A Word About In-Game Ads on the Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars Official Community Site reveals plans to include in-game advertising in Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars, saying this will fund post-release support for the upcoming multiplayer shooter:

Hi, I'm Neil Postlethwaite, Splash Damage's Managing Director and one of the Producers on Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars. I'd like to talk to you today about the in-game advertising we have in ETQW.

For the last four years, we've put all of our effort into making Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars. So, we're not planning to ship this game and walk away. We want to keep supporting ETQW in as many ways as possible. We'll be maintaining the persistent stats servers and the community site, and continuing to support ETQW with updates and improvements.

To help cover this level of on-going support without passing the costs on to the gamer, ETQW will feature appropriate advertisements in select locations of our levels. The ads aren't intrusive and you won't have to interact with them; they'll just be part of the normal environment. In fact, there are some places it's quite odd not to have an advertisement - the sides of container trucks, for example. Great care is being taken to ensure that all our ads are appropriate for the game world and we have absolute approval rights in this area. If it's not appropriate or it's distracting, it won't go in.

The company providing the ad system does not and will not store any personal information or data that otherwise can be used to identify you. All they track is if and how long you look at the advertisements.

For those of you participating in the upcoming beta, you will get a chance to see them for yourself very soon. And of course we will be releasing a demo prior to the retail launch of the game so everyone can check them out first.

Choosing to place ads in Enemy Territory was not a decision we made lightly. However, in doing so we hope to be able to provide a higher level of on-going support to the Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars community than would have been possible otherwise.

This press release announces the release of DIRT, interestingly completely omitting the name Colin McRae from the notice. The PC and Xbox editions are now available in the US, while word is the PS3 edition is to "follow shortly." The first PC patch preceded the game (story), and is available from Codemasters, and there is also a PC demo for download (story) and an Xbox 360 demo on XBLA. Here's the deal:

Codemasters, Inc. today announced that DiRT, the highly anticipated off-road racing game, is shipping to retail outlets nationwide for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PC, with the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system edition to follow shortly. DiRT is rated "E" (Everyone) by the ESRB. Developed by Codemasters Studios using its new propriety engine, Neon, DiRT takes traditional rally and turns it into an exhilarating thrill ride through a massive range of off-road racing experiences on gravel, mud and dirt, right across the globe.

Expanding on the brilliant point-to-point rally racing, the game includes an extensive range of off road and circuit events, delivering a thrilling, often challenging and ultimately hugely rewarding experience.

Players race in challenging, heavyweight 850bhp cars through high speed blind corners and along perilous cliff edges in the Hill Climb events, including the world famous Pikes Peak International through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

There are also multiple car races with Dakar-style trucks and super-powered 4x4s on grueling desert terrain in Rally Raid competitions. In Rally Cross, players switch between dirt and road racing. The competition is always breathing down your neck and always ruthless.

Then there are Crossover circuits and events from the CORR (Championship Off -Road Racing) series in the U.S. The CORR series is all about head-to-head full on dirt circuit racing. The combination of powerful off-road buggies and exciting dirt tracks incorporating tabletop jumps, drop-offs and moguls is an intoxicating mix.

DiRT also offers a dedicated rally championship section and the opportunity to race against others and the clock with a 100-person online multiplayer mode. In any mode, on any surface, the car handling is sublime, the physics system is thrillingly accurate and the damage engine is as devastating as ever.

Get up to speed with the Xbox 360 playable demo now available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the PC demo, along with videos and product information, available from http://www.codemasters.com/dirt

Silverlode and Wahoo announce the completion of alpha testing on Saga, so they are turning their attention to beta testing, offering players the opportunity to sign up for the beta, which begins on July 5:

Silverlode Interactive and Wahoo Studios today announced that they have completed alpha testing of Saga, their upcoming massively multiplayer real-time strategy game (MMORTS), and that an open beta test will begin on July 5, allowing players around the world to experience the unique strategy game before its Fall release. Players can go to www.playsaga.com now to sign up for the beta test.

