The official MechWarrior 4 site offers two multiplayer maps from the Inner Sphere 'Mech Pak as free downloads, allowing owners of the original to play them online without the expansion pack. The Coliseum map clocks in at a modest 8.2 MB while the Gagetown map is significantly larger at 20.8 MB, and both require the recent version 3.0 patches to function correctly (story). The official FAQ has been updated with a few new entries as well.

There is a new EVE: the Second Genesis interview on MGON, quizzing Simon & Schuster senior producer Mike Wallis about this massively multiplayer online space game under construction at Iceland-based Crowd Control Productions. Mike talks about the game's impressive graphics, their in-house engine, the kind of gameplay they're aiming for, the large variety of ship types, the five playable races, the player's goals in the game, and more.

PC.IGN.com serves up a preview of Final Fantasy XI, the MMORPG by Square that recently commenced beta testing in Japan. The article provides a comprehensive overview of the game's races, nations, character occupations, chat system, party building, combat and magic, skills and guilds, items, quests and more, all illustrated with images from the PS2 version.

The Wargamer has posted a new preview of Prince of Qin, looking ahead to the isometric role-playing game set in ancient China that's in the works at Object Software and Strategy First. The article describes the game's backstory, graphics engine, user interface, the gameplay they experienced in the preview build, enemy AI, and the customary more. Nine new screenshots illustrate the proceedings.

As usual after the release of a major new graphics chipset, id Software lead programmer John Carmack has updated his .plan with his views on the Matrox Parhelia, commenting on its performance and the applicability of its features to their upcoming first-person shooter, DOOM III. Here is an excerpt from the full .plan:

The Matrox Parhelia Report:

The executive summary is that the Parhelia will run Doom, but it is not performance competitive with Nvidia or ATI.

Driver issue remain, so it is not perfect yet, but I am confident that Matrox will resolve them.

The performance was really disappointing for the first 256 bit DDR card. I tried to set up a "poster child" case that would stress the memory subsystem above and beyond any driver or triangle level inefficiencies, but I was unable to get it to ever approach the performance of a GF4.

The basic hardware support is good, with fragment flexibility better than GF4 (but not as good as ATI 8500), but it just doesn't keep up in raw performance. With a die shrink, this chip could probably be a contender, but there are probably going to be other chips out by then that will completely eclipse this generation of products.

Matrix picks up Noble Armada on GameSpot is the report that after about a two year hiatus, development has resumed on Noble Armada, Holistic Design's upcoming science fiction game based on the Noble Armada tabletop starship miniatures game. Though it was never formally announced, production on the game, which will feature "interstellar exploration, space combat, and trade," ceased shortly after a playable Noble Armada demo was released in March 2000 (story). The game is projected for a Fall 2002 release.

Nival Interactive sends word of new patches for Etherlords, upgrading the English, German and Russian (but not yet the French) editions of their 3D turn-based strategy game to version 1.06. The files have ballooned to 11.5 MB (from 4 MB for the previous version) and this increase is spent on adding a multiplayer mode to the strategic mission map, a new hotseat multiplayer mode, a few other features and a handful of bug fixes.

Gathering of Developers Announces Vietcong(tm) for the PC is the press release announcing plans for a tactical first-person shooter set in the Jungles of the Vietnam War, slated for release this Fall. Accompanying the release are the first three screenshots from the game, and here is the portion offering a description:

Acting as an elite soldier, players of "Vietcong" command the A-team, part of the U.S. Special Forces, in realistically represented Vietnamese environments. Players will lead as many as six expertly trained soldiers through 20 dramatic missions, and follow a storyline that captures the danger, fear and unpredictability of the war itself. The full-featured multiplayer mode also allows gamers to play as U.S. Special Forces or Vietcong soldiers and to battle over specially designed levels.

In "Vietcong," the player chooses from more than 25 weapons, including M16's, grenade launchers and sniper rifles. Players can order air strikes or ambush enemy patrols, but success ultimately depends on their ability to keep a level head in the thick of intense action.

