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Wednesday, Mar 01, 2000

  

Allegiance Diary

A new installment in PC.IGN's Allegiance designer diary has been posted, with designer David Pugh talking about maintaining balanced gameplay in this massively multiplayer title.

Force Commander Preview

GameSpot has posted a detailed preview of LucasArts' 3D real-time strategy game Force Commander, featuring some new screenshots from the game, which they say will ship, "sometime in the last week of March or the first week of April."

Starfleet Command Patch

Starfleet Universe has posted version 1.03 patches for Star Trek: Starfleet Command, fixing a host of issues with Interplay's combat space-sim. US editions are available now, with the international versions expected later this week.

Evening Screenshots

Relic's New Game

The surprise news at Microsoft's GameStock, according to this story on Gamecenter, is that Relic Entertainment, well-known as the creators of the space-themed RTS game Homeworld, will be partnering with Microsoft on their next project. Apparently the game is unique, or at least enough so as to scare Sierra away from it (they had right of first refusal on Relic's next title). Nothing is known about the game beyond what little Relic CEO Alex Garden was willing to say: that it's, "a game even more ambitious than Homeworld."

Soldier of Fortune Status

Raven's John Scott updated his .plan with the latest on their crunch-time activities on Soldier of Fortune, their presumably imminent mercenary first-person shooter. Here's the status, which includes a word on his own status as an alien working in the USA (not in the X-Files way, of course):

All is looking damn fine with SoF, we are just waiting for the various QAs around the world to get back to us. The main issues we have are with french and German words being much longer than their English (or even American) counterparts.

We've been doing the very aptly named crunch time for the last couple of months and the signs are starting to show. You can only live so long on a diet based solely on nicotene, caffiene and pizza :)

However, things are starting to wind down a little our end. Hopefully, I can go home before 4am tonight!

The lawyers are handling my visa renewal at moment. All should be fine, but it is still a very worrying time for me.

Chat News

Interplay's official Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn site announces an IRC chat with members of the development team of this upcoming isometric RPG. The event will take place tomorrow, Thursday, March 2 at 9:00 PM EST (6:00 PM PST) on irc.vaultnetwork.com in channel #vault. Also, MDK2.com sent word of updated details for tonight's MDK2 chat (story), which will now go down on irc.damaged.net in channel #ignchat at 9:00 PM EST tonight, as described on this page.

Thief Gold FAQ

This massive Thief: the Dark Project Gold FAQ at GameFAQs has been updated with more details on Looking Glass first sneak-em-up action game, making it even more comprehensive than it already was.

Chris Taylor Interview

More Dungeon Siege news today, as newly opened Dungeon Siege Vault has posted an interview with Chris Taylor on the 3D action RPG in development at his company Gas Powered Games. Here is how he describes the game himself:

Dungeon Siege is an Action Fantasy RPG game that pushes technical and gameplay boundaries to the next level. Just like with Total Annihilation, we are breaking all kinds of rules in the genre. It is a great challenge to do a game like this in an established genre and show that we can make huge changes while still building on all the core RPG experiences that people enjoy. A couple of examples of this includes the elimination of loading screens by making one gigantic continuous world and the ability for the Player to have up to 10 characters in the party. We also believe that our intense over-the-top battles will heighten the gameplay experience and have people playing on the edge of their seat.

Rogue Spear: Urban Operations Site

Redstorm has opened its Rogue Spear: Urban Operations site with new screenshots, information and designer logs of their upcoming expansion pack to the tactical squad action game. Thanks Stomped.

Armada Movie

incitegames has posted a new MPEG movie that features some in-game footage and excerpts from the cut-scenes from Star Trek: Armada, the upcoming 3D RTS game that lets you battle it out in the Star Trek universe.

Afternoon Screenshots

  • Gamers Central has posted a preview of Shadows of Reality that includes two new screenshots (the top pair in the sidebar) from Nevolution's upcoming 3D action RPG.
  • PlanetVampire has a new high-res image of Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. In related news, the list of selected beta testers has been announced at Vampire.WON.net.
  • There is a new Majesty screenshot on Majesty - Dragon, showing off the "highest hero level" in the beta of this isometric fantasy RPG.
  • GamesMania has posted a brief sneak peek at Echolon, including a gallery of screenshots, some new and some familiar, of the futuristic action flightsim in development at Buka.
  • New Wizards & Warriors Screenshots at Adrenaline Vault provides insight into what this first-person fantasy RPG will look like.

