2 and Battle.Net are woven into one experience. With the Battle.Net system, your characters and accounts are tied to your email, so you never lose your settings. And much like Steam, you'll always be connected to your friends.

Pardo shows off some screens of the new service in action. In StarCraft 2, you log into the game much like World of Warcraft. There's a launch screen, with news, single player, and multiplayer options. Once you enter the game, you'll always have access to your friends list, even in the single player game. He also showed off the profile page, and StarCraft 2 achievements.

By earning achievement sin the game, you'll unlock avatars and decals you can use in the game, with your custom decals showing up on your units in game.

It's an always-connected experience, he said, one integrated experience, with your friends and your game always close at hand.

The next concept is to make Battle.Net a competitive arena for everyone. This means an improved matchmaking system, which makes it easy for players to find their friends and organize games.

Ladder play is a major focus, making sure that the competitive experience isn't just for the most hardcore players.

How does the new matchmaking service work? After playing for a while, players will compete within colored leagues...think gold, silver, etc. Within each league, players compete against 100 other players of their own skill level.

For casual players, there is a practice league, which slows down the gameplay with anti-rush maps to let them get used to the game.

Parties work much like World of Warcraft, with friends joining to enter into games together. Pretty straightforward.

So there are many different game types to play, it's easy to play and stay with friends, and the ladder is now designed for everyone.

The final concept is "Connecting the Blizzard Community." Blizzard wants to use Battle.Net as a way to keep players informed about all of the Blizzard titles they are playing. Again, making it easy to find and stay connected with your friends is key. To this end, the chat system now features instant messenger-style chat, making it easier to chat between games.

Blizzard wants to connect the players together, both friends who play together offline, and those who play together online. Players enjoy playing together in groups, and Battle.Net will help players stay together when new games come out.

They tackle this by exploring other services and their limitations. They looked at Xbox Live, which has a great friends system, but you quickly lose track of who is who. They looked at MySpace, which handled tracking friends well, but made it hard to find new friends. They even looked at Google Talk, which allows people to change their contact's names.

This all lead to the Battle.Net Real ID, which lets you see and communicate with friends based on how you know them. The service will allow you to communicate with your friends across games, servers, and characters, so no matter what game or character you are playing, you still stay in touch.

They are also implementing an achievement system that spans games and characters as well, removing the necessity of re-doing achievements with each new character you create.

Pardo showed a screen of someone in World of Warcraft chatting with someone playing StarCraft 2. And then came a screen of World of Warcraft's friends list, which will incorporate the same functionality.

The Battle.Net Real ID is a layer on top of the normal friends list, with parental controls and controls in place to make sure that you choose who your friends are.

Finally, Pardo talked custom games. Custom games eventually took over Warcraft III, as the gameplay types and maps developed by the mod community were of high quality. The StarCraft 2 map editor will be even more powerful than the Warcraft III editor. They are also introducing map publishing, allowing players to share maps online, making it easier than ever to share your creations with the community.

Looking into the future, past StarCraft II's launch next year, Blizzard is looking into a StarCraft 2 marketplace, with maps rated by the community. There will be free maps and premium user-made maps, allowing creators to make money on their maps. The whole point is to foster the best mod community possible, creating a much larger selection of content for players while inspiring creativity through the potential to get paid.

When Blizzard revealed that StarCraft 2 would be delayed until next year because of Battle.Net, many weren't quite sure why such a delay was necessary. Hopefully the extensive plans Pardo outlined today make things just a bit more clear.

Blizzard wants to foster the best mod community in existence, and to that ends they've unveiled plans to single out premium custom-created maps for sales on a StarCraft 2 marketplace. Maps will be split into two categories - normal and premium - with the former free and the latter for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to the map's creators. Blizzard hopes this will lead to more choice for StarCraft 2 players, and more innovative and creative custom maps fueled by the potential financial rewards.

Said Pardo, "This is really an opportunity for them to share in the rewards of our success."

The feature won't be available at the game's launch, and details are still being ironed out. Blizzard made the announcement today as a way to give modders time to gather teams together and start brainstorming premium content. Mod teams, start your engines!

Well, I will be there representing Kotaku, but judging by my height and girth I am worth any two of them on the human meat aftermarket. Last year I shattered the very world, so what trouble could I possibly get into this year? With news expected on all fronts, from a potential World of Warcraft expansion to new details on StarCraft II and Diablo III, would you even notice me getting into trouble?

Probably not. You'd be too busy watching Ozzy Osbourne.

I understand. Either way, expect reports from BlizzCon to kick off late this evening, with the annual swag-bag breakdown, and we'll see where things go from there.

