Russian publisher Russobit-M sent out a large batch of new screenshots from four upcoming titles by GSC Game World, developer of Cossacks and Codename: Outbreak. First up is FireStarter, a newly unveiled "arcade" first-person shooter, and we have a gallery with the first half dozen screenshots and a few concept images online. There are also seven new screenshots of Oblivion Lost, GSC Game World's upcoming sci-fi squad-based action title. Then we have a new set of HoveRace screenshots, showing more from this futuristic combat racer. And finally, four new screenshots of American Conquest, their upcoming isometric RTS, are also included.

• New World Order
  Adrenaline Vault has posted a square nine new screenshots of New World Order, showing more from the team-based tactical shooter in the works at Termite Games.
• Sea Dogs 2
  Akella has released half a dozen new Sea Dogs 2 screenshots, and word is a playable demo of their sea-faring 3D role-playing sequel can be expected next month.
• Warrior Kings
  There is a new Warrior Kings screenshots gallery on GameSpot which, unusually for them, includes about ten familiar scenes among the 30 images of the 3D real-time strategy game by Black Cactus.
• Age of Mythology
  It's a Monday, so that means there is a new Age of Mythology screenshot on the official site for this 3D RTS being assembled at Ensemble Studios.
• Bridge Commander
  There are three new Star Trek: Bridge Commander screenshots on Bridge Commander Universe, ten more on GameSpyDaily, and another five on Voodoo Extreme, all showing off the capitol ship space sim by Totally Games.
• Black Moon Chronicles
  A Black Moon Chronicles Sysigie Gallery on RPG Vault offers more scenes from the isometric graphic novel MMORPG being beta tested at Vircom Interactive.

The official One Must Fall: Battlegrounds site has opened sign-ups for the upcoming beta test of the 3D fighting game in the works at Diversions Entertainment. Word is "Applications will be accepted for 24 hours, or until we get too many," but specifics on the starting date or duration of the test itself are absent.

Bohemia Interactive has unveiled a teaser site for Independence Lost, a previously unknown title that is slated for release this year. There is no indication whether this will be another expansion pack to their tactical shooter Operation Flashpoint or a new game, but a set of small screenshots hints at what it looks like. Thanks HomeLan Fed.

PC.IGN.com serves up a development update on Republic: the Revolution, the 3D strategy game under construction at Elixir Studios. Penned by CEO Demis Hassabis, the update has word that they "are at the stage where everything is being brought together" and are now in "full 'content-production' mode," and work is underway on a new press demo for the Game Developer Conference in March.

Taldren sends word that, as similarly promised this weekend, new patches for Starfleet Command: Orion Pirates are now available from SFC2.net and KhoroMag. They update the space strategy expansion to version 2.5.2.5, you can upgrade from the previous v2.5.0.1i (10.0 MB) or the original release (20.5 MB), and word is "There are over 80 fixes and adjustments in this patch alone."

GameSpot has posted a hands-on preview of Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn's Revenge, the upcoming expansion to the amazingly popular isometric MMORPG by Origin Systems. The article introduces the pack's premise and features, and offers hands-on impressions from a beta build, including the new creatures and virtues that are part of the dynamic content system, graphics enhancements and more, while four new screenshots accompany the proceedings.

There is a new Global Operations movie available on Global Ops Command, again showing off the team-based tactical shooter being beta tested at Barking Dog. This clip is a bit shorter and darker than the previous ones, and the 3.8 MB download sports half a minute of Windows Media Player gameplay footage from the Quebec map.

Monolith's Aliens versus Predator 2 .plan file, which has just been added to the BlueTracker, offers a pair of updates, one from a couple of weeks ago, and another that just went up this weekend. The older update mentions plans for a multiplayer update #2, saying, "may MP Update #2 surprise and amuse us all," while the later update vaguely mentions that again, while also referring to an upcoming tools release. Here's the portion that covers both:

Work continues on our second Aliens Vs. Predator 2 update. We still can't tell you what we have in-store for this update but what we can say is that you will not be disappointed. If all goes well you will have some new toys to play with soon, sort of like Christmas all over again!