Based in a world built by Dallan Christensen (Lead Programmer of Starcraft: Brood War), Saga puts players in the role of ruler as they create a powerful fantasy empire to conquer their foes in a persistent world that lives on even while players are offline. Free to play with no monthly subscription fees, Saga features an exciting collectible system that allows players to buy booster packs to enhance their armies with rare troops and abilities, or to enter the barter-driven market to trade units and resources with others from around the world. Players will need to prove their might by creating a massive army made up of humans, orcs, elves, mech giants, dragons and more to take into battle, where they must rely on their strategic cunning to overcome enemy forces. They will engage in espionage, sending assassins behind enemy lines to destabilize their forces, and ally themselves with other nations to partake in large-scale guild wars, earning experience to improve their troops, gain valuable resources, and to create an even larger army.

For more information about Saga and to sign up for the beta test, visit http://www.playsaga.com.

Auran Games announces Trainz Classics, a reinvention of their railroading franchise that will go on sale in Australia and New Zealand on June 24 (in spite of that being a Sunday). There are some screenshots on Gameplay Monthly, and word is:

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (GAMESBIZWIRE)- June 19, 2007 - Sim lovers will now have the chance to drive iconic train routes from around the world with the arrival of Trainz Classics.

The game is the latest in the popular Trainz franchise developed by Auran Games. Currently played by over 600,000 users worldwide, the latest edition in the Trainz series features New York’s Harlem line along with a fantasy Metropolis route. In future, the company will be releasing new classic routes from around Australia, the UK and US, turning Trainz Classics into a unique collection of the world’s most intriguing rail routes.

Trainz producer, Rob Shaw says the game takes the Trainz franchise into much broader territory.

“We’ve re-invented Trainz. We’ve made it look and run better and made it easier to use so as to bring in new Train lovers, whilst keeping our current loyal users happy.

“At the same time we’ve conducted a complete audio-visual overhaul to make it more authentic than any Trainz release to date.”

As with previous releases of Trainz, users will have access to the community created online database of free content, dubbed “the download station”.

Trainz Community Manager, Lance Jago said the download station has been a crucial point of difference for the sim.

“Over the last 6 years, users have created and shared over 60,000 of their own items. By facilitating this sharing of content, we’ve helped to turn Trainz into a genuinely community focused sim and users have enjoyed seeing their creative efforts enjoyed by others.”

“No other simulator offers that kind of community participation and it makes the sim far more enjoyable and immersive for users.”

Jago says the community has been essential to the success of the Trainz franchise and that their feedback has shaped and directed Trainz Classics at every step.

“What we’ve designed is not just a new edition of Trainz, but a new platform that will allow us to gather iconic routes from around the world and bring them together for people to enjoy and modify and make their own.”

Trainz Classics will be published across Australia and New Zealand by N3VRF41L Publishing on June 24th. For more information, visit www.n3vrf41l.com.

Eidos announces the Hitman Trilogy, a bundle of three Hitman games that put the player in the role of a professional assassin. The package goes on sale tomorrow for PC and PS2:

Redwood City, CA (June 19, 2007) -- Eidos Interactive Ltd., one of the world’s leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, is pleased to announce the Hitman Trilogy, a compilation offering three critically acclaimed Hitman games in one package. Hitman Trilogy, available for PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PC-DVD, will feature Hitman: Blood Money, Hitman: Silent Assassin, and Hitman: Contracts along with a sneak preview bonus disc of Eidos’ upcoming thriller Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.

“Hitman Trilogy is a seriously intense dose of gaming,” says David Bamberger, marketing manager, Eidos North America. “The three game set will show just how controversial and innovative the action and stealth gaming genre remains. Players new to the series are in for quite a shock.”

The popular Hitman series puts gamers in the role of the infamous Agent 47, a killer for hire. Armed with an arsenal of weapons and the ability to take advantage of all the dangers found in an everyday environment, Agent 47 will do anything to complete a contract signed in blood. Featuring open-ended action gameplay and an immersive and dark storyline, each game brings players deeper into a ruthless world filled with cold-blooded revenge.