Serious Sam Shots

GA-Source has posted three new screenshots from Serious Sam, an upcoming first person shooter from Croation developer Croteam, as well as word that they plan to throw their hat into the engine ring and license their engine to other developers.

Dungeon Siege Update

Gas Powered Games' official Dungeon Siege site has been updated, and now sports a spiffy new contents page, and links to sections of Microsoft's page for the game, which contains lots of gameplay details, a few screenshots, and a FAQ about the game.

MechWarrior 4 Shots

AVault has posted six new shots from the just-announced MechWarrior 4 (see below). The shots are high-resolution, and feature some of the new 'mechs and special effects that have been added since the last MechWarrior game.

LucasArts Q&A

IMG Magazine has posted a Q&A with Mary Bihr, LucasArts' VP of Marketing, talking about their recently released Mac port of Star Wars Episode I Racer, as well as the company's future plans for the platform. While they may have other Mac titles in development, she was unable to confirm this or comment on unannounced games.

GameStock News

Microsoft's GameStock 2000 site is live, featuring game information and screenshots from all the games being showcased at this press-only event going on for the next few days (thanks mantis). Amongst the games showcased are the just-announced Mechwarrior 4 (see below), Dungeon Siege, Allegiance, Starlancer, and MechCommander 2.

MechWarrior 4 Announced

Microsoft has announced MechWarrior 4, the inevitable sequel to Mechwarrior 3, featuring 21 new 'Mechs, a new dynamic mission structure, more tactical options than the earlier games, and more. Also announced today is MechCommander 2, a fully 3D sequel to the original MechCommander, which brought real-time strategy to the BattleTech universe.

Star Trek: Armada Shots

Twelve new screenshots from Star Trek: Armada, an impressive-looking 3D strategy game set in the Star Trek universe have been posted at Federation HQ. Word is that the game allows you to play as the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans, or the Borg, so start polishing your rhetoric of choice now. If that's not enough for you, more screenshots can be found at GameSpot UK's preview of the game.

O.R.B. Interview

GA-Strategy has posted an interview with Jamie McNeely and Phil O'Connor, the Executive Producer and Producer at Strategy First on their upcoming space-themed strategy game, O.R.B.. There are six new screenshots from the game posted as well.

Sacrifice Interview

A new interview with Shiny frontman David Perry is up at the German games site nonstuff.de ("Für alles was hart werden kann") talking to him about their still relatively secret 3D strategy game Sacrifice. There are a few new images up as well, although they look like they are photographs from an early demonstration of the game, not recent in-game shots. The interview's in German, so be sure to stick a BabelFish in your ear if you need the English translation.

Dungeon Siege Shots

The newly opened DungeonSiege.org has posted nine new images from Dungeon Siege, the upcoming action/adventure game from Gas Powered Games (the company helmed by Total Annihilation creator Chris Taylor). There are seven in-game shots, and two concept images, and all are very detailed.

Devil Inside Shots

Twelve new screenshots from Devil Inside, showing off this spooky adventure game from the creator of Alone in the Dark, have been posted at GameSpot UK.

Starship Troopers Shots

Also new at GameSpot UK are fifteen new screenshots from Starship Troopers, an upcoming strategy game based on the movie of the same name (and presumably has as little to do with the book as the film did). If you're a little confused, the third person action game that was being made was canned, and replaced with this current project.

Crimson Skies Previews

DailyRadar.com previews Crimson Skies looking ahead at this action combat flyer (rather than a flight simulation) from Microsoft they call "ultrastylish," in piece illustrated by six new screenshots. Thresh's FiringSquad previews Crimson Skies as well, calling it "World War II without the War," referring to the alternate history it presents, which is set in 1937.

AmsterDoom

The AmsterDoom website has gone live, and if you guessed from the name that this is a first-person shooter being developed in Holland, you hit it right on the head. The page offers some screenshots to show off what the project looks like, terribly useful if you have problems understanding the text, which tends to run along the lines of: "In dit nieuwe millenium is er eindelijk gebeurd waar mensen al decennia voor vrezen.... Buitenaardse troepen zijn op Schiphol en de binnenstad van Amsterdam geland." Our on-the-scenes reporter Frans, who of course, does grok that kind of stuff, says the game uses the Genesis3D engine, and is set in Amsterdam, featuring 15 new levels that offer recognizable real-world locations from the Dutch capital. It's not clear if this game will be readily available outside of the Netherlands.

