StarCraft has an amazing following, and has since its release. It's no surprise that there is a great bit of anticipation for the upcoming release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. For StarCraft fans who want to celebrate the occasion with a little something special (and StarCrafty), Razer has just the thing: a suite of peripherals designed specifically for the release of Blizzard Entertainment’s highly anticipated sequel.

Razer's StarCraft II peripherals have the look and feel of technology from the StarCraft universe. The three gaming devices in this series are the Razer Spectre StarCraft II Gaming Mouse, the Razer Marauder StarCraft II Gaming Keyboard and the Razer Banshee StarCraft II Gaming Headset.

At my appointment with Razer, I talked with "Razerguy" Robert Krakoff, president of Razer USA, who was unmistakably excited about the Actions-Per-Minute (APM) Lighting System featured in the line. As he explained it, each of the three devices had three different lighting features assigned to three different channels. Inside of StarCraft II's configuration, these channels can be assigned to various stats in the game, such as APM. Then, the color of the LED lighting associated with that channel will change in hue and intensity as the stat changes. For example, when a player moves from the normal range of APM into a higher-performance range, the channel assigned APM might change from a red color to a yellow color. If the player really knocks it out of the park, it may turn green. This visual indication system serves to inform spectators of the relative performance of gamers during tournament play and helps spectators and players see at a glance when someone has a hot streak.

The Razer Spectre, Razer Marauder and Razer Banshee are teeming with features designed to enhance both the gamers' play experience and the experience of spectators, for public exhibitions, LAN parties and tournaments. In real time strategies, one important statistic is "APM," or Actions-Per-Minute. The higher the APM, the better (or at least more in-the-zone) a player is. All three of the Razer StarCraft II gaming peripherals feature an APM Lighting System each with three (shared) lighting channels to provide the gamer and spectators feedback on player performance and speed. Each peripheral also features a gaming-optimized design with an emphasis on portability for tournament play, and is stylized with design elements from the StarCraft universe.

The Razer Spectre StarCraft II Gaming Mouse is touted as a tournament-ready, lightweight, five-button fingertip-grip mouse designed to provide precision and control for RTS gamers. The Razer Spectre features two-position adjustable mouse button force settings for optimal mouse click speed and control, a powerful 5600dpi Razer Precision 3.5G laser sensor and a 1000Hz Ultrapolling 1 ms response time to give gamers exactly what they are looking for in an RTS mouse. The Razer Spectre StarCraft II Gaming Mouse will have a suggested retail price of $79.99 USD.

The Razer Marauder StarCraft II Gaming Keyboard is also touted as being tournament-ready and is a full-featured keyboard with a compact design to make it more easily portable. The design of the Razer Marauder is enhanced with elevated keys for rapid command input, optimized key travel distance, optimized spacing, laser-etched keys and improved gaming performance and features a dedicated on-the-fly macro recording system. The Marauder will be priced at $119.99 USD.

The Razer Banshee StarCraft II Gaming Headset was designed with a focus on maximum performance, comfort and sound isolation, featuring a configuration utility for customized easy-to-quickly-access adjustments of equalizer, pitch and volume, a detachable microphone boom for easy transport and a circumaural construction which comfortably envelopes the ear. The APM Lighting System on the Banshee features the same three channels as the other mouse and keyboard, but since all of the lights are mounted on the headset and therefore not visible to the player while playing, these lights are the ones most obviously intended for spectators. Like the Maurader, the Banshee will also retail at $119.99 USD.

To carry your StarCraft II gaming gear to the LAN party or tournament in style, you might also want to pick up Razer's StarCraft II Zerg Edition Messenger Bag, featuring artwork from the game and designed to protect gaming gear in style. The StarCraft II Zerg Edition Messenger Bag features a tear-resistant, weather-proof heavy duty 1680D ballistic nylon outer shell, a single shoulder sling design for added mobility, an easy one-handed release chest clasp enables quick and convenient access, built-in compartments for laptops, gaming peripherals and portable gaming devices and a padded inner lining that protects electronic devices and provides ample shock absorbency while on the road. Expect to see the StarCraft II Zerg Edition Messenger Bag hit the shelves at a price of $89.99 USD.

All of the Razer StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty gaming peripherals will launch at the same time as the game itself, in Q3 of 2010.