The Windows edition of Prince of Persia should now be in stores, though there's been no official announcement to that effect, perhaps a consequence of last week's console releases hogging the spotlight (the same thing happened when the PC version of Dead Space shipped unannounced after the release of its console counterparts). The action/platformer reboot is also available via digital distribution, as it can be purchased in North America from Direct2Drive and the Ubisoft Digital Store, or from Steam for customers in North, Central, and South America.

Strategy First announces that Perimeter 2: New Earth is gold, and that KDV Games RTS terraforming sequel is due in North American stores on January 20, 2009, reports GameSpy. Here's the party line on the game: "Set in a future universe where Earth is dying, civilization is in a race against time to discover a new home planet and colonize it for suitable living conditions. In both single and multiplayer environments, you explore New Earth and battle against opposing forces, choosing either the Exodus or the Harkback, all in an attempt to acquire energy and claim the new home planet. Perimeter 2's gameplay involves strategic terraforming to acquire resources, projecting an impenetrable perimeter force shield to protect from attack, and transforming combat units through manipulative nanomorph technology."

A new version 1.11 of X-Motor Racing is now available, offering some performance improvements, tweaks, and fixes for this indie motorsport simulation. The new version can be acquired through the game's internal "online update" option. There is also an updated version 1.11 demo on the X-Motor Racing Downloads Page and mirrored on AtomicGamer, FanGaming, FileFront, and Gamer's Hell. Those interested in the full game can purchase it via this page.

The report earlier today of a free update for Project Aftermath failed to note that this has inspired the release of a new demo for this arcade real-time strategy game updated with the new content. This new demo is available from the Project Aftermath Website, and it is mirrored on AtomicGamer, FileFront, and Gamer's Hell.

• The Lord of the Rings: Conquest on Eurogamer.

• Atlantica Online on RPG Vault.
• Risen on PC Games.

• The top 10 games of 2008 - Fidgit.
• 10 most overrated games of 2008 - Fidgit.
• Vote for your Game of the Year on bit-tech.net.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Gears 3 for Christmas 2010? Thanks Destructoid.
• Three Years On, Xbox 360 Slowly Gaining in Japan.
• Fable II Post-Mortem Interview on Eurogamer.
• New Wii drives breaking modchips, hearts, legs.
• Resident Evil 5 demo taken offline.
• Hackers Griefing Left 4 Dead on 360. Next the griefers will start hacking, and then where will we be? Anyway, a fix is now available.
• The Top 3 Glitches In Gears 2 That Douches Use And How You Can Fight Them. Thanks Kombo.com.
• Xbox LIVE Arcade: METEOS WARS.
• Xbox LIVE Arcade: PowerUp Forever.
• “SACK IT TO ME”…Weekly Answers to the LBP Community’s Questions (12-9).
• Mark Rein Tells Gears of War 2 Forums to "Relax". And hit me (hit me), hit me (hit me), hit me with your LASER beam!
• Sony Introduces New Genre To Video Games…. "Zen gaming." No, really.
• GHWT for Wii instruments compatible with Rock Band 2.
• Capcom nearly cancelled Street Fighter HD over art.
• Sky Finds “Interesting Opportunity” in Consoles.

Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.

• NVIDIA dishes about OpenCL.
• Dell raises cost of Windows XP downgrade option to $150.
• The Ultimate Intel Core i7 Memory Performance Guide on TechSpot.
• Windows Vista SP2 beta performance on bit-tech.net.
• Intel completes 32-nanometer chip development.
• Office Depot to shutter 126 stores. Thanks Ant.
• Benchmark: Ati Catalyst 8.12 WHQL with small performance benefit.
• Ex-Evesham employees throw lifeline to customers.
• How to prepare for February's digital-TV switchover.
• Muted celebration for computing.
• Microsoft updates Office 2004-2008 for Mac.
• Everything You Need to Know About Digital Camera Lenses.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• New MacBooks said to have issues with maxed out RAM, faulty NVIDIA GPU.
• Mario makes way for Shakespeare on Nintendo DS in HarperCollins deal.
• Battery in Sleek Leather Sleeve Doubles iPhone 3G Battery Life.

Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.

• Google Zeitgeist 2008.
• Intel's opto-electronic 'breakthrough' could save this doomed Internet (or not).
• Kosmix aiming to topple Google as king of Internet searches.
• Brit Censors Back Off Wikipedia Ban - Revisit 'contextual issues,' sort of admit error...
• The Amazon Honor System, 2001-2008.
• New "Battlestar Galactica" Webisodes Start This Friday. Thanks Ant and Digg.
• If u cn rd this quickly, gd 4 u (Reuters). I'll accept half the research fees to explain stuff like this to all takers.

• FCC Commissioner Terms WoW a Leading Cause of College Dropouts.
• Got a few security pop ups from NIS 2009 today .. More like a few hundred. Thanks Ant.

• Congress: FCC Boss Martin Abused Power - Manipulated and withheld data to influence Congressional decisions... Thanks Mike Martinez.
• FTC kills scareware operation that duped over a million users…
• Which? files complaint against Davenport Lyons.

• BioWare Using Simutronics' HeroEngine for Star Wars- The Old Republic…
• Logitech's G13 gameboard turns it up to level 80…
• Outspark Creates Virtual Playground With New Social Networking Portal…

It's hard to wrap my mind around this being the 15th anniversary of the release of the DOOM shareware, in my mind I'm still far too young to be remembering things from that long ago. I guess it's a sign of the time that's passed that you can now celebrate the birthday of this seminal first-person shooter by playing the Flash Version, especially if you recall trying to get good performance from the original game with nothing else running. Oh well, time marches on: One of these days we'll celebrate DOOM's birthday by playing a cell phone version.

Valve announces that a server-side anti-cheating fix has been applied to curtail the rampant cheating in the Xbox 360 edition of Left 4 Dead: "Valve has released a server-side fix to deny the recently reported cheats on all dedicated Left 4 Dead Xbox 360 servers. The fix is designed to halt the cheating behavior on the dedicated servers, which accounts for the majority of the co-op and Versus modes of play. A title update for those playing on user-hosted servers and/or via system link will be released in the coming days."

The AMD/ATI Drivers & Software Page now offers downloads of new version 8.12 Catalyst reference drivers for ATI graphics cards. The new drivers help accelerate applications with ATI Stream technology for many ATI Radeon graphics processors. This results in performance improvements for the ATI Avivo Video Converter and Folding@Home, and the new drivers also boast performance improvements for a number of games under both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10.

Frogster Interactive announces the formation of Frogster America, a new North American subsidiary based in San Francisco that will be run by industry veteran Sean Kauppinen, founder of International Digital Entertainment Agency (IDEA). This comes in advance of the North American launch of Runes of Magic, expected before the end of this year, prompting this quote from Kauppinen: "Frogster is making a strategic move into the US market with Runes of Magic, a title that sets the AAA standard for premium free-to-play, micro-transaction based games. With a strong launch team in place, Frogster America is well positioned to grow the operation aggressively in the coming months."

Gamesfaction's Project Aftermath Page offers what's called a "major update" for this arcade real-time strategy game. Word is: "The additions see the game benefit from twenty new challenge levels and a new Tactical Deployment system which is available throughout the campaigns and challenges. With these new updates, gamers will be able to change their equipment mid-mission and call on some considerable reinforcements to tackle the New Order menace." The update is free to existing owners, while new customers can take advantage of a seasonal price-reduction to $9.99 for the game.

Llamasoft celebrates the one year anniversary of the release of Space Giraffe on the Xbox 360 with the release of the game's soundtrack and word that the Windows edition of this arcade game that has drawn comparisons to Tempest will be released via digital distribution next week (we've seen reports that it's available now, but these are premature). This announcement has details on how the Windows edition differs from the console version, saying it includes new graphics, remixed levels, and an overall less psychedelic effect, though it will also contain an "Acid Mix" that's the same as the Xbox 360 edition. Adding the ability to play the remix means they can also add new levels in the future, should there be demand: "If there is sufficient enthusiasm for the PC version of the game then it will be easy for me to provide more level packs for download. These needn't be simply remixes of the original levels - they can be entirely new levels with new level shapes, scripting, and texture literals. We could do themed levels (for Christmas, for example, or to celebrate L. Ron Hubbard's birthday), further level sets for the chilled crowd, further psychedelic challenges for the tripheads, shorter level sets for those who want a game that doesn't take so long to play through in one go - whatever people want, really."