We took notes. Lots of notes. And in this post, the full no facts-barred details of our hands-on time with StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty are yours for the reading. While there wasn't much in the way of massive story revelations in what we played—we were just getting access to some of the Terran vehicles by the end of our demo—there are some key characters that spoiler-phobic StarCraft fans may want to experience only for themselves.

That's why there's this alternate spoiler-free post, packed with details on StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, but short on plot points and proper names. Read on for our full, unfettered impressions and a blow-by-blow account of our time at Blizzard.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty opens in a bar. Rendered in real-time, the opening cinematic starts intimately, with Jim Raynor drinking alone, his only company a Zerg skull mounted on the wall behind him and a jukebox that plays two kinds of music—country and western. There may be a fly or two on the wall. He's at a run down watering hole, Joey Ray's, watching the news.

He's the subject of that night's intergalactic newscast. Terran Emperor Mengsk is onscreen, lashing out at the rebellion against the ruling Terran Dominion, specifically the group of rebels that follows Raynor, known as Raynor's Raiders.

In between Jim's monologue and Mengsk's televised speech, the player can interact with portions of Joey Ray's bar. Have a drink. Reflect on the previous Zerg war by clicking on the mounted Hydralisk skull. Or click on the nearby cork board, see a bit of history on the Terrans and Raynor's Raiders.

That mechanic gives StarCraft II's single-player campaign a bit of an adventure game feel, even if most of what the game offers during these moments is atmosphere. These moments replace the talking head intermissions from the original StarCraft.

And thankfully, as these moments in Joey Ray's and, later, on board the Battlecruiser Hyperion, make StarCraft II feel less like a cycle of missions and briefings, and something more interactive.

From the bar is where Raynor takes his first mission in StarCraft II, a small force attack called "Liberation Day."

Raynor and his Raiders help to liberate a Mar Sara colony from the Dominion's ruthless occupation. Leading a small band of Terran forces, your re-introduction to controlling a squad of Marines. Simple stuff, no resource gathering. All you really need to do is kill any Dominion soldiers in your path, taking out the propaganda "holoboards" looping Mengsk's occupation message, just for fun.

Of course, with the introduction of achievements to StarCraft II, there are other things to do. Some, like the "Liberator" achievement, reward you for simply finishing the mission. Others are a bit more challenging, like ensuring that not a single Mar Sara civilian dies, or finishing that mission on Hard and in under three minutes.

After finishing "Liberation Day," you'll be rewarded with new tech—access to train Marines at a Barracks. Most missions we played unlock something new, whether its the ability to train Marauders or build Bunkers. After the mission, you'll be reintroduced to Terran Marine Tychus Findlay who joins Jim at Joey Ray's. He comes armed with a job, your second mission "The Dig." You'll need cash to finance Raynor's Raiders' exploits, occasionally taking gigs that aren't just about taking potshots at the Dominion.

Findlay's lined up a buyer for some alien artifacts, which you'll need to get to before the Dominion does. During "The Dig" you'll get access to the Medic unit—the same that was introduced in StarCraft: Brood War—a unit that you won't actually use during the game's multiplayer game. That's not that uncommon, actually, as you'll have access to plenty of units, technology and buildings that didn't make the multiplayer cut.

Once Raynor and company have unearthed those artifacts, we learn that Tychus' buyer is actually an organization called the Mobius Foundation. It's a legit scientific foundation that seems to have an interest in securing alien relics before the Dominion does. Tychus and Raynor have plenty of opportunity wax nostalgic at Joey Ray's talking about the Mobius Foundation, the Zerg, the rebellion.

The voice acting and direction here is top notch, offering excellent morsels of background on the characters and the universe they live in. Blizzard does a good job in the game's first act of doling out a well written narrative, with Tychus' current situation—his involvement with the Mobius Foundation, why he's still in that Terran Marine exosuit—shrouded in mystery.

Our next mission, "Zero Hour" is a familiar base defense chapter. Help Raynor and crew survive a Zerg invasion, holding out for 20 minutes until help arrives in the form of the Battlecruise Hyperion and ship commander Matt Horner. The mission is relatively simple, just defend a few choke points—you'll get access to Bunkers here—while watching out for Zerg air drops and the occasional Mutalisk squad.

The game trades Joey Ray's for the Hyperion after the completion of "Zero Hour," giving Raynor access to the Battlecruiser's bridge, armory, lab and cantina.

The bridge is where you'll interact with Horner. Raynor will be able to view mission briefings and have the option to solicit freelance work. Someone's gotta pay for Raynor's army and the technology upgrades necessary to fend off the new Zerg invasion, so the Hyperion crew does some jobs just for cash.

