IAHGames

Fan video of the actual moment of 'impact'. Look out for our photo collection very soon!

An insane level of buildup that rightly began 12 years ago culminated in a global launch that had the entire world on its toes. A horde of impatient fans waited with bated breath for the chance to finally get their hands on their prize, and the only thing stopping each and every one of them was the person in line before him.

The line started as early as Monday morning and swelled to 10,000 at its peak, absolutely overcrowding the mall and snaking into adjacent streets. Eager teenagers and budding veterans of the game who persisted long enough to make it into Funan Mall (Singapore) saw what was arguably the most anticipated video game launch in history.

StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™...... 

Those that were fortunate enough to make it into the confines of Funan itself were greeted by various TV screens showing clips of StarCraft II as well as full-blown videos and concept art from the game. There were a few terminals set up for overeager fans to sample the game right there and then. While all of this was happening, IAHGames treated fans to numerous question-and-answer sessions that resulted in the lucky ones walking away with goody bags full of Razor hardware.

It was a perfect way to spend the time until the main event began...

And when all hell broke loose, the crowd was in an uproar. Brian Kindregan, Lead Writer for Blizzard Entertainment® and the man who oversees the entire story that's set to wow (no pun intended) all of us, took to the stage.

As Singapore is the official location for the launch in Southeast Asia, Brian was here to usher in the game in a big way. The crowd was given insights to the development process for StarCraft 2, from Blizzard's inherent philosophy on making the best possible story to integrating unique features into the campaign, such as a train robbery mission. All this ensures the product they ship is not only fun to play but comes packed with cinematic cut scenes and an intense story... the hallmark of every Blizzard franchise.

According to Managing Director of Blizzard (Southeast Asia) Oh Jin Ho, Blizzard has listened to the fans and are dedicated to taking care of the community. They have allowed us to make our home on two different regions: Our region is the only one in the world that gets to play on BOTH the Southeast Asia/Oceania servers and the North American servers. We are also getting localized customer service support, and better latency because of the new Blizzard servers here.

After that, the crowd was treated to the latest StarCraft II trailer titled 'Ghosts of the Past'. With this cinematic that rivals even the best trailers for Hollywood blockbusters, Blizzard cemented itself as the rock star (again, no pun intended) of the gaming industry and the crowd watched in awe until it ended... then the moment was upon us.

At 12:29 PM, the countdown began and everyone joined in, even curious on-lookers at the upper levels who stopped to check out the commotion. When the clock struck zero, blow horns pierced the already noisy mall and confetti carpeted on the blast zone.

StarCraft II was officially launched and not just in Singapore, but everywhere else around the world. But those in Singapore were given the rare honour of being one of the first in the world to actually play the game. Anticipating the deluge of people, IAHGames and Blizzard came prepared with truckloads of pre-ordered copies. In fact, we were so confident there were enough copies that we encouraged everyone else present to order the game that day, and join the queue!

And judging from the queue that stretched across the street, it was obvious *many* people took that advice.

Those gathered at the event not only walked away with the sequel to a historic game (actually, the first instalment in a trilogy sequel), but a chance to win a pair of tickets to Blizzcon 2010 with accommodation and travel all thrown in.

We pulled out all the stops for this launch and you can only imagine just how much bigger it's going to get when we hold our next game event...

Latest update: Our front line photos of this tumultuous event on Facebook! What? What do you mean you aren't a member of our Facebook page??