A new preview of Digital Anvil's Starlancer has been posted at Gamecenter, featuring quotes from designer Erin Roberts about the game. There are quite a few interesting details in here, from info about the storyline (and how it unfolds) to specifics about the gameplay.

• 4D Rulers has released three more Gore screenshots, their upcoming first-person shooter that is being built on the AMP 3D engine by Slam Software.
• Gamecenter has posted another Loose Cannon gallery which includes three new screenshots starting here, in addition to the same shots already posted elsewhere this morning (story).
• The official O.R.B. site has been updated with a second page of screenshots of the space-based RTS in development at Strategy First.
• Red Storm has opened a page of downloadable wallpapers for Rogue Spear: Urban Operations, their upcoming tactical action mission pack.
• incitegames has posted ten new screenshots of Star Trek: Armada, taken from a recent build of Activision's space-based RTS.
• Also on incitegames are six more screenshots from Everquest: The Ruins of Kunark, the expansion pack to Verant's multiplayer RPG.

incitegames has posted a new movie featuring footage from Ground Control, an upcoming 3D RTS title from Massive Entertainment. The film shows how the camera system works, and unlike most of their movies, this actually features actual in-game sound effects instead of dubbed techno music.

Also on incitegames is a new MPEG movie featuring footage from Third Law Interactive's LithTech engine title, KISS: Psycho Circus - The Nightmare Child. The film is available as either a large or small download, and clocks in at 45 seconds long.

3dfx has released new Voodoo3 2000/3000 Windows 9x Drivers version 1.04.04 BETA, fixing problems with Glide Unreal as well as Midtown Madness, and boosting the usual all-caps warning that these beta drivers are unsupported, so download at your own risk.

Blizzard Entertainment has announced the details of the special limited Collector's Edition of Diablo II that will be available when the game is released (thanks Mach5). This jam-packed box is loaded with everything from a DVD version of the game's intro movie to the soundtrack and lots more. Here are the details:

Blizzard Entertainment announces a one-time production run of Diablo II Collector's Edition. Available only during Diablo II's initial launch, this special edition will be offered in limited quantities. The Collector's Edition will include Diablo II on four CD-ROMs, a 24-minute Diablo II cinematic on DVD in wide-screen letter box format, the Diablo II soundtrack with 70 minutes of music, the Wizards of the Coast pencil-and-paper role-playing game based on the AD&D rule set and a Diablo II manual signed by the development team. Diablo II Collector's Edition will be available exclusively at Babbages, Electronics Boutique and direct from Blizzard. The expected price for the product will be $60 - $70.

Gamecenter has posted a surprise demo of Half-Life: Opposing Force, the expansion pack by Gearbox to Valve's acclaimed first-person action game. The demo is available as a 30.4 MB download for those who already own Half-Life, or a 71.2 MB version that is playable standalone, and features a "montage of the levels and areas in the expansion pack."

As expected after yesterday's auto-update patch (story), Novalogic has released a downloadable Delta Force 2 patch version 1.06.14. The 8.2 MB patch fixes weapon emplacements and more, as described in their developer notes.

AVault spoke with Steve Grossman, the CEO of ASC Games, about the current status of their Unreal-engine title Werewolf: The Apocalypse - The Heart of Gaia, which has been in a shaky position ever since the company announced that they were in "a state of transition." According to Grossman, "“Werewolf is still in development, and is going strong. The situation at ASC is still in the process of unfolding, but with promise of clarification in the near future."

Matrox has released new TurboGL drivers for their Millennium and Marvel G400 cards. This new version (1.30.002) adds support for Starsiege: TRIBES and Tread Marks in addition to other changes, and will only work under Windows 98.

According to this story at ActionAce.com, Shiny, the developers of the upcoming games Messiah and Sacrifice, have beaten out several contenders (including Bungie Studios) for the rights to make a game based on The Matrix, last year's ridiculously successful sci-fi movie. If this is true, then a formal announcement should be coming soon.

