• Kreed
  Ferrago's Kreed Q&A chats with Alexey Leshev, scriptwriter on Burut's upcoming first-person shooter. They discuss the game's science fiction storyline, the settings, weapons, the engine, system requirements, sound and music, AI, and more. Included are a few new screenshots.
• EVE Online
  There's an Eve Online Q&A on Massivemultiplayer.org talking with Mike "Champion" Wallis, producer on CCP's upcoming online space game. Topics include being the only game developer in Iceland, comparing EVE to other MMO games, how development is progressing, plans for expansions, and more.
• Schwarzenberg
  Ownt.com's Schwarzenberg Q&A chats with Radeon Labs' Bernd Beyreuther about their upcoming World War II adventure/"silent" shooter game. They discuss the origins of the game's storyline, a typical mission, standing out from other WW2 games, settings, vehicles, weapons, the balance between fact and fiction, how OpenSource development is helping the project, and more.
• The Gladiators
  There's a The Gladiators Q&A on Multiplayer.it chatting with Alexis Le Dressay, the lead game designer and product manager on The Gladiators, Eugen Systems' upcoming gladiatorial RTS game, discussing gameplay, how on this project has been underway, multiplayer support, and more.
• Perimeter
  The Perimeter Q&A on Sanqualis talks with 1C company about their upcoming RTS game in a conversation from ECTS. They discuss terraforming, system requirements, their release date, plans for console ports, and more.
• CPL
  There's an Angel Munoz Q&A on LANParty.Com talking with the CPL founder about the league and pro gaming discussing the past and future of the CPL, his pride in what they are doing, and more.

The GolemLabs Homepage no offers a SuperPower Patch (thanks Worthplaying) updating GolemLabs' world sim to version 1.3. In addition to tweaks and bug fixes, the new version offers new custom content, and therefore weighs in at 37 MB.

• Age of Mythology on XGR.
• Devastation - Local Shots, celebrating the opening of the official website for this upcoming Unreal-engine CyberPunk game.
• Hover Ace on Action Vault.
• Impossible Creatures on XGR.
• Lionheart on RPG Vault.
• Shadowbane - Local Shots showing off the Aracoix and Irekei races, the Elvish City and the Temple of Flame.

Not wanting to miss out on all the fun of the demo extravaganza we've experienced today, Sierra sends word that a release of the demo for No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way sometime next week. Here is the word, specially encrypted for UNITY operatives, or something like that:

The UNITY Operatives have uncovered several internal confidential memorandums and phone taps revealing that Sierra and Fox Interactive are planning to release the highly anticipated No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way Demo sometime in the next week!

All UNITY Operatives in training have had the chance to face off with the H.A.R.M. Ninjas while overcoming a treacherous tornado on the recent mission to Ohio. All UNITY Operatives in training will have to get ready for the three new levels and be prepared to face even more dangerous H.A.R.M. foes. UNITY Headquarters are expected to receive additional details and will transmit to all UNITY operatives in training. Be on the lookout for more details on how to get your hands on these confidential levels!

Don't forget to look for NOLF2 to show up on store shelves early October 2002!

GameSpyDaily is reporting that Earth & Beyond, Westwood's outer space MMORPG, has gone gold. According to the story, the plan is to begin distribution with a limited run of copies to be available at major US retailers on September 24, with new copies to be shipped out on a weekly basis thereafter to control the flow of new players into the game to prevent "a galactic traffic jam."

This 3DO Support Page offers the eagerly-awaited patch that adds multiplayer support to Heroes of Might and Magic IV, in addition to adding a bunch of tweaks and bug fixes to the turn-based strategy game. The file has been mirrored on Celestial Heavens, where they also have word that the Gathering Storm add-on for HOMM IV has gone gold, though the forum post where they found this news does not offer any ideas about the expansion's in-store date.

Expressing their apologies for the difficulties, NovaLogic sends word that there is an updated version of the Delta Force Black Hawk Down Demo available that removes the NetQuartz ezpad technology that's been causing problems. Update 11 can be apply by clicking the "update game" button. Word is "once this update has installed, consumers will then be able to uninstall the ezpad technology and play with the demo as normal. To fully uninstall ezpad, right click on the ezpad icon on the task bar, and select quit, then uninstall the software via the ADD/REMOVE Programs option in the control panel."

The demo for Tesseraction Games' Enigma: Rising Tide Demo has been released, and is available for download from FilePlanet (registration required). While the thrust of the full game will be alternate history naval combat on a massively multiplayer scale, the demo is single player only. The download is 187 MB.

