Voodoo Extreme has dug up the fact that Bethesda Softworks parent company ZeniMax Media has registered the domain elderscrollsonline.com. This combines with the recent formation of the MMO-focused ZeniMax Online Studios to offer a pretty strong suggestion that an Elder Scrolls MMOG is in the works.

Warhammer Online retreats to mid-2008 has word that the frequently delayed Warhammer MMORPG is delayed once more. In a follow-up EA Mythic chief demystifies Warhammer Online delay on GameSpot is a Q&A with Mark Jacobs explaining the delay: "The short answer would be that it's hard to make this kind of game. Now, for a more detailed answer. It really boils down to this: Our game is going to live and die by two things. One is realm-versus-realm (RvR) gameplay. The second is overall quality. This is not 1999, 1997, or even 2001. This is 2007. We have to be able to release a game that, in terms of quality, without even going into game systems or RvR, is top-notch. We've seen too many games in this industry, and in this space, release without that, and we're not going to do that."

This press release announces Chapter 7 for Star Wars Galaxies has gone live as planned, adding a bunch of content, including an "in-game reward from C-3PO himself." On a related note, the Star Wars Galaxies Chapter 7 Q&A on RPG Vault talks with Jake Neri about the newly launched Chapter 7 content for the Star Wars MMORPG.

The Strategic Command 2: Blitzkrieg Downloads Page offers a new patch for the strategy game, updating it to version 1.08, and adding a 1939-46 WW2 Global Conflict Campaign. Word is: "As part of the newly released v1.08 update to the game, we are including an awesome all new 1939-46 WW2 Global Conflict Campaign, designed by David Stoeckl (and modified by Hubert Cater) completely for free. Play Strategic Command 2 Blitzkrieg like never before, on a truly global scale."

A new patch is now available for Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, updating the sports simulation to version 1.10. The update is available from Konami, and is mirrored on FileFront, Gamer's Hell, and The Patches Scrolls.

And bad buzz it is: EA Posts Loss of Nearly $200M, Announces Reorganization & Potential Layoffs reports losses of millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs. Meanwhile, Midway's Sales, Losses Increase in Q3 offers the good news and the bad news from Midway's financials. Finally, the big winners of the day are THQ, as they are only reporting having lost $7 million for the quarter.

• Tabula Rasa
  The Tabula Rasa Q&A on GameSpot talks with Starr Long about the launch of Destination Games' blank-slate MMORPG.
• Inhabited Island
  The Inhabited Island: Prisoner of Power Q&A on gry.o2.pl offers a bilingual conversation with Alena Frolova-Vasnetsova of Orion about this upcoming science fiction game based on a novel by the Strugatsky brothers.

• Jack Keane on GameSpot.
• Obscure: The Aftermath on GameSpot.
• Sacred 2: Fallen Angel on IGN.UK.
• Soldier of Fortune: Payback on Hooked Gamers.
• Tabula Rasa on WarCry.

• Pirates of the Burning Sea on WarCry.

• November Contest Giveaways on MMOABC.com.
• Dream of Mirror beta key giveaway on The MMO Gamer.
• Gladiator ATX Case Giveaway on Overclockers Online.

• Three New Overlord Expansions in November.
• Rockband Broken Street Date Bundles Are Demos.
• EA: Rock Band Inventory Won't Meet Overwhelming Demand.
• Rockers report Guitar Hero III Dolby Pro Logic II is missing on Nintendo Wii. Thanks LifesBane.

• 'Time' names iPhone 'invention of the year'. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• Masi Oka of Heroes signs up as OLPC ambassador. Thanks Mike Martinez.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• You Say Privacy Invasion, We Say Behavioral Advertising.
• New Charter Speeds This Week. Thanks Ant.
• Why an FTC 'Do Not Track' list is a bad idea.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Hackers Make Manhunt 2 Uncensored.
• Rockstar may end up with big headache over unlocked AO content in Manhunt 2.
• Fair use advocates hit back with copyright principles of their own.
• Seagate to repay customers over inaccurate gigabyte definition.
• Wi-Lan Sues....Everybody - Claims the world violates their DSL patents.

• The Most Delayed Games Ever…

Okay, as promised, here are the photos, the first one of Gunnar the criminal and Hudson as Spider-Dog (oops, wrote SuperDog at first) is from last year, and the other three are the new ones. The shot of them together is looking out the door, just as the trick-or-treaters see them, and yes, Gunnar-man's hat looks more like he's a pimp than Zorro.

R.I.P.: 'Enola Gay' Nuke Bomb Pilot Dies.

Pimped Links!	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Link of the Evening:	PC Dice Make Troubleshooting Easy.
Images:	Amazing BioShock Costumes. Thanks Digg. You leave Britney alone!! Heavy Machinery Acrobatics, Part 2. Thanks Neatorama.
Media:	Anti-Gym The Most Offensive Gym Add Ever.

