PC.IGN has posted a new installment in their ongoing Summoner developer diary. This week's edition features Character Artist Matt Kresge explaining how he goes about creating a character for the game, and features images illustrating each step (from concept to 3D model).

A new interview with Blizzard's Rob Pardo is up at GameSpot, discussing the recent departure of Mike O'Brien, the project lead on Warcraft III, as well as the recent changes that the game has undergone. Rob says the changes were all decided on prior to Mike's departure, and goes on to explain in detail just what (and why) they are. Here's an excerpt:

What we wanted to do, at the most basic level, was to take a game - a fun RTS game - like the Warcraft series and add in the concept of heroes, quests, items, and a more interactive environment.

Once we had that as our vision, we had to decide what technology supported that and what user interface to use, and that's where we started going down a different road. Since we had a 3D engine, we talked about different viewpoints and different angles, and we chose one that was fairly flat. You could see a lot of the horizon, and it was almost more of a first-person perspective.

It really showed off the engine at a beautiful angle, but what eventually ended up happening to us was that we got to a point where we had to take the design in one of two different directions. We either had to make it even more RPG-like and cut back on the scale of units, how many characters there were, and things of that nature, or we had to go the other direction and move the camera up, allow free scrolling, and go more toward what we've done previously in our real-time strategy games. That's the easiest way to explain the difference between the two [directions].

Yes, we are moving back toward more of an isometric view. You can still see a lot of the 3D terrain. You still get the sense of the 3D engine. We're using all that. But we wanted to get the camera up high enough, where free scrolling becomes an option for us.

New screenshots from Thief II: The Metal Age have been posted at GameSpot News, where they're reporting that the game is set to go gold "early next week" and will be on store shelves by March 20th. Thief II was developed by Looking Glass Studios, and will be published by Eidos Interactive.

Russian developer Nikita has released an updated self-running demo of Iron Strategy, their upcoming 3D action/strategy game. The demo shows various prescripted in-game sequences, and comes as a 37.5 MB full download, or eight parts of about 5 MB each.

There are two pairs of Devil Inside screenshots on ActionTrip, each pair showing two ever-so-slightly different scenes from the third-person horror action/adventure in development at GameSquad. Also, Telefragged has posted four very different Devil Inside screenshots, and received word from designer Hubert Chardot that the title is close to being finished.

• German gaming site nonstuff has added four more screenshots to their Daikatana screenshots page, showing off some new scenes from ION Storm's first-person shooter.
• Also in Germany on the Krawall gaming site is this gallery that mixes some new Deep Fighter screenshots with familiar ones, to accompany a preview of this underwater action/adventure game under construction at Criterion Studios (of course the text is in German, so you may want to stick a Babelfish into your ear).
• Jason Hall updated his .plan with a description of 12 screenshots from the LithTech 2 demo they will show at GDC, featuring a character with 15,000 polygons.

While it won't formally be announced until tomorrow, Microsoft's Bill Gates appeared on CNBC's MarketWatch this evening, where he revealed their upcoming console system, dubbed X-Box (thanks Trent Corney for letting us know in advance). Gates was interviewed sitting in front of a giant monitor that featured a giant, green, glowing "X" insignia, and said that the company's original plan was to make the system, "over twice as good as what's ever been done" and that the end result is, "far better than anything I had expected." He also said the system wouldn't ship until the second half of 2001, and said tomorrow's announcement will essentially be an explanation of the system to developers.

GameSpot News has word that Totally Games, the company founded by X-Wing series creator Lawrence Holland, will be developing a new space sim entitled Star Trek: Bridge Commander for publication by Activision in 2001. Adrenaline Vault has additional details on the game, which will be set in The Next Generation universe and put players in the role of captain of large Federation starships.

The official Rogue Spear: Urban Operations site has been updated with a Q&A-type journal by lead artist Travis Getz, describing his work on the expansion pack that went gold yesterday (story, as reaffirmed on Gone Gold today). Besides a general introduction, the update has a fair amount of detail about what will be in the pack.

incitegames has posted an interview with with Interplay's Raphael Hernandez and Heather McLaughlin, talking to them about Klingon Academy, their upcoming Star Trek themed space sim. In addition to the interview, they've also posted several new shots from the game.

In an early update, GameSpot News has posted a pair of new Shogun: Total War movies, as well as nine new screenshots and renders from the upcoming 3D real-time strategy game by Creative Assembly. The high-res movies shows two cinematic clips of about 16 seconds each.