That's where the armory comes into play. With enough cash—and the help of the dwarf-life Swann—you'll be able to add new unit types to the Raiders' rebel forces as well as upgrade their capabilities. In the armory, you'll be able to buy tech upgrades for infantry, base structures, vehicles, star ships, and beyond.

One of those options includes the option to buy and upgrade units specific to the Dominion itself, alluding to some later game hijacking of Mengsk's own technology.

(For a list of every upgrade that we saw during our playthrough at Blizzard, refer to this post.)

The other areas of the Hyperion, the lab and cantina, present other opportunities to make and spend money, respectively. Blizzard's Dustin Browder says that the lab portion of the ship is still undergoing some refinement. Browder didn't sound too thrilled with the current implementation of that section of the ship, saying that the reconnaissance and research missions just weren't that much fun yet.

We wouldn't know. Those mission were locked out of our demo. All we could do in the lab was chat with the pimply faced scientist Stetmann and review research objectives. These were just cash-in opportunities to learn more about Zerg evolution or Protoss shield technology. These side missions may offer some variety and an injection of funds, but we won't know what they'll look like for a while.

The last section of the ship, the cantina, is multi-faceted. You'll be able to catch up on intergalactic news, chat with the NPC crew of the Hyperion, ogle holographic strippers, play games—there's an arcade cabinet in the back with a shoot 'em up called The Lost Viking that will be playable—and hire mercenaries.

The mysterious Mr. Hill will be your merc agent, hiring special units that you can deploy once per mission.

Those mercs, which come at a cost, obviously, are somewhat like the hero units Blizzard introduced in Warcraft III. More powerful than your stock infantry unit, they can be deployed from the Merc Compound, deploying a small team of Marines, Marauders or Firebats. The Kel Morain Mercs, Hammer Securities and Devil Dogs are "elite" versions of the aforementioned units. These extra strength soldiers are good to have around, as they can help fortify a budding squadron.

Back at the bridge, we learn from Horner that the Zerg resurgence has spread, with casualties "in the billions." A news broadcast shows blurry footage of Zerg overlady Kerrigan, with reporters saying "the Queen of Blades is in fact leading the swarm."

Raynor and Kerrigan have their first interaction in StarCraft II during the mission "Tooth & Nail," another Protoss relic hunting endeavor. You'll battle a weakened Protoss force approaching from the south, preoccupied with a Zerg invasion from the north, while trying to steal their artifacts. Introduced in this mission are more uniquely single-player units. When trying to secure the relic, Raynor's forces are attacked by a quartet of Stone Zealots, gargantuan statues brought to life to protect the prized artifact.

It's here that Kerrigan and Raynor exchange words, with the Zerg queen warning our hero that "Time is running out... for all of us."

The reward for completing "Tooth & Nail" is two-fold. Raynor earns $80,000—the Terrans still deal in dollars, it seems—and gets the right to train Marauders, the heavily armored infantry units he experiments with during the mission.

The storyline tree splits here, as Raynor and the Hyperion crew have the option of taking missions of mercy and missions of material gain. Following "Tooth & Nail," two mission options are made available, "Mining Your Own Business" and "The Evacuation of Agria." Since we had the option of access to multiple saves, we tried both.

"The Evacuation of Agria" is fairly self explanatory. After receiving a distress call from Dr. Ariel Hansen, Raynor and crew sign up to escort a group of Agrian colonists through a Zerg infestation. That involves following a series of convoys full of helpless citizens. But the mission offers alternative goals as well, including the total elimination of all Zerg forces in the area and the successful harvesting of DNA from hidden chrysalises.

Since "The Evacuation of Agria" is, as Tychus Findlay jeeringly calls it, a "hero mission," it pays less than "Mining Your Own Business." But it gives the player access to Firebats and it welcomes a new addition to the Hyperion bridge, Dr. Hansen. What benefit she offers, we don't know, as we were only permitted to play a set number of missions.

So we reverted to an older save to play through the mining rescue mission. It's largely a harvest and defend mission. All Raynor's Raiders are on the planet Red Stone III to do is mine the a set amount of high yield minerals, all the while defending against the occasional Zergling nuisance.

But "Mining Your Own Business" has an environmental twist. The area has a rising tide of molten lava every few minutes. So it's more like harvest, defend, retreat, rinse, and repeat until you've pulled in enough minerals to make it worth the while of your employer, the dreadlocked Tosh. He'll also ally with Raynor, should the contractual obligations be met.

The lava laden mission has a fun side quest, one that involves another single-player-only unit. To get the "Red Lobster" achievement, you'll need to kill the hidden Brutalisk by luring it into lava. I got lucky. The Brutalisk followed some of my SCVs into a valley, then decided to stay put on low ground for just a little too long. Oops.