A demo for Empire Earth III is now available, offering the chance to sample Mad Doc's installment in this RTS series that's due in stores on November 6. The single-player demo includes three maps and a tutorial, and word is: "The demo is your first chance to play the new Earth-shattering World Domination mode. Build an enduring empire across an entire globe that is yours to conquer as you command your armies through the span of human history and beyond. Charge Through The Ages. Command Your Empire. Conquer The Earth. Empire Earth III your quest for world domination begins November 2007." The 1.6 GB demo is available on the Empire Earth III Website, and mirrored on ActionTrip, AtomicGamer, ComputerGames.ro, FanGaming, FilePlanet (registration required), FileShack, Gamer's Hell, GameSpot (registration required), Internode Games Network, and Strategy Informer.

The first patch for TimeShift is now available, updating Saber Interactive's just released first-person shooter to version 1.1 (shouldn't they have just travelled back in time to include this in the box?). The 27 MB download is available on Sierra's FTP (direct link) and mirrored on ActionTrip, FileFront, Gamer's Hell, and The Patches Scrolls.

This press release announces that The Command & Conquer Saga is now in North American stores (thanks Gamer's Hell), offering 13 C&C titles in one package, obviating the 12-game Command & Conquer: The First Decade compilation released in early '06 (story). Here's word:

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Three generations of the popular Command & Conquer™ series are now available in one bundle! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS - News) today announced The Command & Conquer™ Saga is on store shelves today in North America for the PC. This massive compilation of over a dozen Command & Conquer games includes the award-winning Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™ and all the titles featured in Command & Conquer™ The First Decade. The Command & Conquer Saga marks the largest PC franchise compilation to date.

With 25 million copies sold worldwide, the Command & Conquer franchise has defined the Real-time strategy (RTS) genre with its signature fast and fluid gameplay, cutting-edge visuals, epic storylines, and rich campaign missions. The series has evolved over a decade, spawned over a dozen titles, and continues to be the genre benchmark by which all RTS games are measured. With its explosive style of warfare, the Command & Conquer franchise has grown over the years to span multiple fictional genres, including the science fiction Tiberium Universe, the revisionist history of the Command & Conquer Red Alert Universe, and a twist on modern warfare with Command & Conquer™ Generals.

Server Coming Down on the Hellgate: London Website announces plans to take the servers offline for an update that will offer their promised Halloween content for all players. Also, this forum post (thanks Hellgate IncGamers) has word that the beta grace period for the game is extended for another week, and there's a transcript of the launch IRC session on Xfire (formatted with nifty retro 90s-style HTML). Here's word on the downtime and patch:

Howdy folks. We're taking the servers down just for a bit at 5:30PM PDT. We're going to add a patch that opens up the Halloween content for everyone, subscriber or not. We should be back up shortly. Thanks!

Rock, Paper, Shotgun points the way to a post on the Crysis-HQ.com Forum (thanks Ant) where they've discovered loads of content in the recently released Crysis demo (story) that's not included in the demo map. They've cooked up a Demo Map #4 download that adds additional vehicles and weapons to the original demo map, and a new Demo Funmap #5 that adds a new small island to the demo map along with these hidden toys. Of course this is all unsupported, and those who choose to do this may be spoiling aspects of the full game for themselves.

GameTap offering free Hitman games and retrospective in November on Joystiq (thanks Mike Martinez) outlines GameTap's plan to freely offer the games in the Hitman series prior to Hitman: Blood Money, starting the original Hitman: Codename 47, which is available right now.

Valve announces a Steam client update, another Steam client update, a Portal Update, a Team Fortress 2 Update, and another Team Fortress 2 Update, all, of course, automatically available from within Steam. Most significant is the first TF2 patch, which includes several fixes and tweaks, including anti-bunny hopping code.

A new patch for Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is now available, updating the World War II RTS expansion to version 2.103. The change notes can be found on the RelicNews Forums and the English and French patches can be found on FileFront and The Patches Scrolls.

The G2 Games Website offers a new patch for Enemy Engaged 2, updating the helicopter combat sequel to version 1.01. A number of tweaks and bug fixes are included in the patch, which is mirrored on FileFront, Gamer's Hell, and The Patches Scrolls.

Chapter 7: A Collection of Heroes is the newest chapter for Star Wars Galaxies, an update for SOE's MMORPG that's due for launch today. The update includes a new level 70 town, high-level "heroic encounters," collection achievements, a chapter 7 gift, and more.

The White Gold: War in Paradise Website is live, dedicated to Deep Shadows' upcoming first-person shooter based on the war on the war on drugs. The site includes information and various media, including the latest in-game trailer showing off the game's vehicles.

