Yes, just Spore. 'Spore' is Will Wright's latest game-changer on MSNBC.com. Also, Exclusive How to Build a Better Being Preview has the first ten minutes of a program on Spore that will air on the National Geographic Channel tomorrow. Meanwhile, Art Imitates Life- Long-Awaited Spore Video Game Based on Real Scientific Research. Finally, Spore Spurns Older Macbooks.

The Scott Faye interview on Kotaku talks with the producer of the Max Payne movie about his plans to follow that project with a screen adaptation of Duke Nukem. This is presumably a different movie than the Duke movie project announced in 2001 (story), though Faye is said to have been working on the Max Payne movie for ten years now, so who knows. Besides, that is still short compared with the development time spent on, well, never mind. Faye is still working on the Alice movie, and is also said to be working with Scott Miller’s Radar Group on a number of new cross-media franchises that are being designed from the ground up as games and films in addition to the new Duke movie. The Q&A does make it clear that this is a development deal that does not yet have studio backing: "With the two new games coming out based on Duke Nukem, I'm working at establishing a Duke film scenario that will compel a studio to finance a feature version. Certainly, there's a large audience that knows and loves this character."

• Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway on Eurogamer.
• Football Manager 2009 on Eurogamer.
• Heroes over Europe on Games32.
• Jumpgate Evolution on Strategy Informer.
• Legendary on IGN.
• Multiwinia on GameSpot.
• Rise of the Argonauts on RPG Vault.
• Spider-Man: Web of Shadows on GameSpot.
• Theatre of War 2 on Battlefront.com.

• Aion: Tower of Eternity on GameInfoWire.
• GTR Evolution on SimRacingWorld.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Consumers Still Hesitating When it Comes to $59.99 'Next-Gen' Pricing.
• Fils-Aime: Nintendo Working On Better Wii Storage.
• Guitar Hero III Les Paul support, PAX pack fix coming to PS3 Rock Band Thursday.
• Groovin' Blocks falls onto WiiWare.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• RealNetworks touts 'legal' DVD-to-PC copying; movie industry says not so fast.
• DEMOfall08 consumer and enterprise technology preview.
• Next version of Windows Home Server promises Time Machine-like UI.
• Wilmington, NC becomes the first to go digital.
• Dell Doesn't Care Where You Live, Keeps Delivering Packages To The Wrong Address.
• Intel Core 2 Overclocking Basics Articles - OCIA.net.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• EA and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Confirm Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Video Game to Ship with Film in Summer 09…
• Games Without Frontiers- How Videogames Blind Us With Science…
• Asian gaming revolution finally takes hold…
• MP Demands Apology For Mercs 2 Free Gas Stunt…

Sept. 8, 1966- Liftoff for the Starship Enterprise. Its 42-year mission…

IGN reports that Warner Bros. and Monolith have regained the rights to the F.E.A.R. name, and have changed the title of Project Origin to F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. This F.E.A.R. sequel previously could not use that title, as the F.E.A.R. name (but not the story) remained in the control of publisher Sierra. This puts an end to potential confusion caused by the F.E.A.R. sequel carrying a different title. WBIE and Monolith were able to secure the naming rights after the Activision Blizzard merger put the future of the Sierra brand in doubt. The article promises more details are coming soon and includes a video interview discussing the name change. They also nail down the release date for the game, which is February 10, 2009 for all platforms. Thanks Gamer's Hell.

Ubisoft officially confirms the October 21 North American release date for Far Cry 2 revealed on Friday (story). The announcement includes news of an exclusive deal with GameStop that will get preorder customers an exclusive limited edition of the game at no additional cost. The Limited Edition will offer a fold-out map, exclusive packaging, and "6 Bonus Missions with about 3 bonus hours of explosive gameplay."

GSC Game World announces September 15 as the new North American release date for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, after the shooter prequel was delayed from its planned September 5 release (story), reportedly due to the absence of CD keys in the package. GSC also says "The digital download release date has not yet been determined," but Valve made an announcement on Friday (story) likewise saying the Steam edition of Clear Sky is due on September 15.

The Jeffrey Steefel interview on the Lord of the Rings Online Vault talks with the executive producer on The Lord of the Rings Online about the upcoming Mines of Moria expansion for the MMORPG. The conversation is formatted into an article that previews what to expect from the add-on. Also, there's a new Mines of Moria movie that shows off The Flaming Deeps, a new region that will be added in the expansion. The movie can be found on FileFront and Gamer's Hell.

