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Now is that a fun blog title for this site, or what?
I guess it's time to explain myself - I dislike strategy games. You can count on one hand the number of chess matches I've won in my lifetime. And by that, I mean you can just close all of your fingers into a fist, because I've never won a single game of chess. Every time the urge hits to test my skill in that particular future olympic sport, you can bet some pieces will be getting a verbal thrashing. "You're a horse that moves in an L, for god's sake... and you couldn't get me a freakin' checkmate?"
When it comes to RTS games, my first was Command and Conquer: Generals. I never played online, but I did have quite a bit of fun with the single player campaign. The game didn't involve much strategy, so it rarely put me off like other games of the genre did. I just saw it as stupid fun. One "unit" was an angry mob. How awesome is that? Needless to say, I never gave Starcraft the time of day. Ancient RTS with prerendered sprites and tiny resolution? Screw that.
Flash forward to 2007 or so. I'm listening to the podcast about retro video games. This episode was about Starcraft, and all of the participants in the cast were veterans in the gaming scene. I couldn't get over all the gushing about this game, but the thing that interested me the most was the mention of a huge Korean fervor for it. Remember when you first heard about or saw first-hand the Korean esports scene? It's something so bizarre as to be almost otherworldly.
I started looking a bit more into Starcraft after the cast. Watched a few games, read a few articles. Before too long, it was obvious this monstrosity was too fascinating to be ignored. I started watching matches on a regular basis. Boxer versus anyone. Soon enough, the glowing, beautiful Battle Chest popped out of the store shelf and screamed "BUY ME!" I couldn't resist the siren's song.
The first impression was horrifying. The viewing space was so constrained, the action was much much faster than Generals, and it was just really hard to keep up. My hatred for the genre started to bubble up again. But, there was also this new connection to the pro scene. It wasn't going to dissipate just because I sucked at the game. I kept watching and playing, watching and playing.
The turning point is still very vivid in my mind.
The game was a ZvT with me as the Z. It must have been at least 40 minutes long. Drops, huge engagements, the entire tech tree, this game had it all. The whole match, with its dozens of moments, was wrapped up by a single decision from me. I got those production buildings, just as I had planned to, and he had no way to get back, so he left. No GG from either of us, but I didn't need it. I knew it was a good game. I stayed toe-to-toe and outsmarted the guy. That win was more satisfying than any headshot in any FPS... way more. That's when I understood the value of the genre, and when I learned to love the game.
So, now here I am. Starcraft commentator and player of a genre of game I used to hate. The experience also made me re-examine a little game called Chrono Trigger. Always hated RPGs, tried Chrono Trigger on emulator and was not amused. But, I grinded my teeth and plunked down the cash for the DS version. Like Starcraft, it was like taking medicine at first. Also like Starcraft, it's now one of my favorite games ever.
Things you never thought you liked can easily turn into your most valuable experiences. This lesson hasn't only applied to video games for me.. but I won't get into that here. Take your medicine, kids! Eat your veggies and stay in school! :D
-Nuke
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Welcome aboard captain! Take the wheel!
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Me too!.
Seeing the pro scene in Korea really made me suck it up and persist with it.
Watched a bunch of Boxer vids, FBH and now gay or Stork.
Good stuff with the commentaries =].
GG
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NuketheStars is a god among men! Your hype videos are unparalleled and you're the only good BW commentator left.
Nukanite (what the hell does this even mean though!?) for life!
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hahah yeahhh the pro scene was what really got me into starcraft as well
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Great blog. 5/5 =) Loved the opening about counting games won in chess. lol
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Interesting to see how different people come to love the game. I loved it the very first time I saw it and the memory is burned into my mind.
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Nukenite 4 ever!
Nuke as soon as I see new videos from you in youtube I download them into my ipod and watch them as soon as I can, if I'm walking through the city i'll maybe just put the video on just so I can hear whats going on, and ill stop when you get excited to watch whats happening!
I started sc when i watched in youtube the Boxer 3x bunker rush.
Will you keep commentating if the next OSL is SC2?
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lol i started RTS with age of empires 1, when i was like 5 lol, my dad had me play but i ended up begging for the cheat codes : )
photonman, which i thought was photo man lolol
and big daddy XD
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Nukanite signing in. Thanks for all your work Nuke.
But we want more Learning and Fun with Bork! 
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Ah, we are like polar oposites. I started playing rts games since like warcraft 1 in 1994 haha. I started playing starcraft since the day it came out and havent gone 6 months without playing it since. I did only learn about the pro scene around 2007 though(thanks to youtube). I think youtube really helped the foreign sc scene!
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/respect
I started liking SC:BW after watching some commentaries. end of story : S
Edit: the game was Flash v Jaedong GOMTV MSL on Zodiac. omg. awesomeness.
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there was an bbc documentary about the korean pro scene, they covered Xellos´s wcg run i think.
Anyways after that docu i kept playing / watching for years, the pro-scene really helps you to keep going and not wanna change games also
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On June 22 2010 15:32 NukeTheStars wrote:
the entire tech tree
Did you get nuked?
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StarCraft rules! Chrono Trigger rules!
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Interesting read.
My first RTS was C&C: Red Alert. It was pretty fun, and I liked most of the early C&C series. A few months ago, my friend had me buy SC. At first I found it to be just another RTS(I lost my first game on a fastest because I didn't understand that I had to mass rax/fac/port built, thanks to C&C), but after finishing the campaign and discovering the proscene I realized that it was a really good game.
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Really nice blog.
It's funny, I too remember the time I bought Starcraft, and many of my first online games. ^^
I've never been able to convince any of my friends (or my nerdy wife for that matter) to play starcraft. The reason, I think, is like the OP is saying, there is a huge learning curve to starcraft. Just take a moment and reflect on how much you know about starcraft. Build orders, unit compositions, economic strategies, cheeses, building placements, hotkeys, etc etc.
When playing the practice league in sc2, I couldn't help but think that that is not enough for brand new players (ie "Wtf is supply?")
I remember incontrol saying that if even some of the best starcraft players stop playing for awhile, their game is drastically worsened. Just like chess (which I also love) starcraft requires dedication to remain a quality player. But, like many of the things that require a lot of work, starcraft is definitely worth it in the end.
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I remember when i first started playing Sc back in ..2005? it hink but i remember waaay earlier than that i saw some videos of it and thought "wow this is the dumbest fucking game ive ever seen" and absolutely laughed at its trash graphics and how retarded everything looked
flashforward to 2005, me and some friends got into it(we were all terrible) and then everything i thought went away and i realised
This is the greatest game ever made
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Hurray for Nuke! Lol. I started with SC. I was roughly 10 years of age. My dad was a software guy and had a network in my basement, so we could play 2 v 2 over LAN. It wasn't udp back then it was the other one (I forget). We also played over the phone line against my best buddy and his brother. We would FREAK OUT when my mom picked up the phone to call someone! Our precious connection  LOL. All in all I'm still no good at it, but its been hella a fun. Ive typically avoided the newer games including sc2, although that may change.
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Nuke, are you gonna post a pic of yourself sometime?
I'm a big fan and I've always wondered how you look. : P
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EPT