Eurogamer.net has posted an interview with Jason Kingsley, co-founder of Rebellion, the developers of Aliens vs. Predator and the upcoming action-RPG Gunlok. Jason talks about the company's humble beginnings with the Atari Jaguar system, and goes into detail about the transition from the console AvP to its more recent PC incarnation. There are also three new images from Gunlok, their current project, as well as some gameplay details.

AVault has posted an interview with Tim Train, former designer for Firaxis, and one of the founding members of Big Huge Games. Tim talks about their new company's plans, which are still in their infancy.

According to this story on Daily Variety, the actress who will be portraying Lara Croft in the upcoming film adaptation of Tomb Raider (directed by Simon "Con Air" West) is none other than Angelina Jolie, Oscar® nominated actress and daughter of Jon Voight. Thanks Jason Ocampo for the tip.

If you're getting that "insert disk 1" error with the recently released Metal Fatigue Demo (story), Spamkill sends along this tip that should get things working:

The demo does work. If it doesn't self-extract correctly, you neeed to change the .exe extension to .zip and then extract the contents which will be in a folder called "disk1". Just run the setup in that folder and start building giant robots!

Tritin Films, the people behind the Quad God and Comedy in Armor films, have released a new film titled, "The Kick." This film is all of 400k, and is notably simpler than their previous efforts. As their page describes it, the film "does nothing but show one opponent kick the other opponents butt." It's available for download in Real Video format at Machinima.com.

• Blade Universe has added a new weekly screenshot (top-left corner) to their screenshots page from Blade, the upcoming third-person action game by Rebel Act.
• There are a square nine new screenshots of Evil Islands on GA-Strategy, showing off new scenes from this 3D role-playing strategy game by Russian developers Nival.
• EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark Preview on GameSpot looks ahead at the upcoming expansion pack by way of a Q&A and seven new screenshots.
• GameSpot UK has no less than three image galleries to accompany a detailed preview of B-17 Flying Fortress II - The Mighty Eighth, the WW-II bomber sim by MicroProse.

SegaSoft has released a new 10Six client for download on the official site, although it's not clear what this March 2 version changes from previous releases of the massively multiplayer action/strategy game that went into full operation last Monday (story). Also, there is a new intro movie trailer available in three different sizes.

The official DooM Legacy site has a new version 1.29 pre-release 5 of this OpenGL port of id's classic DOOM. This is proclaimed to be a really stable release, and the last one before the 1.29 final release. The source code has also been released, as required under the GNU GPL. Also, DoomWorld has word of the first beta release of GlBoom, an OpenGL port of TeamTNT's Boom engine. Lastly, DoomWorld also mentioned Doom3D, a new Win32/DirectX port that features Direct3D acceleration, full TCP-IP networking, and more.

GameSpot UK has posted a massive, 41-image gallery, featuring new screenshots from Project IGI, an upcoming first person shooter from Norwegian developer Innerloop Studios, that features a fractal-driven, original engine.

Also new on GameSpot UK today, is a new preview of LucasArts' 3D strategy game Force Commander, which is based on a hands-on test of the full game. They've also posted one of their trademark image galleries, which features 21 new shots from the game.

Daily Radar has posted an interview with Rade Stojsavljevic, producer of Firestorm, the just-finished add-on for Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. Rade confirms that Firestorm is the last time they'll be using the current C&C engine, but dodges the question when asked if this will be the last top-down C&C game.

New screenshots from Loose Cannon, an upcoming game from Digital Anvil, headed up by Tony Zurovec, the creator of the classic Origin Crusader series, have been posted at GameSpot News. In the game, you play a futuristic bounty hunter, and it is played both on foot and inside a vehicle.

According to PlanetAvP, Aliens vs. Predator Gold, the new edition of Aliens vs. Predator that features improved multiplayer code and OpenGL support (not to mention new multiplayer weapons and a strategy guide) is set for release on April 6th. Also, screenshots from the new multiplayer levels in the pack are available at AvPNews.com's Gold Edition section, which also features a rundown of all the features in the new version.

