The Breed Website has an update with word on both the release date in Germany for this upcoming futuristic shooter, as well as word on when to expect the demo. Here's the deal: "CDV Software Entertainment officially announces the German release date for its science fiction shoot em up, Breed. The specialist press will be able to enjoy a detailed preview of the eagerly awaited title at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2003 in Los Angeles before Breed hits German shelves at the end of May. The demo will probably be published at the end of March and will offer a little taste of the masterpiece from Brat Designs and CDV."

This press release announces the release of the second free bonus pack for Unreal Tournament 2003. "The downloadable pack, which includes three new game types, 10 new maps, two new adrenaline combos, new announcer voice options and an in-game music manager, was created by Epic Games and is available at www.unrealtournament2003.com." Mirrors can be found on 3D Gamers, FilePlanet (registration required), FileShack (registration required), Gamer's Hell, UT2003Files, and Worthplaying.

CDV has announced that Grom, the World War II action adventure game, has shipped to stores in the US. Here's the deal: "With aspirations of world domination, the diabolical Führer has sent a special unit to Tibet, confident that they will uncover the Lost City of King Arjuna. Twelve weapons, each capable of destroying major cities in seconds, are concealed within the ancient ruins. Acting as Colonel Grom, a seasoned campaigner with a witty sense of humor, the player is the one man standing between the Nazis and world domination. With movie-style 3D sound effects and 3D characters derived from Tibetan mythology, this game is entertaining to even the most savvy gamer."

There's an Enter the Matrix Preview on Computer and Video Games offering some first-hand impressions of the upcoming computer game tie-in with the Matrix movie franchise. They discuss the influence of the filmmakers on the game, how the game and movies intertwine, and offer eyewitness accounts of gameplay, including how the game will represent the movie's distinctive slow motion effects:

When you enter combat, the two attacking buttons can be used to pull off a range of combination attacks, with a further button employed to disarm opponents in an ultimately cool manner. All very nice, but the real fighting glory is revealed when you make use of the "Focus" button.

This puts the game into "bullet time" allowing you to pull off some visually amazing, gravity defying stunts. Run at a wall while holding Focus and you back-flip away; run at an angle and you scoot up it and cartwheel off - couple this with a weapon for a deadly hail of fire. Run, jump and shoot with Focus and you'll spin like a corkscrew; do the same backwards and you leap away in slo-mo allowing time to batter the enemy with bullets. All highly impressive.

Keep an eye on your PC – Uplink Hacker Elite Ships is the press release announcing the availability of the boxed version of Uplink: Hacker Elite, the game that puts the player in the role of a high-tech spy, hacking into computer systems at the behest of rival corporations to experience the joys of "stealing research data, sabotaging other companies, laundering money, erasing evidence, and framing innocent people." Good times. In other game shipment news, Ubi Soft sends word that they have released the gold edition of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, a package that combines the original game with the Desert Siege and Island Thunder expansion packs.

The Disciples World Expands… is a press release from Strategy First announcing plans for two new stand-alone expansion packs for Disciples II: Dark Prophecy. Here's the word: "The first expansion, Disciples II – Guardians of the Light lets gamers play as the two 'good' races in the franchise: the Empire and the Mountain Clans, and the second expansion, Disciples II – Servants of the Dark, features the game’s two 'evil' races: the Undead Hordes and the Legions. Both stand-alone expansions, Guardians of the Light and Servants of the Dark, can also be combined so gamers can play all four races." Word on scheduling is that Guardians of the Light will ship in May 2003 and Servants of the Dark will follow in June 2003. Here's a bit more on planned content:

The two expansion packs will each include 2 new high-level mini campaigns, a random map generator, 16 skirmish/multiplayer maps including 10 never-before-seen maps, and all the updates for Disciples II – Dark Prophecy. Art enhancements will include 3 new special characters, new capital backgrounds, new battle backgrounds, new music tracks and more.