Included with the trilogy is the Kane & Lynch: Dead Men bonus disc - crammed with trailers, art, and screens - that offers gamers a glimpse into the sinister world of this upcoming game. Developed by Io Interactive, the award-winning studio behind the Hitman series, this new game introduces Kane and Lynch, a flawed mercenary and a medicated psychopath, who are on a violent and chaotic journey towards an end no one can imagine.

Hitman Trilogy is in stores across North America for $29.99 USD on June 20, 2007 for PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PC-DVD.

Paradox Interactive announces that the end of August will bring the release of Hearts of Iron Anthology, which will bundle the first two installments in the World War II RTS series along with the Doomsday expansion for HoI2:

New York, USA (June 19, 2007) – Paradox Interactive announced today that all installments of the Hearts of Iron franchise will be available via retail channels in a complete collection called Hearts of Iron Anthology.

The multiple Editor Choice winner and strategy gamer favorite will include the booster pack Armageddon, never before released in retail. It will also include Hearts of Iron, Hearts of Iron II and Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday. Fans can expect to find goodies like a unique Paradox medal and a large strategy map spanning the entire world included in the product.

Hearts of Iron Anthology is schedule for release in the end of August and will retail for $29.99/€29.99.

About the Hearts of Iron series The Hearts of Iron series has won numerous Editor Choice Awards across the globe and has become one of the strongest brands in the Grand Strategy genre. Strategy gamers everywhere have been swept away by the depth and scope of the gameplay depicting WWII and WWIII.

Key features:
    • Command any frontline during World War II as one of more than 175 playable countries.
    • Four major campaigns let you play through the full course of the war, plus 15 battle scenarios including D-Day, Operation Barbarossa and The Ardennes Offensive.
    • A vast and innovative technology tree that includes more than 350 different technologies to research.
    • More than 12,500 historical military and political leaders, each brought to life with authentic portraits and schemes to further their own agendas.
    • Several "What if" scenarios taking WWII into WWIII.

Macworld reports that GameTap is set to bring their classic gaming offerings to the Macintosh (thanks Ant). The new service will allow console and arcade classics to be playable using the Cider transition layer for emulation, meaning it will be restricted to Intel-based Macs.

The Darkest Of Days Website is now live, dedicated to the upcoming era-spanning first-person shooter from 8MonkeyLabs. The site launch took a bit longer than the 22 days promised when the game was announced (story), but judging from the July 7, 2007 entry, dates are not their strong suit, which is either appropriate or ironic when you consider the time traveling aspect of the game. The site offers some info, the promise of screenshots on Thursday, and the noisiest Flash menu we've ever encountered. Also a new Project Overdose Website is online, offering a noisy Flash home to Mindware Studios' upcoming PainKiller modification.

• Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars
  The Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars Q&A on Game Chronicles converses with Paul Wedgwood of Splash Damage about the upcoming multiplayer shooter: "Right from the start, Kevin Cloud of id Software and I shared a vision for how we were going to improve on the popular teamplay of Wolf ET. It’s taken a lot of time and effort and trial and error; a great example was our attempt to implement ‘base versus base’ combat – and that was a disaster :) The idea was that, somewhat like a traditional real-time-strategy game, each team’s goal would be the destruction of the enemy base. The problem with this implementation is that everyone wants to get involved in the destruction, and so both teams end up running past each other and attacking completely undefended bases! :). Our refocus on objective-based combat, and that of having the unique plot for each level, driving the reason that one team was attacking, and another defending, really paid off. Ultimately we’ve got what we originally aimed for. The teams at Splash Damage and id Software have put in an extraordinary effort to achieve this, with major advances in graphics rendering, physics and networking along the way, all to support this notion of greater player immersion. "
• Red 5
  WarCry Network's Red 5 Studios Q&A talks with Mark Kern about what's up at this start-up that includes some former Blizzard developers: "We actually tend to avoid MMO experience. World of Warcraft did not have a fleet of experienced MMO developers, in fact, almost all of us were brand new to the genre. And I think that helped. MMOs had been steeped in a tradition of do's and don'ts that didn't sit well with what we wanted to do. It's hard to imagine now, but grinding, long leveling times and steep death penalties were considered essential to MMO design. If you want to innovate, you need fresh thought, and that's what we accomplish by recruiting people from other, related industries."
• Tabula Rasa
  The Tabula Rasa Q&A on WarCry very briefly discusses Destination Games' upcoming clean slate MMORPG with April Burba: "Throughout human history in spite of the presence of a common enemy, humans still fight amongst themselves. Humans still love, they still lust, they still fear. Our humanness does not disappear in war, rather it is amplified. The world (in-game and out) is not black and white. There are ethical shades of grey that can make you wonder which side is really good or evil. Where there is doubt, there is conflict."
• Colony Studios
  The Mike Wallis Q&A on Multiplayer Online Games Directory talks with the head colonist of Colony Studios, who continues to assault Bill Roper's record for Q&As on a game that cannot be discussed, though he does offer this bit of general info: "Our game features character interaction as well as space flight and space combat. Of course our game will have ships of varying sizes from fighters to corvettes to cap ships and massive carriers. Our game will also feature a variety of alien types, but probably not so much time travel. We are trying to infuse our game with at least plausible content based on hard science with enough wiggle room to make the game fun to play."
• No Horizons
  RPG Vault's No Horizons Q&A - Part 1 chats up ICNH Games about their MMOTBS game set within a Dyson sphere: "Firstly it's a turn-based MMO, which is a little different from the flood of MMORPG games available. and we're looking at attracting strategy gamers and people who want to play MMO games but can't commit the hours required to be successful in the current ones. No Horizons doesn't reward players who play for extended periods in one sitting. We feel that gives them an unfair advantage against other players who may lead busy lives and only can commit a few hours a day. Obviously, we'll be tailoring servers towards specific demographics to give as many people as we can the best possible gaming experience. But No Horizons and ICNH Games promote healthy gameplay."
• Mike Wilson
  Mike Wilson Talks 'Cocky' Marketing on GameDaily is a Q&A with the cock of the walk at GameCock media: "What we had learned from the past with E3 is that you have to look out for yourself. We learned this from our time at Gathering. Even before [the ESA] made formal announcements we booked our own date, which is good because they didn't invite us. So once things went down, we 'scrambled the bombers' for all the uninvited. We've had some experience with people who have done these alt shows, so that will benefit us. Because of the way that E3 is structured this time, it's all spread out, but we're at the Hotel California right in the middle of it. All our developers will be on hand to demo all of their works-in-progress, so you get it straight from the horse's mouth. We'll have announced 9 games by then."

• BioShock on FiringSquad.
• Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars on Gameworld Network.
• Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 on Eurogamer.
• Transformers: The Game on Hooked Gamers.
• Two Worlds on IGN.

• SimCity Societies on GameSpot.
• Sword of the New World on RPG Vault.
• Tabula Rasa on MMORPG.COM.

• Ken Kutaragi Officially Retires from Sony.
• Rumor: Crimson Skies sequel incoming.
• 'Rock Band' Guitar, Pricing Revealed. Thanks dc.
• Rock Band Xbox 360 Screenshots.
• Medal of Honor Airborne PlayStation 3 Screenshots.
• Stranglehold Xbox 360 Screenshots.
• Tekken 6 PlayStation 3 Screenshots.

• AMD considering getting out of fabrication business.
• DirectX 10 GPU Video Quality Shootout.
• Philips intros 20-inch 3D display -- no need for gaudy glasses.
• Analyst: Next few months may determine Yahoo's fate.
• HP acquires SPI Dynamics.

• Stay juiced even while camping.

• Verizon FIOS plans to add HD VOD.
• Web cam exam proctors are latest cheating deterrent.
• More Than Fine The Top 5 Viral Videos That Changed Someone's Life (For the Worse). Thanks Mike Martinez.
• New Online Pet Retailer Is No Pets.com.
• YouTube begins rolling out international sites, new mobile support.

