A couple of demos for some weekend racing fun. The French section of the official MegaRace 3 site offers a new multiplayer demo of this futuristic combat racer by Websquad for download. The 50.2 MB demo can be found in the Goodies section of the Flash-only site, so you may have more luck with this direct download link. There are no details on its contents though. Also, a MotoRacer 3 demo (31.2 MB) is available from Adrenaline Vault, allowing you to take this hybrid motorbike sim by Delphine Software for a spin on two different tracks (thanks gameguy121). There's also a version 1.1 patch and a New Circuit patch for the European edition of the game.

The second Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project Q&A of the day is up at Blue Monday, once again quizzing ARUSH Entertainment's Jim Perkins about their upcoming third-person platform action game. Topics include how the idea of Manhattan Project came about, why they reverted from the episodic format to a regular retail game, the game's backstory and features, the save system, the popularity of the eponymous lead character, and more. As is the norm for Blue Monday, the article is also available in Spanish.

There is an article titled Dungeon Siege: Land, Lore, and Bestiary on PC.IGN.com, examining some of the areas and creatures you'll find in the 3D role-playing game that is nearing completion at Gas Powered Games. This installment includes such floridly named places as The Crypt of the Sacred Blood, Wesrin Cross, The Glitterdelve Mine and Goldsniffer, Glacern and others, and there are line-up images of several of the creatures that that can be encountered in those areas.

• Impossible Creatures
  PC.IGN.com has posted five new screenshots of Impossible Creatures, the 3D real-time strategy game of mad scientists and genetically engineered beasts by Relic Entertainment.
• Bridge Commander
  GameSpot serves up two batches of Star Trek: Bridge Commander screenshots, totalling 41 new scenes in the capitol ship space combat sim by Totally Games (thanks Bridge Commander Universe), while Voodoo Extreme has posted another five shots each here and here.
• Natural Resistance
  Russian site 3DGameR has added three new Natural Resistance screenshots to their gallery for the 3D tactical RTS under construction at Silver Style.
• Echelon Expansion
  Both 3DGameR and Daily Telefrag offer new Echelon: Wind Warriors screenshot galleries, showing more from the futuristic combat flyer add-on being developed by MADia.
• Battlecruiser XP1
  3000AD has appended nine new screenshots of Battlecruiser Millennium XP1 to the gallery for this add-on for their recent space simulation, and two cockpit shots of the XP2 add-on as well.
• Morrowind
  There is a new wallpaper on the official Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind site, illustrating the 3D role-playing game being crafted at Bethesda Softworks.

GameSpot has posted a new Praetorians preview, the first look at this 3D real-time strategy game by Pyro Studios in several months. The article descibes the game's setting in the days of the Roman Empire, some of the specific features that aim to set the game apart from the RTS competition, unit abilities and tactics, the variety of mission styles, the 3D terrain and more. Three new screenshots and a concept image accompany the proceedings. Update: Similarly, PC.IGN.com serves up their own Praetorians preview, also describing their impressions of a recent build of the game in fair detail (and including the same images).

3000AD has released new patches for Battlecruiser Millennium, updating their space and planetary simulation to version 1.0.05. You can upgrade from the previous v1.0.04 or any older version, and this release once again contains a sizable number of improvements, bug fixes and other changes, as listed on the Version Control page.

On the heels of the release of a new version of World War II Online earlier today (story), Strategy First and Playnet send word that they've extended the re-evaluation period for former players of this MMOG through the end of this month. More details on the offer can be found on the World War II Online Website.

3D Realms sends us an updated demo of Max Payne to go along with the recent version 1.05 patches for Remedy's gritty third-person shooter (story). We have a local copy with mirrors of the 130.8 MB download which offers the same content as the original demo but incorporates the fixes from the v1.05 demo patch so that you don't need to get both if you haven't tried the game yet.

Publisher Microids sends along a note that their official Warrior Kings site is now online, showcasing the 3D real-time strategy game that is nearing completion at Black Cactus. The site offers plenty of details on the game's features, mostly familiar screenshots and a familiar movie trailer, a new FAQ, and more. Word is now that: "Warrior Kings will ship across North America on the third week of March 2002."

Cornered Rat Software sends word of the latest patch for World War II Online, available through the auto-updater or as a manual 1.2 MB download. This release includes a few new features, a couple of bug fixes and a bunch of other changes and improvements, as listed in the aforementioned forum post.

UGO's Disciples II: Dark Prophecy Feature is online, offering an Interview with Pro Sotos of Strategy First discussing their new turn-based sequel. In addition to their general discussion of the game, the extravaganza continues along with their contest giving away five copies of Disciples II autographed by the developers, and an exclusive Disciples II scenario for download called The Way of Freedom, "available only from UGO."

