Paradox Interactive announces that development of Elven Legacy is complete, and Ino-CO's fantasy-themed strategy wargame is due for release next month:

Paradox Interactive today announced that development of Elven Legacy, the upcoming fantasy strategy wargame for the PC, developed by Russian studio Ino-CO, has been completed and has gone "gold."

Elven Legacy sends players on an epic quest aimed to restore the former glory of the Elven race. With a thrilling, non-linear storyline and tools that allow players to create their own missions and campaigns and share them in multiplayer mode, Elven Legacy will provide hours of exciting gameplay for strategy fans.

Elven Legacy is scheduled for retail release in April 2009 and will be published worldwide by Paradox Interactive and will also be available on all leading digital download portals for a suggested retail price of $29.99 / €29.99.

For more information, go to www.elven-legacy.com.

Steam News has word that another update for Empire: Total War is now automatically available, shortly after the release of yesterday's new version. The new version fixes an issue with save games disappearing from the save game list and updates the Miles dll to fix some audio crashes.

Battlefield Heroes Website has a status report on beta testing of DICE's subscription-free online shooter, which may be back online by tomorrow morning:

I can see reinforcements approaching on the horizon. Stop.
(Web servers are almost all in place)

Full inspection of new arrivals scheduled for this evening. Stop.
(we will be doing load testing this evening)

Surprise drill scheduled for midnight. Stop
(to make sure everything will work, we will be doing more testing throughout the night)

Heavy artillery won’t be here before sunrise, earliest. Stop.
(No need to wait, the Beta is not scheduled to be back before (at least) tomorrow morning)

A new movie from Postal 3: Catharsis shows off the next installment in Running With Scissors' outrageous shooter series. The clip offering pre-beta footage from the Source-engine game can be found on AtomicGamer, eXp Download, Gamer's Hell, and MyGameTrailers.

A third "tools of destruction" trailer from Red Faction: Guerrilla shows off more of Volition's upcoming shooter sequel and the weaponry you'll use to bust up Mars. The clip is available on AtomicGamer, Gamer's Hell, and MyGameTrailers.

• Fallout 3, Ico and No More Heroes Makers Talk Game Design, Regret and Cold Medicine Abuse.
• Why Hellgate: London Failed and How Developer Flagship Got Flagshipped.
• GDC: Stop "Punishing the Player." Says Far Cry 2 creative director Clint Hocking.
• GDC 09- id Update with Todd Hollenshead.
• GDC: Blizzard's Pardo: Sony, Microsoft Need New Forms Of Gameplay.
• World of Warcraft Quests- By The (Insane) Numbers.
• GDC: Mythic's Barnett On Golden Ages, Digital Distribution.
• GDC: Game Balance Through Intuition.
• GDC: How Game Monetization Will Change in '09.

• Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor on IGN.
• Free Realms on IGN.
• League of Legends: Clash of Fates on IGN.
• R.U.S.E. on Kikizo.
• Split/Second on GamesRadar.
• Terminator Salvation on IGN.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Kojima: I Will Never Retire.
• Virtual Console Arcade Launches.
• Resistance 2 Multiplayer Lessons.
• Prototype for Xbox 360 to Debut DTS Neural Surround.
• Guitar Hero World Tour: Queen and The James Bond Theme on Xbox LIVE.
• God of War will not be locked at 60 FPS.
• Advent Children may be done, but Final Fantasy VII isn't.
• Ratchet & Clank continue adventures in 'A Crack in Time'.
• Rock Band Tops $1b in North America.
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 gaining online co-op.
• Rumor: Pat Benatar coming to Rock Band.
• Street Fighter IV Xbox 360 price cut to under $54.
• What ‘Wii Sports’ Boxing Once Looked Like.
• The Last Remnant PS3 and the Awkwardest Silence.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• All Your PC Boutiques Are Belong to China.
• Report: NVIDIA hit by S&P ratings downgrade.
• Microsoft slates May date for Windows 7 RC download.
• AMD Expected to Launch Radeon HD 4890 Card Next Week.
• Graphene chip could hit 1,000GHz, make your Core i7 feel totally inadequate.
• New NVIDIA APEX Technology Accelerates Physics Creation Pipeline for Content Developers.
• AMD and Havok demo OpenCL accelerated physics.
• The FCC teaches me a lesson- Don't complain.

Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.

• DSi Will Introduce Two Separate Cart Types.
• Apple refund clause: Bad for developers?
• Assassin's Creed for iPhone coming in the next few months.
• Command & Conquer Heading to iPhone?
• GDC: Red Alert, SSX target iPhone.
• New Zelda DS Game in the Works.
• A DS for Everyone. Look under your seats! You get a DS! You get a DS!
• Young people who embrace mobile tech can feel overconnected.
• 28 Geekiest and Craziest Nintendo DS Mods.

Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.

• Should overuse of the Internet become a mental disorder.
• Heartland Institute: What Broadband Problem?
• Google plans fifth birthday present for Gmail users.
• Where 'Undo Send' and other Gmail ideas are born.
• Twitter's bid for revenue- paid pro accounts.
• iGoogle Gaming Themes.
• GE Uses Digital Hologram To Advertize Windmills. Thanks dakslf.

Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.

• Firefox fix due next week after attack is published.
• Google Voice Fixes Security Flaw, Almost.
• Canadian .ca domain prepares united Conficker.C defense.
• IT security on the cheap.
• Rogue SharePoint sites pose security menace.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Utah House Majority Leader: Override of Game Bill Veto Unlikely.
• App Store, iTunes come under fire in new lawsuit. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• The Pirate Bay to roll out secure €5 per month VPN service.
• Parents fight child porn threats against "sexting" teens.

• Tough task- Designing a game about your 'first time'…
• The Tastyspleen TastyCast is a community-oriented Quake shoutcast hub…

Well the DirecTV guy showed up today, and after lowering my confidence with some fumbling, did a fine job of realigning our antenna, which actually fixed my problem, so my skepticism was not justified. He also added a pair of braces to the setup which should help keep it aligned going forward.

R.I.P.: Pop, Country Singer Dan Seals Dies of Cancer. Thanks Neutronbeam.

NowGamer has a couple of quotes of interest from an interview with Jean Francois Dugas, lead designer on Deus Ex 3, the action/RPG sequel in development at Eidos Montreal. The quotes are from a full print interview in TotalPCGaming: "We ultimately decided to focus more on the first game," he states, saying he's on the "same page" as fans who want the series to return to its roots: "...In terms of being a Deus Ex game, we keep the core gameplay essence alive, which is a hybrid of action-RPG in which the core gameplay mechanics revolve around combat, stealth, hacking, and social aspects." He also says their environments will be larger than Deus Ex 2: "think Hong Kong in Deus Ex 1." Thanks Mike Martinez.

Steam is offering Far Cry 2 for half-price for 24 hours, as Ubisoft's open-world sequel to Crytek's first-person shooter is today's installment in their week-long Ubisoft promotion. There's more Ubisoft digital distribution news on GOG.com, where they have begun adding Ubi's back catalog to this DRM-free marketplace. The first titles they offer are Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Beyond Good and Evil, and IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946, and they say more will be added soon.

Modernwarfare2.com now offers a new "security teaser" trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, offering sounds and imagery from Infinity Ward's modern combat sequel. The clip ends saying "Modern Warfare 2 - www.modernwarfare2.com - 11.10.09" (with no "Call of Duty" in there) which means the game's release date is probably November 10 of this year, though since sometimes the month can be second in a dd-mm-yy notation, October 11 should probably not be ruled out either. Update: A subsequent press release from Activision confirms November 10 as the proper date.

THQ and Relic Entertainment announce that Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor is gold, and the World War II real-time strategy standalone expansion is expected in stores on April 9. Here's the skinny:

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced Company of Heroes®: Tales of Valor™, the next chapter in the critically-acclaimed Company of Heroes franchise, has reached the gold master stage of development and has entered manufacturing. Developed by award-winning Real-Time Strategy (RTS) developer, Relic Entertainment, Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor offers three, intense single-player campaigns, three new multiplayer modes and an innovative “direct-fire” feature that offers an unprecedented amount of control on the battlefield. Scheduled for a nationwide release at all major retail and online outlets on April 9, 2009, Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor will be available as a Games for Windows® PC title for a suggested retail price of $29.99.

