It’s been a little over a month since Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty finally graced our screens in all of its zergling-rushing, marine-dropping, zealot-slicing glory. Yes, the game is amazing, even the internet is almost in mutual consensus of Starcraft II’s greatness, a very rare feat indeed.

As proof, according to Gamerankings.com, a site that keeps track of game press scores from across the web, Starcraft II scored an average rating of 92.51%, yes, that is the average rating for this game.

But this feature isn’t about the gameplay and story of the game itself (although you can read our in-depth Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty review for that). No, this feature is a look at the impact that Blizzard’s latest epic is having on the industry and the world at large.

Anyone for Starcraft studies?

Probably one of the strangest pieces of news regarding the game comes from the University of Florida in the United States. This report has also made us wish we attended the University of Florida since they have incorporated Starcraft playing into an actual class.

Yes, the game is being used to teach resource management skills at the university. The class is only open to honours students and they must have some previous experience with the game to be eligible. The idea was introduced by Nate Poling, a Ph.D candidate at the university. Poling somehow managed to sell his department on the idea (we would like to hear that speech), and IDS 2935 “21st Century Skills in Starcraft” will be offered as an online-only class this coming semester.

You’ll be surprised to learn that this isn't Starcraft’s first foray into the academic world, the University of California in Berkeley offered a course on competitive Starcraft through its Haas School of Business a few years ago as well.

This is however the first time that Starcraft II will be used to teach management skills. Poling’s idea isn’t solely aimed at letting students have fun, people who manage large companies or factories or even institutions such as hospitals need to learn to manage their personnel and available resources (budget) in the best possible way. The frantic resource and unit management in Starcraft can help them to one day find the best solutions in the shortest possible time.

“A student who gets a normal education, gets an MBA, and is in the business world, he could realize that something he learned in his Starcraft course helps him think outside of the box,” Poling recently told MIT’s Technology Review.

He did say however that this is only a supplemental course and not a replacement for traditional teaching methods. The course has no final examinations but will count towards the students’ GPA.

Starcraft on an iPhone?

iPhone application developer Daniel Hellerman is in the process of developing an application which he says will enable players to control Starcraft II from their phones.

The application is called the Starcraft II Gameboard, and while it won’t be able to display the game close to how it looks on the PC, players will be able to control their games via their mobile devices. In other words, as its name implies, it’s a glorified controller for the game for those moments you just can’t be in front of your computer.

The app syncs with a program on your PC that enables you to control aspects of the game. It also comes with a handy Starcraft II unit encyclopedia and tips on successful build orders. It is scheduled to be released later in the month, if Blizzard (and Apple) allows it that is.

A Starcraft movie? Oh yes.

Although a Starcraft movie is still only a very vague rumour thus far it’s made a big splash in the consciousness of the collective Starcraft fanbase. As any of you who’ve played a Blizzard game before will know, the studio is big on breathtaking cinematics. They seamlessly weave it into their games’ storylines to create a fantastic experience that gamers will remember for years to come. The cinematics for Warcraft III, Diablo II and the original Starcraft are still stuck in our heads to this day.

Blizzard announced back in 2006 that it had partnered with Legendary Pictures to create a World of Warcraft movie. The project is still ongoing and is in the story development phase at the moment, meaning it’s still a way from being ready.

Rob Pardo, executive vice president of game design at Blizzard, recently spoke to MTV about the possibility for other games in the series to be remade for the silver screen. He said that the company has always wanted to go this route with its games, the challenge was finding the right production studio for the job.

“We probably could have made a Starcraft movie or something on TV years and years ago, but it’s really important to us that we find creative people that are really talented but also really excited about our properties,” he said.

He concluded with this juicy statement, “I think if James Cameron came to us tomorrow and said, ‘You want to make a Starcraft movie?’, we’d probably sign that.” It was a simple comment, but it seems like the most spine tingling idea to us since the original Star Wars. All we can do now is sit tight and hope that Cameron, or another talented director, will valiantly step forth to take up the mantle of a Starcraft movie.

Sales

So Starcraft II’s ratings are good, but how did the sales do? Well the game sold more than a million copies in its first 24 hours of launch, which is impressive, but not unheard of in the industry.

It will be really impressive if Starcraft II can maintain these sales, which for publisher Blizzard has never been a problem in the past thanks to their stellar game offerings. Almost every gamer knows the excruciating waits involved with Blizzard games, but in this case patience is definitely a virtue. From Warcraft to Starcraft to Diablo, every step Blizzard seems to take translates into a leap for the gaming world, and it’s no different with Starcraft II.

Since launch the game has gone on to sell over three million copies worldwide, this is seriously impressive if you take into account the fact that the game is only available on the PC and Mac. There are no huge console ports to help sales here, but it’s a testament to Blizzard’s quality that they don’t need the extra markets to deliver best-selling games.

Also remember that Starcraft II isn’t over yet, the single player campaigns for the Zerg and Protoss still need to be released in the form of Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm and Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void. Here’s hoping Blizzard won’t make us wait another 12 years for them.

In the meantime, go over those build orders, refine those strategies, check your actions per minute and we’ll meet you on Battle.net.