When it showed off Starcraft: Ghost to the crowd at Blizzcon last weekend, Blizzard Entertainment did not mention any specific platform the game was being released for. Many assumed that was because those attending the event were familiar with the long story behind the publisher's first foray into the console market. Announced in 2002, Starcraft: Ghost has seen its fair share of woes, with its original developer, Nihilistic Software (Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption ), being replaced by Swingin' Ape (Metal Arms: Glitch in the System) in the summer of 2004 for undisclosed reasons.

Despite switching developers, Starcraft: Ghost's consoles have always been consistent--until this week, anyway. Speaking to GameSpot, a Blizzard staffer confirmed that the game is now only being released for the Xbox and PlayStation 2, meaning the previously announced GameCube edition has been canceled. The staffer did not give a reason why it had been scrapped.

Luckily, a moderator on the forums of Battle.net, the official Starcraft and Warcraft Web site, did lay out the official motivation behind shelving Ghost for the GameCube. "In order to provide the game envisioned by the console team, a set and readily available online solution was needed," said the moderator. "Unfortunately the GameCube has no online service and since so much work is going in to the online portion, it would be additional work to release only part of the intended game."

That said, the moderator was quick to point out that the cancellation was not due to Blizzard being biased against the Mario factory. "Nintendo systems certainly aren't something that we are against supporting," he said. "The GameCube and Revolution will still be considered for future products."