Joystiq has word on the formation of Game Mechanic Studios, a California-based developer founded by EALA and Activision veterans Jason Alejandre, Jeff Hua, and Henry Ji, who have participated in the development of the Tony Hawk and Medal of Honor franchises and Tiberium, EA's now-cancelled first-person shooter. They offer word that an announcement is coming from the studio in the coming weeks about their first game, which will be based on an original intellectual property, and they have a humorously blurred screenshot to tease it in the vaguest possible manner.

The InstantAction Beta Blog declares "Goodbye ActionPasses; Hello Freedom," as they have abandoned their payment system, and made all the games on their action gaming portal completely free, saying: "Rokkitball, Galcon and all the maps on MBO, ThinkTanks, and ZAP have now been unlocked for unlimited free plays." They also show concern for those who have purchased ActionPasses in the past, offering beta access and refunds for their loyal customers, saying: "Now, for those early adopters who purchased ActionPasses. Fear not, we want to reward you for your dedication. Since you purchased some of this content you will soon have access to 3 unreleased private betas! Ace of Aces (aerial dogfighting), Lore: Aftermath (big time mech action), and BLUR (arcade racing). You may also be eligible for a refund if you purchased any ActionPass or a Map Pack, refund dates are between now and June 1st 2009. All you need to do is submit an email to Support@instantaction.com with DEC SITE CHANGE in the subject line. We'll get back to you and make sure everything is settled correctly." Thanks Strich.

The Atari Interview with Jack Emmert on Ten Ton Hammer is another conversation with Cryptic's Jack Emmert about the news they've been acquired by Atari. He talks about what will and won't change following the deal, how the deal was initiated, Atari's MMO aspirations, his admiration for Atari's intellectual property, and his enthusiasm for the idea of a community-oriented gathering in the vein of Blizzard's BlizzCon.

The Plain Sight Website now offers sign-ups to beta test Plain Sight, a multiplayer arcade game of robot sword combat in the works at indie developer Beatnik Games for full release next year. This press release has details on testing, which will begin before Christmas, and here's word on the game: "Plain Sight is a 3D multiplayer arcade game with robots; robots who bounce around cityscapes on mini planetoids and wield swords which are used to destroy one another. Destroying another robot makes you bigger, stronger, better… a different colour. It also gives you points. Spoiler: You can’t keep the points until you kill yourself. "

Massively has word that Sony Online Entertainment has launched a Station Cash microtransaction system in EverQuest and EverQuest II. There's a guide to the marketplaces and a FAQ on the topic. The Station knowledge base has further details on this, and there's a Q&A on the Station Cash situation on Ten Ton Hammer where SOE's John Smedley makes it clear that this does not mean either EverQuest game is going free-to-play. On a semi-related related note, a story on Shacknews had reported that Star Wars: The Old Republic would be "microtransaction-based," but this has been subsequently updated with a response from EA indicating this was based on a "misunderstanding." Thanks Dunk.

amBX to launch SDK in January 2009 has word of plans to release a free software development kit for amBX on January 12, 2009, following on recent indications that enhanced developer support is part of the roadmap for the environmental effects vendor now that it is independent from former parent Philips. The SDK will offer game makers the tools needed to enhance games with amBX effects, and a forum will also launch to support developers with their amBX integration. According to amBX CEO Neil MacDonald: “The amBX SDK provides developers with everything they need to get quickly up to speed and at no charge. It makes amBX very approachable and this will be a major step forward for us as we take the amBX proposition to wider markets and sectors. The whole point of amBX is to immerse the player deeper into the game and the amBX SDK now makes a rather complex operation very simple and extremely low cost."