In addition to the second update, we are hard at work preparing to release an updated set of Tools for Aliens vs. Predator 2. Included with the tools is the most complete set of documentation we have ever produced for a tools set and from our LithTech friends, improved mesh importing. We hope the Mod community will find the extensive FAQs helpful and thorough and that LithTech's Talon tool system is treating you all well. If you haven't started maps yet, there are also a number of walk-thru examples included to make getting started a snap!

As promised this weekend (story), Mad Doc Software and Activision have now released the patch for Star Trek: Armada II, upgrading their space-based RTS to version 1.1. The 12.7 MB download offers several gameplay and interface enhancements, a number of multiplayer improvements, bug fixes and more, all listed in detail in the included Readme file (which has also been posted at Armada Universe).

Game agent Octagon Entertainment has word of Natural Freedom, which is the new title of Natural Resistance, the 3D tactical RTS by German developers Silver Style. We queried Octagon about the name change, and just received a confirmation that the game is no longer being published by JoWood Productions, which leads to their current search for a new worldwide publisher and the new game title. There are five new screenshots on display along with a previously released movie (story), and a new official Natural Freedom site is also online with more information and media. Update on Tuesday: The announcement appears to have been withdrawn and the official site closed for reasons unknown.

PopTop Software has announced that Tropico: Paradise Island will be available in U.S. stores by February 5, suggesting that this expansion pack to their dictatorial island management game has gone gold or is very close to doing so, but there is no confirmation of that. They also point to the newly opened Paradise Island site by developers BreakAway Games, which includes an overview of the pack's features and a batch of new screenshots.

Both Gas Powered Games' Dungeon Siege site and Microsoft's Dungeon Siege site have been relaunced with a new look and more content on their upcoming 3D role-playing game (thanks LoadedInc). There is now a comprehensive new FAQ on the former while the latter offers more information on the game's features, multiplayer and Siege Editor, illustrated with plenty of screenshots (most of them familiar though).

A comprehensive update of the official Hitman 2: Silent Assassin site brings new media of the murderous third-person action game in development at IO Interactive. Take your pick from two new screenshots of the Skt. Petersburg mission and three of the Malaysia one, introductions to several new weapons, new enemy characters to use them against, more concept art, and a new wallpaper.

New Email Worm 'My Party' Surfaces, Begins to Grow is the report of another one of those nutty mass mailing worms, though we haven't actually received a copy ourselves, and the story says, "Security firms said that compared with past email worms, such as Nimda and Sircam, the number of reported 'My Party' infections thus far is moderate." Nonetheless, if you are running a system the story identifies as vulnerable due to its use of the Windows Address Book and Outlook Express Database, naturally you'll probably want to update your virus definitions (while of course, if you're running a set-up immune to this threat, you'll want to prepare your messageboard comments about your system's superiority).

There's a Bridge Commander Interview on Computer and Video Games talking with Activision's Parker Davis about progress on Star Trek Bridge Commander, the upcoming space combat simulator set in the Star Trek The Next Generation continuity. Topics include the daunting task of tackling the Trek license, the next Generation setting, how long the game has been in development, character interaction, voice commands, how combat will work, sub-missions, multiplayer support, graphical features, and more.

The Interview with Innerloop about Project IGI 2 on Gamer.no is the English-language translation of their Norwegian Q&A with Stein Pedersen talking with the lead programmer on Innerloop's upcoming sequel to Project IGI (A.K.A. I'm Going In). They discuss whether this project will depart significantly from the gameplay offered in the original, improvements to their AI, game saving, the number of missions they are creating, the story, levels of detail, code to take advantage of specific sound and video hardware, weapons, multiplayer support, plans for a demo, and more.