A story on The Adrenaline Vault has some details about Strategy First's plan to offer a Reader's Choice Edition of World War II Online, the massively multiplayer WW2 game. Though there is no indication of exactly who these readers are, there is a list of features for the $29.99 enhanced version of the original game, which is expected at the end of July: "New vehicles and weapons, All new terrain, New objects and tons of concealment for ground troops, A redesigned interface, New mission launch lobbies and a key mapper, Upgraded mission, rank and strategic systems, First-person shooter perspective, New animations and control systems, and Increased performance and rock solid connects."

There's a Medieval: Total War Preview on Games Domain offering impressions of Creative Assembly's upcoming follow-up to Shogun: Total War, their 3D RTS game. The article describes the game's huge scope in terms of the time period covered (1087-1453), the locale (480 maps set in medieval Europe), and gameplay ("We're anticipating over a hundreds hours of gameplay in the full campaigns"). They also go into RPG aspect of your general's leadership, the variety of units available, diplomacy, tweaks to balance the value of siege weapons, the impact of landscape and weather, castles, and more. Accompanying the story are a baker's dozen new screenshots.

Now is the Time of Defiance is the press release with details about Time of Defiance, an upcoming massively multiplayer RTS game in the works at Nicely Crafted Entertainment (NiCE). According to the release: "In Time of Defiance, players battle for control of thousands of islands spread across the remnants of a distant planet – giving a game area of over 14,062,500 square kilometres. Up to 1,000 players can compete in each game, and there will be many games running concurrently in order to accommodate a huge audience." In a twist, the game is in a preview mode where the client is free, but players will still be paying to participate: "The game is currently in ‘preview programme’, with around 400 gamers battling it out for ultimate control. The full release is planned for August 2002. A free demo is available from www.nicelycrafted.com, offering players the chance to try before they buy. Players can 'taste' the game for as little as £5 per month or £25 for six months during the preview programme." It is unclear with the use of pounds, whether this 'programme' is available outside the UK. Accompanying the press release are some new screenshots along with some higher-resolution versions of some previously released shots, all of which we've posted here.

GameSpy.com's Horizons Q&A talks with Steve Escalante, producer on Horizons, Artifact Entertainment's upcoming online RPG. Topics include the game's E3 showing, quests, attracting EQ and DAoC players, and more. Also, RPG Vault's Black Moon Chronicles Q&A #13 talks with the folks at Vircom about progress on their upcoming Black Moon Chronicles MMORPG focusing on what they are learning during the game's ongoing beta test. Finally, Shadowbane Warcry has posted a Q&A with Bernie Yee, vice president of publishing for En-Tranz Entertainment, discussing plans to publish Shadowbane in Asia and the Pacific region, and a Q&A with Josh Galloway of En-Tranz also talking about plans for Shadowbane in Asia as well as reflections on the demise of GodGames, and more.

Sierra Entertainment has opened the virtual doors to the official site for SWAT: Urban Justice, their squad-based tactical shooter in development. The site offers information on the game's premise and some of its missions, characters and weapons, a gallery with a few new and several familiar screenshots, the previously released E3 movie trailer, and more.

HomeLan Fed's Pulsar Q&A talks with Bryan Ekman of Jar Head Games about Pulsar, their upcoming space strategy game. Topics include the formation of their company, how they feel their Navy SEALs game turned out, their other current FPS project, a rundown on Pulsar, the game's story, online play, technologies, trade and diplomacy, the engine, UI, and more.

As promised (story), Wizards of the Coast Launches Magic The Gathering(R) Online is the press release announcing that Magic: The Gathering Online, the latest attempt to translate the popularity of the Magic card game to computers, has launched. Update: A free trial client is available from the official site.

Team Xbox' Dan Jevons Q&A talks with the producer on Enclave, the upcoming Xbox RPG. There's a Q&A with Tracey Montoya on X-Boxed.com discussing The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the upcoming Xbox action/adventure game based on the Tolkien book and the movie it inspired. There is a brief Q&A with Denny Thorley on GameSpot discussing MechAssault, the upcoming Xbox Mech combat game. Word on the Prisoner of War Website is that Prisoner of War, Codemasters' PS2 adventure, is set to bust out July 12, 2002.

Console Reviews

• New Legends (Xbox) on Computer and Video Games.
• Spider-Man: the Movie (GameCube) on GameSpy.com.
• Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GameCube) on GameSpot AU.

