Turbine Cancels AC2: Turbine swallows their pride and announces to the few subscribers within Asheron's Call 2 that they are going to kill the game: Dear AC2 subscribers, In spite of our hard work and the launch of Legions, AC2 has reached the point where it no longer makes sense to continue the service. We will be officially closing the Asheron's Call 2 service on 12/30/05. Until then, we plan to run live events, but we will not be adding any content or features. We deeply appreciate the many dedicated fans of AC2 who have stood by us over the years. You have our sincerest gratitude. Best regards, Jeffrey Anderson CEO, Turbine It was along time coming. In other disparaging Turbine news, many now question, if they could not make AC2 successful after reaquiring it from Microsoft, as well as closing their newly opened West Coast offices and having cancelled the next "Turbine Nation" player event. What does this mean for DDO (will WOTC continue to support them or cease funding) and what is going to happen with MEO which has all but died in the eyes of the player majority while still lacking a publisher after VUGames pulled out and Turbine announced they would self publish? Is Turbine going broke and running out of VC funding? They have had an extremely high turnover rate of employees over the past two years. Posted August 26 2005 by Div Devlin

Auto Assault Beta Extended: Steve Snow the producer for Auto Assault at NetDevil has announced to the community that beta for the game has been extended, in turn meaning the game is going to be released at a later date. We started beta testing earlier this year and here is an update on our progress. The beta testing period has spawned some great ideas that we want to include before launch. NetDevil and NCsoft are both companies with a strong commitment to releasing "only when it's ready," so we want to extend the beta into the spring of 2006. Over this time, we are going to continue tuning, tweaking, and adding to Auto Assault. While it's often a sign of warning when a game goes into delay, this only supports the fact that NCSoft trusts in their developers to make some great games. With the extended development time, more items can make it into release, and not be botched. Posted August 26 2005 by Div Devlin

DAoC Darkness Rising Movies: Mythic Entertainment has released new videos from the upcoming Dark Age of Camelot expansion, "Darkness Falls." Darkness Rising adds player-controlled mounts to the game, and allows gamers to explore new zones and embark on an epic quest in pursuit of the title, Champion of the Realm. The Darkness Rising trailers offer an overview of the expansion, and also spotlight the top features. Feast your eyes on highly-detailed footage of new player-controlled mounts, Champion Weapons, and the revamped Darkness Falls dungeon. You can grab them in our downloads section. Posted August 26 2005 by Div Devlin

Frag Dolls Hiring: The gaming gal clan that raised the issue of marketing for hire, is back in the news. Four Companies sent me the same press release. The Frag Dolls, sponsored by Ubi are looking for a replacement, and will be at the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend. "Ubisoft is extremely proud that the Frag Dolls have had such success within the video game community, breaking down the stereotypes of female gamers and in representing Ubisoft among both hardcore and casual video game players," said Tony Kee, vice president of marketing at Ubisoft. "We're now in search of our newest Frag Doll and we look forward to seeing who will step in and be a worthy member of this elite team." Female gamers 18 and older in the United States interested in participating in the open call at PAX should bring their video game resume and a few photos (these can be color photo copies) and are invited to take advantage of an onsite videotaped "audition" to help their selection chances. The video tape segment, which is not mandatory for consideration, will consist of a one-minute taped response to the question: "Why should you be a member of the Frag Dolls?" Ok, it's been a year, they are still around and some of the gals are even pretty cool. Posted August 26 2005 by Div Devlin

As The Market Churns: A new player has jumped into the MMO market as Hi-Rez Studio's announces they have licsensed the Unreal Engine (30 to create their firs title. No further info available, but they do have job openings and are based in Atlanta, GA. NPDGroup has released thier sales totals for the month of July ranking the top twenty games overall. Warcraft and Guild Wars remain in the top ten. 1. Battlefield 2 (CD) - Electronic Arts 2. World of Warcraft - Blizzard 3. Guild Wars - NCsoft 4. The Sims 2 University - Electronic Arts 5. The Sims 2 - Electronic Arts 6. The Sims Deluxe - Electronic Arts 7. Half-Life 2 - Vivendi Universal 8. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 - Atari 9. Battlefield 2 (DVD) - Electronic Arts 10. The Sims: Unleashed - Electronic Arts Also, SWG: The Total Experience was listed in spot number twelve. Posted August 26 2005 by Div Devlin

New Issue of The Escapist: Themis has released Issue 7 of their downloadable PDF magazine, The Escapist with a theme covering "Classical Studies" for reading pleasure. Within will be found: Prominent writers such as Pat Miller, Jim Rossignol (www.big-robot.com and Allen Varney (www.allenvarney.com>) discuss topics ranging from the influence of Bungie's Marathon to the Silver Age of interactive fiction. Another great read from the authors. Posted August 24 2005 by Div Devlin

GameTrailers Game Show: GameTrailers takes a huge step forward to compete with G4TV based on this press release: GameTrailers.com, the leading online source for videogame multimedia content, is pleased to announce its new original show, “GT Weekly.” Unlike any other news show on the internet, “GT Weekly” allows viewers to choose the segments they want to watch based on their preferences. “Every videogame fan is different, and each one has very specific and intense loyalties, but more importantly they have no patience to watch coverage of games they don’t care about. The interactive format of the show lets viewers choose the topics they want to see, and skip past the stories they are not interested in. This is one of many advantages internet programming has over traditional TV,” said Jon Slusser, CEO of GameTrailers.com. “A massive number of people now have broadband access and this opens up endless possibilities for high quality content. GT Weekly is bringing audiences ‘TV on the internet’ with a new level of technology and production value.” Designed specifically for interactivity, GT Weekly offers viewers up-to-date news and stories about the game industry accompanied by the latest trailers, behind the scenes footage, interviews and event coverage. Hosted by Amanda MacKay, each 5-10 minute show highlights the best of GT TV’s programming, with on-screen links for fans to jump to more extensive coverage. GT Weekly can be seen at GT.tv and GameTrailers.com with new episodes premiering every Thursday. The latest episode covers QuakeCon and the Evolution Fighting Game Championships 2005. Upcoming GT Weekly shows will include coverage of the Tokyo Game Show and much more. I've met a couple of the guys from GameTrailers and they have a great video site. Posted August 24 2005 by Div Devlin

