[s]battlenet[/s]

10-7-05. That's today. .999_ = 1, a forum discussion on the Battle.Net forum. When you enter Battle.Net (the website) you get a splash with five different races from the War- and StarCraft games. Plus a date, and that math number. What could it be?

» Battle.net
Blizzard have always been fond of designed countdowns on their site. Even if this is not a countdown per sé, it is still something that keeps you wondering. The date given is today - 7th of October 2005. Needless to say, they are going to announce something. You might think it is just a regular calendar that Blizzard wants to give out so you know which day it is. However, by looking at the code, in a note it says "get ready", so obviously something is bound to happen. There is also a splash with the .999_ = 1 math numbers, which is taken from an April Fools joke which can be read » here.

Protoss and Human not shown in splash

Each time you enter Battle.Net (the website), you get one of the races from Star- and WarCraft. A Terran, a Zerg, a Night Elf, an Orc and an Undead. An interesting note is that neither the Protoss nor the Human face comes up. Something meant to be, or were the graphic artists tired of doing them? This is probably not an answer to what may come, but it is still worth thinking.

The invited BlizzCon players?

Obviously, Blizzard is going to release something new that has to do with either StarCraft or WarCraft, considering the pictures. What comes in mind first for the competitive gaming-interested community is of course BlizzCon. They have not yet announced which players they have invited (even though in an » interview with Testie by CNEWS, Testie is said to be one of them), and today would be a perfect day to announce them.

StarCraft and WarCraft 3 to Nintendo DS?

A newspost written by GosuGamers which was about » StarCraft and WarCraft to Nintendo DS, and some believe that this could be the official announcement that StarCraft, WarCraft 3 and Diablo will be released on Nintendo DS. The questions are many, and hopefully later today we will get to know more! Below are all the pictures:

Update:
There are also a number of people who have seen a picture that belongs to Diablo II. It looks like this, and this opens new questions - is Diablo II involved as well?

Update 2:
In a » forum post, two Blizzard employees are talking to eachother, which might just become clues. Or they are just messing with our heads. Below are what they have said:

MicahW: You will have to wait until tomorrow to find out. :)

NickJS: .999_ = 1

MicahW: Keep in mind it is showing images from all of our main franchises on the Battle.net page. I'll leave the detective work from there, up to you.

MicahW: Project:LB is nearing completion.

NickJS: The test subjects are ready Micah.

MicahW: Commencing countdown. Engines On.

Phase 1 of heat/release procedure schedule is expected for predetermined 10/07/05 E.

NickJS: 10/4

We've got a green light.

MicahW: The old woman is dancing on the grass.
Repeat.
The old woman is dancing on the grass, her lucky number is 0.00426ŧ

NickJS: *Enters 0 . 0 0 4 2 6 ŧ*

It's not working! Switch to Phase 2! Find my grandfather! Bring me a plate of hotcakes!

MicahW: Reduce power to half and begin preparations for the pre-launch hibernation sequence.

NickJS: Measurements of plasma increasing rapidly. Activate the triple thrusters.

Update (DJTyrant)

- Blizzard just updated the page with the O, RLY? joke. [LINK]

- They just changed the page AGAIN [LINK]

- Hey, they're doing the WHOLE joke (not an image, but HARD CODED IN HTML!)[LINK]

The new Battle.net site has been launched! Check it out!

Links
Battle.Net - Get ready
GosuGamers.net - Forum post by x7.skydragon
Penny-Arcade.com - 10 page long forum discussion

<B>New Battle.net site launched!</B>