Hello from the best BlizzCon ever. Not only do we get hands on with StarCraft, we get new expansion action. It's like Christmas. Brad's stoked after playing himself some Terrans and I'm right up there after getting some time with the Protoss. Any lingering concerns I had about my all time favorite 2D PC series going to 3D got blown away the minute I had my hands-on with the game. Though the game we played is still a nascent taste of what Blizzard is cooking up, as the team is obviously going to obsess and tweak this thing for months to come, it's purring along at a satisfying and speedy clip. The crazy thing is, after talking to lead producer Chris Sagaty (interview posting later today), it sounds like the game is running even faster which is both bad ass and madness at the same time. Brad and I are going to be clocking in as much time as we can with the game that's here so keep an eye out for more updates.

　　So far my time with the game has been a little overwhelming. The gameplay's solid as a rock but I've been distracted scrutinizing art and animation which, while not final, are both slick. The game has a nifty, polished look to it that shows really well. On top of that, the new units, interface tweaks and gameplay subtleties make it hard to focus on one thing for long. It's like gamer's ADD. It's insane to think that this early demo of the game is already so tight. I want to take it home like now. Sadly folks here don't appear to be open to that idea.

　　As cool as all that is, the expansion is also here. (Going to go try it in just a bit). There's been a lot out there on it already and it was cool to sit in the opening ceremony and the panel on it to hear about all the hotness coming. It's pretty crazy to think that I'm still playing the damn game after this many years and I still dig it. I haven't been able to play quite as much as I'd like but it's still great fun and the expansion has me fiending. Inscription should be kick ass for my mage. I'm naturally concerned about what druids are getting (that's my main) but I'll cross my fingers that we don't get jacked.

　　Beyond the game stuff the con is pretty cool. I missed out on the last one but I'm hearing from folks that this one is better all around. Seems like Blizz learned a lot from last year's. The press set up is swank, really good support, hence all the stuff we're able to bring you. Anyhoo, gonna run off. Games to play, people to interview, and I gotta see the costume and dance contests. That ought to be a kick. More soon.