Guild Wars Extreme PvP: ArenaNet announces they are going to hold an "Extreme PvP Weekend" starting this Friday in Guild Wars which will net those who take part in PvP action, faction rewards: Earn 5 times the faction awards for wins in high-level arenas and tournament play! Earn 2.5 times the faction awards for wins in guild-vs-guild play! This weekend only, gain full faction for guild-vs-guild victories, regardless of the period of time you've been a member of your guild. Action Faction! Learn more. Posted August 24 2005 by Div Devlin

RFOnline Intro: Codemasters has sent out a clarified press release on their new title RFOnline which states they are importing the game and will be the US and UK publisher of the game, it's not an inhouse title as Dragon Empires was. RF Online, one of the most successful massively multiplayer online games in the Far East, is crossing over to the west as Codemasters announces it has secured the exclusive US and UK rights to the hugely successful title. RF Online (Rising Force Online) was created by and licensed from MMO publishers CCR, Inc. of South Korea. RF Online delivers a supremely rich gaming experience that has already attracted over 1 million players in the Far East since its launch last year. With stunning in-game visuals and jaw-dropping character and environment detail, RF Online is an incredible next generation MMO game. It features a unique blend of magical fantasy mixed with futuristic science-fiction action and sees players engaging in the most epic battles ever seen in a MMO role-playing game. RF Online will deliver a unique approach to Player versus Player gameplay, utilising one of the most advanced combat systems of any MMO title. Full-scale battles break out daily as thousands of players engage in deadly wars - the reward of victory is high: the winning race gains control of the game world's most valuable mine and its precious resources. RF Online will launch in Q1 2006 and will be published and operated in the US and the UK by Codemasters Online Gaming, the company's recently formed online entertainment division. Posted August 24 2005 by Div Devlin

LucasArts+SOE=(SWG)Sorry Players: Lucas Arts and SOE have issued a formal apology to players within Star Wars Galaxies over the experience point catastrophe: Dear Star Wars Galaxies Players, On behalf of the entire LucasArts and SOE SWG team, we wanted to take this opportunity to apologize for a recent change we made regarding group experience (XP) rates. With Publish 22, we attempted to fix an unintended game play mechanic that we introduced with the Combat Upgrade earlier this year. Specifically, we wanted to correct a large divergence between the rate at which experience (XP) could be earned in a solo setting versus a group setting. After this change hit live, we were presented with a mountain of feedback describing how this change had a major negative impact on your enjoyment of the game. We want to let you know that we hear you and we value your feedback. You were right: we made a mistake on this one and we reversed out the change because of that feedback. We continue to learn from experience and pledge to improve our process for bringing you timely updates to Star Wars Galaxies. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to seeing you in the game! Sincerely, Julio Torres Producer, Star Wars Galaxies LucasArts Todd Fiala Director of Development, Austin Studio Sony Online Entertainment Raph became involved, or else we would never of seen this. Cheers to Raph! Posted August 24 2005 by Div Devlin

Codemasters Announces MMO: Codemasters has jumped back into the MMO market after ceasing development last year on Dragon Empires as they announcing the signing of a deal to bring you the stunning and huge hit MMO title, RF Online! You can play as one of three races - the Cora, a mystical, magical elf-like race, or as the Bellato, a race that have mastered engineering and as a result have built and can drive mechs! You can also play as the deadly Accretians, a race of robots that have incredible technology, futuristic weapons and driven by their desire for destruction and power. Whatever race you choose know that war is never too far away and daily you can support your chosen faction in huge realm versus realm battles in order to win control over the precious resource mines on the planet. Ok, PvP and MECH's, this could work! Check out their community boards until the website goes live. Posted August 22 2005 by Div Devlin

Eve Online Magazine: CCP announces they are launching on official monthly magazine for Eve Online. EON Magazine, due to release on October 1st boasts 68 pages of high-color news, interviews, previews, exclusive fiction and player guides written and produced by a dedicated team of writers and designers from within the EVE community and beyond. Posted August 22 2005 by Div Devlin

Irth Online Contest: MagicHat Software announces a contest for Irth Online where you can become a god and win an Alien PC! The story of Irth Online is a collaborative effort between the developers and our players. We merely provide the starting point from which the actions of the players direct it forward. This sweepstakes is the first step on this never ending journey, introducing the ability for players to have a direct effect on the future of Irth during our final pre-launch stage of testing. Players are invited to take part in a two week series of quests beginning on Wednesday, 08/24/05 and ending on Saturday, 9/10/05. Each of two Grand Prize winners will receive an Alienware AuroraT 5500 computer, (monitor not included). The systems have AMD AthlonT FX Processors, Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional, Alienware 460 Watt Max Power Supply, ATI RadeonTX800 Pro 256MB DDR3, 16B Dual Channel Low-Latency DDR PC-3200 at 400MHz, 250GB Serial ATA 7,200 RPM with 8MB Cache, 16x DVD / 52x36x52x CD-RW Drive, and a 16X Dual Layer ± R/W Drive. Sweepstakes entrants must be bona fide Beta Testers registered with Magic Hat Software. Anyone may become a Beta Tester, at no cost, simply by applying at www.irthonline.com. Once registered, Magic Hat Software will provide each new Beta Tester with an access code needed to enter the sweepstakes. Current Beta Testers may enter using their existing access code. Posted August 22 2005 by Div Devlin

Ryzom Anniversay Celebration: Nevrax announced that in celebration of the first anniversary for Saga of Ryzom, current players will be awarded a free month of game play. According to the publisher, any player with an active, paying account as of 11:59 p.m. on Monday, August 29th, will have a free month added to that account on August 30th, 2005. Those accounts will have their monthly billing date pushed back 30 days. "Ryzom’s success is based purely on our loyal player base," noted David Cohen Corval, Nevrax’s founder and CEO. "When we started talking about anniversary rewards, we wanted to do something big to reward those loyal players, something no other game has ever done." "We were just going to add the free month without a time delay," Corval continued, “but we wanted to give players a chance to notify their guild mates or friends who might be taking a break or on holiday." In addition to the free month, Nevrax will launch the next chapter in the game’s ongoing storyline in September, in which players will have a chance to affect the outcome of a conflict brewing between the technology-based Karavan and the nature and magic-based Kami. The company has also revealed that the long awaited Outposts game system will launch on October 26th. Only those signed up by 11:59 p.m. Monday, August 29th, will be eligible to participate in the testing of their new, free expansion pack The Ryzom Ring. Testing for Nevrax’s upcoming expansion will begin in November of this year. Posted August 22 2005 by Div Devlin