The seventh and final mission we played, "Outbreak," was similar in its retreat tactics. But it's another "hero mission." Dr. Hansen explains on the Hyperion bridge that the planet Meinhoff appears to have been afflicted with some sort of infestation. Everything, from Terran refugees to buildings has been infested by a Zerg infection. Our mission was to eliminate that infestation, destroying every infested building on the colony.

Meinhoff's residents, now just infested colonists and infested Marines, will only attack Raynor's forces at night. So, during the day, it's build, research and destroy every Zerg infested structure. At night, the player must retreat, as hundreds of infested humans emerge from their hidden burrows, swarming the camp. They're easy cannon fodder, should you have the right amount of Bunkers and Hellions, but their overwhelming when not forced to attack through a choke point.

Fortunately, some of the avenues into the camp are guarded by destructible rocks. Fine protection, but simple enough to break through should the Terrans need an out.

"Outbreak" features the last single-player specific unit we saw, the Centaur, a massive mutated Terran-Zerg hybrid, structured like the mythical Greek beast, only with a thorny carapace and a lower half made of pincers. Blizzard reps said that units like the Centaur and Brutalisk were just fun extras that they wanted to include in the StarCraft II campaign, some of them units that might have been left on the multiplayer cutting room floor.

After playing through "Outbreak," we'd racked up about 7 hours of play time with StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, revisiting some missions on harder difficulties, some just to satisfy a completionist itch. Reaching that mark put us about a third of the way through the single-player campaign in terms of mission count—there were 26 missions mentioned in the build we played.

But in terms of how that ultimately plays out in terms of what one can do in single-player, when including splitting story arcs, research missions in the lab and replaying levels on higher difficulty for extra achievements, remains to be seen. StarCraft II's single-player mode looks meaty, far more robust in terms of scope and presentation than what we were expecting.

StarCraft II's units and structures feel much more broad in their scope than what we've seen in the game's multiplayer mode—all those upgrades would be nothing short of impossible to balance. It's clear that Blizzard is heavily investing in both single and multiplayer for Wings of Liberty. The storytelling in the Terran campaign is expert, with plenty to dig deep into should players want to hear every single word of spoken dialogue, through which bits and pieces of backstory are delivered.

The decision to split StarCraft II into three separate campaigns was, obviously, concerning. But the amount of content that Blizzard appears to be packing into the first third of that trilogy allays most of those concerns. There's an incredible amount of game here.

Now we just want to see how they're going to do this for the Zerg. Do they even have bars?

While there wasn't much in the way of massive story revelations in what we played—we were just getting access to some of the Terran vehicles by the end of our demo—there are some key characters that spoiler-phobic StarCraft fans may want to experience only for themselves. That's what this post is for.

Feeling brave? Then read our full, potentially spoiler-laden in-depth write-up of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, just watch out for details on who said what, who's killing who, and details on some of Jim Raynor's new pals. If you'd like to keep it plot-point free, read on for our abridged impressions and a blow-by-blow account of our time at Blizzard.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty opens in a bar. Rendered in real-time, the opening cinematic starts intimately, with Jim Raynor drinking alone, his only company a Zerg skull mounted on the wall behind him and a jukebox that plays two kinds of music—country and Western. All the songs seem to be about drinking or the having Zerg blues. There may be a fly or two on the wall. He's at a run down watering hole, Joey Ray's, watching the news.

He's the subject of that night's intergalactic newscast. He sneers at the screen, happier to be boozing.

In between Jim's monologue and the broadcast, the player can interact with portions of Joey Ray's bar, anything that glows with a bright outline when moused over. Have a drink. Listen to music. Reflect on the previous Zerg war by clicking on the mounted Hydralisk skull. Interact with old friends who might stop by. Or click on the nearby cork board, see a bit of history on the Terrans.

That mechanic gives StarCraft II's single-player campaign a bit of an adventure game feel, even if most of what the game offers during these moments is atmosphere and small doses of narrative. These moments replace the talking head intermissions from the original StarCraft.

And thankfully, as these moments in Joey Ray's and, later, on board the Battlecruiser Hyperion, make StarCraft II feel less like a cycle of missions and briefings, and something more interactive.

From Joey Ray's bar and the bridge of the Hyperion, Raynor and his allies are briefed on whatever mission they face next. Some are missions of mercy, some are simply to refresh Raynor's bank account. All of those mission briefings are directed well, with expert voice over work and attention to detail, like the spot-on lip synching.