There's a Carly Staehlin-Taylor Interview on drunkgamers.com talking with the design manager for Tabula Rasa, which is the working title for N.C. Austin's (formerly Destination Games') upcoming MMOG. While this first installment in a two-part series doesn't deal much with progress on this online RPG, it does offer lots of detail about some of her prior gigs, which includes work on Ultima: Ascension, the story of how she became the voice of the female characters in Quake II, and her experiences at Crack dot com, offering some new insights into the ups and downs of this now-defunct independent developer. Part two in this series is expected Wednesday.

Today the MSN Gaming Zone Chat theater features a bit of log-rolling, as they will play host to a chat session to discuss progress on one of Microsoft's own games, as Bruce Shelley will be attending to discuss progress on Age of Mythology, Microsoft's and Ensemble's upcoming epic RTS offering. The festivities will get underway this evening at 9:00 PM EST, and the chat page offers details on how the moderated session will be conducted.

GameSpy.com Previews Freedom Force offering a look at the upcoming superhero-themed RPG in the works at Irrational Games. Offering perspective based on familiarity with the period in comic book history upon which the game is based, the article is based on hands-on play with a "quite playable beta" version of the game, describing the Silver Age style of the game, the game's storyline, the good guys, the villains, how the action unfolds, powers, prestige, multiplayer play, and more. A baker's dozen new screenshots are also included.

GameSpy.com Project IGI 2 Developer Diary Volume 2 is written by Codemasters' Richard Blenkinsop, external producer on the upcoming shooter sequel, offering a brief description of the state of production on IGI 2: Covert Strike (or as they put it "Project IGI 2"). The diary was written from Oslo during a visit to Innerloop to check out the game, and word is that the first preview copies will be sent out shortly, while the journal gives a feel for the kind of polishing that will be taking place over the approximately five months of remaining production time.

There's a Paul Steed Q&A on Quake3Stuff talking with the one-time id Software, Origin, and WildTangent modeler about his past, present, and future in the business. Topics include his background, how he got started in the industry, areas he's dabbled in other than modeling, his favorite games of all time, what he's up to now, what he thinks the future will hold for the gaming industry, and more. Additionally, Quake3Stuff's Paul Marino Interview talks with this member of The ILL Clan.

There's an Arx Fatalis Preview on ToTheGame based on getting to check out a beta build of this upcoming first-person RPG currently under construction at Arkane Studios. Along the way they offer impressions of the games graphics, sounds, story, gameplay, controls, character creation, and more.

Continuing the Italian Q&A theme from the story below, Tiscali's Kreed Interview is their own English-language translation of their Italian Q&A with Aleksey Vlasov, one of the folks at Russian developer Burut discussing progress on Kreed, their upcoming first-person shooter. Topics include the impressive graphics of their proprietary game engine, the game's plotline, whether the game's eye candy will distract from its other qualities, Kreed's inspirations, AI, problems encountered during production, plans for a tools release, hardware requirements, weapons, physics, engine licensing, plans for a demo, their projected release date, and more.

Due chiacchere su Call of Cthulhu on RPG Player is an Italian-language interview with Andrew Brazier of Headfirst Productions talking about Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth, their upcoming horror/RPG inspired by the pen-and-paper game of the same name, based on the works of author H.P. Lovecraft. The conversation, which can be roughly translated via the services of Babel Fish, discusses the Havoc engine, how much exploration the game will involve, how many hours of gameplay will be involved, and more.

In posting the Medal of Honor Interview on GBASE.ch yesterday (story), we provided one of those helpful links to a (Babel Fish) translation, while warning the results would be "roughly translated." Well just how roughly has come to light, as Erik from GBASE.ch sends along the following clarification, concerned that one portion of BabelFish's babble was leading to the wrong conclusion. Here's Erik's mail, clarifying that multiplayer play is not being removed from the German version of the game:

You have posted our interview about Medal of Honor with Rick Giolito yesterday. I've seen that the translation from German to English has made some confusion about this sentence here:

"We will remove the Multiplayer part, as the player can select a specialist."

This is totally wrong!

Remove has to be replaced by the meaning of "developed more" or "increase".

Some fan-pages are already talking about this, so we should put the correct meaning among the people.