• Portal
  There's another Portal Q&A on Rock, Paper, Shotgun talking with Kim Swift and Jeep Barrett about their work on the game as well as how they hooked up with Valve in the first place. As with most Portal Q&As, spoilers are inevitable; just a warning for those who have not played the game yet. On this topic, GLaDOS Speaks on IGN (thanks nin) is an interview with Ellen McLain, who voices the role of the game's computer. She discusses the gig and the game in another spoiler-laden conversation.
• Rand Miller
  The Rand Miller Q&A on Adventure Classic Gaming talks with the co-founder of Cyan about their various Myst games, and the revival of Uru on GameTap.

• Win Joe Perry's Guitar Hero III Guitar!

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Free Weekend of Xbox Live Inbound.
• SCEA prepares 40GB advertising blitz.
• Mass Effect Mass Effect Limited Edition Online-Only (US), Not For You (Can, Aus).
• Nintendo's classic Famicom faces end of road.
• Japan Blue Dragon Anime Coming to XBL For Free.

• MIT research holds promise for using light to move tiny particles on chips. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• RivaTuner version 2.06 on Guru3D.
• NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) v3.5a on MVKTech.
• Microsoft hopes scRGB will improve photo colors. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• Atomic I-O letters column #75 on Dan's Data.

• Renegade Kid Unleashes Dementium: The Ward at Retail.

• Ethics on the Web: Is Truthful Journalism Facing a Crisis?
• Google launches privacy channel on YouTube. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• Zuda launches with comics contest, strong reactions. Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Mac Trojan prowls porn sites. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• Hackers sneak tricks into MySpace band pages. Thanks Ant.

• Championship Manager 2008 on Computer and Video Games.
• Clive Barker's Jericho on Gamers With Jobs.
• Moto GP 07 on Games32.
• The Witcher on AtomicGamer and IGN.

• Abit IP35-Pro Motherboard on AnandTech. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• Altec Lansing PT8051 Wireless Theater System on I4U News.
• Antec Veris Fusion Black 430 Media Case on Virtual-Hideout.
• ASUS Extreme N8800GT Video Card on Legion Hardware.
• Corsair TX750W PSU on PC Perspective.
• Cyber Snipa Intelliscope Mouse on LANThrax.
• D-Link ANT24-0230 Xtreme N 2.4GHz Antenna on Futurelooks.
• Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 Motherboard on t-break.
• MSI P35 Platinum Motherboard on Boot Daily.
• MSI RX2600XT Diamond OC Edition Video Card on ViperLair.
• Mushkin Enhanced XP2-6400 (DDR2-800) 2x1GB RAM Kit on TheTechLounge.
• NZXT Alpha Mid-Tower Case on OCIA.net.
• Seiko SLP 450 Thermal Printer on Digital Trends.
• SilverStone Kublai KL01 Mid-Tower Case on Techgage.
• Synology CS407 four bay NAS Enclosure on Elite Bastards.
• Thermaltake SopranoRS 101 & WingRS 100 Cases on TweakTown.
• Tuniq 3 Case on HEXUS.
• Tuniq TX-2 Thermal Paste on ProClockers.
• Western Digital Scorpio 250GB 2.5" Hard Drive on TweakTown.
• Xclio Wintunnel Case on LANThrax.
• ZEROtherm Nirvana NV 120 CPU Cooler on Overclockers Club.

• IGG Announces Its New MMORPG Angels Online…
• Leading Aerospace Company Boeing To Use Air Assault Task Force…

We had a fine old time serving out sweets to the trick-or-treaters last night, and as usual the doggies had a great time with all the attention they received for their outfits (due to popular demand, I have to get the photos from MrsBlue and make like a dork and post them). We did have to wonder why we get fewer kids every Halloween, since the village seems to be as busy on the occasion as ever. MrsBlue hit on what we think is the answer, which is that being located on a side street off a side street, and with some of the older folks around us not giving out candy, we are on a bummer block. I'll have to give this some thought between now and next year, as it seems like we should go one way or the other with this and either turn off the porch light and join the non-participants, or get one of those dramatic light-up lawn fixtures like a giant inflated jack-o-lantern or something that will let folks passing the corner know that we are here.

Obscured Links!	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Age of War. Thanks Jason.
Stories:	How We Won the War on Thai Chili Sauce. Heroes creator keeping head high.
Science!:	House cat makes scientific history. NASA unveils the Chariot lunar truck.
Images:	Team Fortress 2 Costumes. Thanks Digg. Your game costumes. OMG! Awesome Party Guy Vid! on Flickr.
Media:	Based on a Poo Story. NSFW. Ron makes an omelette. Thanks Peter. Blue's omelet tip: water instead of milk.
Teh Funny:	ActionTrip Comic Strip: Anti-Parody.