UGO is running a feature on Star Wars Galaxies, a week after the launch of Jump to Lightspeed. They have reviews of the expansion both from a veteran player and from a new player to the game. From the Vet: "Jump to Lightspeed is a dream come true for many loyal SWG players that have been itching for a new reason to dust off that old flight stick or buy a new one." From the Newb: "As time went on, the bloom started to come off the rose, for a number of reasons." If you've been considering getting your dogfight on, give them a look.

museumpeace writes "Stuck for ideas about cheapest/fastest/most realistic rendering technology for that new video game you want to develop? Here is a great list of links and resources. The very latest is a tool mentioned on Technology Review which, if you feed it just a few dozen frames of a video of , for instance, Kurt Shilling pitching, can extrapolate a library of animated gestures or actions from just that sample. This new technique is already licensed to Electronic Arts. It was developed by Aaron Hertzman and Zoran Popovic and grew out of earlier work by Hertzman at NYU and a busy curriculum of computer graphics accomplishments by Popovic."

Thanks to c0nrad, who alerted us to a Gamespot article stating that Halo 2's launch date has been broken by a Midwestern store. From the article: "Several reports on the Gaming Age forums--which included photos of the limited edition of the game--said that several individual Meijer stores, a self-described grocery and general merchandise retailer that operates in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky, were selling the game early. However, calls made by GameSpot to several Meijer outlets made it sound like the franchise was sticking to the deadline." The reader continues: "Despite that, Ebay auctions have already gone up, with one having already reached $265!"

H0NGK0NGPH00EY writes "Nintendo today launched the official DS website (all flash). Included are additional details about the rumored online capabilities: "Nintendo DS technology also provides for a wireless LAN connection, which could allow a theoretically infinite number of players to connect at a hot spot and compete at a central game hub on the Internet...""

OneMadOgre writes "Ready or not, here it comes. Blizzard has announced that the World of Warcraft will be released to NA/AU/NZ on November 23, 2004."

The New York Times (registration required) has an article up on the process and attention that Voicing Video Games is now getting. From the Article: "My role, as a psychotic talk-show caller, seemed straightforward. But struggling through a dozen takes to perfect that one line one day in early August impressed upon me the high expectations levied on today's video game voice actors."

blacklily8 writes "Armchair Arcade has just released the fifth issue of its retrogaming magazine." It features an involved look at Family Gaming, reaching from the past into the present and out into the future. From the Article: "Videogames haven't always been so exquisitely classifiable into nice, neat marketing niches, nor have so many of them been marketed exclusively at those lucky enough to own a penis. Indeed, as most of us know who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s, when videogames first appeared on the scene, we gamers had to wait our turn--and yes, sometimes grandma stole an extra one."

The website for the 2005 Game Developer's Conference has gone live. Next year's GDC will be held between March 7 - 11, and will feature panels, roundtable discussions, the annual Game Developer's Choice Awards, and tutorials on various game production components. Gamespot has a short piece on this as well.

GamesIndustry.biz has the story that major retailers Gamestop and EBGames are likely going to stop DS Preorders because they're coming so fast that they won't be able to meet demand when the system launches. From the article: "It appears that six games will be available on day one - Nintendo's Super Mario 64 DS, Sega's Feel The Magic XY/XX, Activision's Spider-Man 2, Ubisoft's Asphalt Urban GT and two from EA - Madden NFL 2005 and The Urbz: Sims in the City." Gamespot also has details on the handheld shortage.

sracer9 writes "The Linux demo for X-Plane has been released. Download it here. Austin Meyer of Laminar Research, the creator of X-Plane, has been reported on previously. The port to Linux has been rumoured for some time, and it's great to see it's finally arriving."

Reader PoC wrote to give us a heads up on RPGmp3.com, a site that (wait for it) allows you to download reviews of D&D modules in audio format. These include live, unscripted excerpts from gaming sessions trying out the modules. If you've never played D&D before, this is a safe and cheeto-free way to check it out. They even have exerpts from sessions in the awe-inspiring ($100 US) World's Largest Dungeon.

thelemmings writes "Aspyr today announced that it will (finally) publish Doom 3 for the Macintosh. The game is scheduled for release Q1 2005 and the system requirements indicate that a G5 processor will be required, which seems quite surprising as it will leave iBooks and Powerbooks owners on the side of the road. Too bad iD Software didn't release a free OSX client like they previously did for linux version of the game."

jaronc writes "News.com.au are reporting an Australian court has been told that two men dressed as characters from 'Counter Strike' shot and killed a man during a Sydney home invasion in 2002. Let the blaming begin......"

Thanks (I guess) to GameGossip for the news that SanrioWave Software is planning a Hello Kitty Massively Multiplayer Game. From the article: "The game will give players access to up to three characters, each customizable, and will include 15 different occupations, and five shops in which players can make in-game progress. Hello Kitty Online World will carry an subscription fee of sorts when launched throughout Asia later this year." The official game site is also available for perusal.

IGN is running a story regarding the upcoming Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. The Xbox version of the game will have downloadable content and leader boards thanks to Xbox Live. The leader boards will cover two self-contained competetive types of play: Timed Missions and an Arena. Info also available on the official site.

Gamasutra (registration required) has begun running an excellent column called "Soapbox". The first article up on the site is penned by Richard Bartle, one of the gents who created MUD1. Why Virtual Worlds are Designed by Newbies [non-reg alternate] is a great look at the lessons of past games and the foibles of designing a new one. From the article: "Virtual worlds are being designed by know-nothing newbies, and there's not a damned thing anyone can do about it. I don't mean newbie designers, I mean newbie players - first timers. They're dictating design through a twisted "survival of the not-quite-fittest" form of natural selection that will lead to a long-term decay in quality, guaranteed."

ProudClod writes "Transgaming has just announced a time limited demo of their Cedega product (formerly known as WineX), which allows Windows games (including those that utilize DirectX) to be played on Linux. The demo will run for two weeks until 15th November, and will allow gamers to test out the full version of Cedega for that period. The official press release is also available."

Psychochild writes "I'm the owner of the online RPG Meridian 59. We've been working hard on updating the game since relaunching it in 2002, rewriting the rendering engine to take advantage of 3D hardware acceleration, adding modern features like mouselook and rebindable keys, fixing bugs, and adding new content. We're currently offering a free trial of Meridian 59 for those interested in learning more about the game and the independent developers now running it."

Aussie gamer gimpacause writes After reading about the possibility of HL2 not coming to Australia I was shocked and angered, but a story on Gamespy says I don't have to worry. Better start saving for a new graphics card!" From the article: "Half-Life 2 will be released Down Under, since OFLC rated Half-Life 2 MA 15 + for High Level Animated Violence."

SetupWeasel writes "Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that "Sony Computer Entertainment boss Ken Kutaragi has admitted that graphically intensive games will drain the PSP's battery more rapidly than the quoted figures." Sony also said that this would be corrected in future revisions of the hardware, but we know how well that plan worked for Nokia."