Screenshots and Such

The Armada Images page on the Star Trek Armada site has been updated with a Star Trek Armada screenshot and a shot from a magazine ad campaign (as well as the box art, which has been previously published) from this upcoming trekkie RTS. The Force Commander page has posted images of Characters, Units, Buildings, and Planets from Force Commander in their Gallery, humbly touting the "incredible 3D animations, character bios and unit descriptions!" from this upcoming Star Wars RTS. It Came for Zog Movie, Character Animations on GA-Source has six new character animations and a 4 MB teaser movie from Pixeleer's upcoming 3D adventure game, It Came for Zog, that looks kind of like Grim Fandango.

Tech Bits

Gangsters II Interview

Daily Radar interviews Peter Moreland of Hothouse Creations about Gangsters II, leaving no pun unturned as they speak with the "Capo tutti di Capo" about this upcoming RTS that will offer a "Gangster's paradise" (this is stuff after my own heart).

Strategy Guides

PC.IGN.Com's Sims Strategy Guide is online if you need advice in how to get an artificial life. As with all the IGN guides, free registration is required. Also, in a less current vein, there's a FreeSpace 2 Game Guide on MakeItSimple offering 46 pages of mission-by-mission tips on winning Volition's space combat game.

Dark Age of Camelot FAQ

The Camelot Vault has been updated with a new Dark Age of Camelot FAQ answering questions about this upcoming online multiplayer RPG that places you in the comfortable bosom of the medieval era where you will battle knights and the plague as one of the Britons, the Celts, or the Norse. There is also now a messageboard among the VN Boards where you can discuss the game.

LAN Party Sideshow

Version 1.0 of the LAN Party Sideshow large LAN messaging system is now available. Described as a true portal for large LAN Parties, the program offers an "alternative messaging system allowing easy communication between participants, and from staff to participants" that "emulates IRC and Gamespy." Sideshow is completely browser-based, so clients don't even need to install anything.

Quake II Rambot

After a couple of months of testing, version 0.49 of the Rambot for Quake II is now available on Rambot's Pit, called an interim release with another version already in the works. Described as much better fighters due to improved strafing in combat, the new bots also offer noded/nodeless roaming, strafing around obstacles, projectile avoidance, and hearing. Thanks Clear Ether, The Mormon Berserker.

New Licensed To Kill for AQ2

With the paint barely dry on the last release, the Licensed To Kill page already has a new version 1.22 of the Licensed To Kill bot for Action Quake2. The new version adds knife throwing and kicking to the bots non-Marquis of Queensbury repertoire, increases sniper accuracy at lower skill levels, adds corner collision detection and avoidance code, and more.

Quake Racing

The Checkered Flag-Gold Cup Website has a new version 1.2 of the Checkered Flag Goldcup for Quake. Like QuakeRally, this mod adds the road to the game's rage, providing racing action. The new version features improved physics, some new sounds, and "bigger, meaner cars."

GLQuake LCC

The debut release of glQuake for LCC-Win32 is now available. This port of id Software's publicly available Quake source code adds many of the features from various Quake projects as optional variables that can be toggled on or off as well as various bug-fixes, all while maintaining compatibility with the original GLQuake. Source code is included.

Newer NetDoom

There's a new version 0.3 of NetDoom, a rapid update to this Doom deathmatch port on the heels of the release of version 0.2 (story). The new release adds Boom support, better error handling, and more.

Follow-up

There was a story up for a while yesterday about a playable demo of Earth 2150 that was pulled to avoid confusion when the publisher had this release, which turns out to have been unauthorized, pulled from where it was available, since it was a demo that did not yet have all the kinks worked out. There is no word on when the official demo will be released.

Editing Stuff

An update to Mark Poesch's .plan gives the latest on progress on the U2Ed patch for Unreal Tournament, saying they "should have the experimental U2Ed patch posted by the end of the week." So You Want to Make a Game on GameSpy.com's Mod Developer Week offers thoughts on the subject from Jesse "Warren" Taylor, project lead on Infiltration for UT.

Competition

The Fusion 2000 Gaming Competition is sponsored by Creative Labs, scheduled for March 8-10 in the United Arab Emirates. Games on the schedule include Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament, and Half-Life, and prizes up for grabs include a GeForce PRO, a Nomad, a DTT2550, & more.

Reviews

etc.