• Lawyers in a how-to video: as in how to avoid hiring an American. They just come out and state their goal of gaming the system.
• Manhunt 2 receives AO rating.
• Paul Jackson, Director General of ELSPA Comments on Manhunt 2 Rejection.
• Amidst The Crackdown, New Sports Betting Site Launches In The US.

• Analysts: Microsoft flaw opened door to scammers.
• Users rage against China's 'Great Firewall'.
• Trillian critical security update released.

• Prairie Games announces the release of a version 1.24 update for Minions of Mirth, their free-to-play MMORPG…
• The new Firaxis Community Podcast discusses Civilization 4: Beyond the Sword…
• Unreal Engine 3 Licensed by Chair Entertainment…
• BIZ Boll Reveals Far Cry Movie Details…
• Steam now offers a quickie update for Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, the just-released XP edition of the action/shooter…
• Video Game Journalism Demystified…

Shell Shocked Links!	Thanks Ant.
Stories:	Firefighters Resuscitate Cats, Rat (registration required). Thanks Neutronbeam. Human bone smuggling racket uncovered.
Science!:	Google pushes 100-mpg car. What MPG does it get if you stop pushing and get in? Genes Take Charge, and Diets Fall by the Wayside (registration required). Thanks Mike Martinez. Toxic fumes impairing our ability to fly, say pilots.
Auction:	Playboy Big Bunny DC-9 stuff from 1970.
Media:	Special Ops Extraction Video. Wow! Thanks Enahs. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters trailers and video clips. The Price is Right Finale - Sopranos Ending.
Follow-up:	House Honors 'Mr. Wizard'.

A new update for World of Warcraft is now available, bringing Blizzard's MMORPG to version 2.1.2. Manual patches are available for those who don't use auto-updates (which seems to be everyone), and downloads can be found on 3D Downloads, 3D Gamers (thanks Seth), FileFront, and FileShack. On a related note, Blizzplanet has word from Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan that the attunements for Serpentshrine and Tempest Keep have been eliminated, saying: "While many of our attunements in the Burning Crusade have been good progression checks, a few of the attunements have turned out to cause unnecessary stress on guilds either doing the content or attempting to do the content." Finally, on another WoW-related topic, the World of Warcraft Community Site has word that the Blizzard banning stick has been busted out once more:

In the US and Europe, we recently banned several thousand accounts associated with the use of botting programs that fully automate player actions, such as killing and looting monsters. We take these attempts to bypass the rules and standards of the game extremely seriously, and we will continue to aggressively monitor all World of Warcraft realms in order to protect the service and its players from the negative effects of cheating.

Rapid Reality announces the official launch of Phylon, their debut MMOG:

Following the successful Beta testing phase, Rapid Reality Studios announces the commercial release of their first MMO, Phylon. The game is now available for purchase on the newly redesigned website, http://phylon-online.com.

Tracy Spaight, Rapid Reality's COO stated, "We are excited to release Phylon as it represents a lot of work from our team and from gamers who provided tremendous feedback during the beta testing phase. We hope that players will enjoy the game, in particular, the battle arenas." He also stated, "Through focused surveys and general feedback in our forums, we will continue to tap into the creativity of the gaming community to help shape the game and its future expansions."

Phylon combines the fast-paced action of a traditional shooter with the persistence and depth of an MMO. Join players from around the world as part of the Bloblic Imperium, the Amphibian resistance, or the Terran colonists in their struggle for control of the planet Anura. Crush your enemies in instanced battle arenas, including Deathmatch and Domination. Advance in skill and unlock access to hundreds of unique items, including jet packs, energy shields, power-ups, and weapons.

The new Phylon website features a sleek new look, new video trailers, top player leader boards, in-game and game art showcases, forums and much more.