The World of Warcraft Forums indicate Blizzard is looking to add a dual spec capability in the next content patch. Here's word from Blizzard poster Ghostcrawler: "The idea is to let you swap glyphs and action bars along with your talents. It will be trivial to do in town. You will also be able to do it out of towns, but not as trivially. We hope to have this done for the next major content patch, but it's a big feature and takes some time." Thanks Eurogamer.

• PlayStation Home Beta Service Will Become Available To All PlayStation 3 Users On December 11.
• Molyneux hints at Fable II digital release.
• Winter Holiday Theme (Free) on Xbox LIVE.
• Arcade: METEOS WARS on Xbox LIVE.
• Arcade: PowerUp Forever on Xbox LIVE.
• Dragon Quest X announced for Wii.
• Upcoming Home content shown at London media day.
• Over 28m Rock Band songs downloaded.
• Killzone 2 PlayStation 3 Screenshots.

That's no moon! It's a preview site for Evochron Legends, providing screenshots and details for StarWraith 3D Games' next freeform space combat/mercenary/trader simulation. Here's a bit on how the freeform-ness of the game, which is due early next year: "Everything you do in the game takes place in a seamless universe without system 'walls' or 'rooms' that require a jumpgate 'door' to access. There are no required warp gates or trade lanes to restrict your travel and hold you back. You can travel anywhere you want, with or without jump drives and gates, as long as you have the fuel and time to get there. You can descend into planet atmospheres (without loading screens or sudden environment flipping) to land at city trade stations, mine valuable materials, or explore for hidden items. You can escape to nebula clouds for sensor cover or hide in a massive asteroid cave for protection."

Massgate.net announces two new community-created maps for World in Conflict are due for release soon. One is a domination map by "Luva" called "Airport" where the white zone is for loading and shooting only. The other is a tug of war map called "Bocage" that returns to this famed historical battlefield. No specifics about when to expect a release are provided.

Steam now offers automatic updates for X3: Terran Conflict, Project Aftermath, and Race - The WTCC Game. Just log in and make like George Jetson with your feet on your desk while the computer does all the work.

Still Alive on GamesIndustry.biz has Intel's Randy Stude put on his PCGA cap to discuss the state of PC gaming. He talks about the divergent needs of gamers and publishers regarding DRM, and describes the PCGA's role: "As an organisation, what we're going to attempt to do is try and put everybody in the same room, publishers, content protection companies and developers and hardware providers and say: 'here's what we believe the right recipe is, no matter what protection methodology you use lets make sure at least the experience is consistent so they consumers don't reject PC gaming as a platform, because digital rights management is so ominous and in the way of their fun'."

The Prototype interview on 1Up sits with Radical's Chris Ansell for a progress report on Prototype, their open-world action game. They discuss the game's lack of multiplayer support, character progression, the possibility of a demo "'if' the planets align correctly," and a bit of previously unrevealed prototrivia as a capper: "I can tell you that if you have a random burning desire to take out a military transport helicopter by pitching an enemy soldier into its rotors...the average number of soldiers you'll need to pull this off is two. Again, we're still tuning that, so it might change, but let us know if you want more info on this feature." Also Joystiq has some screenshots and videos they shook loose from the teaser Prototype Website in advance of its relaunch a month hence.

• X-Play Best of 2008 Winners List. PC honorees: Left 4 Dead, Sins of a Solar Empire, and WAR. Molyneux's Fable II GOTY Acceptance Speech.
• Five Big Stories of 2008 on Massive Gamer Magazine.

• QBlog: Torture and Torture Responses. MUD inventor Richard Bartle on torture as a game element. Thanks Boing Boing.
• Randy Smith - A Few of My Least Favorite Things.
• Trembling Hand- Five Games I Want To Play That Don't Exist Yet.
• Destructoid - How survival horror evolved itself into extinction. Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Game Developers Conference China 2009. Is scheduled for October 11-13 in Shanghai.
• GDC09: first details of AI Summit.
• Video Contest for the netbook from Acer, video contest for the ultra-portable laptop the Aspire One netbook.