Those early missions are simple. Most are an introduction to the world of StarCraft II, its units and its technology. It starts off small, with Raynor controlling a small squadron of Marines, but it quickly grows. Raynor adds Firebats, Medics, Marauders, Hellions and more to his arsenal, adding new units mission-by-mission.

Those missions range from guarding a small group of refugees, to building out and defending a large Terran base, to mining a lava-scorched planet, its previous mining colony leaving behind mineral-rich deposits.

Blizzard is mixing up those missions with secondary objectives and level-specific achievements, usually about three per chapter. These include completely wiping out a Zerg infestation while following a convoy and finishing missions on hardcore levels of difficulty. Many are easy to accomplish on a first play through. Others will require serious dedication and frequent quick saves.

Missions also make Raynor money, which can be spent on new technology. Many Terran units and buildings have two available upgrades that can be purchased in the Hyperion's armory. These include things like the ability to research Stimpacks—permanently—for your Marines and Marauders, and a fire suppression system that prevents Terran buildings from catching fire and slowly destroying themselves.

Speaking of infantry, fans of the original StarCraft's amusing sound bites delivered by click-harassed units will be well served. There are some great one-liners here, but some of those bits of dialogue seem to be recycled from the original games.

In the Hyperion's armory, you'll have access to plenty of units, technology and buildings that didn't make the multiplayer cut. This makes StarCraft II's single-player campaign much more than a series of mission-based levels using multiplayer style rules.

(For a list of every upgrade that we saw during our playthrough at Blizzard, refer to this post.)

Beyond the bridge and armory, the Hyperion has two additional areas players can visit.

The ship's lab and cantina present other opportunities to make and spend money, respectively. Blizzard's Dustin Browder says that the lab portion of the ship is still undergoing some refinement. Browder didn't sound too thrilled with the current implementation of that section of the ship, saying that the reconnaissance and research missions just weren't that much fun yet.

We wouldn't know. Those mission were locked out of our demo. All we could do in the lab was chat with the pimply faced scientist Stetmann and review research objectives. These were just cash-in opportunities to learn more about Zerg evolution or Protoss shield technology. These side missions may offer some variety and an injection of funds, but we won't know what they'll look like for a while.

The last section of the ship, the cantina, is multi-faceted. You'll be able to catch up on intergalactic news, chat with the NPC crew of the Hyperion, ogle holographic strippers, play games and hire mercenaries.

The cantina is home to a mercenary agent, hiring special units that you can deploy once per mission.

Those mercs, which come at a cost, obviously, are somewhat like the hero units Blizzard introduced in Warcraft III. More powerful than your stock infantry unit, they can be deployed from the structure at which you'd normally build a Marine, Marauder or Firebat. These extra strength "elite" soldiers are good to have around, as they can help fortify a budding squadron.

Based on the seven missions we played, the proceeds Raynor nets from completing a mission usually amounts to two to three technology upgrades or the hiring of mercenary squad and one upgrade. Some of the game's greedier missions earn Raynor's team more money than the more charitable ones.

Fortunately, both the materialistic and merciful missions are a hell of a lot of fun.

One section that we played consisted of Raynor's forces trying to earn as much cash as quickly as possible. Farming for minerals and gas isn't the draw here, it's the defense against regular waves of enemies and the cyclical flooding of the planet with lava. Add to that the fact that players must be mindful of their own spending—all those minerals go into one pool of funds—and the multi-tasking required gets, well, about as fun as multi-tasking gets.

Another change to the standard formula was a spooky night and day cycle that had us on the hunt for enemies during the day, retreating to base at night, as hordes of enemies would attack only after dark.

Throughout these missions, Blizzard spices up the action with unique, single-player campaign-only units, just for fun.

We racked up about 7 hours of play time with StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, revisiting some missions on harder difficulties, some just to satisfy a completionist itch. Reaching that mark put us about a third of the way through the single-player campaign in terms of mission count—there were 26 missions mentioned in the build we played.

But in terms of how that ultimately plays out in terms of what one can do in single-player, when including splitting story arcs, research missions in the lab and replaying levels on higher difficulty for extra achievements, remains to be seen. StarCraft II's single-player mode looks meaty, far more robust in terms of scope and presentation than what we were expecting.

StarCraft II's units and structures feel much more broad in their scope than what we've seen in the game's multiplayer mode—all those upgrades would be nothing short of impossible to balance. It's clear that Blizzard is heavily investing in both single and multiplayer for Wings of Liberty. The storytelling in the Terran campaign is expert, with plenty to dig deep into should players want to hear every single word of spoken dialogue, through which bits and pieces of backstory are delivered.

The decision to split StarCraft II into three separate campaigns was, obviously, concerning. But the amount of content that Blizzard appears to be packing into the first third of that trilogy allays most of those concerns. There's an incredible amount of game here.

