Draconix writes "Having pre-ordered the World of Warcraft Collector's Edition over a month in advance, I eagerly checked my email on November 22nd, expecting confirmation of shipment. Instead, I received a notice from Inside Mac Games, explaining that their order for the WoW Collector's Edition would not be filled. It seems, at the last minute, Vivendi Universal decided to ship a limited number of copies, and only to major players, such as Amazon.com. Doubtless, IMG is one of many stores who have had to inform their unsuspecting customers of this development. Of course, it is now too late to obtain it from one of the distributors that did receive it, so thousands of expectant gamers will come up empty-handed--denied what many had ordered months in advance. With Vivendi Universal already at odds with one of their developers, is more trouble on the way?"

astrokid writes "This guy has created a portable PlayStation 2, complete with screen. Just in time for Christmas!" Definitely for the post-model-rockets hobbyist.

As a followup to the story on Saturday about the HL2 stutter bug, Voodoo Extreme has news that a patch is on the way, with an ETA of tomorrow. "A patch will be coming for this issue that will load all of the required textures into video memory on level load, rather than doing it during game play."

GameDailyBiz has an interesting feature up right now discussing which sites and magazines are harshest and kindest with their game reviews. Surprisingly the study shows that, overall, the multi-platform online sites aren't terribly biased, with some being somewhat nicer than the average and some somewhat harsher. Single console gaming magazines end up having the most forgiving coverage, with mainstream news sources being the harshest critics.

OctaneZ writes "Lik Sang couldn't help themselves, and have already torn open their Gameboy DS. Among other things they found, the DS shares both its power and battery with the GB, and the 802.11b range is 10 to 30 meters, depending on the surroundings."

Warcry has some final details as the World of Warcraft launch looms closer. Pricing for WoW has finally been nailed down, with discounts going to folks who purchase more than one month at a time. There are also sneak peeks available, including footage from the special edition DVD and images from the Brady Games strategy guide. The guide includes Penny Arcade strips that illustrate game concepts. On character names: "I'm really sorry, Xaxziminrax. I tried to warn you, but I couldn't type your name in time. - 'Oh look, it's a bear' might also have worked."

Voodoo Extreme has the news that the first expansion for the Sims 2 has been announced. Sims 2: University will allow young adult sims to experience all the joys of college life. "Sims can choose from one of 11 majors and by keeping their grades on track, they'll secure a final degree and open up 4 new career paths. Players will enjoy all-new college based wants and fears that are tied to their Sims' social life and academic goals which will lead to new rewards and powers that will help them achieve their goals and aspirations in college and beyond." Ahh...but will there be LAN parties?

Dan Smith writes "A new nerdy Internet activity recently popped up at Amherst College called the "Wiki Game". It works off of Wikimedia's amazingly popular electronic encyclopedia, Wikipedia. The Wiki Game is simple, doesn't require any registrations and gives your brain a thorough workout. Although the instructions suggest at least two people to play it, it's very easy to play solo. The instruction "manual" is (naturally) posted on Wikipedia: The Wiki Game."

theodp writes "Lee Harvey Oswald-wannabes will be able to simulate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy when Traffic Games releases the $9.99 JFK Reloaded on Monday to coincide with the 41st anniversary of Kennedy's murder in Dallas. 'It is despicable,' said a spokesman for Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the late president's brother."

bippy writes "I had a chance to shoot Richard "Lord British" Garriott a short list of questions for Kotaku. In the five question Q&A Garriott talks about his house, his favorite games and what he thinks the next big thing will be in MMOG."

The New York Times has a story investigating the EA Games accusations that we reported on before. They use the phrase "toiling like galley slaves" to describe EA's programmers, and note that EA has a formal policy of hiring young, naive people who are willing to work long hours for low pay.

Blamemyparents writes "Ain't It Cool News has a story that the ever so popular Halo might be making the jump to the big screen. It looks like Ridley Scott, director of Gladiator and Alien is doing it. Judging from IGN's take on the story, it looks like the story would pick up more on Halo 2 than on the original Halo, which he feels didn't have enough of a storyline going. Here's to hoping it doesn't go the way of that Final Fantasy flick."

The DS system has launched today, allowing everyone with a interest in dual screen action to get their fill. Gamespy has a Beginner's Guide to the system available, while Gamespot has a detailed page reviewing the system and some of the first games available. Bionic_Baboon wrote in with a press release about the sale of the system at EB Games on Businesswire.

Pascal writes "Lik Sang received an initial batch of Nintendo DS systems and went ahead with their own hands-on reviews. Apart from some interesting GBA SP accessories cross-testing and their own impressions about the new Nintendo baby, they also had one of their traditional open-up sessions, exposing the guts of the new handheld to the public." Kotaku has a look from earlier in the week as well.

sinner0423 writes "Due to recent complaints on several forums, Steampowered announced they are working on a fix to this stuttering problem in Half Life 2. Usually, a game bug isn't news-worthy, but the sporadic nature of this bug makes me wonder - who else has problems with HL2 pausing/skipping? This site outlines the problem certain users are having in a very clear & concise manner, and also includes some stopgap solutions from Erik Johnson & other Valve employees."

dark_requiem asks: "I've been digging around online to find some way to pump a bit more power out of my Radeon 9800 for Half-Life2, and I ran across DNA-Drivers. According to the developer, these are hacked versions of the official Catalyst drivers, optimized for speed and image quality. I've been trying to find a good review of the performance of these drivers, but haven't found much. Has anyone tried these before? Are they stable? What kind of performance advantage do they offer?"

As he does every few months, SirBruce has updated his page detailing Massively Multiplayer Online Game subscription numbers. No major additions this time around, just some minor tweaks reflecting recent trends. FFXI is way up, with EQ taking a slight dip. No data on EQ2 is included yet. For slightly cynical further analysis, Anyuzer provides us with his opinions.

manganese4 asks: "With the ever increasing complexity of games and the desire to buy the bleeding edge of hardware, does anyone still participate in games in the old-time 'Play by (e)Mail' format? Remember the anticipation of wondering if the snow storm was going to delay the post and prevent you from executing a crushing blow with your rook or pacing your emails to give your opponent time to become distracted by something else on the Usenet groups!"

A while back we passed on some your questions to City of Heroes Lead Designer Jack Emmert. He has responded with details on the upcoming CoH expansion, the future of MMOGs, and commentary on some of the decisions that led to City of Heroes in the first place. Read on for his responses.

Josh Bennett writes "1UP has a recent interview with Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Producer Mathieu Ferland where he talks about the difficulties in developing the game. In the article, Ferland said there are 120 people working on the game. That's not unheard of for a big budget EA game, but those games come out every year and the new Splinter Cell is taking more than two years at this point. Interesting read."