Thanks to Sony Online for its official page celebrating the first anniversary of PC MMO Star Wars Galaxies, as they examine a timeline of the first year, from day one, June 26th, 2003 ("the most exciting and stress-inducing day of most of our careers"), through November 4th, 2003 ("The first Jedi appears in game"), through April 21st, 2004 ("We officially announce [space-based add-on] Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed!") In relation to this, the first veteran reward for the game is announced, "the deed for the multi-passenger ship model SoroSuub Personal Luxury Yacht 3000 the day Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed launches" - it's explained: "This starship model has been popularized in Star Wars fiction by Lando Calrissian's personal vessel, the Lady Luck." Finally, there's also a retrospective visual catalog of the original SW:G Beta test posted on the official site.

Thanks to 1UP for its note discussing a report on the state of the Japanese videogame market in 2003, as tallied by the CESA (Computer Entertainment Software Association) trade body. The result was an "11% decline in total hardware and software sales in Japan, to 446 billion yen ($4.1 billion), in the past year", and apparently: "2003's sales figure represents a slide of approximately 40% since 1997, when the Japanese games market last peaked at the height of the PlayStation's popularity." The news story author goes on to suggest: "CESA's report blames a significant loss of audience for the continual decline of the Japanese games market, partially thanks to the increasing complexity of big-ticket games. The upcoming debut of new handheld platforms from Nintendo and Sony represent the industry's next chance to bounce back and regain their audience in Japan." What's the difference between the Japanese experience and the relatively buoyant Western gaming market?

(54)T-Dub writes "SPOnG has a very interesting article about Atari's latest iteration in the Driver series: Driv3r. Back in May there was a SpOnG messageboard post claiming that Atari was demanding a 9/10 score in exchange for early review code. In the heated race for the early reviews, two UK-based Future Publishing publications, Xbox World and PSM2 ran cover stories for Driv3r, and coincidentally gave the game a 9/10 score. XBox World even dubbed it 'the new GTA' while PSM claimed to have 'the World's first and only review' of the PS2 version. As earlier reported on Slashdot Games, subsequent reviews for the quite buggy Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of the game have hovered in the 60s. Having shipped 2.5 million copies it's estimated that Atari is gambling over $60 million on this game." While the source is hardly concrete, and claims of 'bribery' are likely overblown, it's interesting to ruminate on how getting an "exclusive review" affects game scoring, a phenomenon not limited to Driv3r.

Thanks to GameSpot for its 'GameSpotting' column discussing the largely indefinable 'feel' of a videogame, suggesting: " I'd much rather play a very simple game with a great feel to it than a highly complex, sweeping game consisting of a huge variety of different elements, none of which are terribly good in and of themselves." The writes goes on to compare the "polar-opposite types of game design philosophies" displayed in Ikaruga ("I think of [the game] essentially a flawless masterpiece") versus Morrowind ("I think of [it] as being great mostly through the sum of its many parts"), before concluding: "Games shouldn't take on extra features for the sake of it... Quality of gameplay is ultimately what matters most to people who avidly play games, and high-quality gameplay comes from having the right feel, rather than the other way around."

Thanks to Half-Life 2 Fallout for its fan-written feature discussing the content of Valve's Source videogame engine, as used for Half-Life 2. The piece explains: "The Source engine is not just a 3D engine (in the sense it's not just a renderer) -- it contains many different modules that are all brought together into one package", and tries to clarify discussion on subjects as diverse as lighting ("Something that has caused confusion in the past is 'dynamic lights' [in the Source engine].... All a light has to be in order for it to be qualified as dynamic is to be able to move and have changeable attributes.... It doesn't mean that it will [necessarily] cast real time shadows like in Doom 3 or Unreal Engine 3.0"), and in-game water ("When Valve say the water is physically simulated, they mean objects have buoyancy. They don't mean the Source engine has fluid dynamics.")

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to information on a freely downloadable documentary about the MAGFest 2.0 videogame festival, which "took place... on October 31st to November 2nd of the year 2003... in Williamsburg, Virginia", and includes interviews with videogame remixers, fighting game champions, and footage from "an outstanding Minibosses set." The 155mb DivX is available via BitTorrent [direct link], and is produced by X-Strike Studios - it will be included as a bonus on their forthcoming unofficial River City Rumble DVD, described by a delighted previewer as "the Citizen Kane of films based on martial-arts video games." The documentary also servers as a trailer for this year's MAGFest, to be held "Friday through Sunday, the 1st through the 3rd of October... [also] in Williamsburg, VA."