SWG Expansion Announced: Lucas Arts announces a new expansion for Star Wars Galaxies with all new Mustafar content inspired by Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith under the title of "Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan!" Like Obi-Wan Kenobi after his death, Star Wars Galaxies has become "more powerful than you can possibly imagine." Appropriately, Trials of Obi-Wan allows players to better understand the meaning of these final words spoken by Luke Skywalker's mentor, as they embark upon missions delivered directly from the spirit of the revered Jedi Master himself. From the very shores of molten lava where he defeated Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan guides players on quests that span the planet Mustafar - some of which might even convert devotees of the dark side over to a more virtuous path. This expansion features many new high-level quest rewards, including the ability to find a fiery red crystal found only on the volcanic planet that creates a lava-like lightsaber for the lucky owner. Players who fulfill all of Obi-Wan's directives will also receive a rich reward. The expansion is scheduled for release on November 1st alongside the Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith theatrical DVD and Star Wars Battlefront II video game. Posted August 22 2005 by Div Devlin

AoD Website Live: The official website for Age of Darkness, the MMO in development from Game-Arena Entertainment has gone live. Slated for a release in 2006 they promise a revolutionary Death Penalty System and a PvP system along with player controlled mounts, crafting system, and housing, all in a skill based system. Check them out. Posted August 19 2005 by Div Devlin

Ballerium Hits 500: Ballerium, the recently returned RTS/MMO from Majorem LTD which has had publsihing problems causing development to be hatled-restarted-halted again, announces that they have successfully begun testing in earnest as they hit their newest milestone for this pahse of their history with 500 registered beta testers playing. Despite many difficulties, the servers are now back online, and the number of active players is better than ever before. Due to the surprising amount of donations received from testers for Ballerium, Majorem tends to continue this experimental Beta session for at least another month. More details can be found here. Posted August 19 2005 by Div Devlin

Michael Okuda Joins STO: Perpetual announces that legendary historian and writer for all things Star Trek has joined the team for Star Trek Online: "It seems the natural progression to be working with Perpetual as a design consultant for Star Trek Online," said Okuda. "They are evolving the look of Star Trek into the future, and I am excited to be a part of it. I am confident Star Trek fans will be pleased with where Perpetual is going with the franchise." Okuda served as a technical consultant to the writing staff of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, as well as Star Trek: Enterprise and is coauthor of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual. His other credits include seven Star Trek feature films, The Flash, The Flight of the Intruder, The West Wing, and the pilot episode of Threshold. His contributions to Star Trek: TNG were recognized with three Emmy nominations for Best Visual Effects. With his wife, Denise, he co-wrote The Star Trek Chronology and The Star Trek Encyclopedia. Okuda also designed a commemorative emblem for NASA, honoring the lost astronauts of Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia, which hangs on the wall in Mission Control, in Houston. Welcome to the MMO Community Mr. Okuda! Posted August 19 2005 by Div Devlin

SWG Player Complaints: It appears that the newest patch within Star Wars: Galaxies has created an uproar within the community as they nerfed experience for grouping. What we are told: The great XP nerf. Before pub22 all group members would get full xp for a kill, now the xp per kill is divided by how many group members there are. The max group size is 8. You just went to getting 1/8th of the xp you used to get in a full group. Is'nt grouping to gain experience part of the whole MMO experience? Thanks Willyboy. Posted August 19 2005 by Div Devlin

WoW, The Card Game GenCon kicked off yesterday and already the announcements are flying. Upper Deck Entertainment announces they have struck a deal with Blizzard to create a collectable card game based on World of Warcraft. "The World of Warcraft TCG will perfectly capture all of the action-packed combat and furious competition that online players have come to expect," said Jerry Bennington, Senior VP of Upper Deck Entertainment. "There are a myriad of similarities between online and TCG gaming communities; Blizzard and Upper Deck have focused on creating products that both support and capture the imagination of these gamers. With the combined efforts of these two great companies the World of Warcraft TCG will be nothing less than phenomenal." "TCG's have always been very popular with Blizzard's development teams, so we're especially excited to be working with Upper Deck to produce a card-based World of Warcraft game," commented Mike Morhaime, Blizzard Entertainment president and co-founder. "In addition to offering our players a new way to experience Azeroth, this new game will also introduce World of Warcraft's fantasy setting to a whole new audience." How will they implement queues for waiting? Posted August 19 2005 by Div Devlin

As The Industry Turns: THQ announces the appointment of Kelly Flock as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Publishing. Flock brings to THQ more than 20 years of publishing, sales, marketing and licensing experience in the video game industry, including having served as president and CEO of Sony Online Entertainment, president of 989 Studios, and president of Sony Interactive Studios America. Flock also served as general manager of LucasArts Entertainment Company where he managed the game division of Lucasfilm Ltd. In his new role as executive vice president of worldwide publishing, Flock will report directly to Brian Farrell, president and CEO of THQ. Flock will join THQ later this month. That's a huge leap, congrats to him. NDPGroup has also released their top ten game sales charts for the week of July 31st, ending on August 6th. Guild Wars has fought their way back up to third, while WoW remains in second behind BF2. 1. Battlefield 2 - Electronic Arts 2. World Of Warcraft - Vivendi Universal 3. Guild Wars - NCsoft 4. The Sims 2 - Electronic Arts 5. The Sims Deluxe - Electronic Arts 6. Nancy Drew: Secret Of The Old Clock - Her Interactive 7. The Sims 2 University Expansion Pack - Electronic Arts 8. Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 - Atari 9. The Sims: Unleashed Expansion - Electronic Arts 10. Half-Life 2 - Vivendi Universal We should start a lottery pool, you know WoW is going to go back to first soon. Posted August 18 2005 by Div Devlin

CoV Begins Beta: Cryptic announces on their message boards for City of Heroes that testing is about to begin for City of Villians! As we have mentioned in the past, first priority into the Closed Beta will be offered to long-time, currently active City of Heroes subscribers as part of a program designed to reward their continued support. Please note that due to the sheer number of people who have been with us for 12 months or longer, not everyone who qualifies under this program will receive an invitation today. Because of hardware constraints, stability issues, etc., beta tests typically start small and then ramp up gradually to include more and more people. This test is no exception. So, if you are a long-time subscriber and you don’t receive an invitation right away, please do not bombard us with PMs and email asking why you didn’t get one! Everyone who qualifies under this program will be invited into the Closed Beta eventually. Contest winners should expect to receive invites within the next couple of weeks. We will send you an email in the coming days to verify your account information, so please be on the lookout for that. For those of you who pre-ordered City of Villains or won a beta slot at E3, the exact date of your beta entry is still being determined. However, it will be at a later stage, after those who qualify under our long-time subscriber program have been invited. Read here. Posted August 18 2005 by Div Devlin