“Building upon the recent critical and commercial success of Dawn of War II, Relic Entertainment is set to deliver the next great chapter in the award-winning Company of Heroes franchise,” said Kevin Kraff, vice president of global brand management, THQ. “Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor strengthens Relic Entertainment’s reputation as a leading RTS developer, with an unwavering dedication to innovative, ground-breaking gameplay experiences.”

“Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor brings an exceptional amount of tactical control and intimate combat to the franchise,” said Tarrnie Williams, general manager, Relic Entertainment. “The three new single-player campaigns, new multiplayer modes and advanced gameplay mechanics emphasize precision and require players to use a new level of strategy and skill to achieve victory during the historic battles of World War II.”

A new GDC trailer for CryENGINE 3 shows off more of Crytek's next game engine in an expanded version of the clip released earlier this week, now offering much more gameplay footage. The clip serves to confirm the emphasis being placed on console support in the new engine, as it alternates between scenes rendered on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The clip is posted on ActionTrip, AtomicGamer, and MyGameTrailers.

Though the results have not yet appeared on the Game Developer Choice Awards Website, the award ceremony was conducted last night. The Associated Press, Gamasutra, and VentureBeat have write-ups of the festivities, and this press release highlights the game of the year award earned by Fallout 3, and lists all the winners:

Game of the Year
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks)

Best Game Design:
LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)

Best Writing:
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks)

Best Technology:
LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)

Best Visual Arts:
Prince of Persia (Ubisoft Montreal)

Best Debut Game:
LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)

Best Handheld Game:
God Of War: Chains Of Olympus (Ready at Dawn)

Innovation Award:
LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)

Best Audio:
Dead Space (EA Redwood Shores)

Best Downloadable Game:
World Of Goo (2D Boy)

Recipients for the evening's special awards were:

Lifetime Achievement Award
Hideo Kojima

Pioneer Award
Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy

Ambassador Award
Tommy Tallarico

The Independent Games Festival Website doesn't yet reflect the results of yesterdays ceremony, but this article outlines results, and Gamasutra reports on the proceedings. Here are the winners:

Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Blueberry Garden, by Erik Svedang

Innovation (Nuovo) Award
Between, by Jason Rohrer

Excellence in Visual Art
Machinarium, by Amanita Design

Excellence in Audio
BrainPipe, by Digital Eel

Technical Excellence
Cortex Command, by Data Realms

Excellence in Design
Musaic Box, by KranX Productions

Best Student Game
Tag: The Power of Paint, by DigiPen Institute of Technology

Audience Award
Cortex Command, by Data Realms

D2D Vision Award
Osmos, by Hemisphere Games

• Leaked God of War 3 gameplay- Watch before it gets yoinked.
• Nintendo President Announces Wii Storage Solution, New Zelda game and 50 Million Global Wii Shipment.
• Backstage with Guitar Hero To Debut In PlayStation Home.
• Star Trek XBLA-PSN game detailed.
• Console versions of Bionic Commando hit retail on May 19.
• Bungie far from done with Halo 3.
• InFamous PlayStation 3 Screenshots.

Cheaters beware, MyCrysis announces a PunkBuster update for Crysis Wars server:

Introduction Yesterday evening Evenbalance has updated the Punkbuster Server Binaries to the latest version to fix some minor bugs. This also includes a fix for the internal Crysis Anti Cheat solution that didn´t kick players for a hash mismatch when using Punkbuster.

Update Note Along with the update Evenbalance has released the following note:

Version 1.742 of the PB Server for Crysis Wars has been released to our PB Master Servers for auto-update and to our website download page. This is a maintenance release.

This release is for game servers only. Server Administrators should use the update tools provided by Evenbalance to update their game servers. If you encounter issues with the latest version please use the Evenbalance ticket system.

Matrix Games offers a new patch for Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets, updating the turn-based strategy/wargame to version 1.11, saying: "The update fixes a bug in PBEM games using variants and brings two new features: formation suppression, and timed replacement only when in supply."

TechRadar UK - You have no rights in World of Warcraft. Thanks Ant and WoW Vault.
"I think we've all spent so much time playing World of Warcraft that we've started to mistake it for an actual country. So when the ruling Blizzard party passes a law banning add-on authors from advertising or soliciting cash donations within the game, we all react as if it is a civil liberties issue. It's not. WoW is a game, not an economy. Blizzard isn't against gold farmers and powerlevelling services and nagware add-ons because it wants to be the only one to make money from WoW. Blizzard is against them because it wants to protect the image of WoW as a fun game, which ultimately is the best way to protect its own revenue. Blogger sites are predicting the imminent implosion of the add-on community, but the reality is that there are really only two commercially run add-ons affected by this new rule."