Founded in May 2005, Rapid Reality Studios is a video game developer located in Marietta, Georgia. The team of programmers, artists, and designers is dedicated to producing next generation online games. Their passion and mission is to make the kind of games you want to play. "There are no suits at Rapid Reality: we're gamers."

The Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars Official Community Site announces "the middle of this week" (tomorrow?) is the start date for the promised (story) beta testing for Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars, the upcoming multiplayer shooter in the works at Splash Damage (thanks Voodoo Extreme). Word is they will start doling out activation keys tomorrow in a process that will "last several days," and while the update also clarifies that the 60,000 beta keys will be evenly divided between those with free FilePlanet accounts and paying subscribers, keys will be made available to the paying folks only over the first three days of this process. Here's a bit:

Now why are we spreading these out over several days instead of throwing all 60,000 keys out at once? Simple: We want to make sure that as many people as possible get the chance to obtain a key and we feel that scheduling a predetermined number of keys to go out each day is the best way to do this. We're also going to be gradually ramping up the number of available keys with each passing day, so as time goes on, more keys are passed out per day. This allows us to steadily increase the load on our back-end infrastructure, making sure we can effectively test that.

Of course, a multiplayer beta is useless if there are no servers to play on. Towards that end, we've been working closely with a select number of Game Server Providers to get servers for the Public Beta up in North America, Europe, and Australia. We will continue to work with GSPs around the world to make sure Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars servers can be found in every major territory when the game ships.

Steam now features Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved for Windows XP, offering the PC edition of Bizarre's console shooter to far more PC owners than the previous release, which was a Windows Vista exclusive. Word on the inexpensive ($2.50 through this Friday) game is that DirectX 9 manages to reproduce the game's spiffy graphics as well as DirectX 10 does: "The debut of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved for Windows XP delivers a pixel-perfect recreation of the game that has captured the attention and acclaim of console gamers and critics alike. The game has received multiple awards for its old school shooter style remixed for the 21st century with next generation graphics and deep, modern gameplay."

Legendary Pictures has removed the listing for a Diablo movie (story) that caused so much recent speculation (thanks Blizzplanet). It seems likely that the listing was premature, rather than inaccurate, as it's hard to imagine how it could have appeared out of thin air.

PlayStation Universe reports that Alliance: The Silent War is on hold, saying the future of this era-spanning first-person shooter is in doubt after Windward Mark Interactive signed a deal with Linden Lab to spiff up the graphics in Second Life (which included word: "AllianceTM, the online game developed by Windward Mark Interactive, does not form part of the acquisition and will continue to be developed as a separate entity."). Word from Windward president Asi Lang is: "We're still determining in which direction we want to take things. We'll see how it plays with our new roles here at Linden...we're very much still in love with the project."

• Frontlines: Fuel of War
  The Frontlines: Fuel of War Q&A on Frontlines Warfare talks with Frank DeLise about Kaos Studios' upcoming Unreal 3 engine shooter: "The main change between console and PC is the controls. On PC, there is no auto aim. On PC the recoil for weapons is more realistic. Vehicle controls on the console are very different then the PC. The Console has some great third person controls, while the PC is a bit more hardcore first person controls. For the diehards though, we have "No third person aiming" server options."
• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
  Ask the devs on Vanguard at Ten Ton Hammer asks about the new Trial Island in SOE's MMORPG: "The trail island will be a free demo. It does not replace any of the existing content. If you buy the box or the digital download, you will start in a normal newbie zone and you will never see the trail Island. If you decide not to buy the game but instead decide to download the trail island, then you would only get that experience and it would be in place of the regular newbie content. If after that point you like the game, you would then be transferred over to the regular content starting at whatever level the trail island caps off at."

• The Agency on FiringSquad.

• Study Inkjet printers are filthy, lying thieves.
• HP acquires SPI Dynamics.

• Jawbone to be sold alongside iPhone.

• Microsoft's New Virtual Reality Apps Evoke Blade Runner. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• HTTP Overtakes P2P Traffic - And YouTube use is 10% of all Internet traffic.
• AT&T launches $10 DSL it hopes no one signs up for.
• BitTorrent releases official SDK for device manufacturers.
• YouTube makes international move.