DAoC Island Battlefield Released: Mythic announced that they have released their new island battlefield for Dark Age of Camelot. Located in the North Sea within the New Frontiers, the island is a centrally located battlefield that gives all players easy access to RvR combat and facilitates easier movement between the Realms of Hibernia, Midgard, and Albion. "Realm vs Realm battles are the heart of Dark Age of Camelot," explains Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer for Dark Age of Camelot. "They are our unique take on Player vs. Player combat and the reason so many gamers continue to play the game. The Isle of Agramon is an exciting new battlefield that will further intensify the conflict between the three Realms. Now RvR action is only a short bridge crossing away for most players." There were some complications during the transistion, but it's all fixed now. Check out the patch notes for all the details. New screenshots our in our gallery showcasing the nw battlefield. Posted August 18 2005 by Div Devlin

Dofus Launch Date: Dofus, the MMO name with the weird name from French developers ANKAMA Studio is proud to announce the international release set for September the 1st. DOFUS is a Tactical MMORPG which means players evolve in a real time universe, but when they fight against monsters or against other players, action is turn-based (with specific number of actions each turn). Thus, fights are breathtaking and each move is strategic. How long has everyone been yeling that PvP needs to be turn based? Check out some screenshots in our gallery here. Posted August 18 2005 by Div Devlin

Eve Fan Fest '05 Announced: It's that time again for CCP to throw their Fan Fest for the Eve Online community of players which will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland from the 20th to the 22nd of October 2005. This year's festivities include presentations from the leads at CCP, the pre-launch of our upcoming expansion code-named Kali, technical sessions, panel discussions, the EVE Championship, and we have added developer roundtables. Also, be among the first people to catch a sneak peak of the upcoming EVE Trading Card Game! If you have a vacation planned, and wanted to go someplace new, outside of the States, you can't go wrong here. Check out the details. Posted August 18 2005 by Div Devlin

Second Life Developer Winners: Linden Lab announced the winners of the second annual Game Developer's Competition for Second Life. In April 2005, 16 teams were chosen from over a hundred entries to participate in the competition. This year Linden Lab posed new challenges to the contestants as "extra credit" – asking teams to develop games taking place over the entire world of Second Life, to inject experiences with narrative and collaborative gameplay and to integrate a “backpack” or wearable object providing players with scoring information and inter-player communication. After 3 months of development time, 6 projects were chosen for Church’s evaluation. See the full list of results and more info on the competetion. Posted August 18 2005 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Developer Chat: This Friday, August 19th, the Shadowbane Development Team will be participating in a House of Commons chat. This will begin at 7pm Central (5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern) and take place in the #straticshoc on irc.stratics.com. For more information, please visit the Shadowbane Community Website. Posted August 18 2005 by Div Devlin

WoW, Busted by Mom! Hilarity ensues within World of Warcraft as the newest star Brion, get's busted by his Mom on the message boards: ((OOC)) Pardon me for hijacking the thread, here.. But, Brion - if you don't want your mother to know you were up and on the computer at 3:29 in the morning - DON'T post on a forum that she reads. Busted. Grounded. How embarrasing is that! Posted August 18 2005 by Div Devlin

OGaming Gobbles EQInterface: OGaming the evergrowing network for MMO Online gaming continues to expand as they aquire EQInterface, as a front company for MMO Games. The OGaming Network, a network of more than 30 affiliated web sites that cater solely to MMOG players; and EQinterface, owner and operator of EQinterface.com, EQ2interface.com and WoWinterface.com -- the pre-eminent MMOG user interface modification sites on the web. "The OGaming Network is a trademark and/or registered trademark of IGE US, LLC." Posted August 16 2005 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Lore Server: About time. Wolfpack Studios, a Ubisoft Company, is proud to announce the debut of the first iteration of the Shadowbane Loreplay Ruleset on the Shadowbane Test Server! Shadowbane, a massively multiplayer online game known for its intense player-vs.-player conflict and real-time strategy elements, launched in March 2003. Shadowbane is one of the few massively multiplayer online games that let players actually change the world, and this is the first server to regulate players' strategic options, limiting the types of characters that can join the various Faction-based Guilds, who may cast beneficial and peaceful powers on each other, and who may even group together. These may seem like harsh restrictions, but these game elements have been requested by a large segment of Shadowbane?s community for some time. For the first time, individual guilds will face limits in their power and abilities, and be forced to make strategic decisions to maximize their effectiveness on the battlefield. Shadowbane has long been acclaimed for its rich backstory and in-game history, and the Loreplay Ruleset will create a rich play environment that better mirrors the factionalized fiction. Many players will finally experience Shadowbane as they originally imagined the game would be. Combined with the Realm and kingship system introduced in Shadowbane?s last expansion, Throne of Oblivion, players can now for the first time ever wage war to see which of which of Shadowbane?s myriad factions is truly the greatest! Who will be able to forge an empire and crush their enemies: the Temple of Cleansing Flame? The High Court of the Elves? The Centaur Cohort? Or will the conquerors be one of more than a dozen other factions? Only time, and the players, can tell! Worth checking out now! Posted August 16 2005 by Div Devlin

STO Devloper Blog: Perpetual has released a developer new blog entry for Star Trek Online, penned by Art Director Ken Henderson who also releases some of the first images for the game: As I’m sure you’ve heard about by now we’ve released some imagery that gives a peak into how we’re evolving the look of Star Trek. We were excited to share the images on Friday in Las Vegas and are equally excited to be posting them on our BLOG. It was great talking with some of you at the convention and getting your reactions first hand. Look for more updates of this nature as the project progresses. I’ll also be throwing up a non-image entry from time to time just to share some thoughts or pose some questions. Either way, the BLOG will be a great resource for the projects Art Direction from here on out. Before I dive in I want to acknowledge all the help and guidance from Paramount as we’ve progressed. Harry Lang has been a great source of encouragement and enthusiasm for the work that we have been doing and having his input in this process has been invaluable. Go boldly to read more. Posted August 16 2005 by Div Devlin