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down Official Multiplayer Demo Goes Live is the press release with details on the multiplayer demo version of NovaLogic's upcoming Delta Force game that "features one multiplayer level and includes day and night settings. The demo is playable over the NovaWorld Games Network and via LAN." The 62 MB file is available on this NovaLogic Downloads Page which has a list of mirrors. Update: A new version of the demo without the NetQuartz ezpad technology that's caused users problems is now available, and is now a 56.6 MB download. If you got the older version, be sure to update it using the in-game update button and follow the instructions in this subsequent story to remove the ezpad software from your system.

Several first-hand sightings have been reported of Digital Illusions' Battlefield 1942 on store shelves as well as word from people who now have their copies of the WW2 combat game. As usual, a call to your retailer is probably advisable before heading out.

The Black Hawk Down Developer Diary Part 4 on Computer and Video Games continues the series of diaries recapping the ever-more-distant month of July, this time out getting the perspective of Paul Fox, audio specialist on the upcoming Delta Force game (for which the demo is expected today). Topics include how he determines when a sound effect requires added effort, using the time available before finalizing sounds to do research, the gigantic library of sounds from which he's able to draw, how the music soundtrack is coming along, placing environmental sounds in 3D to increase immersion, and more.

• G.I. Combat
  Gameguru Mania's G.I Combat Q&A chats briefly with Eric Young of Freedom Games about their upcoming 3D RTS game. Topics include the number of former Atomic Games staff members on their team, accessibility, historical accuracy, individual soldiers' stats, the number of included levels, plans for a demo before the end of this month and more.
• Garage Games
  There's a Garage Games Q&A on The Gamers Press talking with Jay Moore about what's going on over there. They discuss game development using their Torque engine, the prospects of small developers succeeding in the current environment, the recent changes to their licensing agreement, and more.

The Conflict Desert Storm Demo on 3D Gamers is the premiere of the playable demo of Conflict: Desert Storm , Pivotal Games' upcoming squad-based combat game set in the Gulf War. The demo contains a video introduction and a full single-player mission, all of the cost of a 70 MB download.

There is a Mark Rein Chat Log on Unreality with the usual up-to-the-second details on the upcoming UT2003 demo as well as the corresponding full game. Topics include the in-game server browser, the game's single player component, installation options, copy protection, running a server without the CD in the drive, the size of the demo (100 MB) and the number of planned mirrors, CD keys and LAN play, plans to release free added content following the game's release, and of course the latest attempts to calculate exactly when the demo is most likely to be available.

GameSpot's Archangel Preview is online, offering impressions of Polish developer Metropolis Software's upcoming action adventure they say might be best described as "Soul Reaver with a twist." They describe the role of the player as a "stereotypical" semi-amnesiac protagonist, how the story unfolds, the expansive game world, the surreal setting, the unusual monsters, gameplay including RPG elements ("role-playing lite"), weapons, combat, plans to add puzzle elements, the awkward dialog, and more. Included are 10 new screenshots.

There is a XIII Q&A on Computer and Video Games and another XIII Q&A on the electric playground, each discussing Ubi Soft Montreal's upcoming Unreal-engine first-person shooter. CVG chats with designer Vincent Brajdic to inquire about the comic book-based story, the cartoon-like cel-shaded graphics, their FPS influences, differences between the console versions and the PC version, what they mean by the visual representation of sound, multiplayer support, and more. Meanwhile EP corners producer Julien Bares to ask how the comic license was secured, how the game will appeal to North Americans unfamiliar with the source material, input of the original author, stealth elements, interactivity, modification support, and more.

• Black Hawk Down
  There's a Delta Force: Black Hawk Down Preview on EuroGamer with a look at NovaLogic's upcoming DF game for which the demo is expected today (story). They discuss the setting in Somalia, the story that's divided into five episodes, the cinematic feel, the greater degree of action than previous Delta Force games, the game engine, AI, multiplayer support, and more.
• NOLF2
  HomeLan Fed's Exclusives No One Lives Forever 2 Preview is the latest look at the widely-distributed preview build of Monolith's upcoming spy shooter. They describe the Japanese setting of the included levels, the LithTech Jupiter engine, physics, puzzles, the groovy sixties style, weapons, cool touches and Easter eggs, and more.
• Dredd vs. Death
  The Dredd vs. Death hands-on Preview on Games Domain (thanks Charles E Hardwidge) offers brief impressions of seeing Rebellion's upcoming Judge Dredd game demonstrated for them, offering some quotes they picked up from lead designer Alex Moore.

