Starcraft II is getting closer to release. and it would be an understatement to say that I'm excited. In this blog post I will tell you a tale of kings, legends, love, and hate... ugh, I really need to cut on that cheesy crap. Anyway, here it goes!
When I was a kid, I used to go over to my neighbour's house and play PC games... well, watch him play PC games at least. But there was a game in particular that he would play that really interested me, and even got me interested in its genre; and that game was Warcraft II. It was just something about the satisfaction of watching a kingdom expand, armies grow, and the clever use of strategy that really intrigued me. This fascination of the genre would grow as I watched him play Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Then one day, my cousin would tell me of Starcraft, wich would be the sci-fi equivelant of Warcraft series. And my jaw dropped...
"Warcraft II... in space!? With aliens and stuff!? AWESOME! "
In pure excitement I purchased a PC game magazine, and found an article about the game. Apparently the game was released the same year (another reason why 1998 is the greatest year in gaming ever). However, my old-fashioned (but not in the least poor) family only had a crappy old pre-Windows 95 computer, so there was no way I could play this game yet. But my excitement for this game would never diminish, and we would eventually get a Windows 98 computer, wich was much more appropriate for the time. However, as I grew up in a gaming dystopia, there still wasn't any way that I could get my sausage fingers on this masterpiece. But I was still adamant that I would get this game some day.
Then in 2001, while watching television, a commercial for a documentary appeared.
It was 'Alias: Slayer', a documentary about 16 year old Starcraft player Fredrik Østervold (aka. [GG99]Slayer) who in 2000 travelled to South-Korea, and became the first non-Korean to win a Korean Starcraft tournament.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
I remember asking my mom to record this documentary on a VHS so that I could watch it after my guitar lessons where done. When I finally came home and watched through the recording, I was mesmerized by his amazing skills. And I later thought to myself; "I need this game now!". And by a stroke of luck, it turned out one of my friends had this game burned on CD, and let me borrow it for a while.
"This... game... is... fucking... incredible!".
It had the most simplistic and intuitive gameplay I've ever experienced in an RTS game before. And it had a massive epic storyline, supported by memorable characters, that where voiced by truly professional voice actors. Not to mentioned the most heart-wrenching plot twist I've ever encountered in a videogame.
I managed to play through the entire single player campaign before I had to return the disc to my friend again. I finally managed to get my hands on a retail copy a little later though, and became addicted to Battle.net. And was exposed to the n00b and 1337 community for the first time in my life. The most memorable online moments came from the "User Map Settings" maps. There you could find maps of various selections, such as: Tower Defence, Lord of the Rings, Dragonball Z, and even a "Rainor has sex with Kerrigan" map (don't ask)!
It appears that I wasn't the only one affected by this documentary. It turns out that Starcraft experienced its second golden age in Norway after this was broadcast. The number of Norwegians registered on Battle.net multiplied several times the week after - truly demonstrating the effect it had on people.
[GG99]Slayer retired from pro-gaming shortly after, and it was said that he joined the military. He's also a professional poker player today. The documentary received a nomination for 'documentary of the year' during the 2001 Amanda awards (Norwegian Oscars).
Starcraft was my first foray into proper tower defense, and when I played the RPG "Elements" for the first time, my jaw dropped. I was bigger into Warcraft II, but I still played Starcraft heavily because...wait for it..all my Asian friends did!
Well...yes and no. I started writing this piece a while ago, but I hit "publish live" before it was even finished. So I quickly hid it as soon as I realized what I did. And I havent really bothered finishing it untill now.
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about me
Xbox 360
Playstation 3 Playstation Network ID: Gardaros
Metal Gear Online ID: Gardar
Hello thar! I am an 18 year old Norwegian currently living in a small and boring coastal fishing town. I can't wait to graduate from high school, so that I can move to a more urban area to study. My hopes is that I'll be able to study in a foreign university (hopefully somewhere in the US).
When I was a kid I used to blablablablablablablabla....
