Starcraft II Collector's Edition revealed, date to be announced soon

Activision Blizzard's announced the Collector's Edition of Starcraft II. Be warned: best start looking for pennies now.

The contents of the package for the first part of the RTS, Wings of Liberty, includes:

• The Art of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
• A 2Gb flash drive replica of Jim Raynor's dog tag that features the original Starcraft and expansion set Starcraft: Brood War
• A DVD featuring an hour's worth of developer's interviews, cinematics, director's commentary and more
• OST of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty on CD
• In-game mini-Thor pet that can be applied to your WoW accounts for your Battle.net account
• Issue 0 of Starcraft comic that acts as prequel to SCII
• DLC for your Battle.net profile including special decals for Battle.net and in Starcraft II, plus a terran Thor unit

And how much is all of this? $99.99/€89.99 for the CE and $60/€59.99 for the standard.

"We've been looking forward to revisiting the StarCraft universe with our players for over 10 years, and we wanted to offer an epic collector's edition that commemorated the occasion," said Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime.

"This special version of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty -- easily our biggest collector's edition to date -- does just that, and we think StarCraft II gamers will really enjoy all of the exclusive contents."

The press released further added that the release date for the game will be "announced in the coming weeks".

Pic of the special edition is below, along with the PR. We'll email Acti-Blizz UK now to get details for the UK.

StarCraft(R) II: Wings of Liberty(TM) Collector's Edition Announced
Special edition of Blizzard Entertainment's epic sci-fi real-time strategy game includes exclusive art book, flash drive, soundtrack, behind-the-scenes DVD, and more

IRVINE, Calif., Apr 08, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that its highly anticipated real-time strategy game, StarCraft(R) II: Wings of Liberty(TM), will be available both in a standard edition and in a limited-release Collector's Edition packed with exclusive bonus materials. Players who purchase either edition will be able to play online for no additional fee through the new version of Battle.net(R), the premier online gaming destination for Blizzard Entertainment gamers.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will be available on DVD-ROM for Windows(R) XP/Windows Vista(R)/Windows(R) 7 and Macintosh(R). The standard edition will sell for a suggested retail price of $59.99 and will also be available shortly after release as a download through the online Blizzard Store. The special Collector's Edition package, which is priced at $99.99 and will only be available at retail stores, will include the following bonus items in addition to the game disc:

* The Art of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, a 176-page book featuring artwork from the game
* An exclusive 2GB USB flash drive replica of Jim Raynor's dog tag, which comes preloaded with the original StarCraft and the StarCraft: Brood War(R) expansion set
* A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, cinematics with director's commentary, and more
* The official StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty soundtrack CD, containing 14 epic tracks from the game along with exclusive bonus tracks
* StarCraft comic book issue #0, a prequel to the comic series
* A World of Warcraft(R) mini Thor in-game pet that can be applied to all World of Warcraft characters on a single Battle.net account
* Exclusive Battle.net downloadable content, including special portraits for your Battle.net profile, decals to customize your units in-game, and a visually unique version of the terran Thor unit

"We've been looking forward to revisiting the StarCraft universe with our players for over 10 years, and we wanted to offer an epic collector's edition that commemorated the occasion," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "This special version of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty -- easily our biggest collector's edition to date -- does just that, and we think StarCraft II gamers will really enjoy all of the exclusive contents."

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to Blizzard Entertainment's 1998 hit StarCraft, which has been hailed by players and critics worldwide as one of the top real-time strategy games of all time. StarCraft II will once again center on the clash between the protoss, terrans, and zerg, with each side deploying favorite units from the original StarCraft, along with numerous upgraded and brand-new units and abilities that allow for fresh tactics and strategies. The game's new 3D-graphics engine maintains the speed and responsive control of its predecessor while rendering hundreds of units onscreen for massive battles.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty's solo campaign will continue the epic saga where it left off in StarCraft: Brood War. The storyline chronicles the exploits of marshal-turned-rebel-leader Jim Raynor and features both familiar faces and new heroes. Players will be able to tailor the experience, choosing their own mission path and selecting technology and research upgrades to suit their playing style throughout the 29-mission campaign.

Several challenge-mode mini-games will also be included, with focused goals designed to ease players into the basics of multiplayer strategies. In addition, dozens of multiplayer maps will be available for competitive play through the new version of Battle.net, which is launching alongside StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. This new version of the service has been built from the ground up to offer an unparalleled online play experience, with new features such as voice communication, character profiles and achievements, stat-tracking, ladders and leagues, cloud file storage, and more.

Additional information about StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, including the release date, will be announced in the coming weeks.