GameSpot's QuakeCon 2001 Wolfenstein Multiplayer write-up offers another set of impressions of what was shown of Nerve Software's just-announced (story) multiplayer component of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Gray Matter's upcoming Quake III-engine first-person shooter set in World War II. The preview offers hands-on impressions after getting to play on the single multiplayer map that was at the show, and describes what gameplay elements have been tweaked from the single-player game to balance the multiplayer play, as well as accounts of the player classes, weapons, how respawning is handled, and more.

There's an Impressions Of QuakeCon Games article on HomeLan, where, having overcome power problems that hindered the update, JCal provides his impressions of what was shown off of a few upcoming projects during the festivities with impressions of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Soldier of Fortune 2, and Doom GBA.

This week's edition of the nomadic Halo update has been posted on haloplayers.com, where a sleepy Matt Soell offers the latest from Bungie on progress on their upcoming shooter. Topics included are some of the nastier characteristics of Covenant grenades, the addition of a gun to the Covenant drop ship, the addition of sniper marines, load optimizations that are being performed on the game's multiplayer maps (for all those 'Halo will drop multiplayer' nay sayers) that will then be performed on the solo maps, the fact that surround sound is now working, and more.

HomeLan chats with Marty Stratton, director of business development for id Software, discussing "the future of id" in light of the newly-announced game projects in which they are involved (story and story). In the conversation (published in article format, rather than as an interview), Marty addresses concerns about the involvement of outside developers like Raven, Gray Matter, and Nerve software, describing the role id Software has in the development of those outside projects. The conversation also touches upon those upcoming games, as well as other topical stuff like possible movie tie-ins, and id's dedication to PC gaming in spite of so much current hype about developing for console systems.

There's an Aliens versus Predator 2 demo preview on EuroGamer where they've gotten their hands on an advance copy of the upcoming demo to the sequel to Fox Interactive's three class shooter that brings together characters from the two science fiction movie series. The version of the demo they are previewing had but one single-player level and no multiplayer support, though that's enough for them to form some impressions (saying "It's fun, it's good looking, and it's incredibly scary"), while also providing the opportunity to snap off a gallery of AvP2 demo screenshots.

There's a Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor preview on GamesDomain with hands-on impressions of the upcoming sequel to Pool of Radiance, the first-ever Dungeons & Dragons CRPG. The preview offers comparisons to competing products, comparisons to the original PoR, an explanation of why the game will not quite live up to the promise of fully implementing the 3rd edition D&D rules, and more. In addition to the preview, the article offers a bunch of brand-new screenshots.

The newly-redesigned InstaGib page has a new version of the InstaGib mod for Quake III Arena, updated to work with Q3A version 1.29h (thanks GameSpyDaily).

Gearbox Software level designer David Mertz has posted a lenghty update on Half-Life: Blue Shift on the official forums, talking about the game's reception and addressing a number of support issues. Among other topics, word is that a patch is in the works that should resolve the flashlight bug, problems with loading custom levels, missing animations, and a few other mishaps. A release date for the patch is not yet known. Thanks Asrale for the tip.

Desslock's RPG News reports that a sequel to Icewind Dale, the isometric role-playing game by Black Isle Studios, is in development, saying that they "can now confirm that Icewind Dale 2 is in the works (and it's not necessarily the only new D&D game that is being contemplated)." The game is to use the same Infinity Engine like previous installments in the series, but no other details are currently available, although a Christmas release is rumored.

Expanding on their earlier brief report at Achtung Wolfenstein! (see below), GameSpy.com has now posted more detailed impressions on the multiplayer features of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The article describes the map they got to play at QuakeCon, the four classes that make up the teams, and their special abilities. And in related news, Stomped has also posted their summary of the id Software press conference and keynote.

QuakeCon 2001 is in full-swing, and so reports from the show are flooding the Internet. JediKnightII.net has posted their impressions of (what else?) Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II, based on the game's demonstration yesterday. More fan page fun can be found at Achtung Wolfenstein! where they have their write-up of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. GameSpot has posted their write-ups of yesterday's DOOM demonstration, Soldier of Fortune II, DOOM GBA (and there's another report on Shacknews) and Return to Castle Wolfenstein. A brief overview of the event with a few game write-ups is up at PC.IGN today, and finally, HomeLAN has posted some digital camera pics from the event and a few more here.

Just when you thought it was safe to read through some QuakeCon write-ups...comes still more reports from last weekend's GenCon! Dungeon Siege Vault has written a preview of Dungeon Siege based on what was shown there, which is accompanied by some FuzzyCam screenshots. Meanwhile, in other depths of the vault, Neverwinter Vault has a "review" of the Neverwinter Nights demonstration they attended. Alongside that article are some digital camera pictures of the event.

Bethesda has updated their official The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind site with a handful of new goodies. The site has new in-game fiction in its Codex section, along with a new desktop wallpaper image and some screenshots from the Xbox version of the game.

The beta 2.3 of the Urban Terror mod for Quake III Arena is now available. This new release contains eight new maps, three improved versions of old maps, and a few other random fixes. It is recommended that all server admins and clients download this update.

• New ASUS BIOS Files
  The official German ASUS site has posted final 1009 BIOS drivers for their CUSL2 series motherboards (thanks Thomas Quarles). Also, new BIOS drivers for the ASUS A7M266 motherboard are up at Amdmb.com.

Version 2.0 of the Battle of the Sexes CTF mod for Quake III Arena has been released. This latest version adds three new maps and a new single flag gameplay mode among many other changes.

The Quake III Arena mod releases continue today, with version 0.40 of the Military Forces mod. It's available for download as a big download for new users or as a smaller update for those already running the previous release, and features better game balance, some CTF improvements and more.

The game is already live in Europe (story), but just to make sure there aren't any problems when the North American launch happens, 3DO will be conducting a local server stress test. As noted in this story at GameSpot, they will be taking on additional people to help with the stress test. To apply, head over to the beta sign-up page.

The official Star Wars Galaxies site has been given its weekly update. New questions this week discuss military rankings, the player limit per game server, how they will prevent player buildings from covering an entire planet and more. Also, two Throne of Bhaal guides are online: one at GameAddicts Network, and a second at French gaming site HardGamers, which is nonetheless in English as it's written by Black Isle Studios and Interplay.

A trailer for the Playstation 2 port of Half-Life is up at 13th Street. GameSpot is reporting that Presto Studios, most recently known for Myst III: Exile is currently working on an original action game for the Xbox (as well as an Xbox port of Myst III). Also on GameSpot today are hands-on impressions of Unreal Championship, the original Xbox Unreal title from Digital Extremes. And finally, this European Game Boy Advance commercial really has to be seen to be believed.

Mucky Foot has announced the winners of their design-an-alien Startopia contest. The winning entry along with the notable runner-ups have been posted on their site. Also, you can win all sorts of hardware in both of the contests at TacoNuts.com, and an AMD Duron 950MHz CPU in 3dGameMan.com's contest. In pro gaming news, the official CPL rankings have been updated with the results from the recent European CPL event, and the Texas Area Network Gamers Organization has announced that they will be holding a $500 Counter-Strike tournament in September.

As noted by this update at the official Uncrossable Parallel site, they have merged with fellow Half-Life mod team Tactical Front. The new mod will be released under the Uncrossable Parallel name. Also, the Ice Terminal has posted a Q&A with Casey, the lead designer of the Threewave CTF mod.

• Anachronox on GameSpy.com.
• Anarchy Online on Computer Games Online.
• Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal on The Wargamer and Gamer's Pulse.
• Diablo II: Lord of Destruction on Adrenaline Vault.
• Dragonriders: Chronicles of Pern on Games Domain.
• EuroFighter Typhoon on Dogfighter.
• Grouch on games xtreme.
• Legends of Might and Magic (in German) on GamersUnitedNetwork.
• Max Payne on Electric Playground, Ars Technica, Sharky Extreme, GameOn, and swankygames.
• Majestic on The Triple Helix.
• Merchant Prince II on Gameraiders.
• Pearl Harbor: Strike at Dawn on PC Gameplay UK.
• Serious Sam on GameAddicts.
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Dominion Wars on Player of Games.
• Steel Soldiers on Sharky Extreme.
• Vietnam 2: Special Assignment on GameSpot.

• Dynatron Model-R 1U Cu Microfin Heatsink on FrostyTech.
• Hercules 3D Prophet II 64Mb on Serial Addiction.
• IDE CD-RW drive round-up on Digit-Life.
• PCMods Ultrabright Rheobus Kit on Mikhailtech.
• Shuttle AK31 Rev2 KT266 Motherboard on Amdmb.com.
• Vantec CCK-6035D CPU Cooler on DreddNews.

• AVault is reporting that developer Nikita has signed a worldwide distribution deal with Monte Cristo Games for Parkan: Iron Strategy...
• There's absolutely zero chance of this making any difference, but nonetheless, a petition is online to convince Sierra Studios not to close down Dynamix...
• Speaking of which, if there are any former Dynamix employees in the house, Michael Hughes from Power Infused Productions wants to offer you a job...check out the official PIP site for contact information...

So I hope everyone down in Texas right now is enjoying themselves at QuakeCon (power problems and all). I regret missing yesterday's DOOM technology demonstration and new id titles announcement (story) more than anything else. No cameras were allowed to film the demonstration, but there have been some rumblings around the web that this may be released in an official manner in the not too distant future. Here's hoping it's much sooner rather than later.

On a completely different note, has anyone seen The Others? I hadn't really thought much about it, but it seems to be getting good reviews, and this capsule review from Clive Barker is nothing short of raving. The movies he compares it to are some of my favorites, so I may just have to check this out.

Link of the Day: Stump the Duct Tape Guy (thanks Jonathan C. Forster). This guy totally reminds me of Joe Rogan's character on News Radio.
Weird Science: Research Shows Dogs Laugh (FOXNews.com). Thanks theAntiELVIS.