This LucasArts Press Release from the other day specifies a fall release date for Knights of the Old Republic, the upcoming Star Wars RPG being developed by BioWare. Word on the Xbox version is that it's expected in July. Thanks John.

GameSpy.com's Savage Preview takes a look at the upcoming multiplayer RTS/FPS in the works at S2 Games. One of the topics covered is the importance of communication in such a game: "Fortunately, players have a variety of chat options available, including global chats, team chats, communication to specified groups, and one-on-one messages. These options prove enormously helpful when you realize that the little icon you're talking to is another human being and will often do a better job achieving an objective if they understand why they're being asked to do something."

• Dragon Empires
  Action 4 life's Dragon Empires Q&A talks with Codemasters' Jim Purbrick to discuss Dragon empires, their upcoming MMORPG. One of the topics addressed is the nature of how the game will stand out from the crowd: "If we were making an MMORPG in the mould of existing games then I'd be very worried, but Dragon Empires has a lot of original features, so I'm confident that we'll stand out from the crowd."
• Lethal Dreams
  The Lethal Dreams Q&A on RPGRadar talks with Olga "Sola" Saulenko of Boolat Games about Lethal dreams, their upcoming RPG. Along the way they get a concise view of the unusual goals for this game: "The majority of games offer saving the world, people, etc. Realizing this, we decided to diversify the atmosphere. In our game, Lethal Dreams, you are not to save the world, but to create the new one - your own world, which meets all your desires. So, at the very end of the game, you‘ll see your dreams realized in your new world."
• Chaser
  Game2XS' Chaser Weekend Part 2 features more Q&A action with Cauldron programmer Marian Suran, answering a few more questions about their upcoming first-person shooter.
• Captain Scarlet
  GameSpy's Captain Scarlet Q&A talks with Philip Harris of Batfish Studios about Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, the upcoming game based on the Captain Scarlet TV series. Here's a bit on the game's use of the SPV: "The main vehicle is the Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle or SPV. The SPV is fitted with a cannon which is useful for destroying roadblocks, walls, or enemy gun emplacements. It can also be used to halt the progress of enemy vehicles or simply for getting the Spectrum agents from one area to another safely."

HomeLan Fed's PlanetSide Press Event Report is online, describing a bit of what went on at a recent unveiling of SOE's upcoming MMOFPS. Included are bits on a couple of things that have not been part of the game's beta testing to this point, for instance: "One of the new additions has been VoiceIP support and we got a demo of that at the PlanetSide press event. Anyone with a microphone will now be able to give voice orders to his or her squad as well as listen to what other squad members have to say. To have this system in place out of the box when the final game is released should be a welcome addition for players who are tired of punching keyboards for text chat."

The Qtracker Homepage now offers a new version 3.52 of the Qtracker multipurpose server browsing utility. The update adds support for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and new Half-Life 4.1.1.1 remote administration features, as well as fixes for some bugs. Additionally, the launch has been cleaned up so that the program starts up much faster now.

• Breed on Krawall Gaming Network.

The debut release of the Point of View modification for Half-Life is now available (thanks Ant). The twist here is now you get to play as an alien, as this single-player mod puts the player in the role of an Alien Slave.

• Codename Nina: Global Terrorism Strike Force on Frictionless Insight.
• Iron Storm on GameAxis.
• Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield on The Wargamer and AllOutGames.
• Star Trek Starfleet Command III on The Armchair Empire.
• TOCA Race Driver on Computer and Video Games.
• Uplink: Hacker Elite on PC.IGN.com.

• ATI RADEON 9100 Video Cards on X-bit labs.
• CoolerMaster Aero7 Heatsink on RadiativeNZ.
• Coolermaster Neon LED Fan on Monster-Hardware.
• Creative I-Trigue 2.1 3300 Speaker System on AthlonXP.com.
• SubZero4G Thermo-electric Cooling (in video) on 3dGameMan.com.
• TOCOOL Novasonic Cooler on X-treme PC TECH.
• VIA KT400 Round-up on Digital Daily.
• Zalman CNPS7000Cu vs. Thermalright SLK-900U Coolers on Gaming in 3D.

• 'Masters of Doom' Behind a Video Game Empire (NY Times free registration required). Thanks Slaughter...
• Wired News: DSL Firms Drop Prices to Compete. Thanks Mike Martinez...

Happy 05/04/03. Well here's a new one on me... I have been offline all day because the phone company was making the follow-up to their recent trouble call here, since it turned out there was a problem in an entire portion of the outside wiring in my neighborhood that required fixing or circumventing or whatever. That's right, Verizon showed up here at 9:00 AM on a Sunday morning to repair something. Now, in spite of the fact that this knocked out my non-Verizon DSL line for a good bit of time, I can be nothing but impressed by all of this, as both these service calls are within a week of the initial complaint (a line cut out briefly, and returned), and this Sunday morning thing is just plain startling, all the more so by the immediate follow-up to restore the cut DSL line.

Stories of the Day:	Labels reportedly back antipiracy software. Thanks Mike Martinez. Software Bullet Is Sought to Kill Musical Piracy (NY Times free registration required). Thanks Bronco.
Media of the Day:	Go-ped vs. Trans AM. Thanks banddirector.
Weird Science:	Asteroid named after Mister Rogers. Thanks Mike Martinez.
Auction of the Day:	Corey Feldman CD Love Left Mint sealed superb. Thanks MikeyJ.