Out of the Blue

I thought it was about time I explained something that's only vaguely been referred to here in the past, which is the reason you'll see "Out of the Blue" down here, and one day a week "Fruit of the loon," but, with one exception in an emergency, nothing down here by Frans. The reason for this is by Frans' choice, as his European hours aren't very compatible with the East Coast day that we follow, making staying up until midnight here to wait for the next day to begin not very practical. Further, his mind is probably a bit too orderly to accomplish one of these rambles, which probably makes it all the more desirable that he be the one to write them, but that's another story entirely. It's not like he needs more to do, as occasionally work by one of the three of us will appear in posts done by one of the others, and a lot of Frans' work, like our legendary all-you-can-eat reviews bar, falls into this category. So there's that.

Here's another chapter in the time flying category: this is the one-year anniversary of Graeme Devine joining id Software.

Link of the Day: Mechanized Propulsion Systems. At work on real-life mechs. Thanks SailorScout.
Story of the Day: Mullet: A Do That Still Does (Washington Post). Thanks Doug, who adds: "Why is it that now when I hear about mullets, I think of Blue's News?"
Bonus Story: What Is Hip: Not GoHip.com (Wired). A cautionary tale. Thanks Nick F.

Tuesday, Feb 29, 2000

RTS Previews

Two new real-time strategy previews have been posted this evening...the first one is up at Gamecenter, where they call Earth 2150, "far more polished and immersive than any RTS in recent memory" based on the beta build they received. Naturally there's a handful of screenshots up along side the preview. Also, Future Gamer has posted a preview of Dogs of War, the game described as, "Cannon Fodder meets Unreal meets Hidden and Dangerous." If that makes no sense, there are some new screenshots to help clarify things.

Psycho Movie

incitegames has released a new MPEG movie featuring in-game footage from KISS: Psycho Circus - The Nightmare Child, Third Law Interactive's upcoming LithTech engine game of massive carnage and wild makeup. The film features footage from the same demonstration levels that have been shown many times before, so it may seem familiar to you.

Age of Wonders Patch

The official Age of Wonders site has been updated with a version 1.35 patch for the retail version of Triumph and Epic's fantasy strategy game. Thanks Gone Gold. This release fixes some rare crashes, improves the automatic combat calculations involving archers and fixes some minor balance issues. The complete list of changes can be viewed here.

Revenant International Patches

Cinematix has released more international editions of the Revenant version 1.2e patch, now offering German, French and Italian downloads of the patch, which was released in US and Korean editions last week (story). Thanks RPG Vault.

Still More Screenshots

A collection of images for your evening viewing pleasure:

Arcanum Preview

GameSpot has posted a preview of Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, an upcoming isometric role-playing game by Troika Games, a new company founded by developers that have the designs of Fallout and Fallout 2 under their belts while still at Interplay. A boatload of new screenshots illustrate the industrial fantasy world on offer.

Harvey Smith Interview

Hot on the heels of their Bob White interview (story), XQ's Interview with Harvey "Witchboy" Smith grills the ION Storm lead designer of Deus Ex, their upcoming 3D action RPG, in ten questions, nine of which are answered into varying degrees of detail.

Parsec Demo

As promised, a new self-running demo of Parsec is now available for download at the official site in Windows and Mac versions, with the Linux version promised for tomorrow. The 18MB download runs for over 11 minutes, and shows a lot of in-game footage from this upcoming, non-commercial space combat title.

Klingon Academy Demo

As announced in this forum post, Interplay has released the playable demo of Star Trek: Klingon Academy (82.4 MB) for download on their ftp server, as well as on the Star Trek: Continuum.

Dino Update

A new update to Sid's Dino Diaries has been posted at Firaxis' web site, and it features a brief update from Sid Meier, as well as a slightly more detailed update by one of the other designers, explaining the current design phase of Sid Meier's Dinosaurs (working title). Along with the update are several new concept art pieces, showing some of the species of dinos that may be in the game.

New GLSetup Released

A new version of GLSetup, the program that checks your PC and automatically installs the right OpenGL drivers for your hardware, has been released and is available for download at its official site. This new version (Beta 1.0.0.113) adds new drivers for 3dfx, Matrox, NVIDIA, ATI and S3 cards, and adds support for the latest chipsets as well.

Direct Rocket Damage Released

Direct Rocket Damage is the name of a new mod for QuakeWorld, that divides DM3 into six separate arenas for 1 on 1 matches where the only way to cause damage is via a direct rocket blast. The mod and source code are available for download at the official DRD site.

C&C: Tiberian Sun Patches

Westwood has released version 2.02 patches for Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, available for direct download or via the auto-update feature in the game (thanks Ant). The list of changes includes improvements to online play, better support for the Firestorm expansion pack, and more, and a complete list is posted on Generation Renegade.