Fortran IV writes "The winner of the 2004 Google U.S. Puzzle Championship has been announced. Roger Barkan, last year's runner-up, scored 367 of a possible 432 points by solving 22 of 25 puzzles in just 2-1/2 hours. (It would take me an hour just to copy down all the answers.) This was previously mentioned here. The complete test is still available for the fun of it."

Thanks to the Electronic Book Review for its Espen Aarseth-authored article discussing what form academic analysis of videogames should take, part of a wider academic discussion on how games should be treated. Aarseth argues of the theme-ability of games: "The 'royal' theme of the traditional pieces is all but irrelevant to our understanding of chess. Likewise, the dimensions of Lara Croft's body, already analyzed to death by film theorists, are irrelevant to me as a player, because a different-looking body would not make me play differently", before concluding: "The sheer number of students trained in film and literary studies will ensure that the slanted and crude misapplication of 'narrative' theory to games will continue and probably overwhelm game scholarship for a long time to come."

Thanks to GameSpot for its article discussing the formation of a new Christian videogame developer, Digital Praise, formed to create a "planned line of non-offensive games." CEO Tom Bean notes: "Digital Praise is founded on the principle that fun, exciting computer games don't need to be flooded with violence, sex, hate or images of horror", and the company's official press release discusses "development on two games based on the Adventures in Odyssey radio theater series", arguing: "As long as new game titles are top quality - offering exciting game play and high production value - we believe that interactive Christian games will skyrocket in popularity much like Christian music did 15 years ago."

An anonymous reader writes "Apparently, retro gaming is big business, according to a recent article in The Rocky Mountain News. The story talks to Nintendo, Namco and the maker of those all in one controllers that feature games from old systems like Atari. Lin Leng, who's working on the latest Pac-Man game, summarizes it best: 'The games today are hyper-realistic, photo-realistic and take a long time to complete, an average of 20 hours of gameplay,' he said. 'But with Pac-Man you just jump in and play and you get a quick fix. It also brings back childhood memories for some of us.' There's also an interesting sidebar to the story talking about Invader, the Parisian graffiti artist tagging famous locations around the world with images from Space Invaders. The author's website has the full interview with Invader posted in his weblog."

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the free download page for PC RTS title Ground Control over at FilePlanet, "released for free" to help promote newly released Ground Control II, in a similar move to the recent free availability of VU Games' Tribes I and Tribes II. VU Games has also released the soundtrack to The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay for free download, as composed by Gustaf 'Lizardking' Grefberg, and previous free MP3 soundtracks have included Metal Arms: Glitch In The System and The Hobbit.

Thanks to Comic Book Resources for its article discussing the new Metal Gear Solid comic book series, launching this September from IDW Publishing. According to writer Kris Oprisko, the Ashley Wood-illustrated comic "follows the story line of the original game, in which Snake must infiltrate an Alaskan island overrun by a genetically-enhanced terrorist group. His mission: to find and rescue two hostages as well as ending the terrorist threat - a threat that includes the specter of a nuclear strike." Wood, who has "previously done some work for Konami on their Contra video game", provides an interesting visual take on Solid Snake, and elsewhere, IDW President Ted Adams reveals that "CVO [Covert Vampiric Operations] is being developed by Konami as a video game."

Thanks to GameSpot for its initial impressions of squad-based Xbox/PC FPS Close Combat: First To Fight, as it's explained: "The United States Marine Corps is looking to get into the [game licensing/development] action with Close Combat: First to Fight, a project it is working on with Destineer, a company formed by several ex-Bungie employees [and who also own MacSoft]." Apparently, in this Gathering-published title, a reboot of the Close Combat strategy game series: "You'll command a four-man fireteam of marines engaged in intense urban combat in a yet-to-be-named city in the Middle East", and the article author muses: "It may sound a lot like Full Spectrum Warrior... [but] instead of commanding the fireteam from third person, you'll actually play in first person as the fireteam leader."

Thanks to Yahoo! for reprinting an Interplay press release discussing Interplay's latest financial results, ruminating on possibilities for the embattled publisher. Although "the Company reported a net loss of $.9 million" for the quarter, a relatively small amount, Interplay's detailed financial statement reveals: "We currently have no cash reserves and are unable to pay current liabilities. The Company cannot continue in its current form without at this time obtaining additional financing." However, CEO Herve Caen is bullish about prospects, explaining: "We are now pursuing several options to fund our entry into Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming with titles including Fallout", a positive step, according to "...initial feedback from our investment bank and ongoing dialogue with others in the gaming sector." We've previously covered Interplay's recent financial woes.

Thanks to 1UP for its story discussing the full voice-acting cast list for hideously long-awaited FPS Half-Life 2. It's noted: "Only two of the original game's actors will be returning; Mike Shapiro as both the ominous G-Man and security guard Barney Calhoun, and Harry S. Robins as Dr. Isaac Kleiner. Naturally, returning protagonist Gordon Freeman will remain voiceless", before it's revealed: "The voice for Dr. Eli Vance will be supplied by Robert Guillaume, otherwise known as the unforgettable Detective Catfish in the Fish Police TV series. Vance's assistant, Dr. Judith Mossman, will be voiced by Michelle Forbes, known for her roles on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Homicide, and Guiding Light. Oscar winner Lou Gossett, Jr. will voice each and every one of the Vortigaunt alien slaves (his second alien role, after the cult sci-fi classic Enemy Mine)."

Fennario writes "According to Stars and Stripes Pacific's translation of a North Korean government newspaper article, UbiSoft's forthcoming Ghost Recon 2 videogame, which envisions a near-future North Korea/China conflict with US involvement, has already attracted the reclusive country's attention. In a curt review, a North Korean government-run newspaper called the game proof of U.S. warmongering. 'Through propaganda, entertainment and movies,' read a recent online commentary in the Tongil Newspaper. Americans 'have shown everyone their hatred for us. This may be just a game to them now, but a war will not be a game for them later. In war, they will only face miserable defeat and gruesome deaths.' Given the steep learning curve of previous incarnations of Ghost Recon, it's conceivable many may face miserable defeat and gruesome deaths anyhow."

Thanks to Evil Avatar for pointing to a CivFanatics news post discussing new information about Civilization IV from this year's Game Developer's Conference in San Jose, recently released online as a PowerPoint slideshow. Apparently, the in-development Firaxis PC strategy sequel, not yet officially revealed, features "Continuous, immersive 3D world (what-you-see-is-what-you-get)... Drop unfun legacy (pollution, rioting, maintenance, corruption/waste)... New killer features (religion, civics)... RPG elements (unit upgrades/experience)... Coding from scratch (multiplayer, mod-friendly)", with the important note from lead designer Soren Johnson: "Can still take over the world!" There are also a host of other GDC slides/lecture notes now available on the official site, including "Winning the Race Against Pirates And Crackers: Next Generation Copy Protection" by Erik Simon (PDF), and "Managing the Hydra: Successfully Running Multiple Projects in a Videogame Studio" by Dr. Greg Zeschuk of BioWare (DOC, PPT including some fascinating graphs.)

Thanks to Business Week Online for its feature discussing the rise of videogame advertising, as it charts "spending on in-game advertising, currently estimated at around $200 million a year today worldwide, [and which] could reach $1 billion by 2008." As well as kid-oriented gaming sites such as Neopets.com, where "a player might stop by a Disney theater where he can play a Walt Disney movie-related game to earn Neopoints - good for buying shop space and land in the game", the article mentions Massive Inc., an "in-game advertising specialist" which is now signing up advertisers for "campaign-based advertising" in forthcoming titles from Ubisoft and Atari, explaining the innovation by describing a possible scenario: "The gamer goes online to play a racing game, for example, and a batch of ads is served. When a gamer plays offline, Massive continues to serve ads. The ads are integrated into billboards, posters, and even into the plotline of the game, and they change in real-time."

Thanks to Yahoo! for reprinting a press release revealing Atari has shipped 2.5 million copies of long-awaited PS2/Xbox title Driv3r, with Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell reassuring: "The global Driver fan base is as robust and passionate as ever, as indicated by retail reaction in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, and other key territories." However, some of the initial reviews are decidedly mixed, in a similar vein to Atari's big 2003 title Enter The Matrix, with GameSpot lamenting of the third Driver title: "Driver 3 is full of the sorts of glitches and problems that final retail products shouldn't have", and IGN complaining that the game "...plays like a bigger, prettier version of Driver 2 with band-aids, but no real solutions to the problems that riddled it." Most of all, Eurogamer were previously skeptical about a late preview version, and are even more scathing regarding what they see as a "class-A disaster" final product. Fair, or not so fair?

Thanks to 1UP/Ogamo for its feature discussing the early importance of the Apple Macintosh as a videogaming platform. The author argues: "The Mac definitely left its mark on gaming. Though it never became a gaming powerhouse, it played host to a few legitimate classics, and their ideas went on to influence developers to this day", before referencing titles such as ICOM's Deja Vu ("...has some of the wry sense of humor that [also] brightened up the best of Infocom's games") and Silicon Beach's Dark Castle ("One of the first successful action games to use a mouse for shooting things.")