There's a Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project Interview on GameSpyDaily talking with Jim Perkins, president and CEO of ARUSH Entertainment about their upcoming third-person entry in the adventures of the wise-cracking hero. Topics include his role at ARUSH, their experience with Duke, the story behind Manhattan Project, the decision to make the game third-person, console elements of gameplay, the game engine, weapons, one-liners, the possibility they will work on future Duke games, and more.

BonusWeb has posted a movie trailer of Ghost Master, a 3D management strategy game by Empire Interactive that looks to turn the premise of Ghost Busters around. More information on this light-hearted take on the horror genre can be found on the official product page, and the movie is available in two DivX AVI sizes, showing close to three minutes of in-game and other footage.

There's a Global Operations Preview on GamesDomain with hands-on impressions of Barking Dog's upcoming tactical first-person shooter. The article discusses how the game's terrorist versus counter-terrorist theme is "Based heavily on the Counter-Strike dynamic," while opining that it represents "a slightly more strategic attempt at the team game." Based on participating in the game's beta testing, the article goes into the various classes and their advantages and disadvantages, how gameplay unfolds, the missions, maps, the use of the LithTech engine, the emphasis on skills versus trickery (for instance: "the jump function is nearly useless as an avoidance tactic"), and more. Illustrating the article is a batch of nine new screenshots.

There's an Army Men RTS Preview on GamesDomain taking a look at the upcoming real-time strategy installment in the ongoing war fought by 3DO's little green men and their tan enemies currently in development at Pandemic Studios. The article discusses the game's inspiration (delicately calling it an "unashamed rip-off of the film Apocalypse Now"), the decidedly non-hardcore nature of gameplay, the game's take on resource management, the sounds and graphics, missions, and more. Included with the preview are ten new screenshots.

EuroGamer's Chrome Interview talks with Krzysztof Marcinkiewicz, PR manager for Polish developer Techland, discussing progress on Chrome, their upcoming future-themed first-person shooter. Topics in the article-format Q&A include the game's futuristic vehicles, the fact that the player will have to exert his brain to complete Chrome, the flexible gameplay that will allow more than one way to accomplish each mission, the role of the game's "cybertech implants," single-player and multiplayer play, scripting, and more. The article concludes with news that the game is just a "day or two" away from beta testing.

THQ and Volition Announce 'Red Faction 2' (thanks ToTheGame) is the press release announcing that work is underway on Red Faction 2, the follow up to (naturally enough) Red Faction, Volition's ground-breaking first-person shooter set on Mars. According to the release, "'Red Faction 2' will also allow players to commandeer different vehicles and fight alongside elite squad members each with their own attack attributes. Refined graphics, an auto-save function, enhanced enemy AI and dynamic environments will also be featured in 'Red Faction 2.' New additions to the game's multi-player action include four-player split screen, customizable computer opponents, and new game modes." However, like THQ's and Volition's recent announcement of plans for Summoner 2 (story), there is no mention of a PC version of the sequel, indicating that this may be a console-only product. All the release says is: "'Red Faction 2' is scheduled for PlayStation 2 release in winter 2002."

Electronic Arts has released the eagerly-anticipated first patch for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, updating the North American edition of 2015's first-person shooter to version 1.10. We have a local copy with mirrors of the 15.0 MB download, which includes an in-game GameSpy server browser, multiplayer cheat protection, enchanced dedicated server control, and networking improvements.

ARUSH Entertainment sends along the first three screenshots of Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, the upcoming third-person platform action game in development at Sunstorm. There are two high-res (1600x1200) scenes and a normal size screenshot. More information on the title, which was originally planned as an episodic game but will now be released as a full retail game, can be found at the official product page.

GameSpot's GameCube Media Index now offers a fourteenth Resident Evil trailer for download in several different formats.

Console Reviews: Star Wars: Rogue Leader - Rogue Squadron II (GameCube) on ESCMag and Gaming Voice, and Final Fantasy X (PS2) on Dayton's Misc.

There's a Blood mod on Medal of Honor Center as well as an Omaha Beach cooperative mod, each hacked together without the benefit of the SDK for this-just released WW2 first-person shooter.

Morrowind TES Construction Kit Preview on Voodoo Extreme offering still more impressions of the editing tools to be bundled with Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind when this upcoming RPG sequel from Bethesda Softworks ships.

The Lost Continents Website has word that they are looking to add a senior-level and a mid-level graphics engineer for the "client team" for this upcoming pulp-inspired MMOG. Also, this page on the 2015 website has details on an opening that they have for a 2D texture artist.