GameSetWatch has further details on what's being called "The Warhead PC," saying this machine designed specifically for Crysis Warhead will be officially announced next week and the PC itself should be available when Crysis Warhead ships on September 16. The system is built around an Intel E7300 CPU and an NVIDIA 9800GT graphics card, and it was designed by Crytek with the goal of being able to run their upcoming shooter sequel at 30 FPS while costing no more than $700 USD. After the box was designed, it was used to benchmark the game, and they made sure to optimize any areas where performance lagged. As to why this is all going on, they quote Crysis franchise producer Bernd Diemer saying: "EA’s not getting into the hardware business, and Crytek isn’t either. The biggest thing for us is convenience. We want to make PC gaming convenient." Thanks Mike Martinez and Kotaku.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Demo: Guitar Hero Aerosmith on Xbox LIVE. All Xbox LIVE regions.
• EA slashes UK Rock Band price.
• Metallica's New Album Rocks Guitar Hero This Friday with Exclusive Content.
• Atari snares SingStar boss.
• SOCOM beta crumbles under demand.
• Lords of Shadow Coming To Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in 2010.
• Nintendo "flattered" by MS Avatars copying. Apparently under the impression theirs were "original."
• Motorstorm: Pacific Rift European demo to be sent to 'lucky few' on Thursday.
• Wii- Nintendo Announces... Wii-DS WiFi Router (Bwah?).
• The Complete History of Nintendo.
• Mad Catz Ships the First-Ever Rock Band Bass Guitar.
• Bungie reveals Achievements for Halo 3.
• Castle Crashers Getting New Characters, New Weapons.
• Dead Rising- Chop Till You Drop Nintendo Wii Screenshots.
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 PlayStation 3 Screenshots.

We received a statement from LucasArts regarding the possibility of a PC edition of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed referenced in the story below. While they cannot be certain what it was the Pixelux Entertainment COO said on the topic, they are unequivocal in their denial that a PC port is in the works: "I can tell you definitively that there is no PC version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed planned."

A PC edition of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed may be in the works, according to an overt implication at NVIDIA's recent NVISION 08 Conference as reported by Rock, Paper, Shotgun. During a presentation by Pixelux Entertainment, who created the physics in the just-released Star Wars console game, the company's COO Vik Sohal had this to say: "…Just been released last week on the internet, the Force Unleashed demo on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. We have a PC version as well."

The European Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Website has an update on the problematic launch of European open beta testing of Mythic's upcoming MMORPG (story). Word is European WAR server operator G.O.A. has been hard at work on the underlying hardware and software issues, and to prevent registrations from overwhelming their capacity, things will be handled differently when they go back online today: "As a result, we will launch a new code validation page today at 16:00 CET. This new page will feature a delay between the input and the validation of the key. You will now receive a confirmation email within a few minutes of entering your key. On a related topic; if you created a war-europe account yesterday and have a validation email for this, these changes will allow you to follow that link and validate your account."

The NeoGAF Forums have a scan promoting the upcoming 200th print issue of PC Zone indicating the magazine will offer details on Deus Ex 3, saying "The conspiracy is revealed…" The corner of the page says the issue will go on sale on October 9. Thanks Videogaming247.

Stardock Interview Part 1 on Shacknews talks with Brad Wardell, focusing on the recent Gamer's Bill of Rights proposed by the Stardock CEO and Chris Taylor of Gas Powered Games (story). They dig for more details about the proposal, and in light of recent indications that is not getting widespread support in the industry (story), they inquire if this was just a publicity stunt: "Well certainly it's a publicity stunt. The idea is to get the word out there. Because at the end of the day, the only ones that are gonna really make this happen are the gamers themselves, if they start to make purchasing decisions based on those who would adhere to some kind of standard."

Dominions 3: The Awakening Website now offers a new patch to update the 64-bit Linux edition of Illwinter Game Design's fantasy-themed strategy sequel to version 3.20b. The new version addresses a network bug that turned up in penguin-powered edition of the recent version 3.20 patch (story), but the bug does not impact the Windows or Mac editions of the game.

EA's Spore Prototypes Page now offers 11 more playable prototype systems "exploring countless design directions in gameplay, simulation and user interface" created as part of the process of designing Spore, the just-released life simulation. As they explain: "Usually these prototypes are never seen by the public, but we thought some of the more intrepid players out there might enjoy playing around with a few of our early Spore prototypes. Keep in mind these are not tested, supported or even easily explained." Thanks Computer and Video Games.