Evil Islands Update

RPG Vault has posted a quick Q&A on the development status of Evil Islands, a 3D role-playing strategy game under construction at Russian company Nival, who recently opened their Evil Islands website for the game, complete with screenshots and several rolling demos.

MDK 2 Chat

If you've got questions for BioWare's MDK 2 team, they'll be taking part in an IRC chat tomorrow, so swing by #vault on irc.vaultnetwork.com at 6:00 PM PST and ask away (thanks MDK2.com). MDK, as everyone knows, stands for Meteor Dust Kills.

ShadowWatch Preview

GameSpot UK has posted a new hands-on preview of ShadowWatch, RedStorm's upcoming strategy/RPG title. The preview is fairly detailed, and features a number of new screenshots.

O.R.B. Site Launched

Strategy First's official O.R.B. site has gone live, featuring lots of info on the gameplay, races and missions from this upcoming RTS game, as well as a downloadable movie, a ship gallery, and plenty of screenshots (thanks GA-Strategy).

Valve Q&A

AVault fired off some questions to Valve Software's Gabe Newell about their technology plans, after the recent announcement that they had hired Mike Dussault, the former lead programmer on the LithTech engine (story). Here's an excerpt where Gabe directly responds to the question of whether or not they will continue to license an engine, or produce their own from scratch after Team Fortress 2 is completed (which uses id Software's Quake technology):

We are investing a lot in technology, but our strategy is not changing. We are still deciding what we want to achieve in our future games, determining if it stands to reason to license or develop the technology, and going from there. In terms of people, we are always going to try to convince the best people in the industry that Valve is a good place for them to be for the long haul.

SWAT 3: Battle Plan Shots

Also new at AVault this morning are two new screenshots from SWAT 3: Battle Plan, the upcoming multiplayer add-on for SWAT 3. The add-on will add six new missions and support up to 10 players simultaneously. It is expected to be released in the third quarter of 2000.

Devil Inside Movies

A new gameplay movie and trailer from Devil Inside have been posted at GameSpot UK (both in MPEG format), featuring lots of new footage of this scary action/adventure game from the creator of Alone in the Dark. In other DI news, the official English language site for the game has gone live, and features some preliminary info on the game (a full FAQ is coming soon) as well as a rather large screenshots gallery.

Martian Gothic Preview

PC.IGN.com has posted a preview of Martian Gothic: Unification, a horror adventure game in the vein of Alone in the Dark which puts you into the shoes of polygonal characters moving around 2D pre-rendered backgrounds. A whole bunch of new, thumbnail-free images are available to browse the world Creative Reality and TalonSoft are crafting.

Star Trek: Armada Screenshot

The official Star Trek: Armada site has been updated with a new screenshot of the week, showing off a battle scene in Activision's upcoming space-based RTS that entered closed beta yesterday.

On Dreamcast Half-Life

FGNOnline has posted a quote from Gearbox Software's Randy Pitchford regarding the control scheme for their upcoming Dreamcast port of Half-Life. As there's no mouse and keyboard available (at least, not for most people, anyway) they've had to be a little creative. Here's what he had to say:

"Control is only a tricky issue for those of us who are used to a keyboard and mouse configuration on the PC," says Pitchford. "Luckily, Dreamcast already has PC like interface available. But, for those that would like to play the game using the Dreamcast controller, it's designed very well to handle this kind of game.

"We've got an analog stick and two analog levers for aiming and movement and plenty of buttons for the digital functions. A default configuration will be provided that should be very good, but I'll also want to see an option to customize the controller should players want to experiment with a more personalized control scheme."

Terminal Reality Interview

3D Action Planet has posted an interview with Terminal Reality's Fletcher Dunn, talking to the programmer about his work on Nocturne and the upcoming Blair Witch Project, as well as how he got into the industry, and his thoughts on the eventual apocalypse.

FAKK2 Q&A & Screenshots

GA-Source's Heavy Metal FAKK2 interview talks with Robert Atkins, Scott Alden, and the Levelord of Ritual Entertainment about progress on Heavy Metal FAKK2, Ritual's upcoming Quake III-engine movie-tie-in action game. In addition to the developer Q&A, which discusses things like the game's third-person viewpoint, its plot, and gameplay, the page also offers up three new FAKK2 screenshots, as well as some familiar shots.

Bob White Interview

XQ interviews Bob White talking with the leader of the design team at work on Deus Ex, ION Storm's upcoming Unreal-engine action/RPG. The 10 question Q&A covers progress on the game, thankfully not playing up to the question about "problems that the government would have with Deus Ex."