Now we just want to see how they're going to do this for the Zerg. Do they even have bars?

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty's campaign mode features units and buildings that players won't be able to use in multiplayer. That includes Terran forces like the Medic and Firebat, yanked from multiplayer. It also includes brand new tech and structures, like Juggernaut Plating for the Marauder and the Bunker's mounted gun, the Shrike Turret.

Read on for a list of what we saw at Blizzard, with a little hands-on impressions of these single-player only upgrades.

We only made it through two of the seven columns of upgrades, which also include tweaks for Vehicles, Starships, Mid-tech, Ghost/Spectre and Dominion units. There are two upgrades per unit—with the exception of things like the flamethrowing Perdition Turret—one of the two purchasable items is simply the existence of the defense structure itself.

Here are details on the Infantry and Base upgrades.

Infantry

Firebat
Bearclaw Nozzles - Attack area +40%
Viral Plasma - Damage +2, duration 4 seconds

Marauder
Jackhammer Concussion Grenades - Slow affects area around target
Juggernaut Plating - Armor +2

Marine
Stimpacks - Moves, fights faster
Combat Shield - Health +10

Reaver
Stimpacks - Moves, fights faster
U-238 Rounds - Attack range +2

Hellion
Napalm Fuel Tanks - +1 damage/sec for 3 seconds
Turbo Charged Engines - Movement speed +40%

Base

SCV
Micro-fusion Reactor - Cost -15 minerals
Fusion Welder - Repair cost -25%

Command Center
Building Modular Construction - Building costs -10%
Fire Suppression System - Damaged buildings don't catch fire

Bunker
Shrike Turret - Mounted gun
Neosteel Frame - Holds +2 units

Missile Turret
Hailstorm Missile Pods - Gain area attack, range 7, damage 4x9
Devastator Missiles - Gains single target attack, damage 50, range 8

Perdition Turret
Distortion Sensors - Detects cloaked/burrowed

We only got a chance to experiment with some of these upgrades. But Blizzard reps were quick to recommend the Micro-fusion Reactor for the mineral-collecting SCVs, which makes the farming units almost one-third cheaper. We opted for the Perdition Turrets and Shrike Turrets, very useful while doing much of the base defense we did during the campaign.

Similarly, having permanently researched Stimpacks and health upgrades for the Marine quickly felt indispensable. But each upgrade felt good when we got it.

We're looking forward to seeing what else Blizzard has in store for tech upgrades in single-player, but feel like that information will be a long time coming.

"Our goal with BlizzCon is to deliver an unforgettable weekend of entertainment, and we can't think of a better way to close out this year's show than having Ozzy rock the house," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Many of us at Blizzard are lifelong fans of Ozzy's music, and we're thrilled that he'll be performing for all of our BlizzCon attendees as well as those joining us via DIRECTV and the live Internet stream."

The performance will kick off on Aug. 22, the last of the two day convention about all things Blizzard, but most things World of Warcraft.

Tickets to the event sold out in minutes, but if you're hard pressed to catch some live coverage of the event and see Ozzy's performance, it will be streamed both on DIRECTV and online for a price.

Of course, you could also just hang out hear and read all of Fahey's wonderful coverage. Where else will you read about entire backdrops being crushed by a reporter?

Activision Blizzard's reason for the delay of StarCraft II is reportedly tied to the relaunch of its upgraded Battle.net service, which handles multiplayer for all things Blizzard. In a statement to the Blizzard community, the developer writes "Over the past couple of weeks, it has become clear that it will take longer than expected to prepare the new Battle.net for the launch of the game."

Blizzard calls the new Battle.net an "integral part of the StarCraft II experience and will be an essential part of all of our games moving forward." Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said during an investor call today that the new iteration of Battle.net will likely be ready "early next year."

While disappointing, it's not surprising. Blizzard staffers have indicated a need for a four to six month beta period for StarCraft II, one that has yet to kick off, eight months into 2009.

Blizzard had previously planned for one "frontline" release this year, largely presumed to be the first entry in the StarCraft II trilogy, a goal that it doesn't appear it will be meeting. Your best bet for going hands-on with StarCraft II in 2009 is either a trip to BlizzCon or (possibly) during Gamescom in Cologne.

Watch for new details on StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in the coming weeks at Kotaku.

But considering that we're already six months into 2009, a four to six month beta period is kind of cutting it close, if the game has any intentions of shipping this calendar year. Granted, Blizzard hasn't officially committed to that, but StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the company's best bet for a "front line release" this year. So... will it ship this year?

"It's getting there," Browder said, adding "We can still make four!"