• AquaNox on Gameraiders.
• Codename: Outbreak on Game Revolution.
• Ghost Recon on FiringSquad.
• Gothic on GameSpy.com.
• Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos on The Wargamer.
• La Grande Armee at Austerlitz on GameSpot.
• Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (first impressions) on Bjorn's 3D World.
• Original War on Intelgamer.
• Patrician II: Quest for Power on Worthplaying.
• Rally Trophy on The Laser.
• Shadow of Zorro on EuroGamer.
• S.W.I.N.E. on Gameraiders and Computer and Video Games.
• The Sims: Hot Date on GameSpot AU.
• Zoo Tycoon on Gone Gold.

• Perimeter on PC.IGN.com.

• ABIT GeForce3 Ti500 Video Card on [H]ardOCP.
• Alpha pal 8045 Cooler on Hardware-TEST.dk.
• AMD Athlon XP 1800+ CPU on Viper's Lair.
• AMD Athlon XP 1900+ CPU on PC STATS.
• Arctic Silver 3 Thermal Compound on AtlantaOC.
• ATI 8500 & 7500 All-In-Wonder Video Cards on AMDZone.
• AVC 117160 Socket 478 Heatsink on FrostyTech.
• Belkin 4-Port Cable-DSL Router on Envy News.
• Coolermaster ATCS 210 AX1 Case on HEXUS.net.
• Gigabyte 7VTXH+ Motherboard on OCworkbench.
• GPU Shoot-out on AnandTech (using next-gen Unreal tech). Thanks Spank.
• Lite-On FS020 Full Tower Case on Neoseeker.
• Logitech MouseMan Dual Optical on Envy News.
• MSI Geforce 3 Ti 200 Pro-D(T) Video Card on PCrivals.com.
• Soldam's Pandora S bare-bones system on The Tech Report.
• Soyo P4S Dragon Ultra Motherboard on Target PC.
• TDK VeloCD 24x10x40 CD-RW on SourceMagazine.com.

• The Half-Life Anti-Cheating Q&A on HomeLan Fed offers yet another Q&A with Valve's Erik Johnson, who has been making the rounds discussing anti-cheating measures. Two others of these were posted yesterday (story)...
• The Fallout Bible is now online (thanks GameSpyDaily) offering a "rough draft" of the roadmap for the series, though it's warned that the article offers loads of spoilers...
• Will games ever make it as movies? on CNN Money is an article examining the synergy between games and movies, looking at American McGee's Alice and Oz, among other projects...
• On a note related to the above, there's a Resident Evil Trailer on the Apple website (thanks Fantaz)...
• SiliconValley.com is reporting that Microsoft is counter-suing AOL, though this is really legal nitty-gritty involving the failure to produce documents related to the original suit (story). Thanks Carch...

After commenting on that 9:00 AM resolution yesterday (which I've missed again, grrr), an overseas reader commented that this did not relate to their version of the morning. I figure this is a segue to point out something I've mentioned in the past again, which is that with the two of us (Frans and me) located where we are and filling the roles we do, the current schedule seems to be the one that offers the greatest efficiency, allowing the two of us to provide the seven-day-a-week updates. There is actually a scenario that we're currently working through that could change this (which would be welcome for me, believe it or not, I am not really a morning person), but that's still so early along it's premature to mention it, much less count on how some hypothetical aspect of it will play out, but I'm already wandering down that path, so I'll just point out this is something that's being examined as we go along.

Play Time:

I am Mario. I like to jump around, and would lead a fairly serene and aimless existence if it weren't for my friends always getting into trouble. I love to help out, even when it puts me at risk. I seem to make friends with people who just can't stay out of trouble. What Video Game Character Are You?

Thanks Jeremy Williams.

Link of the Day: Schroedinger's Cat. Thanks Sinistar.
Bonus Link: Pimps at Sea. Thanks thegimp. An in-joke that's Bungie jumped into the public eye.
Story of the Day: Farts And Burps 'Gross But Good'. Thanks TJZ-VerTiGo. Something any four-year-old knows.
Auction of the Day: 100 gig western digital IDE 7200 rpm NEW. Thanks TJ Keenan. Hard to argue with his reasoning.
Weird Science: Japanese Scientists Breed Pigs with Spinach Genes. Thanks SurlyBitch. Mmmm, green eggs and ham!
Wild Science: NASA Prods Public to Tell Agency Where to Go; What to Do. Thanks again SurlyBitch.
Follow-up: Hershey's Ordered To Pay Obese Americans $135 Billion. An Onion piece that ceased to be satire as of yesterday's story of the day. Thanks Jeremy Walker.
Media of the Day: This Reuters Photo. Thanks Hong. Sure to bring a smile to your.... face.