Another installment of PC.IGN's Summoner Diary has been posted. This week's installment features Volition's Tim Borelli talking about the process of animating the game's characters, including the all important, "watch Kung-Fu movies" step.

There's a Tim Willits interview on Mean Arena talking with the id Software level designer about all sorts of stuff like his work, his feelings about Q3A, his start in the business, id's future plans, some less topical stuff, and still more (if you can stand it).

Hypothermia interviews Kenn Hoekstra talking with the project administrator at Raven Software about life at Raven, life in general, games, his KISS tattoo, and more, though nothing about bodybuilding.

There's a Baldur's Gate II chat log on RPGvault.ign.com (in case there's a difference, there's also BG2 log on BG Chronicles) recounting the chat action in last night's IRC shindig with the folks at BioWare currently toiling away at this sequel to the hit AD&D game. The RPGvault also has highlights of the session on their main page, as well as some more new BG2 details gleaned from an update to the Baldur's Gate II site as well as messageboard posts by "Designer Dave Gaider, Lead Programmer Mark Darrah and Paul as well as Interplay webmaster Slyle."

Unreal Universe has the release of Skaarj Generator ][, an Unreal Tournament update to a classic Unreal map by Epic designer Innox that was apparently intended for inclusion in the just-released UT Bonus Pack (story). While they're at it, they've posted a pair of screenshots from the upcoming release of Rocket Arena for Unreal Tournament, showing maps also being created by Innox.

• The A3D.COM Homepage has new version 3.11 A2D and A3D drivers and Version 4.06.2048 reference drivers for Vortex2 cards, offering EAX support.
• There's a new Athlon overclocking FAQ on K7M.COM.
• The BIOS Optimization Guide on Adrian's Rojak Pot has been updated.
• Stomped interviews Brian Zucker of Dell Computers talking about their upcoming 64 MB GeForce cards.
• Diamond/S3 Viper II video card is reviewed on Cole 3D.
• Coppermine 550 Slot 1 CPU is reviewed on HardOCP.
• FIC SD11 rev. 1.8 Athlon motherboard is reviewed on Sharky Extreme.
• Thermaltake Golden Orb cooler is reviewed on HotHardware.

Interview with James Parkman talking with the Legend Entertainment level designer about his work on Wheel of Time and the upcoming Unreal II as well as some thoughts on the U2Ed level editor that is going to be released soon.

• GA-RPG interviews Jason Kingsley from Rebellion in a Q&A on Gunlok that offers a new shot of this "futuristic 3D action RPG" from the folks that created Aliens versus Predator.
• Gamestock Hands-on With Crimson Skies on GameSpot with new screenshots of the non-sim flying combat game.
• A second set of Comanche-Hokum screenshots offers 24 more looks ahead at this helicopter combat game.
• Thresh's FiringSquad's GameStock screenshots is a round-up of the shots from the event, if you've missed any of them (including Mechwarrior 4, Combat Flight Simulator 2, Mechcommander 2, and Crimson Skies).

There's a new Troika Games interview on Joystick.fr talking with some of the developers of the upcoming RPG Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. The interview is French, so you'll have to try something like AltaVista Translations to read it, but there is also an audio version in streaming RealPlayer format that is in English.

A new version UT MouseBall, the nutty (cheesy?) sport for Unreal Tournament is now available, adding a new map, as well as a blimp that provides a scoreboard.

Word from counter-strike.de is that they are attempting to inspire a back to the future weekend where servers will run the first beta of Counter-Strike for Half-Life. They have the betas available for server operators and clients to download, along with handy instructions on how to avoid ruining your current Counter-Strike installation.

How about a B.A. in Quake on ZDNet News (thanks Ron Johnson and George Cifrancis) offers hope that an interest in Quake and other games might some day earn one a college degree, rather than simply putting one on the slippery slope to flunking out. Here's a bit:

The program incorporates courses in a variety of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, graphic design and human kinetics. The goal is to create students who are not only able to code and design games but also have an understanding of the societal impact and significance of this $7 billion industry.

