Starcraft 2: Another 12 Years for Red Bull Stocks to Rise?

Starcraft has been around since 1998, tantalizing and titillating consumers with it's RTS fighter, from choosing classes, to battling online, and all of the caffeine intake that follows. It has been a part of gaming history for the last 12 years. One of Blizzard's top played games (Not to say much, since they already have such classics as Knights of the Old Republic, and World of Warcraft) Starcraft has even been played in tournaments on live television.

The insane thing about this game is that it is literally played in a competition in South Korea. It's often the largest competition to be held in the gaming community for cash prizes. These pro-gamers in South Korea literally spend every waking second practicing Starcraft. Going at paces normal gamers would consider outrageous (and this is where Red Bull stocks skyrocket). These gamers are up at the crack of dawn practicing for the tournaments, and often times do not go to bed until around 1 or 2 in the morning.

The tournament gamers do have their work cut out for them, though. In the morning, everyone starts with about an hour of exercise, and breakfast, before sitting down to begin their massive destructive force of gaming for that day. While this is mostly centered in South Korea, commercialized videos and more have been produced to try and get more fans from other countries involved in the Starcraft mania.

This leads us to the sequel. Starcraft 2 is what fan boys and fan girls have been waiting on for more than a decade, and it's soon to come. Blizzard is handing out beta versions of the game for fans to test and present feedback on, the only problem is, there aren't enough to go around. Now with demand rising for the beta pass keys, some people would rather put their key up for auction on sites such as eBay, rather then spend some time on the game.

As of currently, the Starcraft 2 pass keys are going for upwards to $400 on eBay alone, but where does ownership of the beta from Blizzard leave the company, and become the possession of the consumer? Is it legal for someone to sell something that they received for free from the company?

Although it's not technically illegal for them to profit off of this, it doesn't mean that those beta codes will work consistently. Blizzard has the right to deny access to any certain one (and they probably have the ability to further legal action, if so willing.)

So with the game in the works, and the beta showing the glory to such few selected individuals, is it really worth such a high price tag? Usually beta versions of a game will go down within a few months or weeks of the initial release of the full game. Would you pay $400 for a beta that you may only be able to enjoy for a few months? It seems a little pricey, in fact, a little outrageous. Although, as you can see, there are some die hard fans out there that are willing to put the money on the line.

The only thing left to really say is this: Will the sequel overcome the first, or will it become a slump for Blizzard? Although they have had many hit sequels to their games, there has been a lot of marketing and advertisement that has gone into Starcraft 2. So, ladies and gentlemen, it's only a matter of letting time pass, and waiting to see!