The wait for the new StarCraft II ad was supposed to last until tonight during the fourth game of the NBA finals (an odd event to choose for a gamer phenomenon), but apparently not even the people at Blizzard could stand the anticipation, as the trailer is now available on YouTube, and thus also available below. Things look to be epic, and while the new ad doesn’t offer much in the way of gameplay innovation, it promises to up the intensity and the graphics exponentially from the first game. And yes, I know that exponentially doesn’t work with only two points, but that’s how awesome it should be. It defies logic.

Without further ado:

This anime still comes from what I would call an unlikely source. Or at least a source with unlikely inspiration. The image comes from Dante’s Inferno: The Animated Epic, a series of anime shorts inspired not by Dante’s original Divine Comedy, but by the video game Dante’s Inferno.

Also mysteriously in existence is Halo Legends, an anime series based on the Halo franchise. Because when someone says “film adaptation of the Halo franchise,” the first thought I have is “anime.”

And now this morning brings the announcement of yet another anime adaptation of a western video game: Dragon Age. Like all these other game animes, it’ll be direct-to-video, with a 2011 release date.

While I find this trend to be downright odd, there’s undoubtedly some potential. Halo, at least, has a sufficient fan base that there could be an audience for the anime, and it’s not a stretch to guess that there would be overlap in the anime and Halo markets. But Dante’s Inferno and Dragon Age are each a bit of a stretch to justify. But who knows, they might be great.

Which brings us to the bulk of our exercise. Here are 10 Western games that I know would make for sweet anime adaptations, ranked from how much I would salivate over it, in ascending order:

If you were gunning to get tickets to this year’s BlizzCon, the odds are pretty good that tonight was not your lucky night: The first batch of tickets for Blizzard Entertainment‘s eagerly anticipated two-day event were snapped up almost as soon as they were let out of the gates at 10pm EDT / 7pm PDT, with a ticket queue of 10,000 already formed just moments after they went on sale. WoW.com reports that as of 10:23pm EDT, all of the $150 tickets had already sold out.

Blizzard announced today that its ongoing revamp of the Battle.net service will introduce one pretty scary optional feature: Facebook integration.  Battle.net is the online matchmaking service that has grouped up players of Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo games for thirteen years.  It received a major face lift last year, in preparation for taking an even larger role in the lives of Blizzard’s players.  The new service will basically be a gaming social network the likes of Xbox Live, or Steam, instead of just a tiered matchmaker.

From the official press release:

“We’re pleased to be working with Facebook to integrate their platform with Battle.net to enhance the social-entertainment experience for our players,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. “This new functionality will make it easier than ever to connect with friends on Battle.net and play StarCraft II and future Blizzard Entertainment games together.”

The world of StarCraft II has been brimming with activity lately. The game has yet to get an official release date (though it’s expected to come out in the first half of 2010), but last week, it got a big, sweeping update — including the first release of the map editor — and today, Blizzard released the Mac client for the StarCraft II multiplayer beta.

This item concerns the first of the two. Modder Everdraed used the SC2 beta map editor to create an awesome Mario Kart-like racing map for the game. Everdraed writes on YouTube that he or she plans to do a “bunch of work on this map to actually make it a fun little diversion,” but this is an impressive effort, considering it dropped just one day after the map editor was released.

Check it out after the jump:

The Korean Games Rating Board had previously given “alpha” and “skirmish” builds of Starcraft II a 15-years-old and up rating. Hoping to get a rating to match America’s Teen (13+) classification, game maker Blizzard asked for a reevaluation this month with the game’s release candidate. The same board that handed out the initial rating slapped the game with an even higher 18 and up stamp.

What on earth could have happened between the two builds, especially when Blizzard was trying for a lower rating?

Read on...

In South Korea, StarCraft is serious business: Professional players make as much as $300,000 a year from tournaments and endorsements, and StarCraft tourneys pack stadiums with players and fans. (See: this picture.)

But now, the integrity of the game is being seriously called into question: In a scandal that’s drawing comparisons to the Black Sox scandals of 1919, which brought down ballplayers like Shoeless Joe Jackson, it’s been discovered that top South Korean players have been colluding with StarCraft gambling rings, fixing matches and leaking gameplay footage for insider betting.

Blizzard Entertainment has revealed via their website that their 5th BlizzCon convention will be held on October 22-23 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Feel free to wet yourself.

According to Blizzard’s announcement release, “BlizzCon is a celebration of the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises and the communities that surround them.” The two day event has been held each year since 2007, with the first being in 2005, attracting fans for social events, meet-and-greets with the developers, hands-on gameplay with unreleased titles and expansions, and live concerts. According to WoW.com, Jay Mohr will be hosting the festivities.