• The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena on Eurogamer.
• Red Faction: Guerrilla on 1Up.

• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 on Dead Pixel.
• Grand Theft Auto IV on Crispy Gamer.
• Mosby's Confederacy on Out of Eight.
• Need for Speed Undercover on Games32.
• Sacred 2: Fallen Angel on Gaming Nexus.
• Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942 on Games32.

• Asus Eee 1002HA Netbook on I4U News.
• Bgears b-Envi mATX Case on ThinkComputers.org.
• CoolerMaster ATCS 840 Full Tower Classic Case on Hi-Tech Reviews.
• Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC3-10600 4GB RAM Kit on Overclockers Online.
• Crucial DDR3 1333 RAM on Bjorn3d.com.
• EVGA nForce 790i SLI FTW Digital PWM Motherboard on HotHardware.
• Foxconn ELA Motherboard on X-bit labs.
• G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 CL9 [6GB] RAM on Legion Hardware.
• GIGABYTE MA790GP-DS4H Motherboard on iXBT Labs.
• HP TouchSmart IQ506 Desktop PC on Digital Trends.
• Huntkey Green Power 550W PSU on Hardware Secrets.
• In Win Matrix Case on techPowerUp.
• Lamptron FC-2 Rheobus Fan Controller on Overclock3D.Net.
• Lian Li Silent Force 850W PSU on Overclockers Club.
• Logitech ClearChat PC Wireless Headset on Hardware Secrets.
• Mainstream Case Roundup- HEC, Gigabyte and Raidmax on X-bit labs.
• Mio DigiWalker C520 Portable GPS on Techware Labs.
• MSI R4670 512MB Motherboard on Overclockers Club.
• Nikon Coolpix S610c Digital Camera on TechReviewSource.com.
• NZXT Khaos Classic Series Full Tower Welded Aluminum Case on ThinkComputers.org.
• Samsung SyncMaster 2343NW Monitor on InsideHW.
• Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB Hard Drive on bit-tech.net.
• Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 HDMI 512MB Graphics Card on Elite Bastards.
• Scan 3XS X58 Core i7 920 system on HEXUS.net.
• Thermaltake DUOORB Heatpipe CPU Cooler on Tweaknews.
• Thermaltake V14Pro Cooler on X-bit labs.
• Verbatim Recharge-Go Mouse on [OC]ModShop.
• VIZO Armada II Ram Cooler on Top Review Shop.
• XFX GeForce 260 GTX Graphics Card on nV News.

• WildTangent signs in-game ad deal with Ludia…
• Shooting for nothing- A look at current and future free-to-play FPS games…
• 10 Best Free Online Game Sites…
• Merry Christmas from DICE…
• UGO in high-level talks to buy 1UP; EGM not part of deal. Don't look at me, I don't know nothin'…

A problem with the new and improved search function here that became evident after using it for a while is that its disdain for short words caused some searches to fail, saying it could not find results for searches on phrases like "Far Cry 2," "F.E.A.R.," and "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." So Frans rolled up his virtual sleeves and taught Blammo its ABCs as well as its A.B.C.s, and now such problems are solved. There may be some unintended consequences of this change in how the search functions, but if there are, we'll have to burn that bridge when we come to it.

R.I.P.: Pure Pwnage cast member Troy Dixon.

L.I.N.K.s:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Meeblings. Thanks Jay is Games.
Links:	10 Wonders of the Gaming World.
Stories:	NBC may scale back hours. Chinese girl gets 'kiss of deaf'. Man with keg in vehicle admits to drinking, driving. Thanks Devicer.
Science:	Men Are Red, Women Are Green, Brown Researcher Finds. Blue website links. Thanks Neatorama.
Auction:	Rare Sci-Fi Movie Props Hit Auction Block. Storefronts in Virtual Worlds Bringing In Real Money. 6K for a Gaia Online Arrow? Really?
Media:	Quake On Me. Video of Multiple Kill Vehicle Test Scares Me Silly. Thanks The Flying Penguin. With good reason. Ome henk m'n tieten zijn okee. Kind of NSFW. Thanks Dan =0)