ARUSH Entertainment, Groove Games, and Digitalo team up to send word that Devastation, their Unreal-engine first-person shooter, has gone gold, and should be available in North America within a couple of weeks, Word is: "Devastation features amazing graphics and textures, an intriguing and involved storyline, intelligent NPC and enemy AI, incredible weaponry, the ability to pick up and throw items in the environment, and a brand new style of multiplayer gaming called Territories." Also, the latest in the ongoing flood of Devastation previews has been posted on XGR.

A new Frontline Attack: War over Europe patch is now available, updating In Images' 3D RTS game (A.K.A. World War II: Panzer Claws) to version 1.1.7. The 6.6 MB patch can be downloaded from 3D Gamers, where word is: "This patch unifies all language editions, and primarily applies a handful of multiplayer enhancements and bug fixes, along with balancing and AI improvements and a few other changes."

• Kreed
  Action Vault - Kreed Q&A #9 poses the following group question of the developers on this upcoming shooter: "What are a couple of sound effects or musical elements that you consider most memorable or effective, and why do you feel they work especially well?"
• Xenus
  The Xenus Q&A on RPGRadar chats with Deep Shadows' Alexander Khrutsky in a bit of detail about their upcoming shooter/RPG.
• Rise of Nations
  The Rise of Nations Q&A on Computer and Video Games talks with Brian Reynolds of Big Huge Games about their new epic RTS game.
• Shadowlands
  Anarchy Online: Shadowlands Q&A on RPGDot talking with Funcom's Jørgen Tharaldsen about Shadowlands, AO, and other works in progress at the Norwegian developer.
• They Came from Hollywood
  There's a They Came from Hollywood Q&A on Gamers Pulse talking with "Sparky" of Octopus Motor about their upcoming b movie game.
• Bloodmoon
  HomeLan Fed's Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon Q&A chats with Ashley Cheng, lead designer on the upcoming Morrowind expansion.
• Line of Sight: Vietnam
  The Line of Sight: Vietnam Q&A on Worthplaying gangs up on Jeff Birns and Jason Zisk of nFusion Interactive to discuss their upcoming Vietnam War game.
• Star Wars Galaxies
  RPG Vault Star Wars Galaxies Q&A #2 asks some of the developers of the upcoming Star Wars MMORPG the following question: "Which of the planets in Star Wars Galaxies is your personal favorite, and what's a specific location that you consider particularly interesting, fun or otherwise special?"
• Horizons
  The latest installment in Horizons Vault's Ask Artifact Entertainment throws a few more questions at the developers of this upcoming MMORPG, which also has been previewed over on GameSpot.
• X2
  GameSpyDaily's X2: The Threat Q&A talks with Darren Astles of Egosoft about X2: The Threat, their upcoming sequel to X: Beyond The Frontier.
• The Hulk
  Computer and Video Games' The Hulk Q&A chats with Universal's Nick Torchia about their upcoming comic book-inspired game that you wouldn't like when its angry.

• AquaNox 2
  There's an AquaNox 2 preview on Loadedinc.com with a look at Massive Development's upcoming underwater shooter sequel.
• The Movies
  The Movies impressions on GameSpot are based on getting to see Lionhead Studios' upcoming Hollywood studio simulator at GDC.
• Wolverine's Revenge
  There's an X2 Wolverine's Revenge Preview on GameSpot offers a look at the Xbox version of the upcoming X-Men game that will also be released on the PC.
• Empire of Magic
  There's an Empire of Magic Preview on PC.IGN.Com, saying "Chaos reigns in Mayhem Studios' upcoming turn-based strategy title."

An update on PS3 Insider.com has a chuckle at the expense of recent reports (even picked up by Bloomberg) that says the PS3 would be released by the end of this year, quoting Sony as saying: "The story that Bloomberg is running is a completely false. We have never commented to Bloomberg in relation with this story." Also, Computer and Video Games reports that UK retailer The Dixons group has confirmed it is to stop stocking Nintendo's GameCube console, quoting a leaked memo that says "Due to the continued poor sales on GameCube we are beginning to take our first steps to clear out the format."