MxO Now At SOE: The Matrix Online (note new liankage) has fully transitioned to SOE. The skinny: Beginning on the 15th, existing MxO subscribers, upon log-in, will be offered a direct link to the SOE Station account registration site to activate a Station account in order to continue their MxO service. In order to continue to play MxO as of this date, you will need to register with SOE by creating a Station account, submitting billing and other subscriber information, and agreeing to SOE's End User License Agreement, Terms of Service, and other rules and policies. You will only need to complete this full process of re-registration once. Also, beginning August 15th, MxO players who have an existing Station account or Station Access™ subscription can select their billing preference and then add The Matrix Online service to their existing account (game software is sold separately). Otherwise, MxO players will need to create a new Station account in order to continue their MxO subscription service. Any existing pre-paid MxO service time on a player's MxO account at the time of the August 15th transition will automatically be added to the new Station MxO account. One wonders, what will occur, if they are already a Station Subscriber? I've not been able to find an answer to that anyplace. Posted August 16 2005 by Div Devlin

Auto Assault Contest: Here's your chance to win exclusive Auto Assault prizes by participating in our Auto Assault Listener Ladder on RadioGameRifts. Throughout the week we will be presenting a "Mystery Word" associated with the upcoming game from NetDevil and NCSoft. When you hear the mystery word, use our official entry form to let us know what the mystery word was. But act fast as you only have an hour time limit to let us know what the word was that you heard after each one is played. To learn more, check out our sister site AA.GameRifts. Posted August 15 2005 by Div Devlin

Who's Who and Where: Some market changes occured with the names we all know within the industry as WebZen announces new hires: Drawing talent from some of today’s top online and video game publishing companies including NCsoft, Atari Inc., and Turbine, Inc., WEBZEN America, Inc. has hired Sven Hindman as the company’s head of customer relationship management, Steve Cavazos as human resources director, and Aaron Rigby and Mike Markin as senior producer and senior brand manager We also hear that Chris "Vosx" Mancil has left "The Matrix Online" which is being transitioned today to SOE and has joined the WebZen team as Community Relations Manager. Meanwhile, over in camp Turbine, rumor has it that Mike "Campion" Wallace who joined them last year as the Producer for Middle-Earth Online (Lords of the Rings Online now) has left their employ. Posted August 15 2005 by Div Devlin

DAoC FanFest: Dark Age of Camelot will be turning four years old, and players can celebrate thie historic birthday at the during Las Vegas Roundtable Fan Gathering this September 23rd and 24th at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. To celebrate the fourth anniversary of the game, players from around the world are invited to meet fellow players and the game’s developers, as well as hear about the exciting advancements in store for the game in the coming months. The Roundtable will feature Dark Age of Camelot-themed activities including LAN play, open forums for players to ask the development team questions, a costume contest, a movie contest, the Camelot scavenger hunt, and much more. The first 300 players to register before August 23, 2005 will receive a free copy of the upcoming expansion pack Dark Age of Camelot: Darkness Rising TM, access to the Darkness Rising beta test, and a unique in-game item. Attendees will have the opportunity to win prizes from event sponsors, including Intel, Prima Games and others to be announced shortly. DAoC Fan Gatherings > SOE Fan Faires so I'm told. Posted August 15 2005 by Div Devlin

EQII Announces Antonia Model: Word comes via GameCloud, that The Sacramento Bee (requires registration) has the announcment of the Quest for Antonia winner which took place this weekend in Las Vegas, awarding the title and modeling contract to 21 year old Anna Wainscoat for EverQuest II. A congrats to the new gal we can all be nervous around while drooling, hoping she will at least say "Hi." Posted August 15 2005 by Div Devlin

Irth Online Beta Three: Magic Hat Software announces that they have begun pahse three of beta for their upcoming game Irth Online, and have included even more Wish (Mutable Relams defunct title) assets. One of the highlighted additions in Beta 3 is the incorporation of graphic assets purchased from recently-cancelled MMORPG Wish, including the introduction of an underground Dwarf City. The Irth Online development team anticipates that former Wish players will enjoy seeing some of their favorite characters, avatars, and action sequences come back to life in Irth Online. The inclusion of previously acquired Wish assets into earlier Irth Betas has been well received by gamers, especially by players who have converted their support from Wish to Irth Online. Player housing and player looting have also been added to Beta 3. Every account can claim a house, and can furnish it by bartering for or purchasing items, or crafting them. Players who kill an enemy can now claim their victim's uninsured possessions. This is expected to be the final Beta for Irth Online before its planned release in September, so apply for beta on their freshly redone website. Posted August 15 2005 by Div Devlin

Top Ten Games: NPDGroup has released their sales figures for the top ten PC games ending the week of July 24th and ending on July 30. Some rise, some fall, as Guild Wars slips to 4th from third lst week. 1. Battlefield 2 - Electronic Arts 2. World of Warcraft - Blizzard 3. Half-Life 2 - Vivendi Universal 4. Guild Wars - NCsoft 5. The Sims 2 - Electronic Arts 6. The Sims 2 University - Electronic Arts 7. The Sims Deluxe - Electronic Arts 8. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 - Atari 9. The Sims: Unleashed - Electronic Arts 10. Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock - Her Interactive Are sales going to devline now for Guild Wars after an incredible run? Posted August 12 2005 by Div Devlin

CoV Pre-Order Available: City of Villains the upcoming sequel (it's really not an expansion since it can stand alone) to City of Heroes has become available in game-stores for pre-order. Whats in the box: - Beta Access to City of Villains™ Two-day head-start – Play City of Villains™ before it ships to the public! - An exclusive In-game Item Limited Edition “Lord Recluse™ vs. Statesman™” poster - 14 Day FREE TRIAL of City of Heroes® for you AND a friend - CD-ROM includes videos, art, wallpapers, screenshots, Rogue Isles map, City of Heroes® comic book, and more! Merchants that should now have it are, Best Buy, CompUSA, EBGames, and GameStop. Posted August 12 2005 by Div Devlin

Dreamlords Announced: A new MMO/RTS joins the ever growing list of games announced as in development. Dreamlords from the company LockPick Entertainment based out of Sweden. From the press release: The production has been ongoing since 2004 and the game will be launched some time during 2006. "Dreamlords, being a Massive Multiplayer Online Real Time Strategy game (MMORTS), adds a new dimension to the MMO games that has not been seen before." says David Rosén CEO of Lockpick. "With Dreamlords as our first major title we plan to establish ourselves on the market as an independent developer who finds new ways to add fun and value to the gaming community." As part of the development Lockpick has launched a community website for the game where future beta testers can sign up and give feedback to the development crew during the different stages of development. "It feels great to finally launch the site, we’ve been waiting for so long to show the gamers what we have and to hear what they have to say about it." says Jon Selin, Lead Game Designer of Dreamlords™. The game itself is like other MMO games an online game only. It will most likely be available for free download with a free initial trial period after which there will be a monthly subscription fee. A retail version with additional materials is planned but not yet scheduled. A Rival for GuildWars? Posted August 12 2005 by Div Devlin