• New CPUCooL
  A new version 7.0.10 of the CPUCooL utility is now available. Thanks File Flash.

A new version 1.12 beta 1 of the jDoom port of the DOOM source code is now available, though this release is described as "an unoptimized debug build," and that "The purpose of this release is to find out how well the new network code is working." The release contains no 3D models, but will work with any of the previous model packs, though the following caveat is offered about this whole situation: "Expect to encounter bugs if not outright crashes."

Multi Player Zone's Stat Semper Interview talks with the team behind this upcoming modification for Rogue Spear.

The Valve Software Employment Opportunities page has word of four openings at the Kirkland, WA based developer. Thanks The Warthog.

• AquaNox on Game Club Central.
• Etherlords on Blue Monday.
• EverQuest: Shadows of Luclin on Khabal Gaming.
• Master Rallye on Computer and Video Games.
• Medal of Honor: Allied Assault on Khabal Gaming.
• Motor City Online on Gamitopia.
• Real War on Gamitopia.
• Rally Trophy on EuroGamer.
• Serious Sam: the Second Encounter (in German) on GameCaptain.
• Soul Reaver 2 (in German) on YiYas.
• Stronghold on Gamitopia.
• The Shadow of Zorro on Just Adventure.
• The Typing of the Dead on Gamitopia.

• 128 MB Video Card round-up on Digit-Life.
• Abit KR7A-RAID Motherboard on Serial Addiction.
• Arkua 6258 Heatsink on AtlantaOC.
• Arkua 7528 Heatsink on Mikhailtech.
• ATI All-In-Wonder 8500DV Video Card on The Tech Zone.
• ATI Radeon 7500 Video Card on RatedPC.com.
• AVC Copper Skived Cooler on NeoSeeker.
• Chenbro SR205 Server Case on AMDZone.
• Cooling Flow ProtectorXP CPU Shim on Envy News.
• Dynatron DC1206BM-R 1U Heatsink on Extreme Overclocking.
• Elsa Brethren: GeForce3 Ti200 & Ti500 Video Cards on Hardware One.
• Enermax EG356P-VE PSU on BlueSmoke.
• Enermax Whisper EG465AX-VE PSU (on German) on Hard Tecs 4U.
• Gainward GeForce3 PowerPack Ti/450 Video Card on got apex.
• Juno P6 Full Tower Case on Viper's Lair.
• MSI 645 Ultra [SiS 645] Motherboard (in German) on Hard Tecs 4U.
• Samsung SyncMaster 151B 15" TFT LCD Monitor on Futurelooks.
• Thermalright AX-7 Cooler on ipKonfig.com.
• Thermal Integration TI-V86-15 Copper Core Heatsink on FrostyTech.
• Titan TTC-CU4TB Heatsink on Mikhailtech.
• VideoLogic Crossfire 4.1 Speakers on Hardware Avenue.

• There's an MOH Linux Dedicated Server Petition looking to convince 2015 & EA to release a Medal of Honor: Allied Assault dedicated *nix server...
• Where Are They Now (Iikka Keranen) on The Mushroom once again finds someone who wasn't missing, as the man behind AirQuake is currently doing work for Valve after ION Storm Dallas shut down...
• HomeLan Fed's NASCAR Racing 2002 Season Interview talks with Richard Yasi about the latest installment in this racing series from Papyrus for which the official site recently went online as well...
• The Warlords Battlecry 2 Website has been updated with a pair of new armies and four new wallpapers...

Jim Hendrickson sends along a reminder that today is a sad anniversary, as it was 16 years ago today that the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, as detailed in Arlington National Cemetery's Shuttle Challenger Memorial.

Play Time: Modern Living. Flash required. Thanks Ant and User Friendly.
Story of the Day: Porn star plans Hungary MP bid. Thanks Frottage. Thanks Cicciolina.
Weird Science: The Art of the Meal. Thanks Ysg.
Auction of the Day: Maple Leaf Garden's 1994 Zamboni. Thanks ryan.