Starcraft 2
gamerDNA visits BlizzCon 2008
Photo courtesy of WoWInsider.com
This past weekend gamerDNA sent John Findlay and I (Sam Houston) to Blizzard Entertainment’s "BlizzCon" to check out the convention that WoW built. BlizzCon is a convention for all things Blizzard, which means fans from all around the world come to celebrate Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo and World of Warcraft. This year over 15,000 people attended and had the chance to play Starcraft 2, Diablo3 and Wrath of the Lich King…all before their release (and most likely years before release for Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2).
BlizzCon is definitely a sight to behold; The same high level of polish and quality that Blizzard holds their games to is definitely held to their events. The Anaheim Convention Center was decked out with huge signs, stage lighting, booths with hundreds of computers to demo games, stages for tournaments, and a gigantic room complete with a stage for concerts and panels. It’s safe to say that when Blizzard does an event..they do it in style.
What struck me the most about BlizzCon, beyond the high quality of the whole production, was how devoted Blizzard fans are to the company. Not only did 15,000 people attend the convention, but those 15,000 people bought their tickets in 15 minutes, crashing the entire BlizzCon ticket website. These people flew in to California to represent their guild, their server, and in some cases their community. Over the weekend we saw fans of all types, from people who built huge mechanised turtles that you can ride while dressed like a female Dranei, to the guildie that is there to enjoy the game and community that they love.
Blizzard Costume Contest Pictures
Like I mentioned earlier, Diablo 3 was playable at BlizzCon this year, which was the first time ever that the game has been played by the public. Naturally I had to check it out, so I waited in line to get my chance to play the newly announced class: the Wizard. Overall I enjoyed the class and the game quite a bit, I particularly liked the spell effects and the overall graphical look of the game. If you would like a full run-down of Diablo 3 check out Kotaku’s write-up about the game.
Another great part of BlizzCon was all the professional gaming tournaments that CGS and Blizzard was running for Starcraft, Warcraft, and World of Warcraft players(Event Coverage can be found here). The Blizzard event team flew in some of the best players in the world to compete in the world finals at BlizzCon, giving everyone a chance to see some great professional gaming. I’ve never experienced anything like watching the top handful of Warcraft players in the world compete with sportscasting done by the world famous djWheat from CGS. It was very exciting to watch players battle it out with a live crowd of hundreds of gamers to cheer them on and celebrate their victories.
All of this was capped off Saturday night with a live concert by Video Games Live, an orchestra of over 100 people backed by a full chorus which performed songs from all of the Blizzard games. Listening to some of the best video game music ever written while sitting in a crowd of over 15,000 people was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve done.
All in all I think the most exciting thing for me that I take away from these events, as a gamer, is that gaming is a cultural phenomenon and it is here to stay. Every race, culture and background was represented at BlizzCon and everyone of the gamers there got along. Everyone was there for one thing: To celebrate their gaming and share it with their fellow gamer.