UofI Study Finds MMO's Fine: A study from the University of Illinois finds that people playing MMO Games does not meet the hype of the aggression theory in players. You might think spending 56 hours in a month stabbing and slashing opponents in a video game would lead some people to be more aggressive. But that's not what a University of Illinois researcher found in the first long-term study of the effects of the global phenomenon that is online gaming. Give the article which appears in the Chicago Sun-Times a read. Posted August 12 2005 by Div Devlin

Horizons 14 Day Trial: David Bowman of Tulga Games announces that another 14-Day Free Trial has become available for Horizons, the game originally under Artifact Entertainment. Tulga Games has been hard at work, with vast game improvements and innovations.…..especially relating to the powerful Dragons. And to prove it, for a limited time we are extending the free trial period from 7 to 14 days. This allows you two full weeks of free game play to experience the only game in the world that lets you breathe fire, learn to fly, and become a fearsome adult Dragon. Horizons takes place in the fantasy world of Istaria and, in addition to Dragons, includes ten other unique player races. Horizons has dramatic combat spells, awesome monsters, player-built cities and the best crafting system of any MMORPG. Come try Horizons free for 14 days... the game download is also currently free. Check it? Posted August 12 2005 by Div Devlin

Mythic Unveils Darkness Rising: Mythic released details and their first screenshots for "Darkness Rising," the newest expansion for Dark Age of Camelot. In Darkness Rising, an evil uprising threatens the land and the mightiest heroes in the Realms are called into service. For the first time in Dark Age of Camelot, players will be able to earn the right to be called a Champion of the Realm. Players become Champions by exploring new zones and revisiting altered lands while investigating the mysterious uprising to discover its sinister underpinnings. By performing this service for their Realm, players achieve new levels of advancement and gain the ability to wield class-specific Champion Weapons. Darkness Rising also introduces majestic player-controlled horses and other more fantastic steeds which can be ridden into conflict in the war between the Realms. Champion of the Realm Details: - Champion Weapons are available for all Champions of the Realms. Each class in the game has their own specific weapon, uniquely tailored to that profession. - Advanced mounts are available to Champions of level 45 and above. Mounts include Nightmare, Unicorn, Warhorse, and the Undead Phantom steed, among others. Advanced mounts can be used in PvE and in Realm vs. Realm™ zones, given a unique name, and customized by adding saddlebags, armor, and barding. - Champion Levels allow players to gain new skills and learn abilities from other classes ("sub-classing") - for example, a fighter can learn mage spells by sub-classing. We saw this at E3 and it rocked with everything they were adding in. The expansion will be available this October for $19.99 via digital download directly from Mythic. On the Camelot Hearld is also word that those who register for the Vegas Roundtable by August 23 will get a free copy of the Darkness Rising expansion. Posted August 10 2005 by Div Devlin

Game-Arena Entertainment Luanches: A new MMO developer house has opened their doors announcing two new titles in the works. Game-Arena Entertainment officially launched their website today unveiling the first details on the games "Age of Darkness" and "Ashbrook Prime." We believe that Age of Darkness will cause quite a buzz in the MMOG community due to the fact that we are including several innovative features such as an extremely advanced AI, a variation of 'Perma-Death' and Open PVP combat. Some good features, and with PvP! They are also have a number of employment openings. Posted August 10 2005 by Div Devlin

SIN-JIN SMYTH News: CHRISTOPHER DOYLE, the Coffin Baby Killer in Tobe Hoope's THE TOOL BOX MURDERS (Who also served as stunt coordinator on ARMY OF DARKNESS, DARKMAN) is ramping up to join the rebel alliance behind SIN-JIN SMYTH. Doyle, described by Director Ethan Dettenmaier as "bullet proof!" is well respected within the industry for his "bravery under fire and his ability to do next-to-impossible stunt work!" As with most news surrounding the production, very few details were released except the fact that Doyle will be "HIT and LIT UP WITH A FLARE GUN! SHOT UP! And LYNCHED IN A TREE!" Talk about a nice day on the job! In other news around the movie, it has been announced that THE PIT received advanced word that REGGIE BANNISTER (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-tep) is in talks to join the cast of SIN-JIN SMYTH. Although there is no word on what role Reggie will take on, The Pit has learned that studio based SNAP KICK PRODUCTIONS INC. has made a move towards an agreement with Bannister who, is a fitting choice to join the platoon of "bullet proof players." For music, Midnight Syndicate, who is hard at work designing the orchestral track for the film, wanted to revolutionize their sound---and The Director wants to keep the music mean! "Syndicate is inventive," Ethan continued, "And they made it clear that they wanted to expand upon the sound that they've become known for and that led to the idea of bringing in a guitar player. Once Edward (Douglass of Syndicate) and I discussed it, we agreed we should go out and get one of the best!" Enter Billy Duffy - One of the most respected men in music!!! BILLY DUFFY of the high-octane band, THE CULT is in talks to lay down some heavy guitar work on the soundtrack, although a contract is still in the process of being worked out, the idea took a serious step forward as the film's Producers met with Duffy and members of the SANCTUARY RECORDS GROUP at their offices in Los Angeles in order to "make it work!" You can hear some of the Cult's tunes by request on our sister site, RadioGameRifts. Posted August 10 2005 by Div Devlin

UO Offers Multi-Acct Discounts: After a fallout last year in which players within Ultima Online announced they were going to cancel multiple accounts after a price hike to the monthly subscription rate, EA has finally announced a discount for multiple account holders: You have spoken, and we have heard. Because so many players with multiple accounts requested it, we are introducing a special Mondain's Legacy 5-pack! In the UOML 5-pack you will receive the following goodness: - 5 Upgrade codes (which will also get you 5 Charger of the Fallen war horses if you pre-order) - 5 Account creation\buddy codes - 1 Character Transfer code - All this can be yours for a discounted price of $139.99! That's a savings of $29.95! In order to implement the special UOML 5-pack at the uogamecodes.com store, we will be moving the pre-order start date from August 14th to August 17th. This will give us time to ensure the new 5-pack in implemented properly at the uogamecodes.com store. Better late than never? Posted August 10 2005 by Div Devlin

