With the first month of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty behind us, millions of gamers around the globe have purchased Blizzard's latest blockbuster. In a brief sales update, the company said it's shipped over three million copies in the initial month of availability in North America, Europe, South Korea, Australia, Russia and many other regions.

The sequel bagged a million sales in the first day, and another 500,000 in the second, making it the fastest selling strategy game of all time and the bestselling PC game this year. Blizzard, of course, says it's pleased with the title's reception thus far, despite a handful of complaints about game balance and Battle.net features -- some of which should be resolved in the first retail patch this month.


Many of the changes were detailed in a "Situation Report" last week. They're mostly just race balance tweaks so far, but Blizzard says it has "mid- to long-term plans" for custom games and social features such as chat channels, which would make it easier for players to meet in-game.

The very vocal listeners out there have been screaming out about where the SYF Gaming Podcasts have disappeared to!?

SYF's experienced a few internal difficulties over the past few weeks that have disabled us from recording and putting up new podcast content, but, all the rough and tumble is over, and we'll be back shortly - ready to deliver more audible chocolate for your ears.

Stay tuned to syfgaming.com.au for Episode 6, which we intend to be recording within around about a week. It'll be up on iTunes and the clan site.

-Spud
SYF Gaming
Senior Administrator

Australia's only gaming-themed cocktail bar sets its sights on cities around the country and overseas.

The verdict's still out on whether or not drinking while playing pool makes you any better, but the combination of games and booze has proved to be a successful formula for the group of Queensland entrepreneurs who opened up Australia's first game bar. Located in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, the Mana Bar features TVs and game consoles mounted on the walls for patrons to play. While boutique bars are in vogue in Australia right now, many don't last and the eyes of gamers around the country were on the Mana Bar to see how it went.



Mana Bar spokesman Guy "Yug" Blomberg has been teasing gamers with the promise of expansion into other Australian cities, but up until now, he has remained brief on the details. Today Yug confirmed plans to expand into Sydney and Melbourne before the end of 2010. He added that they'll be looking to get into other Australian cities, as well as taking the idea overseas.

An exact time frame is unknown at this stage, with Yug telling GameSpot AU that "It's like a release for a video game. That's the time we're aiming for, but there are other [unforeseen] factors that might happen that prevent it from happening. We just want to hold off for now." Yug went on to reiterate that it's only a matter of "months, not years" before Mana Bar expands into Sydney and Melbourne. As for other Australian cities, he explained that "Adelaide and Perth are the obvious choice, but like we've done in Sydney and Melbourne, we need to do our research before making a decision."

While focus is on expansion into Sydney and Melbourne at the moment, Yug said that they are "currently in discussions with other passionate entrepreneurs around the world who want a Mana Bar in their countries as well." Unable to talk specific cities at this stage, he said that the US, UK, and Europe were all regions that the business is currently exploring.

For more information on the Mana Bar, check out the official Web site.

The most affordable of all three, the Gaming Mouse G700, comes in at $100 sporting the ergonomic curves of Logitech's MX line with a 5,700 dpi, 1GHz response laser sensor common to high-end gaming mice. The G700 offers 13 programmable buttons that can perform single actions or complex macros with a click. There's also a dual-mode scroll wheel and a plug-in USB cable that'll let you use your wireless mouse as a wired device when your battery is running low.




Next up is the $120 Gaming Keyboard G510 featuring an LCD display for real-time game stats and PC performance data, user-selectable custom backlighting, and 18 programmable keys with three mode states for up to 54 possible macro settings per game. Fans of the original G15 will be familiar with this new Mac and Windows compatible keyboard.



Finally, the Gaming Headset G930 offers 7.1 Dolby surround sound, three programmable keys, a noise-cancelling microphone, and 2.4GHz RF connectivity good for up to 40 feet of distance from the computer. The battery inside this wireless headset is good for ten hours per charge and can be charged with a USB cable while in use. Expect the G930 to lighten your wallet by $160 when it debuts later this month.