Why EA Should Exchange my -Digital copy- of Crysis for a Physical Retail Copy on Crymod Modding Portal is a lengthy forum thread outlining a frustrating exchange one user had with EA customer support over trying to update a copy of Crysis downloaded from the EA store to work under 64-bit Vista. Workarounds have been devised for this problem, which apparently cannot be applied to the download version due to DRM issues. This customer makes the case for exchanging their digital rights for a physical copy, but meets with a series of canned responses that for the most part fail to address the issue at hand. Thanks Ant and Digg.

Who plays, how much, and why? Debunking the stereotypical gamer profile on Wiley InterScience offers an extensive analysis of demographic data of MMOG players based on anonymous EverQuest II data supplied by SOE, as outlined on Raph Koster's Website. The study offers some results described as counterintuitive, as summarized in some questions they raise: "Why, for example, are older female players playing at the highest rates? Why are older players playing more when younger people are thought to have more free time? Why are these gamers physically healthier than nongamers? Why do minorities play at lower rates? Why do so many players not practice religion? Did game play cause the mental health outcomes or vice versa?" Thanks Terra Nova and Massively.

This Battlefront.com Videos Page has a new video with around six minutes of footage from the upcoming Marines module for Combat Mission Shock Force. Here's the accompanying blurb: "This video shows some in-game action (turn-based replay) from a US Marines infantry assault against a Syrian held town. The Marines encounter some Syrian tanks - and deal with them swiftly. Both action and command phases are shown, showcasing - among other things - the use of the new "action spot highlight" feature during the Command Phase."

• Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge on Gamesquad.
• Mount&Blade on Gamesquad.
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King on Blizzplanet.

• Xbox Live VP at TGS.
• 'Consoles Are a Problem,' says Lorne Lanning. Thanks Mike Martinez and Digg.
• NHL 2K9 Xbox 360 Screenshots.
• TNA Impact! Xbox 360 Screenshots.
• Mega Man 9 Xbox LIVE Arcade Screenshots.

• Revised Xeons hit higher speeds, draw less power.
• The TR Podcast 16- AMD roadmappery, and GPUs suss out Sasquatch.
• SiSoftware Sandra 2009 Interview with Adrian Silasi.

Thanks Ant and Digg.

• Apple admit Briton DID invent iPod, but he's still not getting any money.
• iPhone 3G at Best Buy- Apple ads a flat-out lie.
• Top 10 Apps Worth Jailbreaking Your iPhone to Get.

• Old Web idea of micropayments finally finds a home.
• Chrome: Shiny, but not polished.

• Report: Team Ninja Lawsuit Settled.

• Card Games Collection on Gamepyre.
• Sword of the Stars: Collector’s Edition on Out of Eight.

• Acer Aspire One Netbook on InsideHW.
• AMD HD4870 X2 Crossfire Graphics Card on t-break.
• Apevia X-Sniper Mid Tower Case on Overclocker Cafe.
• Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Sound Card on Pure OC.
• Foxconn A7DA-S 790GX Motherboard on Overclockers Club.
• GIGABYTE EP45T-DS3R Intel P45 DDR3 Motherboard on ThinkComputers.org.
• Gigabyte AMD 790GX Motherboard on HEXUS.net.
• Hiper Osiris Mid-Tower Case on TweakTown.
• MSI Radeon 4850 R4850-V101 Graphics Card on Motherboards.org.
• Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W PSU on RBMODS.

• Analyst Convinced EA Will Buy Take-Two…
• "Dangerous" free petrol stunt backfires on EA…
• Alex St John: The PC business model is "f*cked"…
• Spore cheats and codes. Thanks N4G…
• Amazon.com's Spore customer review scores are savage, with a vast majority of reviews only one star, citing the DRM. Thanks GamesIndustry.bix…

If the local GameStop is any indication, this obscure Spore project you may have heard about might enjoy a little success. The store opens about 11:00 am, and we stopped by shortly after noon, and were told it had already long sold out.

Bestselling Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Star Dominion.
Links:	Takahashi Meijin, the first gamer geek ever. Thanks Boing Boing.
Story:	Tommy Lee Jones- No Money For Old Men.
Science:	Camouflage - How to disappear. Thanks Digg. Apologies to Monty Python.
Media:	All Domain Names Are Not Created Equal. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog visits RNC. Thanks Digg. A Day in the Life of a Dog (Time Lapse Video).
Teh Funnies:	Vitalsecurity.org. Thanks The Flying Penguin. Dilbert.