Top 5 favourite games: 1. Super Mario Bros. 3
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3. Starfox 64 (Lylat Wars)
4. Chrono Trigger
5. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
6. Starcraft
7. Banjo Kazooie
8. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
9. Pokemon Gold/Silver
10. Golden Sun
Other favourites (games listed alphabetically):
Favourite Gameboy games - Donkey Kong Land
- Dr. Mario
- Gameboy Camera
- Pocket Bomberman
- Pokemon Blue/Red/Yellow
- Super Mario Land
- Tamagotchi
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
- Wave Race
- Yoshi
Favourite Gameboy Advance games - Advance Wars
- Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
- Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
- Golden Sun
- Golden Sun: The Lost Age
- Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls
- Fire Emblem
- Mario Kart: Super Circuit
- Metroid Fusion
- Metroid: Zero Mission
Favourite Gameboy Color games - Harvest Moon GB
- Metal Gear Solid
- Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal
- Pokemon Trading Card Game
- Power Quest
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
Favourite N64 games - Banjo Kazooie
- Donkey Kong 64
- Lylat Wars (Starfox 64)
- Mario Kart 64
- Pokemon Stadium
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
- Super Mario 64
- Super Smash Bros.
- Yoshi's Story
Favourite NES games - Batman
- Castlevania
- Mega Man
- Mega Man 2
- Metroid
- Super Mario Bros.
- Super Mario Bros. 2
- Super Mario Bros. 3
- The Legend of Zelda
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Favourite NGC games - F-Zero GX
- Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes
- Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II
- Pikmin
- Resident Evil 4
- Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
- TimeSplitters 2
Favourite Nintendo DS games - Advance Wars: Dark Conflict
- Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
- Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
- Chrono Trigger
- Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
- Mario Kart DS
- Metroid Prime: Hunters
- New! Super Mario Bros
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
- WarioWare: Touched!
Favourite PC games - Alien vs Predator 2
- Battlefield 2
- C&C: Red Alert 2
- Diablo
- Quake III Arena
- Rome: Total War
- Starcraft
- Unreal Tournament 2004
- Warcarft III
- Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War
Favourite Playstation games - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
- Metal Gear Solid
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
Favourite Playstation 2 games - Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
- Shadow of the Colossus
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
Favourite Playstation 3 games - LittleBigPlanet
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot
- Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
- Resistance: Fall of Man
- Soul Calibur IV
- Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
- Unreal Tournament 3
- Valkyria Chronicles
- Warhawk
- ?
Favourite Playstation Network games - Battlefield 1943
- Flower
- Gunstar Heroes
- Megaman 9
- Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
Favourite SNES games - Contra 3: Alien Wars
- Chrono Trigger
- Donkey Kong Country
- Earthbound
- Final Fantasy IV
- Final Fantasy VI
- Super Castlevania IV
- Super Mario World
- Super Metroid
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Favourite Wii games - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
- Okami
- Pikmin
- Pikmin 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Super Smash Brothers Brawl
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Wario land: Shake Dimension
- Wii Sports
Favourite Xbox games - Halo
- Halo 2
- Kung Fu Chaos
- Psychonauts
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
Favourite Xbox 360 games - Bioshock
- Call of Duty 2
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Fallout 3
- Gears of War
- Gears of War 2
- Lost Odyssey
- Resident Evil 5
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- The Orange Box
Favourite Xbox Live Arcade games - Alien Hominid HD
- Banjo Kazooie
- Bionic Commando: Rearmed
- Braid
- Castle Crashers
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
- Doom
- Ikaruga
- Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
- Wik: Fable of Souls
My consoles:
- Gameboy Advance
- Gameboy Advance SP
- Gameboy Colour
- Gameboy Pocket
- Nintendo 64
- Nintendo DS
- Nintendo DS Lite
- Nintendo DSi
- Nintendo Gamecube
- Nintendo Wii
- PC
- Playstation 3
- Xbox 360
Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press living the dream since March 16, 2006
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How you became obsessed with Starcraft
Be Asian
I kid. Nice read!
Starcraft was my first foray into proper tower defense, and when I played the RPG "Elements" for the first time, my jaw dropped. I was bigger into Warcraft II, but I still played Starcraft heavily because...wait for it..all my Asian friends did!
Is this a re-post? I'm pretty sure I've already read it somewhere.
@Narishma
Well...yes and no. I started writing this piece a while ago, but I hit "publish live" before it was even finished. So I quickly hid it as soon as I realized what I did. And I havent really bothered finishing it untill now.
I'm not really that much of a blogger. :-/
I think the korean jokes are the new trend in racism.
I think I became more addicted to Ages of Empire than in Starcraft, but to be fair I didn't gave it much of a chance, so I could start again.
"a "Rainor has sex with Kerrigan" map"
lol, I remember when that map first started showing up on Use Map Settings, I was like WTF? Then many lawls ensued.