UBO Tournament: Netamin announces their next Ultimate Baseball Online tournament to take place Monday, August 15, 2005 and is open to all registered members of ESPN.com. ESPN and Netamin Corporation announced today the next tournament in Ultimate Baseball Online, the ESPN UBO Double-Up Tournament. The ESPN UBO Double-Up Tournament will be a 16 team double elimination tournament that starts Monday, August 15, 2005 and is open to all registered members of ESPN.com. Each member of the tournament's winning team will receive one pair of NikeT Sunglasses (approximate retail value $179). Registration opens Monday, August 8 at noon pacific and closes Thursday, August 11 at noon pacific. The sahdes have a nice price tag, get your guild mates and dominate. "Sports Games = Real PvP" - Vash Posted August 10 2005 by Div Devlin

PlanetSide Get's Streaming Ads: Massive Incorporated announces that they have inked a deal with SOE to provide streaming video ads within PlanetSide. PlanetSide and SOE joins FunCom who announced they were incorporating content from Massive Incorporated last month into Anarchy Online that raised numerous editorials around the net by MMO Gamer sites. (Thanks JCal) Posted August 8 2005 by Div Devlin

Auto Assault Rated "T" Valerie "Pann" Massey has posted to the official message boards that Auto Assault for North America has been given a "T" rating by the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board). From her post: Correct - the ESRB has rendered their decision and Auto Assault has been given a T rating. We thought we might get an M because of the violence and blood, but we're very happy with the T since that opens up our options for where we can sell. Now, if parents would just pay attention to what their kids are playing... T doesn't mean "ten years-old." Awesome news, as we can don't need to worry about Clinton or Rod breaking the game down. More Auto Assault news can be found on our subsite, aa.gamerifts.com Posted August 8 2005 by Div Devlin

Ballerium Up & Running: The folks over at Majorem sent word over the weekend that their game Ballerium is now back up and running thanks to the community, as they await funding to restart development. This short notice is to let you know that Ballerium's beta re-launch was successful and without major technical issues. about 150 testers received permission to log into the game, and we will make an effort to add some 200 more testers during this phase and towards the next round. Majorem wants to thank the community for the support it receives from it, after being abandoned by its original publishers. An active player base is a good thing to show for funing, congrats to the Majorem LTD team and the player community for this MMO/RTS game. Posted August 8 2005 by Div Devlin

Top Ten Selling Games: The NPD Group released their weekly sales charts for the Top Ten Selling Games, for the week ending on July 23rd. Taking the top spots again were World of Warcraft from Blizzard ranking in at scond, followed by NCsofts Guild Wars in third. The full breakdown: 1. Battlefield 2 - Electronic Arts 2. World of Warcraft - Blizzard 3. Guild Wars - NCSoft 4. The Sims 2 - Electronic Arts 5. The Sims Deluxe - Electronic Arts 6. The Sims 2 University - Electronic Arts 7. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 - Atari 8. The Sims: Unleashed - Electronic Arts 9. Battlefield 2 - Electronic Arts 10. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Soaked - Atari Both titles have dominated the charts. Posted August 8 2005 by Div Devlin

CoV Fiction Update: Cryptic has released new game fiction on the City of Heroes site for the upcoming stand-alone-expansion pack, City of Villians taking a look at the division of Freedom Corps dedicated to dealing with super-powered beings, Longbow acts as military support for heroes. In her latest journal entry, Ghost Widow provides insight into their history and an assessment of their organization. Posted August 8 2005 by Div Devlin

WoW PvE World2: Blizzard announced that they have heard the call of the car3baers in World of Warcraft and have introduced another PvE (Player versus Environment) world server eliminating player versus player conflict (PvP). Due to the tremendous response to the opening of Moonrunner, we are happy to introduce another PvE realm - Greymane! Thanks to all our PvE realm fans, and we hope you enjoy. All new realms are tagged with the "New" label on the realm-selection list to make them easy to spot. Happy adventuring, and see you online! Now, hopefully the real PvP can commence. Posted August 8 2005 by Div Devlin

Auto Assault News: The official website has word of transmissions from the beta community within game sharing their comments from testing the game along with a feature of the World Map. Also a new bio has been made available for team member Craig Ewert, one of the NetDevil programmers working on AutoAssault. You can grab even more Auto Assault news from our affiliate site, AA.GameRifts.com Posted August 5 2005 by Div Devlin

China The country of China has outlawed PvP for minors according to the Interfax China website. Effective immediately, all minors are banned from playing online games in which players are allowed to kill other players, an activity that has been termed Player Kills (PK). China's Ministry of Culture (MOC) and Ministry of Information Industry (MII) have also ordered the country's online game operators to develop identity authentication systems that prevent minors from playing games These authentication systems would require all players to first enter their Citizen ID Card numbers before being allowed to play games that allow Player Kills. No timetable was given for when these authentication systems must be implemented. Read. Discuss: Guess that means no MMO games for theier young'ins. Posted August 5 2005 by Div Devlin

Ballerium Resumes Play: Majorem announces that Ballerium has once reopened their game servers, and they want you to come play: Just like a cat (well, maybe one third of a cat), it seems that Ballerium has more than one soul, as it somehow managed to get back online. Following incomplete publishing deals with Taiwanese Sanctum and then Interplay, this is the third time Ballerium is being on. A wave of interest following the project cancellation notice less two months ago on June 14th, has resulted in game servers to be re-established. It yet remains to be seen whether this could materialize into the continuation of the development of this MMO-RTS game, but in the meantime players would be able to join and play Ballerium for free. The game is planned to be online again on the 6th of Aug; however downloading the beta would start sooner this week. It never get's old. Posted August 5 2005 by Div Devlin

DDO Heads to Alpha Testing: Turbine announced on the Dungeons & Dragons Online website that Alpha testers are now going to be invited to join the game. Our internal Alpha has gone very well, improving by leaps and bounds on an almost daily basis, and now it's time to take the next step: giving you, the public, your first real look at Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach. This project has been in development for over two years now, and we're very excited to share our hard work with you. So keep an eye on your inbox for your Alpha acceptance letter. If you haven't registered, it's not too late to sign up for future phases. Be sure to visit http://beta.turbine.com/signup to fill out your application. Don't forget to sign up http://www.ddo.com/forums/register.php for the ddo.com forums as well to get the latest information about the game! Alpha testing is normally very small, so be prepared to not be given an invite. Depressing, I agree. Posted August 5 2005 by Div Devlin

