And moving over to the other side of the Con-populated week, Blizzard Entertainment has just announced the unveiling of the first-ever hands-on demonstration of StarCraft II (PC, Mac) while still on its early stages of development. And new to the real-time strategy game's development track was the introduction of the Terran race, now improved with revamped units.

 

First offs, the Terran race has also adapted to the space conflict, gathering new technologies and upgrades to combat the Zerg infestation and the zealous Protoss. New units such as the Banshee aircraft, the Cobra hover tank, and a super unit called Thor now join the rank of battle hardware spec'ed for decisive victory.

Additionally, coinciding with the gameplay demonstration provided at BlizzCon 2007, Blizzard also provided the early levels of the single-player campaign. The campaign hinted at the game's storyline and plot struggles while familiarizing gamers with some of the series' characters. Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, had this to say in the official announcement via press wire:

Since announcing StarCraft II at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in May, we've been hard at work bringing our ideas for the game's Terran race and single-player campaign to life. WeÂ?re excited to be sharing these new features and gameplay experiences with our players and seeing their reactions.

And just to share the excitement with those unfortunate to be at the event, Blizzard has also released a collection of Terran-focused screenshots and more concept art on the game.

StarCraft II screenshots: introducing the spankin' new Terrans

 

Compiled visuals right at the full article after the jump!

Good news, Mac fans. As part of its grand unveiling of the sequel to the best-selling RTS title StarCraft at the 2007 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational event in Seoul, South Korea, Blizzard announced that StarCraft 2 will be released on the Mac simultaneously with the release of the Windows version.

"We recognize that expectations are high following the long-running popularity of the original game," said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment," but we plan to meet those expectations and deliver an engaging, action-packed, competitive experience that StarCraft players and strategy gamers worldwide will enjoy."

The game doesn't have a release date yet, but details on what the game will bring to the table have started trickling in. In the meantime, check out these videos and screenshots of the game.