Ultima X Odyssey Cancelled on GameSpy has news that the upcoming Unreal-engine MMORPG set in the Ultima universe has gotten the axe. Word is there will be no layoffs associated with the cancellation, as the staff from the project are shifted to Ultima Online. Further: "A spokesperson said the game was cancelled so Electronic Arts could focus its resources on the existing game, including a new (and as yet unannounced) expansion pack that will be officially announced later this month at EA's upcoming press event."

• Perimeter
  Action Vault's Perimeter Wrap Report offers a postmortem on KD-LAB's terraforming RTS game now that it has shipped to stores.
• Evil Genius
  TotalVideoGames.com's Evil Genius Dev Diary #3 continues this series by Derek dela Fuente on the upcoming good to be bad game.
• The Bard's Tale
  The Bard's Tale Developer Diary Vol. V on GameSpy offers "A day in the life of a video-game scripter" courtesy of inXile's Sean Patton.
• The Fall: Last Days of Gaia
  RPG Vault The Fall: Last Days of Gaia Diary #5 is online, where: "Lead Designer Carsten Strehse enlightens us on an essential aspect of Silver Style's RPG or any other, quest design."
• Saga of Ryzom
  RPG Vault's The Saga of Ryzom Guidebook #3 is online, as: "Members of Nevrax' mysterious Zorai race conceal their faces with masks and their powers behind a veil of secrecy."
• Mourning
  RPG Vault Mourning Peek #32 offers more on PvP combat in the upcoming MMORPG from lead designer Dan Antonescu.

• Ground Control 2
  The Ground Control 2 Q&A on FileFront talks with Henrik Sebring of Massive Development about their RTS sequel: "We’ve done a huge number of changes to the game but I think one of the most important one is the new and improved dropship. The dropships that is the players’ means of getting reinforcements to the battlefield is one of the original game’s core features. In GCII we’ve expanded the dropships to allow players to control them freely and to upgrade their attributes."
• Codename Panzers
  Horrifyingly Realistic Battles and Historically Accurate Units – “CODENAME PANZERS” Blasts onto the PC on GameZone is a Q&A with the Stormregion design team about their World War II real-time strategy game.
• Sherlock Holmes
  The Frogwares Q&A on Experience Gaming talks with Waël AMR, president of Ukrainian developer Frogwares, discussing Sherlock Holmes: The Silver Earring: "The plot was written by a Sherlock fan, and we used it to create the game. The plot is so perfect, so devilish, and so complex and at the same time so realistic with so many things involved, it was simply impossible to resist."

• Close Combat: First to Fight on ActionTrip.
• Nexus on Gamesradar. Thanks Frans.

• Colin McRae Rally 5 on Blackhole Motorsports.
• COPS 2170: The Power of Law on RPG Vault.
• Face of Mankind on RPG Vault.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Intel moves toward 64-bit; analysts unsure apps will soon follow.
• InfoWorld Microsoft unit accuses Brazilian official of defamation.
• Man loses job thanks to IM virus.
• ISPs free from paying royalties from downloads.
• goScreen version 4.1 is now available.

A new Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising patch is now available, updating NovaLogic's multiplayer shooter to version 1.1.1.5. The update address some glitches, including some problems that could cause the game to crash. The 25 MB update is available from NovaLogic, and mirrored on 3D Gamers, ActionTrip, FileFront, and Worthplaying.

The Far Cry Forums now feature details on what's planned for the upcoming version 1.2 patch for Far Cry (story). The update warns that these notes are current as of yesterday, and are still subject to change. The list includes a few gameplay tweaks and a good number of bug fixes. Thanks Frans.

The Come Back to Camelot campaign kicks off an effort by Mythic Entertainment to lure knights errant back into the clutches of Dark Age of Camelot, their fantasy MMORPG, to see what's new with the addition of the New Frontiers expansion: "We're offering you the chance to come back to Camelot for free. As a former player, we'd like to give you 14 free days to discover what has kept others playing while you've been away. You won't even have to start over, your character awaits you just as you left it when you last played."

The ASCARON Entertainment Website has word (in German) that the German edition of Arena Wars, the action/RTS game that underwent much of its development under the title WebWars Arena, is now gold. A rough Babel Fish translation reveals to those of us who do not speak German that the game is due in Germany on July 16. Thanks Frans.

Slitherine Software announces plans for Legion Arena, an upcoming online strategy game set in the days of the Roman Empire that "is due to be completed in a couple of months." Here's a bit on the game, and its free online play:

Slitherine Software are pleased to announce Legion Arena, their upcoming online strategy game. Legion Arena puts you the player in charge of a Roman army and takes you up against the enemies of Rome. You must recruit & train up your troops, choosing the skills they will develop in an effort to create the most powerful army. Games will be played entirely online & all results are passed back to the server and logged and the player’s army ranked. And the best part is… it’s free!

Legion Arena uses a totally new engine, but we won’t bore you with the details. It’s enough to say that it allows fully 3D battles with thousands of guys. 3D engines are a dime a dozen, so we want to focus on the gameplay and not try and wow you with how many poly’s we can push around the screen. You can judge that for yourselves when you see the screenshots.

A trial version of Rapid Gunner is now available, offering the chance to sample this target shooting game from Czech developer 7FX. The trial contains the full version of the game, which can be played freely for 25 minutes, after which time the full version can be unlocked by purchasing a license key. The 73 MB download is available on 3D Gamers, FileFront, and Worthplaying.

The first patch for Kreed is now available, addressing problems some were having starting up Burut's sci-fi first-person shooter. The patch can be found on the German Acclaim Website (thanks GenGamers).

• Close Combat: First to Fight
  HomeLAN Fed's Close Combat Q&A talks with Destineer's Peter Tamte about Close Combat: First to Fight, their upcoming squad-based shooter: "We hope people will play First to Fight differently than other military shooters. First to Fight is not an anti-terrorist game or a stealth game. It is about being part of the loudest, most powerful military force in history."
• Lawman
  HomeLAN Fed's Lawman Q&A is a chat with Jan Marek of Techland about Lawman, their upcoming first-person shooter set in the wild west: "After a futuristic shooter - Chrome, we wanted to create something real, known and with incredibly realistic feel. The choice was obvious - western frontier. Everybody has seen at least one western, we all know what's 'classical' and therefore it is easy and fun to build up on that."

The Atriarch News Page (thanks Frans) offers a new update on World Fusion's upcoming MMORPG, outlining an extensive list of small changes to gameplay that they've been implementing. The update concludes with an acknowledgment that with so many changes, their FAQ is now out-of-date: "The feature and faq list for Atriarch is really old. We are planning to rewrite it to reflect the changes in the game and evolution of the design. Also, we plan to put screenshots along with the feature list to make it easier to visualize rather than just a bunch of text."

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Intel prunes pre-Grantsdale P4 chipset prices.
• What's the New IE Flaw All About?
• EFF Publishes Patent Hit List.
• High Court: Porn Law Too Broad.
• Comcast reports 35 percent decline in spam.
• New RadClocker/RadLincker versions are now available. Thanks Ant.
• CWShredder Creator Calls It Quits - Browser hijack variants getting too nasty. Thanks Ant.
• Highend CPU's vs High End Graphics cards.
• Webcam lets users eyeball others.
• Computing Gets Physical.
• E-voting Nightmare or nirvana?
• Huge discounts given on Google options.
• DOJ: Our Computer Ate the Info.
• Hi-tech answer to student cheats.
• IT workers' salaries slip in middle.
• I Want My TechTV!

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• NCAA Football 2005 is gold for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube. "The game will be in stores on July 15 and is the first EA SPORTS title to have Xbox Live capability."
• Microsoft launches fresh look for Xbox.
• Sega Investors Approve of Sammy Merger.
• Geist Delayed.
• GoldenEye Rogue Agent preview on Gamers Europe.
• Astro Boy: Omega Factor Updated Impressions on GameSpot.
• Burnout 3 Takedown Movie on GameSpot.
• Microsoft Offers Free Games for Xbox Live! Subs.

A new version 2.0 of the CarBall modification for Unreal Tournament 2004 is now available. The update to this mod that simulates soccer/football games played in cars fixes some bugs, tweaks gameplay and maps, and adds a new Big Wheel vehicle.

OdB Productions Gaming Event Coverage now features a video showing off the recent ESWC UK qualifier in Sheffield. The clip: "features interviews with gameclans 4Kings, Wolf, TAG and G2XS, Warcraft Champions Bond and PuReBall and organiser Gamefrontier (www.gamefrontier.com)."

• City of Heroes on Jaded-Gamer.
• Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising on Games Domain.
• Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle on ESCMag and The Gamers Temple.
• Perimeter on GameSpot.
• Soldiers: Heroes of World War II on GameZone.
• SÖLDNER: Secret Wars (first impressions) on GameSpot.
• Star Wars Galaxies (revisited) on Gamers With Jobs.
• The Suffering on GameZone.
• Thief: Deadly Shadows on Gaming Illustrated.
• True Crime: Streets of L.A. on Game Over and Fragland.net.
• Warlords Battlecry III on Boomtown.net.
• War Times on Stratos Group.

• Altec Lansing FX6021 Speakers on NextGen Electronics.
• AOpen XCCube EZ18 nForce2 SFF System on Bjorn3d.
• CoolerMaster AquaGate Liquid Cooling System on Overclockers Australia.
• Chenbro Gaming Bomb Case on PC Unleash.
• Corsair TwinX1024-3200XLPRO RAM on SystemCooling.
• Corsair XLPRO Ultra-Low Latency TwinX 1 GB Memory Kit on Adrian's Rojak Pot.
• Danger Den TDX vs Cool Cases CF1 v2 Water Coolers on MADSHRIMPS.
• Edifier R501 5.1 Speakers on ViperLair.
• Foxconn 925A01-EKRS 925X+ICH6R Socket T Motherboard on OC Workbench.
• Foxconn AMD 3400 + Heat Guzzler Heatsink on OverClock Intelligence Agency.
• Keyboard Master WK9200 Hunter Gaming Keyboard on Overclocker's Club.
• Mad Dog Entertainer 7.1 DSP Sound Card on PCStats.
• NEC 1980SX 19" LCD Monitor on Bjorn3d.
• Patriot PDC3200ELK 2GB DUAL CHANNEL DDR RAM on Maxitmag.
• Samsung CLP-550 Colour Laser Printer on Bytesector.
• Samsung ML-2151N Workgroup Monochrome Laser Printer on MODSYNERGY.
• Sennheiser PX 100, PX 200 and PXC 250 Portable Headphones on Dan's Data.
• Shuttle's XPC SK83G SFF System on The Tech Report.
• SilenX 400 Watt 14 dBA Active-PFC iXtrema PSU on hi-techreviews.
• Steelpad 3S Mouse Pad on EXHardware.
• Thermaltake XTunner 4 Fan Speed by IR Remote Control Kit on Futurelooks.
• ViewSonic VP2290b - High-Resolution TFT LCD Monitor on TrustedReviews.
• Xclef HD-800 MP3 Player on A True Review.
• Zalman Surround Sound on accelenation.com.

• Aspyr announces that Delta Force: Mac Hawk Down is gold, and should be available in North America by July 5. Aspyr also announces availability of Shrek 2: The Game for the Macintosh...
• Foul Ball Seen in Pro-Backed Video Games. Thanks Mike Martinez...
• Joey the Passion Ships...

Today's the day Spider-Man 2 launches in theaters here in the U.S. When the first Spider-Man came out I recall vowing to break my trend of not getting out to the movies to see it on its first run, but failed to make good on that plan. Since then I have worked out the process properly (like attending a movie is so complicated), so I'm much more confident that I'll be able to make it this time. As a long-time fan of the wall-crawler, I thought they did a decent job of bringing Spidey to life in the first-one. I found the CG Spidey a bit too artificial (at least on the small screen), and hope this will be better in the new one (or at least play better on the big screen), but I was impressed with how true to the spirit of the original much of it is (though if I were making the movie, I would have done the whole Gwen Stacey story to its painful conclusion -- shows how old school I am). Anyway, with very positive reviews coming in for the sequel, I'll gladly throw it against the wall and see if it sticks.

Play Time:	The Phone.
Stories of the Day:	A dream of a 1,000-year camera. Barbie is dating again, this time it's a hunky Australian. Throw another gimp on the Barbie. Python Surprises Man Driving Rental Car. Thanks Ant.
Science!:	Secondhand Smoke More Risky Than Thought. Perchance to dream, by program. Rat drug may boost sex drive in women, study finds. Who decided to check that?
Media of the Day:	Need A Loan??!! Thanks tron.
Images of the Day:	Sample Label. Thanks Jack Scagnetti. You are not your adhesive labels.
Auction of the Day:	Garfield Wendy's Kids Meal bag OBSCENE gesture! Thanks Doug Schramm.
	Thanks Mike Martinez