Tonight at 8:00 CST is ION Storm's monthly IRC chat session with members of their Anachronox team. Point your IRC client to www.ionstorm.com, channel #ion, or use the Java-based client on their web site to join in the fun.

GameSpy's "engine week" rolls on, with today's interview with John Austin, the CEO at Numerical Design Limited, the company behind the NetImmerse engine. Like their other interviews this week, it's laden with self-promotion, but John also talks a bit about the company's background, and their unique position as an engine provider, as they don't develop games - just the engine.

GameSpot UK has posted a new hands-on preview of Evolva, Computer Artworks' upcoming first and third person action/strategy game. The preview features some new shots, as well as plenty of gameplay details.

New Media Generation has released a public demo of their Shine Engine, which is used to power their upcoming first-person shooter Hired Team. This is a playable technology demo supporting Direct3D and OpenGL, and it includes a level showing various engine features. The download server is in Russia, so you may need to exercise patience while downloading. Update: a fast mirror is available at the Russian gaming site Daily Telefrag, who also have five screenshots showing off the demo level.

Visionary Media has released version 1.2 patches for their Unreal-engine shooter Nerf ArenaBlast. There is one patch to update version 1.1 ( 4.1 MB), and another to update the original retail version (11.3 MB). Mirrors of both files are available at 3D Action Gamers. Here is an excerpt from the ReadMe listing the changes:

Improvements include compatibility with international servers, elimination of game-save issues, more stable multiplayer play, improved character artificial intelligence, elimination of the flying-out-of-the-tunnel bug and fixes for Direct 3D video cards.

Daily Radar has posted a preview of Ground Control, putting a recent build of Massive's 3D action RTS through its paces. Besides a write-up of the game's concept and gameplay, there are also 14 new screenshots.

Computer Games Online has posted part 2 of their Starlancer preview, offering a look at the gameplay and mission structure in the upcoming space-combat sim from Warthog and Digital Anvil. Also, there is a brief hands-on Starlancer preview on GameSpot AU with a write-up based on a recent beta.

NovaLogic has released the French version 1.06.15 patch for Delta Force 2 for download, and with this first international patch is lending belief to the possibility that their long patch process is coming to an end. The Delta Force 2 developer notes now also list all the changes in this maintenance update.

That other space sim is another preview at CGO, sporting a brief look and a pair of new screenshots (and one familiar) of Freelancer, Digital Anvil's sequel to Starlancer.

There are a couple of new screenshots of Star Wars: Force Commander on GA-Strategy (though at least one is familiar), giving you another glimpse of the 3D RTS from LucasArts that recently went gold (story).

Fantasy Gaming Network interviews Scott Martin and Warren Spector talking about Deus Ex with two members of the team at work on ION Storm's upcoming Unreal-engine RPG. Warren starts one answer "In case you hadn't noticed, the word 'brief' and I don't get along too well," and sure enough the piece includes several detailed answers to questions about plans for the game.

There's an interview with Ben Smedstad on 3DGN talking with the producer of Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, BioWare's upcoming sequel to Baldur's Gate, their AD&D role-playing game. The Q&A discusses progress on the follow-up, and is part of a larger Baldur's Gate 2 preview.

The Sims is (are?) the subject at hand as havokado interviews Will Wright and Roxy Wolosenko talking about Maxis' "get a virtual life" game. Also, Warcraft III.Net's Triforge Interview talks with former Blizzard employees Pat Wyatt, Mike O'Brien, and Jeff Strain about Triforge, their new outfit composed of former snowflakes from Blizzard.

• What seems to be the latest Detonator driver release/leak can be found on Reactor Critical Downloads, though these are being called version 5.08 drivers, which is quite oddly out of line with the recent 3.7x version numbers.
• This FTP Directory has new Win2K drivers for the ALS 400 sound chipset. Thanks NT Compatible.
• This OpenAL Press Release on Linux Games gives Loki Entertainment Software's announcement of the open-source OpenAL 3D audio library in conjunction with Creative Labs and Corel, which will first be utilized in the Linux port of Heavy Gear II.
• There's a new Tweaking your Windows Registry guide on 3D Spotlight ("you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?").
• ELSA 3D Revelator 3D glasses are reviewed on Gamecenter.com.

