A thread called Open Beta possibility on the Official Neocron Forums (thanks Fatesender) confirms a report from PC Zone Magazine by describing plans to launch the fourth beta test of Reakktor's upcoming science fiction MMORPG as an open beta, inspired by what they call the "'successful' launch of the demo." Here's their description of beta 4, which is planned as the final beta before the game officially launches: "Anyhow, once you join B4, we want everybody to keep in mind that it is very close to the final game, BUT STILL BETA! B4 will be a 90-95% complete game." And here is all that's mentioned on how to be involved: "Accounts for B4 will be opened and managed through the Neocron.com webpage. There's no need to pre-register." Word on the beta is that the files will total a staggering 1.2 GB, to be distributed on magazine covermount DVDs, while mirrors for (gulp) downloads are welcome.

• O.R.B.
  GameSpy.com's O.R.B. Q&A talks with Paul Gadbois, associate producer on Strategy First's upcoming space strategy game, discussing the project in general terms as it approaches its release date.
• Earth & Beyond
  Speaking of space, RPG Vault's Earth & Beyond Q&A #4 talks with Gary Cox about his role as art director on Westwood's upcoming space-based MMORPG.
• Gothic II
  There's a Gothic II Q&A with Mike Hoge on RPGDot offering an English Q&A with the Piranha Bytes' designer that was originally conducted in German, and was translated with Mike's own help to ensure fidelity to the original. In a related note, there are four new Gothic II screenshots on RPGDot, as well.

With the launch of the Recon version of America's Army: Operations, the Official America's Army FAQ is now online offering technical support as well as gameplay tips.

HomeLan Fed's Day Of Defeat 3.0 Q&A talks with John Morello from the Day of Defeat modification about current and future plans for this project now that it has become one of Valve's "official" Half-Life modifications. Also, HomeLan Fed's The Russian Front Q&A catches up with LordPhobos to discuss this modification that was originally being created for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, but is now being reworked as a Return to Castle Wolfenstein modification.

A thread called Course Update! on the Dteam Forums has word that their planned college-certified IRC game design course has been postponed until more interest can be generated, offering info about who to contact about the course. Three new tutorials have been added to the Dungeon Siege Website's growing Siege University, where they've added Siege University - 208A- Non-Player Characters, Siege University - 208B- Talk Skrits, and Siege University - 209- Quests.

• Gore Demo on 3DActionPlanet (thanks Action Vault).
• The Sum of All Fears on Adrenaline Vault.
• Valhalla Chronicles on Games Domain.
• WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos on Games Domain and BarrysWorld.

• EVE: the Second Genesis on GamePro.
• Hover Ace on MGON.
• Shadowbane on GamePro.

• DreamCatcher Responds to Recent News About Cryo (thanks HomeLan Fed) offers reassurances for those unsettled at news that Cryo is closing, saying this will not impact the operations of DreamCatcher...
• Games Concert planned for E3 2003 on Computer and Video Games reports on plans for a concert in the Hollywood Bowl to run concurrently with E3 that will focus solely on music from computer and video games...
• A new version 3.5.2 of Harpoon3 is now available, "The major changes deal with improving the way Nuclear weapons and Area Effect weapons work."...

With the summer in full swing, an old backyard nemesis has reared its head... thankfully it's not the skunks, who have been leaving the yard relatively hole free (I think the dog has established a firm dominance over the backyard), but the dreaded mimosa tree. Somewhere in the past couple of weeks it started blooming, and now we are already getting huge clumps of hairy pinkish purple mimosa flowers on the deck and lawn. This begins a six month shedding cycle for this tree that will next involve pea-pod-style seed droppings, and of course the inevitable leaves in the fall. Of course all the cleaning up under the tree will pay off once we work out how we get it to start dispensing those orange champagne cocktails, but we haven't quite figured out how to get that going yet.

R.I.P.: Baseball Legend Ted Williams Dies.

Story of the Day:	The £1m 'doner kebab'. Thanks Tony T. Town Fights to Save James Dean's High School. Thanks theAntiELVIS. The return of the seagulls. Thanks again theAntiELVIS.
Wild Science:	New Metal Alloy Is Super Strong. Thanks [MP] Wolverine [MP].
Image of the Day:	The Caffeine Machine on PimpRig.com. Thanks Adam.