While what we played at Blizzard's recent hands-on felt beta ready to us, we're obviously not calling the shots. Browder says that StarCraft II needs to be in the best possible shape before it gets its beta coming out party.

"Beta is extremely distracting for us," he said. "We're playing. We want to see what other people are doing. We need to fix bugs right now. The minute beta goes out, we lose a lot of efficiency."

"So, we don't want to be in beta for nine months."

Hey, neither do we!

When we were first invited to Blizzard's headquarters, we were going to get our first hands-on experience with StarCraft II's single-player game. We were also supposed to get a look at new Battle.net features. Unfortunately for those of us looking forward to seeing how both of those projects were progressing, those presentations had to be pushed back. Such is the Blizzard way, as clearly no product will go public—or ship—until it's ready.

Disappointing? Maybe a little bit, as I'm looking forward to the campaign more than anything. But this is StarCraft II, people. And we just got another dose.

Last week's multiplayer event was the third time I've gone hands-on with StarCraft II, having played the game's multiplayer at Games Convention in 2008 and at BlizzCon in 2007. This time, however, there were almost no time constraints. I had time to play through to the construction of advance buildings. I played long enough to be crushed by a Zerg swarm of Brood Lords, the flying units that rained down broodlings upon my hapless, under-developed Terran forces. I played on every available map, Blistering Sands, Steppes of War, Kulas Ravine, a re-made Lost Temple, New Antioch and Toxic Wastes.

And while we didn't actually get a chance to go hands-on with some of the new Battle.net features—all still a work in progress, Blizzard cautioned—we got to see some fascinating changes.

Most of those changes to the Battle.net interface will appeal to StarCraft professionals and wanna-be professionals. During the three "shoutcasted" pro-level matches we watched—essentially live Battle Reports with color commentary—it was clear that Blizzard is adding features that will appeal to serious fans. There are a ton of stats to eat up during matches, showing each player's army details, technological progress, buildings constructed, economic growth, and average "actions per minute" or APM. All are good indicators of how a StarCraft II player is doing, but it's the post-game stats that will probably appeal to less hardcore fans looking to improve their game.

Not only can observers watch a full replay of a match, they can fast forward and reverse, letting them review snippets of a battle and rewatch game changing moments. Observers can also review match data in fun graph form or study a player's build order, complete with timestamps that will show the precise second when a winning player built his second Barracks or went all-in with Dark Templars.

The new Battle.net interface—again, not final—looked sharp and polished, something we're unfortunately not allowed to show you.

During our eyes-on and hands-on experiences, we got to see some of the more recent changes to the StarCraft II suite of strategies. New, to me anyway, were destructible rocks. Those rocks can open up new chokepoints. They can also block players from building expansions, so you may need to send in a demolition squad if you want to build a second or third base. Who knows what they might do in the hands of map makers?

And speaking of bases, we got a look at the high-yield mineral fields for the first time. A gold cluster of crystals instead of the standard blue, they'll help players earn more raw materials—but also provide a more obvious location at which to expand.

While much of the early StarCraft II game feels familiar, Blizzard has added another layer of strategy to something as simple as resource gathering. Each faction, Terran, Zerg and Protoss, have ways of boosting their resourcing means.

For the Terrans, it's the experimental Mule, a super-powered SCV that harvests more rapidly than the standard drone, but eventually shuts down. The Zerg have the ability now to spawn additional larvae, thanks to the Queen. Helpful for a quick build when the Hatchery is all tapped out. The Protoss have an ability called the Proton Charge, which simply lets Probes collect materials faster. Protoss players will need to build an Obelisk, a special Pylon, to initiate that boost.

Also new to our StarCraft II experience were units we hadn't had a chance to play with before, like the flame-throwing Hellion—a Vulture replacement, of sorts—and the heavily armored Marauder, two Terran units that complement the standard Marine during the early game. And while we did get a chance to delve slightly into StarCraft II's later game, getting far enough to grow Mutalisks during on Zerg playthrough and sprinting to a Protoss Mothership build, most of what we played was early game stuff.

But that will have to come with time and a little bit of single-player experience. Jumping into the deep end of StarCraft II isn't easy for this rusty StarCraft fan, so it will take some time to get used to the new tech trees and the fleet of new units.

Hopefully, the StarCraft II multiplayer beta is just around the corner, as what we played at Blizzard felt incredibly polished, with fantastic new music adding to the atmosphere and improved visuals that threatened to put a hurt on my old graphics card. Granted, there were still some placeholder buttons in the pre-beta version we played, but if Blizzard can get the public multiplayer test out there, we'll overlook that kind of thing. Gladly.