A post on the UT bonus pack on Unreal Universe offers strategies for the new maps, as well as a review of the pack. There's a new Unreal Tournament deathmatch guide on City Of Games. Also, there's a new Lonely Planet-Spog/DMMQ3DM3 strategy guide on Hellhound. Finally, the Allegiance Vault's Turret Guide is online.

The Outrage Entertainment site has word of the release of the source code for D3Edit, the Descent 3 level editor, on The D3Edit website. Also, the Microsoft Flight Simulator page has a new version of the MSFS2K SDK.

There's a new version 2.61 of the Winamp .mp3 player (thanks 3D Spotlight), including "Massively improved CD Audio support," and "improved SuperPiMP installation." Coming this fall to theaters near you: Shaft vs. the SuperPiMPs. The Microsoft Mouse-PC Drivers page has new version 3.1a IntelliPoint drivers (thanks File Flash).

This webpage (seems you have no choice but to wait out the "dramatic" intro) has information on a Quake III Arena tournament that will take place on Monday March 20 at the University of Texas, with all the proceeds from the event to benefit the American Diabetes Association.

Well of course it's going to be another messed up demo, following a theme of the week. While it may not be the case for everyone, Darkhand Brackstone sent along a warning about the Metal Fatigue demo released yesterday (story), saying the demo wouldn't run, complaining it needed "mission disk #1." Sure enough, upon testing this seems to be the case, so take this into account before going for the 24 MB download (unless, of course, you have mission disk #1 laying around).

The "all-you-can-eat" review bar is open, please don't put more on your plate than you plan on finishing:

• Age of Empires II on NGNetwork.
• Age of Wonders on PC Gamer UK.
• B-Hunter on PC Gamer UK.
• Colin McRae Rally on Gamecenter.
• Half-Life: Opposing Force on Reviews 'r' Us.
• Hidden & Dangerous: Devil's Bridge on Game Over.
• Horse & Musket: Great Battles of the Eighteenth Century on Gamecenter.
• Invictus: In the Shadow of Olympus on Daily Radar and GameSpot.
• Jane's F/A-18 on Gamer's Voice.
• Nox on Gaming Age, Gamer's Central, GamePlayers, GibWorld, Insane Gamers, and Well Rounded Entertainment.
• Odium on EuroGamer.
• Planescape: Torment on MPOG.
• Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear on SoftwareNow.
• Revenant on NGNetwork.
• Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire on MPOG.
• Star Trek: Klingon Academy Demo on PC Arena.
• SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle on Reviews 'r' Us.
• The Sims on Ingava.
• Total Annihilation Kingdoms: The Iron Plague on Game Over.
• Tyrian 2000 on Electric Games.
• Wild Wild West: The Steel Assassin on MPOG.

• A Deus Ex Development Update on Unreal Universe from Bob White with a brief description of the testing process as this Unreal-engine RPG nears completion...
• There's a version 1.41 patch on Westlake Interactive for the Macintosh version of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri...
• Sharky Extreme's Games That Never Were editorializes on the subject of the cancellation of games like Babylon 5 and Warcraft Adventures...
• Almost related is a post called Don't Call it a Break Up on PC.IGN.Com that clarifies the publishing situation between Relic and Sierra that was confused in their story concerning Gamestock, as well as this story on Gamecenter (story)...

The new edition of Dear Mynx discusses which is bigger, the Blue Tower, or Redwood's tree (thanks Rick Noble and CrackHeadBob). Lemme tell you, sometimes being in the public eye, even to this small degree, gets really weird.

Link of the Day: NoWebPatents.org, joining what seems to be a growing movement protesting Amazon's one-click patent.
Story of the Day: CNN.com - FBI smokes out Coolio in computer attacks probe. Thanks Mark Williams. From the story: "However, there are a number of "Coolio"s in the Internet world, and the FBI is systematically investigating each of them." I wonder if they'll get around to nutty old Coolio from NYC DWANGO?....