KingsIsle Enterrtainment Opnes: A new developer for MMO games has opened their company website. KingsIsle Entertainment based in Austin, Texas announces they have two project in the works and are joined by former id Software member Tom Hall. A well-funded start up created in early 2005 (and featuring principals that have made award-winning games in the FPS, RPG, and MMOG spaces, including DOOM, Shadowbane, Turok, Anachronox, and other titles), KingsIsle is dedicated to making novel, interesting, family-oriented titles in the gaming space. A number of job openings are also available. Could J.Todd "Warden" Coleman be back? Is this the new home of Gordon "Tyrant" Walton? Time will tell. Posted August 5 2005 by Div Devlin

d.o. Online Goes Free Play: d.o. Online from Korea has announced that they have gone with a free to play revenue in which monthly subscription payments have been tossed out. What is d.o. Online you ask, why here is a handy snippet for you: “d.o.” is an online-based martial arts game. It has many similarities with familiar RPGs in terms of how to play, but has as many differences regarding the background and overall game structure. The first and biggest difference of all is that the setting of background is China. China is located at the very center of the Oriental world, and has a long history and well-preserved legends as one of the first four major civilizations of humankind. Several years ago, one Chinese martial arts movie titled Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a box office hit across the world. The game resembles the movie a lot in that a player uses martial arts to compete against foes, just as the main characters of the movie do. Is your Kung-Fu good? Posted August 5 2005 by Div Devlin

Have faith in FaitH: FaitH, the browser based game with the significant branding with the letter H from Dragon CLaw Studio has added new stuff to their game. Included are two new units along with new content: The Dragon Claw Studio is proud to announce new content for FaitH. Omega, the eagerly awaited last Church for the Trinity Religion has been added to the Battle Server! This new Church introduces two new units and plenty of new strategic option to help you succeed in your Divine Quest! Also this Era, players will be able to have a mix of every Religion and Churches in the same Kingdom for the very first time on the Battle Server! That's right, What once was impossible is now a reality! Previously, players had to be of the same Religion to form a Kingdom but by changing the rules this Era, DCS has opened up a world of new strategic possibilities. FaitH is a unique online game, requiring a mere 15 minutes a day to play. It blends a story into a strategy game and requires teamwork for success. Its highly graphic interface makes it easy to use, while its emphasis on community makes it incredibly fun to play. Go to mass now. Posted August 5 2005 by Div Devlin

Three Rings Announces Bang! Howdy: Three Rings, developers of Puzzle Pirates, announced development of Bang! Howdy, a multiplayer online tactical strategy game, in which players face off in the steam-powered Wild West, using traditional strategy game mechanics in a variety of gameplay modes like Claim Jumping, Cattle Herding and Steam Mustang Hockey: Introducing a hybrid between turn-based and realtime strategy gameplay, Bang! Howdy is played in short fast-paced rounds. The players use winnings earned as they play, along with a micro-currency system, to purchase and customize persistent Big Shot units, which influence their play-style and strategies in future games. As the player progresses through five unique Wild West settings, new units, gameplay scenarios, arenas, customizations and game features are introduced. One wonders why the history of the Wild West has not been exploited more in games. Posted August 5 2005 by Div Devlin

Matrix Online Server Merge: The Matrix Online has implemented a server merge to consolidate the player base: The Matrix Online is a game that, ultimately, is about community; for that reason we want to see that players can meet easily and join together in-game for fun and friendship. Recently, members of the community have noted that it can be difficult to find other players in The Matrix: Mega City. The current level of population density can limit opportunities for socializing with other players which are such a key part of our worlds. It's getting smaller all the time. From nine servers to three. Posted August 5 2005 by Div Devlin

Movie and Trailer News: It's going to be a Hazzard-ous weekend as the Dukes of Hazzard remake hit's shows today. Reports already show it's a funny movie thanks to "The Stiffler." Because stupid is as stupid does, IMDB reports that Beniffer2 (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner) are teaming up for a DareDevil 2. The Doom movie trailer on the net has now been joined by the launch of the official Doom movie web site, which will star "the Rock." The Dungeon Siege movie starring Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Leelee Sobieski and Burt Reynolds added a new member to the cast as Claire Forlani (Mystery Men, Meet Joe Black) joins the video game-derived sword and sorcery epic co-starring Ron Perlman (Hellboy, The City of Lost Children, Alien:Resurrection), John Rhys-Davies (The Game of Their Lives, The Princess Diaries 2, The Lord of The Rings Trilogy and his unforgettable role in Raiders of the Lost Ark), Matthew Lillard (Without a Paddle, Wicker Park, Scooby Doo and Scooby Doo 2), and Kristanna Loken (BloodRayne, Terminator 3). The Left Behind, RTS game based on th novels and in development has released their first trailer for this post-apoc Christian setting. You can grab the trailer (Quick Time Format) from our downloads section. Sin-Jin Smyth pre-production has been unleashed for the movie which takes place against a Halloween legend that warns of a midnight appearance of the Devil in a quiet Kansas cemetery follows two Federal Marshals as they report to the small town of Shin Bone, Kansas (moments after a tornado warning) for the midnight prisoner transfer of a man with no past and no identity. He is known only as... SIN-JIN SMYTH! The script got quite a bit of heat earlier in the year when it was on the sales block but different Studio and Production Company Executives wanted to make "Hollywood changes" like: casting kids off the Warner Bros. Network or…a feel good ending! One Exec even suggested tacking on an exorcism because "that's big right now!" So the rights were retained by writer ETHAN DETTENMAIER (a working script doctor based in Los Angeles) and he set out to direct. (He recently made the comment "I'm tired of watching Hollywood recycle good material into shit!" and continued, "We want to make this dark and kick your teeth in" ---the rest of the text is unfit to print). We would of printed it. Midnight Syndicate, who also did tracks for the game Shadowbane, along with numerous themed music for Dungeons and Dragons is doing sound's within the movie which are going to add depth. Universal Studios has bought the film rights to God of War, Mosaic Media Group's Charles Roven and Alex Gartner will produce the movie version. UFO: Aftershock has a new trailer from Cenega showcasing gameplay in which you combat the alien menace, again. Download available from the official site. Posted August 5 2005 by Div Devlin

Shot Online Guild Tourney: