yamla writes "Doom 3 was released for Linux sometime last week. LinuxHardware.org decided to test how well it runs compared to the Windows version. Read the article here, including some technical information from the id Software employee who did the Linux port, Timothee Besset." AnandTech has a similar review available.

edwilli writes "There is an interesting piece on the Windows XP site entitled The Seven Games of Highly Effective People. It's a look at how games can improve your living and social skills, while still not allowing you to have a life. " While the piece itself is pretty fluffy, he links to Got Game?, a book about how gamers are shaping business. For more on this, check out Social Effects of Electronic Interactive Games, and this page of research papers compiled by The ESA.

Thanks to TerraNova for the news that Nick Yee's Daedalus Project has new results and a new quiz available. This ongoing research project into Massively Multiplayer Gamers and their habits is probably the most comprehensive one out there. The new data is interesting as always. If you're interested, you can participate in the next portion of the survey.

syberanarchy writes "Gamespot reports that Halo 2 has already been leaked to the internet via French newsgroups and P2P networks, almost a month before release! Any chance this bombshell move could force MS/Bungie to push up the release date?" See also gamesindustry.biz and The Register.

An anonymous reader writes "A new hack for Mortal Kombat Deception is making the rounds. A member of Maxconsole has managed to unlock and find a number of classic characters in the game. Until now it was not known how these characters could be unlocked or selected. A trainer is expected to be released shortly, which will make all these characters playable and will only run on an a modded Xbox."

Thanks to TerraNova for the heads up about the possible resurrection of Warhammer Online. The game was cancelled back in June, after several years of work on the project and rumors that it was close to completion. GamesIndustry.biz has the story as well: "Cancelled massively multiplayer title Warhammer Online is back in development, according to comments attributed to Karl Jeffery, CEO of developer Climax, and could be released in around 18 months time."

An anonymous reader writes "Sony is going to have well known actors voicing major roles in its upcoming Massively Multiplayer Online Game. Christopher Lee is doing the voice for the Evil Lord Sir Lucan D'Lere, leader of the city of Freeport, and Heather Graham is doing the voice for Antonia Bale of the good city of Qeynos. An interview with Christopher Lee is also available on the Sony site." It will be interesting to see how this affects the fight between EQ2 and World of Warcraft, which are rumored to be coming out on the same day.

Thanks to TeamXbox for the news that the Times Square Toys R' Us is going to be hosting a Halo 2 Launch Party. The event is set to start at midnight on Tuesday, November 9th. The enormous store will be hosting special guests "and prizes will be awarded for gamers showing off their Halo 2 enthusiasm." To those of you about to dress up as Master Chief, I salute you.

sand writes "While ATI has hooked up with Valve for Half-Life 2, a recent Firingsquad article gives the performance edge to NVIDIA's GeForce 6800 in Counter-Strike: Source. Six high-end cards are tested against CS:Source in four different maps under a wide variety of graphics settings with GeForce 6800 GT finishing ahead of X800 XT PE in some benchmarks."

Mr Nash writes "The Armchair Empire has posted a lengthy op-ed about Sony's PSP and Nintendo's Dual Screen where the writer comes to the conclusion that "the market just doesn't appear to be ready for a pair of new handhelds to step onto the scene."

justechn writes "I just finished my review of the Maestro Travel Chess Computer, sent to me by Saitek. If you really like chess and are always on the go then this device will give you the chess fix that you desire without the hassle of lugging around a real chess board and pieces."

Thanks to Gamespot for the quick blurb about City of Heroes players honoring Christopher Reeve, who passed away recently. The Superhero Massive Game has been awash in showings of respect. Screens and commentary can be found on CoH Warcry for the past several days.

Brian P. writes "With the online gaming market growing at a remarkable rate and new games being announced frequently, why have developers and publishers shied away from creating an MMO sports game? Online fantasy leagues are bigger than ever and online sports games such as Madden '05 are huge franchises. It seems to me that a logical evolution of this trend would be a gaming experience that lets a player start out as a street-baller and work their way up to virtual super-athlete status. The possibilities are endless...but obviously there's something seriously wrong with the concept because all we keep getting are tiresome sword and sorcery games and online adaptations of megafranchises such as Star Wars."

Late last month, Artifact Entertainment was purchased by Tulga Games, a move ending the downward spiral of the company. Artifact was the maker of the Massively Multiplayer Game Horizons, and was the victim of a cynical financial takeover at the hands of its COO James Jones. The seminal work on this sordid tale is A Story of Artifact Entertainment, on the GameMethod site. Anyuzer.com has some interesting commentary on the purchase, relating it to the recent purchase of Asheron's Call 1 & 2 by Turbine from Microsoft. "With MMOGs that have smaller subscription numbers than was projected by the publisher, they offer the perfect opportunity for a development company to become independent."

Thanks to HavokDevNull for the news that Red vs. Blue Season 3 has begun! From the site: "Episode 39 'Best Laid Plans' weighs in at 8 minutes and 45 seconds and is available in Divx, Quicktime, and WMV. You can download it from our Video Page. Thanks for being so patient waiting around for it. "

Nerezza writes "A new site, Oscuro Destiny, has put up its first feature! Final Fantasy is a feature article series from an up and coming site." Includes info on the history of Squeenix and a look at the MMOG.

Cyrus_Zuo writes "Game Tunnel has up a September overview of Indie games, making this the fourth in a series of wrap-ups that cover all of the indie games that come out each month. This month has two 'professional indie' releases that were released in September, Wik & the Fable of Souls from Reflexive Entertainment (Star Trek Away Team) and Outpost Kaloki from Ninja Bee (a subdivision of Wahoo Studios)."

schmiddy writes "This just in -- Halo 2 has officially gone gold as of today. Bungie has confirmed the story with an announcement on their front page. Trailers and such available here ."

Thanks to GamesIndustry.biz for an article outlining comments made by Nintendo VP of sales and marketing Reggie Fils-Aime. His comments confirm that Nintendo's next console will release around the same time as the PS3, and bashed MS for rushing to the next console generation. "Our focus is this: we will bring Revolution to the marketplace roughly at the same time as the competition," Fils-Aime told US website IGN. "We are driving our timetables based on what we believe Sony will do."

Thanks to GamingReport.com for the news that http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=14646>The Settlers of Catan Online will make its international online debut at Spiel '04 in Essen, Germany. "Catan Online will launch exclusively at MSN Games this winter. With MSN Games' base of 30 million registered users worldwide, more people than ever before will have access to this global gaming phenomenon." Besides being able to check out the game in depth, MSN is going to be running several tournaments and exhibitions of the game.