An update to Gearbox's Warstory.net has the second teaser about their upcoming project, ticking off from D6 to D5 with a quote from Shakespeare's The Life of King Henry the V: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

Thief Lead No Longer With Project on The Adrenaline Vault is reporting that Randy Smith is no longer the lead designer on Thief: Deadly Shadows, ION Storm's upcoming installment in the stealthy series, saying: "Smith's departure and the recent arrival of Eidos general manager Trey Ratcliff suggests the winds of change are blowing through Ion. (We're told Ratcliff is putting the publisher's stamp on the game.)"

A new Terminator 3 War of the Machines Patch is now available, updating the game to version 1.16 (thanks Frans). The patch is called the GameSpy patch, explained by the accompanying note: "Patch 1.16 fixes various while connecting via the GameSpy Network."

The Sacred Website (thanks Frans) has a weekly patch update with word on what's in the works for the next update to the game. The update describes a bunch of balance tweaks, and promises further weekly status reports leading up to the release of the patch.

The Urban Terror Website now offers downloads of the final Quake III Arena version of the Urban Terror modification, as future development of this project will be done using the Enemy Territory version of the engine. Word is: "Being it is the final release, we have enrolled the services of AphexTwin who has created a kick ass installer which weighs in at 414Mb (full release only). We will also have a full .zip file at 428Mb or the 3.4 patch (12.2Mb) for those already running Urban Terror 3.3."

A new Dark Sector movie is now available, showing off Digital Extremes' upcoming persistent world shooter for which a the teaser website is also now online. The 12 MB movie can be downloaded from 3D Gamers, ActionTrip, Gamer's Hell, and Worthplaying. Also, the DRIV3R Website now offers Tony and Ridley Scott's complete Run the GAUNTLET (say it like REGIS!) teaser from the upcoming wheelman sequel.

XP Extras on GameSpot DLX (registration required) now offers downloads of the promised UT2004 bonus Onslaught mode maps, which seem to require Windows XP. Here's the deal: "Take the UT2004's massive Onslaught battles to new planets with these two additional maps designed by Epic Games. ONS-Ascendancy and ONS-Aridoom transport you to Tarydium crystal mines and age-old mesas littered with tank shells in this bonus pack exclusively for Windows XP." The 12 MB download is mirrored on 3D Gamers, Adrenaline Vault, and Gamer's Hell, while the mirror on Worthplaying is recompiled for use on all versions of Windows.

The Codemasters Website now offers a new multiplayer demo for Colin McRae Rally 04. Word is: "Compete with up to 8 players at once as you career round the rally stages from Australia, Spain, and Sweden, from behind the wheel of a Citroen Xsara." The site requires registration, but the 161 MB download is mirrored on 3D Downloads, 3D Gamers, ActionTrip, BigPond Game Arena (registration required), Boomtown (registration required), Filerush (torrent), Gamer's Hell, Pixelrage.ro, and Worthplaying.

The Spartan Downloads Page on the Slitherine Strategies Website now offers a new demo for Spartan, allowing a sample of the game's turn-based strategy gameplay. The demo is an 86 MB download, which allows the player to play 30 turns, 2½ years of game time.

A new multiplayer demo for TrackMania is now available, offering six brand new tracks to race upon as well as a track editor with sample blocks to provide a chance to check out the game's track construction mode. In addition to the demo, there is also a new Power Up! expansion pack, which "has loads of features, with new solo play modes, new multi-player options, new construction blocks to use and loads more new extras. You'd be crazy not to get it." Both downloads can be found on the TrackMania Website.

Buka Entertainment announces another new project, revealing plans for Pacific Storm, a World War II game that is "mixture of RTS, war-game and simulator." The official product page for the game is now online, offering some screenshots. Here's a bit from the announcement:

On December 7, 1941, a major part of the U.S. Pacific navy stationed at Pearl Harbor was assaulted by Japanese planes. Japanese fighters were destroying American aircraft on land and in the air, without giving them a chance for a counterattack.
The furious battle of Pearl Harbor became the first in the sequence of gory sea combats.
Now you can take part in all major Pacific battles of the World War II in the Pacific Storm game that is a mixture of RTS, war-game and simulator. All major and important sea battles of World War II, which took place in the Pacific Ocean, are included and you can play either for the USA or Japan.
Mine the resources (money, iron and nickel ore, bauxites and oil), train various units and retaliate!

• Source Engine
  HomeLAN Fed's Source Engine Licensing Q&A talks with Valve Software's Rick Ellis about the engine that will power Half-Life 2 and how Source engine licensing is handled.
• Evil Genius
  The Evil Genius Q&A on The Armchair Empire (thanks Frans) talks with Peter Gilbert about the upcoming game where it's good to be bad.
• Chaos League
  HomeLAN Fed's Chaos League Q&A chats with Cyanide's Patrick Pligersdorffer to discuss Chaos League, their upcoming fantasy sport game.

The Star Wars Battlefront Designer Diary #2 on GameSpy is online, in which "Juan Sanchez, lead animator on SWB, details the animation and effects of the game." Also, HomeLAN Fed's Shadow Ops Red Mercury Developers Diary - Part 4 is penned by Zombie's Julian De Puma and John E. Williamson on the topic of Character Models and Textures in their upcoming Unreal-engine shooter. Finally, RPG Vault Mourning Peek #21 is online, written by Dan Antonescu, lead designer on the upcoming RPG, though this could also technically be Mournig Peek #1, as the previous 20 installments were under the game's previous name, Realms of Torment.

• City of Heroes on ActionTrip.
• Dungeon Lords on GameSpot.
• Dangerous Waters on 3D Gamers.
• Hitman Contracts on GameBiz.com.au.
• SÖLDNER: Secret Wars on Yahoo! Games Domain.
• World of Warcraft on Game Over.

The Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004 Website (thanks Tiscali Games) has details on plans for the game's upcoming service pack: "With Service Pack 2, it will be quick and easy to set up an entire working railroad in Surveyor and then watch your creation come to life in Driver. You can interact with your Drivers as much or as little as possible as each one carries out his predefined orders. There are no limits to the number of drivers you can issue orders to, and no limits to the number of orders you can issue each Driver - so the only real limitations are your imagination and your hardware. With the flexibility of our TrainzScript language, you can extend this functionality even further."

• The Settlers V on the (new) Official German Website. Thanks Frans.

This Digital Jesters Press Release announces the launch of the Chaos League Website: "Chaos League is a fantasy sports game in which teams of nine players compete in a brutal field sport. Controlled using a real time strategy interface, the object of the game is simple: put the ball in the opponent's end-zone. The rules are equally simple: do it any way you can. And if that includes issuing commands such as 'stamp', 'facial kick' or 'ball of fire'... well, so be it. Just as long as you win."

• Gamehelper's Unreal Engine 3 Impressions and a feature on Battlefield 1942: Missing in Action Features.

• "Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading software industry publisher and developer, today announced their official pre-order campaign for Psi-Ops. Consumers can now pre-order Psi-Ops and get a copy of the acclaimed Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance for free."
• Take 2 Games' The Warriors Product Page is online (thanks Frans) confirming that the movie tie-in will be a PS2-exclusive release (story).

A new version 1.06 of the ZDaemon port of the DOOM source code is now available (thanks Frans). Here's the deal: "Based on ZDoom 1.23, this port will allow you to hook up and play with other DOOM players the same way you do in any modern FPS. Create a ZDaemon account and keep track of your progress and watch as you slowly gain experience and levels the more you play. Up to sixteen players can join in a all out fragfest or four players working together to stay alive can revisit classic DOOM & DOOM II levels."

The Threewave Website now features a new version 1.7 of Threewave CTF (thanks Caramon). This page has details on what's new and different.

A new version of IF Quake is now available, updating the actual portion of this text-based Quake game. This IF Quake page immortalizes the made-up aspects of this project that formed yesterday's April Fools gag.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Microsoft's iPod killer?
• iPod: this season's must-have for muggers. Thanks Jim Chaney.
• Gateway to Close Its 188 Retail Stores (thanks dakslf). When I visited one way back when, you still had to mail-order your PC.

The Epic Games Website (thanks Frans) makes a strong pitch for job candidates: "Epic Games is happy to announce the opening of multiple positions for our Xbox and next-gen PC development teams. Our strategy is simple: we hire extremely talented, experienced, mature people who love games (and hard work), and give them all the resources they need to succeed. The new members of our team are chosen by the team -- everyone gets a say, because it's very important that everyone is comfortable and productive. If you think you have what it takes review our Job Opening page and show us what you've got!" Also, "Gearbox Software is looking for a game/software test lead with previous industry experience... Send resumes to gamejobs@gearboxsoftware.com.

The Knights of Honor Interactive Map has been enlarged to show more of the game world. Also, Gamehelper's BREED Walkthrough is online, offering assistance in playing Brat Designs' first-person shooter in Adobe Acrobat format.

• Battlefield Vietnam on NoMansLand Network.
• Counter-Strike: Condition Zero on Gamesradar, The Entertainment Depot, and Gamehelper.
• Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps on GameSpot.
• Far Cry on TechTV.
• Lords of the Realm III on netjak.
• Midnight Nowhere on GameSpot.
• SpellForce - the Order of Dawn on PC Gameworld.
• UFO: Aftermath on GameBiz.com.au.
• Universal Combat on Worthplaying.
• Unreal Tournament 2004 on Game Over, GameSpot AU, and AMD Review.
• Uru: Ages Beyond Myst on Game Over.

• Bluetake BT500 Bluetooth Mouse on Hardware Pacers.
• Corsair PC3500 XMS Memory on TheTechLounge.
• Koolance CPU and GPU Waterblock on FastLaneHW.
• Raidmax 400w Blue Aluminum PSU on OverClock Intelligence Agency.
• Samsung SyncMaster 173MW Widescreen Multifunction LCD Monitor on Tweaknews.net.
• Sapphire Radeon 9800 XT Ultimate Edition Video Card on VR-Zone Hardware.
• Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card on Games-Fusion.
• TDK Indi DVD 880N 8x DVD±RW on CDRLabs.

• Sonalysts' Computer Game Downloads now offers a new 2K/XP patch and version 1.38 patches for Fleet Command. Thanks Frans...
• New Pong king crowned. Thanks Mike Martinez...
• Computer games could aid hearing. Thanks Mike Martinez...
• ValuSoft announces plans to publish Nitro Family. Thanks Frans...

That was a pretty good April Fool's Day yesterday, a lot of good gags, and not too many stinkers. There was an interesting debate over the possibility that Google's Gmail announcement was a gag I fell for, but Google 'Gmail' No Joke, Lunar Jobs Are reasserts the factuality of the story.

Oddly, I had a series of short brownouts here in the BlueTower yesterday. I don't think this was someone at the power company playing an April Fools, and am coming to the conclusion that I need someone qualified to come in and make sure the house is wired properly.

Play Time:	Chasm.
Stories of the Day:	A Fine Year for April Foolery. Thanks Ant. Students handcuffed at elementary school. Nude women off the menu at one Nashville bar.
Science!:	Lawn Mowing for Lazybones. U.S. Won't Alert Parents, Doctors on Mercury in Flu Shots for Kids (registration required). Electronic Snoops Tackle Copiers.
Follow-up:	California reconsiders nation's only biotech pet ban "lobbied by his wife."
	Thanks Mike Martinez