The Unreal4Ever Website offers the debut version of U4E Fortress, adding all manner of fortress-oriented goodness to Unreal4Ever. Installing the 14 MB patch required a full installation of U4ETv602 and all of its components, and it is hoped that the next version will include new fortress maps. Here's a bit of how they describe the mod: "There's over a dozen Professions, dozens of new weapons and attacks, 3 new Gametypes including Gauntlet and Jailbreak, and enough eye candy to keep a A.D.D sufferer happy for a month!"

A new beta version 0.6.0 of Serious Runner: SE has been released, which is the Serious Sam: Second Edition version of their front-end that eases the process of configuring a Serious Sam server. The new version addresses some minor cooperative level selection bugs and cleans up the interface.

Here's a help wanted from Monolith's Jason Hall's .plan: "Monolith is looking for two additional talented animators with a passion for martial arts to join our team and help with the Matrix Online production effort. If you like Seattle, love the Matrix, and have a deep passion for games, check out the job descriptions..."

The Night's Edge Wet Works for Unreal Tournament Website offers their impressions after attending the Unreal Tournament 2003 Mod Summit, describing changes to the Unreal engine and some of the impact this will have on level editing and creating modifications.

A FAQ has sprung up on the Raven Shield General Discussion Forums answering some questions from the forums about the upcoming Rainbow Six game, with an ensuing thread gathering more questions for the next installment. Thanks Raven Shield Platoon.

• Age of Wonders II: the Wizard's Throne on GameSpy.com, Gamezilla, and Games Domain.
• Freedom Force on Video Game News.
• Gore: Ultimate Soldier on Gamezilla, GameZone, and Electric Playground.
• Hyperspace Delivery Boy on GameSpot.
• MotoRacer 3 on PC Gameworld.
• Neverwinter Nights on GameSpot and PC.IGN.com.
• Original War on Stratos Group.
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind on PC Gameworld.
• The Watchmaker on Game Over and Four Fat Chicks.
• Ultimate Ride Coaster Deluxe on PC.IGN.com.
• WarCommander on GameAxis.

• Divine Divinity Demo on Video Game News.
• Realms of Torment on Computer Games Romania.

• ABIT Siluro GeForce4 Ti4200 Video Card on Tweakers Australia.
• ATI Radeon 8500 Video Card on Viper's Lair.
• Gainward GeForce 4 Powerpack Ultra/700XP Video Card on Bjorn3d.com.
• TDK 24-10-40 IEEE1394 CD-RW on NextGen Electronics.com.
• Vantec 80mm and 92mm Tornado Fans (in Video) on 3dGameMan.
• VisionTek Xtasy GeForce4 Ti 4200 Video Card on Sharky Extreme.

• The latest Earth & Beyond Glimpse Inside examines The Sha'ha'dem, the Jenquai Explorer Faction in Westwood's upcoming MMORPG...
• The News @ Halifax Website features downloads of a 65 MB demo for MotoGP. Thanks Tiscali Games...
• The Cube Website has an updated version of this "Landscape-style engine that pretends to be an indoor first person shooter engine." The new release offers "improved SP, improved networking, new lighting model (additive, overbright, colours), minimal scripting language, and lots more."...

I can't even figure out if this even falls under the heading of third time's the charm, as I've lost track of the previous efforts, but today I should finally be getting this wisdom tooth out. Dr. Toothy seems quite confident that this will be a pretty easy extraction, as the tooth is crooked, but not impacted, and I won't know until later how accurate that is, but I appreciate him easing my mind after my previous wisdom tooth extraction, where the oral surgeon who did the yanking had me sign a waiver beforehand saying I wouldn't hold him responsible for various mishaps, including (get this) a broken jaw. Of course when I asked about that, he reassured me that there was no chance that this would all result in a broken jaw, but when I asked him if that meant we could cross that part off of the waiver, his response was, "um, no."

Link of the Day: History of Teapots. Thanks Zdim.
Story of the Day: Anti-violence event ends in brawl. Thanks Antony.
Follow-up: Scientists: space is color of latte, a follow-up on some weird science (story), with further follow-up here: Coloring the Universe Why Reality is a Gray Area in Astronomy. Thanks zombie69.