• There's a new MDK2 Screenshot gallery on GameSpot UK as part of their MDK2 Hands-on preview. MDK, of course, stands for My Dumb Kluck.
• There's also an Earth 2150 screenshot gallery on GSUK with looks at this upcoming 3D RTS as part of their Earth 2150 Hands On.
• Some new Battlecruiser Millennium screenshots and new Battlecruiser Tactical Engagement shots are now online.
• There are new Star Trek ConQuest Online Screenshots on GameSpot UK and on incite showing off the upcoming online "collectable" Trekkie game.
• There are some new ORB screenshots on Gamers Central showing the upcoming space strategy game titled Off-World Resource Base.

• There's a Deep Fighter teaser on Ubi Soft's German page showing off gameplay from Deep Fighter, and upcoming underwater action game for the PC and Dreamcast (the movie is mirrored on GA-Source). The teaser is in .avi format and is about 15 MB.
• The LucasArts Force Commander page has some new music from the upcoming Star Wars RTS for download in .mp3 format. Thanks FC Outpost.
• Actiontrip has posted a pair of small .wav files with sounds from Devil Inside, the upcoming action/adventure from Hubert Chardot, creator of the "Alone in the Dark" series.
• Finally, a couple of mod movies, as the 5thD team page has a preview of their Q3A mod called REALq3 in .avi format, and Red Genesis Entertainment has a new Chemical Existence movie showing a snippet of gameplay from this upcoming Half-Life mod.

A new beta 2 of Quake 3 System Management Server is now available. The new release adds "the ability to integrate with your favorite Game Launcher," a fix for Client Monitoring, an Auto-Update checker, and more.

The first release of Frag Tag, a rare user-made mod for Descent 3, is now available. The About Frag Tag page describes gameplay for the mod, which offers classic "tag" gameplay, with one player designated "it," who must combat all the other players in the game.

• Age of Wonders on Well Rounded Entertainment.
• Boarder Zone on Daily Radar and GameSpot.
• Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun: Firestorm on Game Over.
• Crusaders of Might And Magic on Games Domain Review and GA-RPG.
• Demise: Rise of the Ku'Tan on GameSpot.
• Descent 3: Mercenary on Electric Games.
• Final Fantasy VIII on GameSpot UK.
• Le Mans 24 Hours on PC Gamer UK.
• Messiah Demo on 3D Action Planet.
• Rollcage - Stage II on GameRush.
• Spirit of Speed 1937 on PC Gamer UK.
• Super 1 Karting Demo on 3DGN.
• Superbike 2000 on Future Gamer.
• Swamp Buggy Racing on PC.IGN.com.
• The Sims on GameStats, Gamezilla, NWGN, and Outer-Edge.
• Unreal Tournament on Gamer's Voice and GameStats.

• There's a goodbye message on the Springfield CTF site noting the closing of this very popular Quake II server, including kind words for the L-Fire CTF mod. Thanks Andrew Arace...
• There's a new FilePlanet Alliance CTF Beta mirror up for this popular newly-released Quake III Arena mod (story)...
• MS to reveal gaming plans Friday reports ZDNet News announces that: "Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will disclose details of the new business in his opening remarks to the Game Developers Conference Friday," which won't surprise observers who have been certain for some time the "revelation" will be the announcement of the still-theoretically theoretical X-Box....

I'm pretty sure my trip to the GDC, which has already been pushed back two days at least, is not going to happen at all at this point. We're in the midst of an interesting few days here, as both loonyboi's and my ISDN lines are still both on the fritz, each line seemingly operational, but unable to connect to either of two ISPs, spitting back simple "you have been disconnected from the computer you dialed" messages. So far neither Bell Atlantic nor our main ISP (loony and I live mere blocks from each other, which doesn't help when a problem like this breaks out) have been able to provide any help, though neither are ever very useful in spots like this, Bell Atlantic because, well...because, and our ISP because they're so used to trouble-free operation they are unable to even return simple tech support phone calls (they probably assume such calls are hoaxes). Oddly my friend Abraxas using a different ISP and different telco in a different state (New Jersey), experienced the exact same problem, while MrCoffee on the same ISP, albeit in Manhattan, has been fine, which muddies the water when searching for clues as to the cause of problems. Wacky, huh? Well both of us have our modems hooked up and running, but since troubleshooting also continues in the background, your patience in what is still a bit of a crisis here is appreciated... though of course neither of us expect any mercy if we manage to join a game with our high pings--revenge on an LPB is always appropriate .

Link of the Day: The Quad Damage Toothpick on The Bench (Penny Arcade). Thanks David Brooks.
.plan of the Day: Brandon "GreenMarine" Reinhart. 'nuff said