The Instinct Website is online, a home to a previously unannounced first-person shooter from Digital Spray Studios that's due for release later this year. This is a story driven game based on a real-life explosion in North Korea a couple of years ago. So far only the Russian-language info for the project is online, but the Wikipedia offers an account of the Ryanggang explosion upon which the game is based. The first screenshots for the game are also now available.

Nival Interactive unveils Day Watch, the upcoming sequel to Night Watch, their tactical combat RPG in a techno/fantasy setting due for release by the end of this year. The first screenshots are on 3D Gamers, where they also have Nival's blurb on the game:

This time it's global. The battle between good and evil - Night and Day Watch - takes place in Moscow, Paris and Washington, DC. Discover the Dark Side with the Day Watch! Unleash the tremendous power of your character - gain revenge for the battles lost to the forces of the Night Watch.

The Joint Task Force Game Information Page now offers a release date for "the definitive 21st century strategy game" (thanks Frans). The Fall 2006 release date has been narrowed to September 12, 2006. Word is: "The definitive 21st century strategy game has arrived. Get your boots dirty as you lead the fight to secure the world’s most volatile regions. Bring officially-licensed military technology to bear in real-world combat situations, overflowing with embedded media, refugees, and deadly insurgents."

The Parabellum Website has received an update, offering more information about ACONY's upcoming Unreal 3 engine first-person shooter. The site includes information as well as a half-dozen new screenshots. On a related note, a new movie trailer for Parabellum is also now available, word is: "ACONY would like to follow this up by showing the first video footage to the gaming community, even if it’s still pre alpha status. Its total length is 1 minute 43 seconds and what you see with have you sitting on the edge of your chair, shouting wow at the monitor." The download is available on 3D Gamers, GameSpot, and Strategy Informer.

Vivendi Partners with Double Fine has word the publishing deal is in place for the next game from Tim Schafer's Double Fine Productions:

Vivendi Games today announced that it has secured the rights to publish the next title from the critically acclaimed Double Fine Productions. The as yet unnamed title is a brand new creation and will be published by Vivendi Games' Sierra Entertainment label.

Turbine and Midway announce that The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar has entered the beta testing phase as the Tolkien MMORPG nears completion:

WESTWOOD, MA – SEPTEMBER 8, 2006 – Turbine and Midway announced today that The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ (LOTRO) has officially entered Beta in North America. Codemasters Online Gaming is pleased to announce the simultaneous launch of Pre-Beta in Europe.

This Beta is by invitation only and over time more and more players will be invited. Fans can continue to register to join the Beta Program by visiting http://www.lotro.com/betasignup for North America and http://www.lotro-europe.com for the European program.

“The response to LOTRO Alpha was overwhelming. Player enthusiasm continues to exceed our expectations at every milestone,” said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “The Alpha was oversubscribed and the Beta Program is on a record-setting pace with nearly 200,000 players already registered. LOTRO is building toward one of the largest beta communities in the industry.”

The first and only massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based on the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Online™ allows players to write their own stories in Middle-earth™, the most famous fantasy world of all time.

David Solari, Vice President and General Manager of Codemasters Online Gaming, said “It’s great to reach the Beta for such an exciting game. We look forward to seeing players bring the incredible world of Middle-earth to life and making it their own.”

The Deep Silver Forums (thanks Adventure Gamers and Frans) have word of a slight delay to Secret Files Tunguska in the UK, saying the adventure game is being pushed back two weeks until September 29. A fortnight is a minor setback, but the interesting aspect of this is the reason, as it is to avoid shipping a buggy game, something some companies aren't bothered by:

Thing is that a serious error on the already packaged product was found, which is either based on a complication during production or mastering phase. We caught the culprid during delivery and this is why some websites have already updated or postponed the release date. The error in question produced two bad bugs at the end of the game and two vital cutscenes weren`t triggered properly. We only had a few hours to decide on how to handle the situation... either ship the game with the knowledge of the flaw, deliver a patch and pray that everyone installs it or trash the whole production and start from scratch.

Some content from the Austin Game Conference which is now underway:

• AGC Keynote Rob Pardo on MMORPG.COM.
• Richard Vogel (BioWare) on MMO Betas on MMORPG.COM.
• AGC Ubisoft's Nolent Talks 'The Death Of Cinematics' on Gamasutra.
• AGC Writer Keynote on MMORPG.COM.
• Michael Dell at the Austin Game Conference.

The Mark Product Section is online as another home to the upcoming counter-terrorism first-person shooter. The site offers info, screenshots, and a tech FAQ (thanks Frans). Also, the official NEVEREND Website is live, dedicated to this fantasy-themed RPG that's due for release in North America this month.

An Open Season movie shows off the upcoming game tie-in with the upcoming animated movie. The high resolution clip runs for over two minutes, available on 3D Gamers.

• Star Trek Online
  The Star Trek Online Q&A on FiringSquad talks with Glen Dahlgren of Perpetual Entertainment about the upcoming Trekkie MMORPG: "As I mentioned, we’re pushing our timeline out twenty years beyond what has been shown on screen. We’re evolving everything—uniforms, technology, ships, etc.—however everything in our game is still Trek. There are established themes and construction techniques we’ve maintained in our design to evolve the look rather than supplant it. What’s more, twenty years isn’t that far out; you’ll still see characters you know and love (or hate); you’ll still be able to visit planets or systems that you’ll easily recognize; you’ll relive themes that pervaded many Star Trek episodes; and, of course, we always have time travel…"
• Europa Universalis III
  The Europa Universalis III Q&A on FiringSquad and the Europa Universalis III Q&A on Boomtown each talk with Johan Andersson, lead programmer on the next installment in the historical strategy series: "Well, EU used to feature only three types of troops: Artillery, infantry and cavalry. In EU3 we have eight tech-groups such as Western and Orthodox. Each tech-group has about 10 specific tech-levels that give you access to 2-3 new units and tactics. One example of a unit is the Swedish Caroline infantry, which is very effective offensively. You can specialise on units in your core provinces and thus shape your army according to your preferred tactics. If you have lots of manpower you could choose units that will take heavy losses while inflicting heavy losses on enemies that might not have the same manpower available."
• Dreamlords
  The Dreamlords Q&A on Strategy Informer talks with Marcus Andrews of Lockpick Entertainment about their upcoming MMORPG: "In Dreamlords all players are automatically placed in a convergence which is a group of up to 15 players. These convergences can be formed to well oiled guild machines or they can be very casual all depending on the players. Basically we provide the tools for teamplay and guilds, after that it’s up to players to set up the politics. Some examples of the convergence tools are democratic leader election, player invite, taxes, vote to kick, convergence name and [tag]."

• Dark Messiah of Might and Magic on BytePress.
• Just Cause on Games Radar.
• Mage Knight Apocalypse on Games Radar.
• Star Wars: Empire at War - Forces of Corruption on GameSpot.

• Need for Speed: Carbon on ToTheGame.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Cable and phone companies call Net neutrality silly, mumbo jumbo.
• Has The Free Market Failed The US When It Comes To Broadband? The best free market money can buy.
• Zango Wins Lawsuit, Dismisses Users Who Can't Uninstall Its App As 'Background Noise'.
• FTC Fines Xanga for Violating Kids' Privacy.
• Sportingbet arrest sparks fears of wider crackdown.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• An apology, and a note on hype on Joystiq. The big news was not big.
• Wii chip production well underway, say IBM, Nintendo. That was the big news.
• Microsoft to launch cheaper Xbox in Japan: paper.
• Wii Rumble Dead?
• Koei's TGS Line Up.
• Super Paper Mario to Wii.
• EA Silences Spore Rumors.
• The PlayStation Experience Is Heading Your Town.
• BBC: Sony's PLAYSTATION 3 Has Disappointed Fans Again.
• Fresh screens and a delay for Forza 2.
• Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 Preview.
• Zombies on a Stamp.
• Best Xbox 360 Case Mods.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• AMD/ATI deal gets thumbs-up from regulators.
• 3D Performance with Battlefield 2142 Beta - Part 1 High-end Cards on FiringSquad.
• Vista's role in Imminent Net Death overstated.
• Vista audio enhancements revealed.
• Graphics card in 24-inch iMac is apparently upgradeable. Thanks Digg.
• More Series 3 news - pricing and lifetime transfer.
• Philadelphia opens high-tech school of the future.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• PlayStation Portable - System Update. Thanks Robert.
• Verizon Wireless: Miami customers call the most. Thanks Eye 4N Eye.
• Inside Apple’s iPod Earbuds. Thanks Ant and Digg.
• The REAL deal on Spore for Wii/DS, straight from EA.
• Majesco ships Guilty Gear Judgment.
• Samsung threatens action against snappy Internet video clip.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Nasty bug found in 'classic' ICQ client.
• Selling Other People's Identities.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• You Want Speed. And You Don't Want to Pay For It. Forrester: 1/4 of customers ready to switch.
• AOL dials up developers for VoIP service.
• Hollywood Heads Online.
• Facebook alters info feature that angered users.

The Fortress Forever Website now offers a new "Dustbowl" video from this upcoming Team Fortress-inspired Mod for Half-Life 2.

A new Savage 2: A Tortured Soul FAQ is online (thanks Frans), asking and answering questions about S2 Game's upcoming shooter/RTS sequel.

• IGF Main Competition Entry Deadline Looms.
• Spike TV Gearing Up for VG Award Show. Thanks Mike Martinez. Sounds like they're trying to suck all the suck out of it this time.

• Are You in Demand? Hot Jobs for Big Bucks in the Game Industry on GameCareerGuide.
• Beefing Up Animation Software. Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Polycat.net - A Glimpse into Modern Real-Time Strategy (Part 2).
• Opinion: Nightmare dates on Pocketgamer.

• Big Oil: Build an Oil Empire (A.K.A. Oil Tycoon 2) on GameSpot.
• Call of Juarez on Pro-G.
• City Life on Gamepyre.
• Darkstar One on Out of Eight.
• Dungeon Siege II: Broken World on GameShark.
• FlatOut 2 on Gameminion.
• LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy on IGN.
• Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 on Gamehelper.
• Sword of the Stars on GameZone.

• Abit AW9D-MAX Motherboard Overclocking on Nordic Hardware.
• Asus Core 2 Duo Platforms on GamePC.
• Galaxy GeForce 7300 GT Video Card with GDDR3 on bit-tech.net.
• Icy Dock MB449 Swap Pro SATA Internal Mobile Rack on Hardware-Review.net.
• Intel Conroe Core 2 Duo E6400 CPU on Hardware.Info.
• Kensington PilotMouse Optical Wireless Mouse on Computer Games Online.
• Mirai DML-522W100 22" LCD Monitor on TrustedReviews.
• MSI K9N SLI Platinum Motherboard on ViperLair.
• Orange SPV M3100 - 3G Smartphone on TrustedReviews.
• PC Design Lab Qmicra SFF Case on PCApex.com.
• Razer Barracuda HP-1 Gaming Headphones on ThinkComputers.
• Revoltec Procyon Multifunction Panel on Hardware-Review.net.
• Saitek Eclipse II Illuminated Keyboard on Techgage.
• SilverStone Nitrogon NT06 Cooler on Phoronix.
• Sony DCR-SR100 Handicam on Digital Trends.
• TT Toughpower 700W PSU on Overclockers Online.
• VIA EPIA CN13000 Motherboard on HEXUS.net.
• VisionTek Radeon X1600XT AGP Vidoe Card on TechSpot.
• XFX GeForce 7900GS Video Card on Motherboards.org and TweakTown.

• World of Warcraft's First Kel'Thuzad Raid Boss Kill. Thanks Ant…

We'll be heading off to the BlueJet in a bit, as we attend my sister-in-law's wedding in the land of 14,000-some-odd lakes. There is some sort of festivity planned for this evening, so I am uncertain what updates will be like tonight, but I will hopefully be able to keep up, or at least catch up with what's happening by tomorrow morning. We'll be back by Sunday evening, so hopefully the disruption will be minor.

Links!	Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
Links of the Morning:	VirtuSphere. The HoloDeck? The Simpsons Sneak Preview.
Stories:	A Star Date With Shatner. Captain Kirk reveals he won't go boldly into space. Thanks Eye 4N Eye.
Science!:	Life begins at 100? Experts question age frontiers. Sign Up for a Mission to 'Mars'. Redesigning Crops to Harvest Fuel (registration required).
Images:	Video Game Snack Time.
Media:	Steve Irwin Got What He Deserved. tricking iT 2. Thanks Boing Boing. Rocket jumping genius. Weatherman VS. Cockroach.
Follow-up:	Drink to this: Barkeep gets $6,300 from tip.
Teh Funny:	FoxTrot.