Tech Bits

More Screenshots

There's a new Forts screenshot on GA-Strategy showing Magic Lantern Playware's newly-announced upcoming LithTech-engine action/strategy title. Also, there are 20 Rally Championship 200 screenshots on Gamerspoint Network.

Ground Control Stuff

There is a Ground Control interview on PC Arena talking with Massive Entertainment about progress on Ground Control, Major Tom's favorite upcoming game. Comparing the game's futuristic tactical gameplay to a cross between the Homeworld and Myth, the Q&A covers how GC stacks up to other RTS titles, design decisions, AI, the game's interface, and more. The Ground Control preview on incite also looks ahead at the game, and offers some new screenshots, as well.

Pure Q3A

The first beta release of the Pure mod for Quake III Arena is now available. Pure offers several modifications aimed at CTF games, though it's pointed out that it can be used for deathmatch, as well. Pure reintroduces the four techs/runes familiar from Threewave CTF, a grappling hook, the Pure scoring system, Quake 1 underwater lightning gun discharge effect, and more. All the options can be toggled on or off to the server operator's preference.

CTF/e for UT

A new version 2.28 of CTF/e, a capture the flag modification for Unreal Tournament can be found on The House that SiN Built (in spite of the name, this is indeed a UT mod). The new release adds Bonus Pack Support, improves the scoring system, adds random map progression, fixes some minor bugs with bots, and more.

Editing Stuff

Quake3mods.net has posted an email exchange with id Software's Paul Jaquays on adding lightning to Quake III Arena maps. There's a Tutorial for getting a player model mesh from MAX 2.5 to Q3 on polycount written by Paul Steed. The article is listed as part one of "not sure yet," and should serve as a companion piece to his ongoing series on loonygames.

Competitions

The Cyberathlete Professional League has announced new qualifying centers in Ontario, Canada, and Bellevue, Washington. Also, Reality @ Recess.com has word of another qualifying even for the upcoming $100,000 Razer CPL tournament that will take place in North Olmsted, Ohio on March 12. Also, The Iron Glove League's new Counter-Strike Division gets underway a week from Wednesday. Finally, Quad Damage-News has word of an upcoming Wages of Sin tournament that offers each player on the winning team a signed copy of Sin and Wages of Sin, with an official Sin T-shirt signed by Levelord for each player going to the second place finishers. Word is the Levelord himself will also be participating in some manner of "Kick the Levelord Around" feature.

Reviews

etc.

  • In the vein of yesterday's blurb on the Webpuppy release (story), this webpage has the release of a Blue's News headlines ticker program that uses the shareware coolticker to update you with the latest headlines here (though I can't figure out how to display them myself)...
  • Painful Detail has posted six new UT voice packs and two new player models...
  • There is an ICQ sound scheme on Wantree GamesWorld that changes the annoying default ICQ sounds to a Q3A sound-scheme, which I imagine might get a bit annoying itself after a while, but your mileage may vary...
  • Starting today, the Gamestock 2000 website will be host to updates on MS' gaming extravaganza, just getting underway. There will be a Gamestock-oriented MSN Gaming Zone Chat starting today at 8:00 PM EST (5:00 PM PST)...
  • The new list of top selling PC entertainment software is up on GameDAILY with Q3A re-entering the chart at #7 (ever wonder if they do this stuff with a dartboard?), UT dropping to #12, and Nox entering at #4. The new Mac chart is up as well with Alpha Centauri entering at #5...

Out of the Blue

Happy leap day, or whatever it is you call this extra day every four years (this really seems like a kludgy patch... I think it's time for calendar 2.0). David Chase points out we are around the one-year anniversary of the leak of the IHV test of Q3A (now that seems like some time that flew!). To continue (and/or flog) the recent television theme: There is a new public service announcement that runs occasionally in these parts to promote the upcoming US Census. The spot features kids running around to the strains of the bugged-out electronic version of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony from A Clockwork Orange. Needless to say, it is just about impossible to make any association with this music other than the film's ultra-violence, which of course is actually a twist on a major point in the plot (how's that for life imitating art?). It seems a bit pointless to ask "what were they thinking" when discussing the actions of a government, but this one really does make one wonder.

Link of the Day: The Tesla Coil Page. Thanks Freek aka Maniac. Filled with AVI-format movies of these ultra-cool "toys" in action.
Story of the Day: Scientists Create Half-Human, Half-Silicon Chip. Thanks EvilToast.



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