There is a brief status update on Red Faction at GameSpot, offering the latest on the destroy-everything first-person shooter by Volition. Word is that "the game is in the final stages of development. Currently, the development team at Volition is fine-tuning the multiplayer mode, and they expect the game to meet its scheduled ship date of September 18."

• C&C Renegade
  The official Command & Conquer site has been updated with five screenshots atop this gallery, mixing three new and two familiar scenes from Westwood's upcoming 3D action game.
• World War III
  JoWood Entertainment has released half a dozen new World War III: Black Gold screenshots, showing more from the 3D real-time strategy game under construction at Reality Pump Studios.
• C.O.N.S.E.A.L.
  Swiss site Gameplex has posted a single new screenshot of C.O.N.S.E.A.L., the recently-unveiled third-person action adventure by Similis (story).
• Painkiller
  There is a single new Painkiller teaser screenshot on the Lemon Interactive site, accompanying scant details on this first-person shooter that will be fully announced in the near future.
• Battle Realms
  Five new screenshots of Battle Realms are up at GameSpot this evening, depicting more areas from the 3D RTS nearing completion at Liquid Entertainment.

Rogue Spear Engine Q&A on GameSpyDaily is a quick chat with Red Storm Entertainment's Brian Upton about yesterday's announcement that LB&B Associates has licensed the Rogue Spear engine to help train U.S. soldiers (story). Brian talks about how the project originated, the game's realism that helped secure the deal, their current role in the project and possible future involvement in government projects, and a few related topics.

3DO sends word that their official Jumpgate site has opened its virtual doors to the public, showcasing the massively multiplayer space combat game by Netdevil that has already launched in Europe, and which they will be releasing in North America later this year. The site features an introduction, the game's backstory and a brief outline of its features, as well as thirty new screenshots.

There's an Empire Earth Updated Preview on GameSpot based on their play in the updated version of the game that's currently undergoing closed beta testing. They describe their experiences so far in fairly glowing terms, saying "it looks like Goodman and company are heading down the right path" in describing how close it is to hitting the mark of lead designer Rick Goodman's goal to "become the industry's premier developer in real-time strategy games." They speak of how the game's quality is attributable to its pedigree, not only was Goodman the co-creator and lead designer on Age of Empires before leaving Ensemble to form Stainless Steel Studios, but they have enlisted a bunch of top-notch AoE players, many winners of cash tourneys, to help playtest and balance the game. The preview also obviously focuses on gameplay, describing the many eras during which play takes place, the 21 civilizations from which to choose, the types of units encountered through the ages, and how you control them. They round out their report with descriptions of the graphics and music, and the whole shebang is illustrated by a big batch of 20 screenshots.

An update on the 3D World War II site gives word that this budget-priced first-person shooter by LippieSoft is slightly delayed from its intended August release until next month, while an updated version 3.0 demo is expected soon, featuring "a never-before-seen level, new music track and a lot of new and exciting features." There's also mention that the introduction video will be created by Milan Kolarovic.

Once again ignoring the self-imposed media blackout mentioned on the Arithmetic Studios News page, the W.A.T.E.R. Blood Runs Deep site has a small but fairly noteworthy update to their FAQ, which now answers the question "What technology will this game utilize?" The answer is the Unreal engine, the answer going on to say: "The exceptional Unreal Engine allows us to focus our efforts on gameplay." Thanks gameplex.

The PaleStar page has an update announcing that all players participating in the open beta of DarkSpace, their massively multiplayer online outer space game (MMOOSPG?) will have their prestige points reset back to zero tomorrow to account for all those who managed to inflate their prestige total "because of exploits they found in the early open beta" (which have since been addressed). A small consolation can found in the fact that in the meantime, they have added a whopping 50,000 prestige points to every player's total until the reset occurs.

In an early update, Morrowind Developer Q&A #6 is online at RPG Vault this afternoon, as usual quizzing project leader Todd Howard about The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, the first- and third-person RPG being crafted at Bethesda Softworks. Today's topic is weapons & armor, and Todd discusses the melee and ranged weapons, their basic characteristics, the armor system, and the relevant skills and attributes.

HomeLan Fed has conducted a new interview on Battlefield 1942, cornering producer Lars Gustavsson about the first-person action game in the works at Swedish company Digital Illusions. Lars talks about the increasingly popular setting in World War II, the abundance of playable vehicles in the game, some of its single- and multi-player features, support for mods and add-ons, and the obligatory more.

This page on FilePlanet has an updated version of the patch that adds cooperative play to Human Head's third-person slasher. Among the changes offered in the new patch is the addition of "Eight new half-way teleporters ... to the larger maps to help you get back into the action quicker," and several minor fixes to various maps with fixes for things like broken lizards that couldn't be picked up. Finally, the last four maps for the Sarks have been altered to remove 40% of the Sarks while boosting the health of those that remain, which they say "should make Internet play more desirable for these levels and will help reduce the lag."

Eidos sends along this press release announcing "that Soul Reaver 2, the follow-up release to the 1.5 million-unit-selling video game Soul Reaver, will be released exclusively for the PlayStation 2 in North America. As the third installment in the Legacy of Kain series, Soul Reaver 2 is slated to hit store shelves this Fall." Since this specifically mentions North America, we inquired as to whether this meant that a previous report that a European PC port of the game is still planned, and there was a possibility that this would make it to North America as part of a bundle (story) was no longer accurate, and we were informed that the European PC port is indeed still planned, and that while there are no new developments on their efforts to make an OEM deal to bundle the PC game in North America, they are still exploring that possibility.

The folks at Activision send along this press release announcing that following their acquisition of rights to make Spider-Man and X-Men games (story), they have added Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four and Iron Man to their legion of superheroes (oops, wrong company), which also includes Marvel's Blade. Word is they have obtained "exclusive worldwide rights to develop and publish interactive games for the next-generation console systems and the PC based on these renowned properties." The release goes on to point out that both properties are also currently in production as movies, though the direct-to-video fate of Captain America and The Punisher, and the decades-long struggle to bring Spider-Man to the big screen suggest one not hold one's breath for those to show up in theaters anytime soon.

A new version 2 of the Strangelove mutator for Unreal Tournament is now available. Based on the classic Stanley Kubrick satire Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, this mod allows you to emulate that movie's Major T.J. "King" Kong in allowing you to ride bareback on a missile, in this case UT's redeemer. In the updated version of Strangelove, you can now fire off your own weapons while flying, a second player can "ride shotgun" while the first pilots, a fuel consideration has been added so you can no longer just fly around indefinitely, the Strangelove has its own model (rather than relying on the normal redeemer), and they have also added new sounds, new flight dynamics, bot support, and much more. Also, word on the page is that: "There will be a launch party on IRC tomorrow night. Details are here and here. If you have any questions regarding the launch party, post them in the second thread."

Hot on the heels of the Mac demo for American McGee's Alice (story), Aspyr released a small patch for the demo for download from their ftp server (1.3 MB) last night (also available from Inside Mac Games). As per the accompanying ReadMe file, it addresses a problem in running the demo under Mac OS X. Thanks Stomped for the reminder.

• AquaNox
  ActionTrip has posted five new AquaNox screenshots, offering new aquatic scenes in the 3D action game currently submersed at Massive Development.
• WarCraft III
  Blizzard has released another lonely new screenshot of WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos, their upcoming 3D role-playing strategy game.
• Arx
  Arx Fatalis Element of the Week 4 on RPGDot offers a new illustrated look at the characters in the first-person RPG by Arkane Studios, this time introducing the Ratmen in words and two new screenshots.
• Alien Legion
  After a year-long hiatus, NeXS Interactive resurfaces with a new Alien Legion teaser page, sporting two Flash-enhanced screenshots of their Unreal-engine powered tactical action RPG.
• Echelon Expansion
  Four new screenshots of Echelon: Wind Warriors are online at fansite Echelon HQ, showing off the upcoming add-on to MADia and Buka's futuristic combat flyer.

The official Operation Flashpoint site offers a new CheckOFP utility for download which "will check if your instal[l]ation of Operation Flashpoint is good. If you are encountering strange behaviour (random crashes, strange error messages) with your OFP instalation, please use this utility to check if the game is installed properly." The tiny 27 KB download applies to the available European versions of the game, as the US edition and upcoming version 1.20 patch already include this verification.

GameSpot UK's Codename: Outbreak Preview is online, saying "Hot on the heels of Serious Sam and Operation Flashpoint comes this combination of the two concepts...," offering a look at this upcoming first-person shooter from Ukrainian developer GSC Gameworld. The article describes gameplay, which "revolves around a two-man team of heavily armed Special Forces soldiers with you at the helm," and is fleshed out with quotes from GSC's senior product director Sergiy Grygorovych and some new screenshots. According to the article's conclusion we can expect the game "towards the mid-end of September."

There's a new Dungeon Siege preview on PC Zone covering the upcoming fantasy RPG in the works at Gas Powered Games. The article is based on a visit they made to the GPG offices in Kirkland, WA from their home in the UK that provided them with exposure to the game and its developers (as well as the sun) to help formulate their preview. Along the way they discuss the action-heavy gameplay Dungeon Siege will provide, its accessibility, as well as what will provide the game's depth without relying heavily on statistics, normally an RPG staple. The article offers first-hand impressions of gameplay, quotes from GPG's Chris Taylor, and describes several aspects of Dungeon Siege's design that they feel will make the game unique. Also included are several new screenshots.

ValuSoft has released a small patch for Vietnam 2: Special Assignment, the budget-priced first-person shooter by Single Cell Software. This 303 KB download brings the game to version 1.01, and it addresses some problems with loading saved games.

GameSpy.com Previews Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix with a look at Raven Software's upcoming Quake III-engine powered sequel to Soldier of Fortune. The preview is based on what they got to see of the pre-alpha version back at QuakeCon 2001, and fills in some gaps with quotes from designer Jim Hughes and senior programmer Rick Johnson from Raven Software discussing what's going into production. Along the way they describe the ultra-realistic look they are striving for with the graphics, and how that's enhanced by the way models are built from discreet components. They also go a bit into the updated GHOUL2 rendering system that is used to enhance id's engine, as well as other enhancements like variably breakable glass, extremely high texture resolutions, and better enemy AI than the original, which even they admit was somewhat lacking. They cap things off with a look at the game's random mission generator, and an attempt to pin down a release date, saying we'll probably see the game this winter, albeit sometime after Christmas. The preview also features a couple of new screenshots.

GameSpy.com's Throne of Darkness Developer Diary Volume 5 is authored by Leif Jensen, producer on Click Entertainment's upcoming RPG. Today's installment discusses the planned international distribution of the game, discussing the game's future in Korea, where online gaming is incredibly popular, which they hope will combine with Throne of Darkness' Asian theme to make for a big success there. The diary then goes back to progress on the game, describing work on multiplayer balance as it nears completion, and giving a feel for what single-player play will include as well.

• New EPoX BIOS
  A new version 824 BIOS for the EPoX 8K7A/+ motherboard (direct FTP link) is now available. Thanks SocketA.com.
• AMD SMP Linux
  AMDZone reports the certification of AMD dual-CPU systems to run Linux.
• Hot CPU Tester
  There's a new Hot CPU Tester utility on RatedPC.com.

Westwood's Red Alert 2 website has word of a chat session with the Yuri's Revenge team this evening at 7:00 PM EDT in GameSpy Arcade, word is they are "randomly giving RA2 t-shirts and posters to those (selected) out of the crowd." Also, tomorrow at 11:00 AM EDT the Neocron Online Chat Area will play host to "the CDV Marketing Executive and PR guy" and those interested in catching up on progress on the game, as well as marketing, pricing, and community issues. Those using traditional IRC clients can log in by heading over to #neocron on irc.enterthegame.com.

123 Xbox's Unreal Championship Interview talks with programmer Steve Sinclair of Digital Extremes about progress on Unreal Championship, their upcoming Xbox Unreal game. Special edition MSG2 in Japan on GameSpot says "Konami has announced that the first 30,000 people to order the Japanese Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty through its Web site will receive a special edition of the game." This will include the E3 trailer on a CD and a message card signed by the game's creator Hideo Kojima. Apparently no such special edition is planned for other parts of the world.

It looks like the further teasing mentioned yesterday when Blizzard promised a new game announcement Sunday from ECTS (story) has begun, as the Blizzard Entertainment Website now offers a splash page showing a bit of outer-space imagery with the caption: "In every saga there lies a journey of wonder and imagination." Thanks Geoff Fraizer.

The Nival Interactive Files Page has a user created multiplayer balance modification for Evil Islands. Here is the mod's original home, and word is: "It introduces modifications to the balance of difficulty levels for the English version of Evil Islands multiplayer game. You can download it now and join players who have found the game thus modified even more enjoyable."

Version 1.0 of the Velocity modification for TRIBES 2, which looks to "speed up and balance" the multiplayer shooter. They call Velocity a "Tweak" or "balance" mod, as "most of these changes are small and done to tweak or balance the game. As you play most things will seem the same at first, but as time goes on you'll slowly begin to notice changes not found in a normal game of Tribes2."

The Star Trek Bridge Commander FAQ on Bridge Commander Headquarters has been updated (thanks A Talent For War). Also, a few minor updates have been made to the Independence War 2: Edge Of Chaos Technical FAQ.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Becoming an Independent Game Developer on GameZilla is written by James Thrush of Super X Studios, creators of Far Gate.

The CPL Europe Berlin website has all sorts of updates about their next tourney, including word on the entrance fee, the BYOC area, an appearance by Stevie "Killcreek" Case, and more. Also, the Cyberathlete Professional League is holding an invitation-only four team Counter-Strike competition this Saturday (September 1, 2001), at their downtown Dallas offices. If you are interested in one of the "few spectator spots" open to the general public and the press, email Frank Nuccio.

• Anachronox on Quandary.
• Conquest: Frontier Wars on GameSpot.
• Diablo II: Lord of Destruction on The Wargamer.
• Divided Ground: Middle East Conflict 1948-1973 on GameZone.
• Eurofighter Typhoon on Adrenaline Vault and Gamezilla.
• Lightweight Ninja on PC.IGN.com.
• MAD: Global Thermonuclear War on GameGenie.
• MechCommander 2 on GameVisions and PC Arena.
• Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis on Player of Games.
• Project Eden Demo on Intelgamer.
• Rune: Halls of Valhalla on Gameplanet NZ.
• Summoner (for Mac) on MacGamez.
• The House of the Dead 2 on PC Gameplay UK.
• Train Simulator on Gameraiders.
• Zax: the Alien Hunter on EuroGamer.

• ABIT KT7E Motherboard (in German) on Hard Tecs 4U, and auto-translated into English.
• AMD Duron 1 GHz CPU on techhard.
• Antec PP412XF Power Supply on AMD World
• ASUS iPanel on OverclockersClub.
• EPoX 8KTA3 Motherboard on atlantaoc.
• Fortis A102 Cooler on Overclockedcafe.
• Hercules Game Theater XP Sound Card on 3DSpotlight.
• Intel Pentium 4 at 2.0 GHz on GamePC.
• Iwill KK266Plus KT133A Motherboard on Amdmb.com.
• Lian-Li RH58 Aluminum Removable HD Rack (in video) on 3dgameman.com.
• LiteOn LTR16101B CD-R/W on Hardware Extreme.
• Netgear RT314 Cable-DSL Router on Overclocker Cafe.
• 3D PlexWriter 12-10-32S PX-W1210TS CD-R/W on Gaming in 3D.
• Plextor PlexWriter 24-10-40A CD-R/W on Hardware-Unlimited.
• Samsung SD-616 16X DVD-ROM on PC STATS.
• Samsung SyncMaster 180T LCD Monitor on OnePC.NET.
• Swiftech MCX-370 Heatsink on Mikhailtech.
• Tyan Tiger MP ATX Dual Socket A Motherboard on SocketA.com.

• The Team Fortress website and PlanetFortress have all manner of content online celebrating the recent fifth anniversary of this influential modification...
• XGR.COM has word of another "ask the developer" series where you can offer queries to pose to the Red Faction team...
• FilePlanet has a second Mystery of the Druids movie showing off this upcoming 3D point-n-click adventure...
• K-Files, a German download site, has a playable demo of Schuh des Manitu, "a comic-style 3D action game based on one of the most successful and humorous German cinematic pictures" (registration required)...
• The EverQuest website has a heart-warming story of the fulfillment of one of those Make-A-Wish Foundation dreams. Thanks Erik Rabe...

Seems that there's something wonky that's happening intermittently on the main news page here. I experienced it myself last night when the page loaded the header and logos, the menu and advertisements, a shortened date bar, but no news. In other words, everything but what folks come to the site for (well, that's not fair, 2's brilliant game-related logo treatment is always worth checking out, and I'm sure there are folks out there eager to find their old classmates or buy a credit card, but you get the point). Anyway, hitting reload fixed everything, but some email this morning indicates that this was not a unique occurrence. I'll do some further investigating to try to root out the cause of this (meaning I'll ask someone to figure out what it is, since I'm a monkey myself) and see if something needs to be addressed, but if it is still happening and it happens to you, be aware it seems to be a temporary glitch, and we are working on it (no I promise this isn't a scheme to scam more ad views).

Link of the Day: Urinetown, The Musical! Flash required. Thanks Snappy2Stroke.
Story of the Day: Surprise! Researchers Find That Sexless = Sadness (Fox). Thanks theAntiELVIS. What's next, a study to prove that foodless=hungriness?
Wild Science: Scientists Warn of Possible Atlantic Monster Wave. It doesn't sound too likely, but if it happens, it won't be pretty. Thanks aarkwilde.