The latest update to the Developer's Corner section of the official StarCraft II web page showcases this video, kicking off with a Protoss carrier dying before getting to the real meat - Zerg dying in droves. Whether they die by fire or simply explode in a shower of guts and pointy bits, there's nothing quite as satisfying as a horde of Zerg reduced to its component parts, unless of course those Zerg are you.

Oh hell, admit it. It's fun to watch them die even if it is you.

StarCraft II Unit Death Animations Update [Official Website]

The first prank to come across our desks this morning was the P1mp My Mount feature from the World of Warcraft European website, which while a bit amusing, really didn't seem up to Blizzard's generally high April Fool's standards. Adding racing stripes, neon hooves, and cannons to your mounts might have been funny a few years ago, but now it's a bit stale. Was Blizzard slipping?

No way.

Just as we were asking ourselves that question, the new Archivist character was introduced on the Diablo III website. A frail old man who fights with the power of knowledge, his Lorenado, Quest Bolt, and Shush attacks are as devastating as he is weak, killed by monsters or his own powers at the end of each demonstration video. The only thing more epic than his skills is his Radial Dialogue Tree, featuring such awe-inspiring phrases as "Have you seen my pants?" and "I smell like bacon and summertime." Brilliant.

They could have simply stopped there, but no. On the StarCraft 2 webpage they introduce Terra-Tron, the most powerful Terran unit ever created. With a role listed as "Omega Supreme Defense", Terra-Tron is an entire Terran base that transforms into a giant robot. It is a thing of beauty to behold, sure to bring a tear to the eyes of Transformers, Voltron, and StarCraft 2 fans alike.

So that's two out of three. Not bad, right? Not good enough for Blizzard, however. Just as I was writing this up, the North American World of Warcraft page updated with the new PVP Dance Battle system, complete with custom user interface and crew-based tournaments.

While some of the other April Fool's jokes we've gotten so far have been nice, I'm calling this year for Blizzard once again. Be sure to check out each individual page for videos and hilarious flavor text.

For the next month or so, visitors to the game's official website will be able to cast their vote for which of the two designs they prefer: Veil Face, or Bug Face. We're partial to Veil Face ourselves, Bug Face brings is cuts a little too close to the General Grievous bone.

Winner makes it into the online portion of the game. Loser? Loser is cast into the design abyss.

[Starcraft 2]

StarCraft II lead designer Dustin Browder tells 1UP that while the Terran single-player campaign — over two-dozen missions strong instead of then StarCraft-standard ten — is playable the others "are definitely not in a playable state."

"We've put by far, the most amount of work into the Terrans," Browder tells 1UP. "The other two campaigns are still in planning and concepting, which is where they'll stay until we're done with the core game." Yes, great — more Terrans, less Protoss, please!

And while the prospect of a campaign mode with up to 30 missions packed in may verge on outstaying one's welcome, Browder says "we're treating all of them like their own little mini-game" touting some interesting scripting tools that look to expand the StarCraft single player experience. And who doesn't like mini-games?

Now, back to waiting (again) for StarCraft II.

StarCraft 2 Wings of Liberty Preview [1UP]

Mr. (or Mrs.) Source says StarCraft 2's dev team is comprised of "a minuscule amount of people" compared to the current Diablo III team. Pretty clear which baby was gonna get its milk first all along, I'd figure. Blizzard hasn't said anything officially about the rumor. Sounds like a good rumor, doesn't really defy reasonable expectations. While it doesn't exactly fix a release date for you, it does let StarCraft players know not to hold their breath waiting.

Diablo 3 Release Date Before StarCraft 2 [Battleforums]

Hit the jump for comparison pictures and decide for yourself, and get a look at the full secret pic revealed!

The reason I am leaning Protoss mainly lies in the shape of the bit between the eyes, which in my opinion matches the Protoss much better than it does the Death Knight.

Then again, look at the frost emanating from the eyes. Seems to emulated the eyes of the Death Knight, and the glow even matches up.

Does this mean no Diablo III? Well, not exactly. It could very well mean that the splash page image has nothing to do with the new game being announced, lining up instead with the release date for Wrath of the Lich King or StarCraft 2. The more we see the less we seem to know. Fun, eh?

The secret images are indeed the Lost numbers, as I speculated yesterday. Now 8 joins the previously revealed 4, 15, 16, and 23, and 42.jpg is in there as well, though not commented out in the CSS file. Finally, the secret picture revealed: It's a purple penguin. Okay then. Great. I have no earthly clue. I'm just going to type Lost Vikings here because I like seeing it.

All of this, and a brand new snowflake rune for us to wonder over. Join us tomorrow when this whole damn thing actually makes some sort of sense.