• Red Faction: Guerrilla on GameShark.

• In Wake of Shooting Rampage, Stuttgart Gaming Competition Nixed.
• Cheaters Ruin Official GT5 Prologue Competition.
• Preselected Champions for ESWC Asia Masters.

• F.E.A.R. 2 on Punch Drunk Gamer.
• Raycatcher on Out of Eight.
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II on Bjorn3d.com.
• Wallace & Gromit - Fright of the Bumble Bees on Computers N Stuff.
• Watchmen: The End is Nigh on Computers N Stuff.
• World in Conflict: Soviet Assault on PC Format.

• ACARD ANS-9010 DDR2 SATA RAM-Drive on Benchmark Reviews.
• AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition CPU on X-bit labs.
• ASUS Xonar Essence STX Sound Card on PC Format.
• Auzentech X-fi Forte 7.1 Sound Card on Guru3D.
• BFG EX-1200W Modular PSU on TweakTown.
• Canon PowerShot SX200 IS Digital Camera on Digital Trends.
• Cooler Master Sileo 500 Case on OverclockersHQ.com.
• Cooler Master Silent Pro M 600W PSU on Top Review Shop.
• Crucial Ballistix Tracer 6GB DDR3-1600 RAM on PureOC.
• Hiper M1000 PSU on Hi-Tech Reviews.
• In Win Na External HDD Enclosure on Overclockers Club.
• Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds 17" Laptop on ThinkComputers.org.
• Linksys by Cisco Media Hub on HotHardware.
• Logitech G19 Keyboard on Digital Trends.
• MSI X58 Pro Motherboard on Overclock3D.Net.
• Noctua NH-U9B CPU Cooler on Hardware Bistro.
• NZXT Sentry LX Case on PureOC.
• OCZ Throttle Flash Drive on I4U News.
• Patriot Xporter Magnum 64GB USB Flash Disk on MVKTech.
• Razer Arctosa Gaming Keyboard on OCIA.net.
• Samsung Monochrome Laser Printer ML-2855ND on CCEReviews.
• Sunbeam Core-Contact Freezer 92mm Heatsink on FrostyTech.com.
• Tagan A+ Cupid 3 Mini-ITX HTPC Case on TweakTown.
• Titan G4T Magic Pad Notebook Cooler on Bjorn3d.com.
• Trendnet 300Mbps Dual Band Wireless N USB Adapter on OverclockersHQ.com.
• Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB Hard Drive on Big Bruin.
• Western Digital RE3 1TB Hard Drives on PCShopTalk Forum.
• Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB Notebook Hard Drive on Legit Reviews.
• ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi Motherboard on TweakTown.

• Steam offers a 10% preorder discount on And Yet It Moves, and a playable demo of the puzzle/platformer is now available…

I've got the DirecTV guy coming today because I couldn't tune in a channel yesterday. I have to say this is not the first time lately I've had the feeling someone at technical support has misdiagnosed my problem, as the person I spoke to decided my dish needs aligning, even though most channels come in fine. Oh well, we shall see.

Dished-Out Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Battlefield Heroes Mini-Game. Thanks Planet Battlefield. Breaking the Tower. Space Battle.
Links:	100 Movies to See Before You Die. The Top 10 People Who Almost Destroyed Fun.
Stories:	Walk it off, it's only a heart attack. 'Three Stooges' coming together at MGM. Nyuk nyuk?
Science:	Briny pools 'may exist on Mars'. Unique Killer-Whale Pod Doomed by Exxon Valdez. Study Links Depression to Thinning of Brain’s Cortex. And hair.
Images:	A By-the-Numbers Look at EverQuest II's Players. Left 5 Dead - a set on Flickr. Thanks Digg.
Media:	Modern Warfare Just Got Both Cuter and More Horrific. Thanks dakslf. Where the Wild Things Are Movie Trailer. Thanks Neutronbeam. iPod Touch -- Why don't you just DIE! NSFW.
The Funnies:	UserFriendly. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.