• Manhunt 2 Banned in Britain.
• HP sues ink cartridge maker for unfair competition.
• Testing the limits of forum bashing two law students sue over personal attacks.
• Yet Another Lawsuit Against Dot Com IPO Banks Shot Down.

• Massive Web attack gains momentum.
• Can 'cyberinsurance' protect you from data breach catastrophe?
• Toshiba: Recalled battery sparked fire.

• Halo 2 on YouGamers.
• The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar on About.com and MMORPG.COM.
• Oddictive on Out of Eight.
• Penumbra Overture - Episode One on Adrenaline Vault.
• The Sims 2: H&M Fashion Stuff on Play.tm
• Tomb Raider Anniversary on World 1-1.

• Albatron GeForce 8600GT-256 PCI Express Video Card on PCSTATS.
• Antec NP-100 Notebook Power Adapter on XYZ Computing.
• Antec P190 Case on bit-tech.net.
• Archos 704 WiFi Portable Media Player on TheTechLounge.
• Asus Arctic Square Heatsink on FrostyTech.com.
• Cooler Master Real Power Pro 650W PSU on ViperLair.
• Corsair Survivor USB Memory Stick on Boot Daily and MetkuMods.
• Edova Innovations Xpad Notebook Heat Shield on Benchmark Reviews.
• GMC AVC-S1 HTPC Case on DriverHeaven.net.
• HP DVD1035i DVD-Writer on CDRinfo.
• LapWorks Aluminum Desktop Stand on Virtual-Hideout.
• LG HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H10N 1.01 DVD-Writer on CDRinfo.
• Mushkin HP2-6400 PDX RAM on PSX Reviews.
• NZXT Sentry Temperature Controller on Overclockers Club.
• OCZ Reaper Heat Pipe Conduit DDR2 RAM on HotHardware.
• Patriot PDC22G9200ELK PC2-9200 2GB DDR2-1150 RAM on PCSTATS.
• Razer DeathAdder Mouse on Modders-Inc.
• Revoltec FightPad Advanced Controller on XSReviews.co.uk.
• Samsung DVD-HD960 DVD Player on Digital Trends.

• A new patch for Total Golf Pro brings the sports game to version 2.1, adding a couple of new courses. The patch is available from Wolverine Studios and mirrored on 3D Downloads, FileFront, and Gamer's Hell…
• The Guildhall at SMU is holding career days on their Plano, TX campus on July 26-27…
• World-Forge.com announces a termination of their deal with PlayLogic, and Play Ten is now exclusive agent for Ancient Wars: Sparta. Thanks Alex…
• The Tomb Raider Anniversary Resource Site has a nude patch for those who find clothed archaeology too restrictive. Thanks Gamer's Hell…
• Focus of Video Games Shifts to Lure More Casual Players (registration required). Thanks James…
• Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Update Released and Source SDK Update Released…
• Video games hidden in the grooves of LPs. Who knew?…

It was on this day in 2000 that Microsoft announced the acquisition of Bungie. I was intrigued by this quote from a Q&A we did at the time with Doug Zartman: "The decision about what platforms Halo and future Bungie games will be developed for remains in the hands of Bungie Studios, in the hands of the teams developing them. In Halo's case the decision has not been made yet."

R.I.P.: Ind. football coach Terry Hoeppner dies.

Acquired Links!	Thanks Ant.
Links of the Morning:	BBspot - Ask an FPS Gamer. Alien LEGO. Wow! Thanks Ian.
Stories:	NBCU’s Zucker Courts Jon Stewart. Two words: Craig Kilborn. Flushed bra causes sewer collapse. Thanks Aaron. Janitor's piano talent revealed. Thanks Aaron.
Science!:	Cats could be scaring birds out of our cities. Radiation Exposure - Medical Tests (registration required). JetPacks You Can Buy Now, Reviewed Head-to-Head.
Media:	This-Is-Sparta-Techno-Remix.