GameSpy.com's Rise of Nations Developer Diary - Volume I is authored by Tim Train, executive producer on Big Huge Game's upcoming RTS epic. Today's topic at hand is "the integration of turn-based ideas" into the game's real-time environment, motivated by a desire to meld the strategic scope of the former with the "sizzle" of the latter. He discusses the goal of being able to keep an epic feel while keeping multiplayer matches short enough to be practical, slow motion mode, giving orders while paused, balancing, pacing, some concepts they are carrying over from previous games, eliminating micromanagement, combat, the tech tree, ideas that did not work, the impact of their "conquer the world" mode, and more.

• Earth & Beyond
  Earth & Beyond Week: Day IV on GameSpy.com is a Q&A with Westwood's Louis "Have Fun Stormin' The" Castle about their upcoming outer space MMORPG, discussing ups and downs encountered during production, including ideas that had to be scrapped, how the game turned out, anticipating the launch, and more.
• Ryzom
  RPG Vault Ryzom Q&A Part 1 chats with Nevrax producer David Cohen Corval and lead designer Eric Simon about their "imaginative online world." They discuss goals, influences, atmosphere, the story, and more.

Strategy First has released a minor version 1.0.6c patch for the North American version of Legion, which addresses a glitch detecting the game disk in secondary CD-Rom drives.

• Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 has been released. Thanks Justin Rossetti. FYI, this seems to update Windows Media Player for those concerned with DRM software.
• Ars Technica's BIOS Arcana description and translation.

BioWare's Director of Marketing Help Wanted has details about this high-level opening at the Canadian developer, where they are seeking someone who boasts "a very strong academic and professional background in marketing and related business associations." Accessible to more will be the paid internship at Big Huge Games where they are looking for experienced RTS players to participate in play-testing (it's not clear whether they are filling just one position, or more), presumably on Rise of Nations.

• Celtic Kings: Rage of War on ActionTrip and Gamer's Hell.
• Dino Crisis 2 on ActionTrip.
• Emperor: Rise of Middle Kingdom on PC.IGN.com.
• Grand Prix 4 on GameSpot.
• Hard Truck: 18 Wheels of Steel on GameSpot.
• Icewind Dale II (first impressions) on RPG Vault and (second opinion) on Gamer's Hell.
• Mafia on Unofficial Hidden & Dangerous 2 Site.
• Medieval: Total War on Gameplanet NZ and Game Over.
• The Thing on PC.IGN.com, Games Domain, and Something Awful.

• 3DForce Xabre400Q 128MB Video Card (in video) on 3dGameMan.
• Antec 80mm TriLight on MonkeyReview.
• Asus P4S8X SiS 648 Motherboard on GamePC.
• Cooler Master Neon LED FAN TLF-R82 on ModFactor.
• IOSS RD3XP Gladiator Super Shielded ATA133 Cables on TweakTown.
• Logitech Elite Keyboard on Everything USB.
• OCSystem's Enhanced GeForce4 Ti 4200 Video Card on OCAddiction.com.

• The latest Earth & Beyond Glimpse Inside takes a look at the voice acting in Westwood's upcoming MMORPG, talking with some of the actors who supplied the game's voice talent...
• There's an Anarchy Online Booster Pack update on Worthplaying where Funcom's Gaute Godager explains the implications of mixing players who purchase their upcoming AO Booster Pack with those who don't in their MMORPG...
• Eidos Interactive.com has the playable demo for Virtual Resort: Spring Break, offering all the joys of the real thing, except perhaps for the puking. The download is 158 MB, and there's a mirror on PC Gameworld...

This area was buffeted all day with one of the more dramatic wind storms I can ever recall. I saw cars being pushed on the road and heard a radio report that a school bus route was closed due to fallen trees. We also had a batch of loose bits of paper blown from a basket in a room where the windows were open leaving a good portion of the second floor looking like the aftermath of a ticker tape parade. At one point I considered trying to fly a kite for the first time since I was a wee Blue, but decided I would probably need to ballast my pockets to keep it from turning into a hang-gliding experience. I did not, however, see any flying houses or witches on bicycles, so I don't think Hudson and I are in Kansas anymore...

R.I.P. Johnny Unitas.

Play Time:	This Q3A Demo in Shockwave. Thanks to so many of you. I've held off for fear of helping Fox this, but the flood of mail indicates this is not terribly secret. Extremely cool.
Link of the Day:	Boogle.com. Thanks ^Jercilla^. Google with quotes (and corny photos).
Stories of the Day:	N.Y. Lottery Draws 9-1-1 on 9-11. Thanks AngryDan1. Moon opens for business. Thanks theAntiELVIS. Conch shell yields emerald treasure. Thanks Mike.
Weird Science:	Doctors crack case of man who 'dies' each time his alarm goes off. Thanks Chris Jones.
Wild Science:	New 'moon' found around Earth. Thanks ijones. Possibly Earth's third moon?????? Study: Humans Not Fit for Cloning. Thanks Rob Szekely.