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• VIA Arena has new version 4.46 VIA Hyperion 4in1 drivers. Thanks Ant.
• Chips losing some antipiracy support.
• Technology makes U.S. soldiers `masters of the night'.
• Revamped Macromedia site irks customers.
• Deloder slowly worms its way on Net.
• Recent worms punish bad passwords.
• Spode's Abode's Basic Guide to Watercooling.

Uncle Sam sends word that he's looking to fill some art positions on the America's Army team: "The America’s Army development team is currently seeking talented low-poly 3D Modelers/Texture Artists to join their staff. Ideal candidates should be proficient in Maya and Photoshop, with particular skills in UV and texture painting. Applicants should be enthusiastic, team-oriented individuals ready to work with a motivated, high-energy team. Must be willing to relocate to Monterey, California, and be a US citizen or possess the appropriate right to work in the United States. Submit resume and portfolio to: Phillip Bossant.

• Avernum 3 on Gamer's Pulse.
• Europa 1400 - the Guild on The Wargamer.
• Freelancer on GameAxis.
• Harbinger on GameSpy.
• Heroes of Might and Magic IV: Winds of War on GameSpot.
• I Was an Atomic Mutant on Worthplaying.
• Praetorians on gamingNEXT.
• Post Mortem on ELiTeD.net.
• Splinter Cell on GamesFirst, GameZone, and (in German) on GamersUnitedNetwork.
• The Gladiators: Galactic Circus Games on GamingExcellence.
• Unreal II: the Awakening on Madgamers.net.

• ABIT NF7-S nForce2 Motherboard on VR-Zone Hardware.
• Altec Lansing 2100 2.1 Speaker System on LAN Addict.
• Antec PlusView 1000 AMG Case on DarkVision Hardware and PC Abusers.
• AMD Athlon XP 2700+ CPU on Nexus Hardware.
• Gigabyte Maya II R9500 Video Card on AMDZone and Digital Daily.
• NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Video Card on 3DGPU.com.
• NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 Ultra Video Card (First Look) on 3DGPU.com.
• NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 & 5600 Ultra Video Cards on Bjorn3d.
• Thermalright SK-6+ Cooler on OverClock Intelligence Agency.
• Zalman 300W Quiet PSU (in video) on 3dGameMan.com.

• FilmForce's Deus Ex Update takes advantage of the GDC to talk with the scriptwriter on the upcoming Deus Ex movie, learning about how the screenplay is progressing. Thanks Devster...
• Shrapnel Games sends word that the release date for Interstellar Trader 2 has been moved to March 21...

I mentioned my near-miss run-in with the doggie puke the other day. Turns out this was not an isolated incident, as this morning Hudson the wonder dog again demonstrated the miracle of reverse peristalsis. I don't think she's actually sick as much as it looks like she's not reacting well to a recent change in her dry food. You see the last time I was at the petatorium, I accidentally picked out the wrong variety, which seems to be upsetting her tummy, the Alanis-style irony here is that the offending food is this oatmeal based food intended for sensitive stomachs (seriously). Sometimes you just can't win.

Play Time:	Tactics Core Demo. Thanks Sean Malone.
Stories of the Day:	Afghans plant flag on the Internet. Thanks Wintermute2_0. Slice of mercy costs driver job. Thanks Mike Martinez. The darkest side of ID theft. Thanks Mike Martinez.
Weird Science:	As Cellphones Become Cuter, Clarity Suffers (NY Times free registration required). Thanks Mike Martinez.
Wild Science:	Signals to be rechecked in alien hunt. Thanks Chris Johnson. Twins crack face recognition puzzle. Thanks Mike Martinez.
Auction of the Day:	Surrogate pregnancy. Thanks Bronco.