Thanks to EvilAvatar for pointing to a gallery of screenshots from the hidden 'Army Mode' of newly-released Xbox strategy game Full Spectrum Warrior. Originally discovered using a modified Xbox, GameFAQs lists a universally-usable code to "unlock the original [U.S. Army-funded] training version [of FSW], with more enemies, civilians, open areas, levels, and [greater] difficulty", as previously mentioned on Slashdot Games. However, critical response to the title, while generally good, has wavered a little, with the GameSpot review arguing that the game "boasts a great presentation and a unique design. However, the gameplay itself just doesn't stack up quite as well", but an alternate take at IGN suggesting that "there is room for improvement, but the game is still top-notch at every level of development and execution."

Thanks to TotalVideoGames for its article discussing the announcement of the Treasure-developed GBA title, Advanced Guardian Heroes, a "sequel to the much-loved [cult Sega Saturn] title" According to the story, "up to two players [can] link up and take on the Story mode, whilst four players can link up to see who is the best in the VS mode", and there are also screenshots of the game and an official Japanese-language homepage available, and the portable side-scrolling beat-em-up from the uber-cult developers, also makers of Ikaruga, Gunstar Heroes and Radiant Silvergun, is "scheduled for release in Japan" for Game Boy Advance on September 16th, with no Western release date yet announced.

Thanks to CNN Money for its discussion of the games industry's drive to woo the most committed videogame players, as the article explains: "Hardcore gamers only make up between 20-25 percent of the industry's annual software sales, but the buzz enthusiasts create can turn a moderate hit into a monster." The piece discusses "mecca for the hardcore" QuakeCon, but reveals that "This year, most fans were hoping to get their first glimpse of 'Quake 4,' which is being developed (under id's supervision) by Raven Software. Unfortunately, they're going to have to keep waiting. id CEO Todd Hollenshead said there are no plans to show the game at this year's QuakeCon." According to Hollenshead: "We've been happy with what [Raven has] done, but it's too early to show... When we show the game, we want it to be something that's really impressive for the people who have been waiting for it."

Cymage writes "Yahoo (Reuters) reports that gaming PCs are now a high profit area, and that the bigger players (Dell, HP) are trying to get into the market: 'In an age when a new PC can cost just a few hundred dollars, an adolescent need for speed is creating a profitable niche for souped-up gaming computers at the ultra-costly end of the market.' How many people really spend $5,000 on a gaming machine? Mine cost less than $2,000, and I can play UT2k4 and others on it just fine."

Thanks to CNET News for its story discussing the increasing interest of large tech companies in online gaming middleware, explaining: "Inspired by predictions of brisk growth in the $1 billion online game market, IBM, Sun Microsystems and other companies normally not associated with dragon-slaying adventures have launched projects recently to handle the complex infrastructure needed to run online games." Steve Canepa of IBM is enthusiastic about the opportunities: "The gaming industry is really going through a transition now... we think there's a real opportunity for IBM to play a role in that transition [by backing Butterfly.net, among other things]." However, analyst Billy Pidgeon points out, in riposte: "There's just not a lot of profit to be made... the infrastructure stuff is not really that expensive or difficult a piece of the online game process, so the outsourcing players can't charge a whole lot."

Thanks to Gamers With Jobs for its article discussing the apparent problems inherent in Microsoft's XSN Sports titles for Xbox Live. The article points out: "The XSN Sports brand was intended to provide a unifying structure for the ultimate online sports gaming experience." The author then goes on to argue that "the games upon which [XSN is] based do not compete in market share with the competition, at least for the most popular sports", also pointing out the alleged clunkiness of Rallisport Challenge 2's XSN Sports event settings, which has you "manually entering the name of the competition [and a number of other selections] into the Xbox using the controller." What would you like to see from XSN Sports, after its break for 2004 ends?

victorvdl writes "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, the World War II-themed FPS originally developed by 2015 Inc. is now available for Linux and is shipping right now from Tux Games. The incredible Ryan Gordon aka icculus did the porting. It's nice to see more Linux games being shipped - I'm definitely buying this one."

Thanks to Kikizo for its newly posted mammoth collection of freely downloadable E3 Expo-related game videos, recapping (if a little late) games and press events from "this year's massive Los Angeles event." Especially notable is Xbox press conference spoof 'The Novice' (58mb WMV) [there's a much better-quality 8MB WMV version at TeamXbox], which 1UP.com described at the time as "a send-up of reality show The Apprentice... portraying [J.] Allard, fellow vice president Peter Moore, and chief Xbox officer Robbie Bach trying to curry favor [regarding online gaming] with the real-life Donald Trump." Somewhat lost in the E3 rush, the spoof is worth re-visiting, not least for the ending, where the losing Sony team (with "actors portraying Sony vice-president Ken Kutaragi, SCEA head Kaz Hirai and SCEA vice president Andrew House") collectively get fired, at which point "none other than Bill Gates himself ducks under them and steals the cab before they can get in."

eebe writes "It's a common complaint that modern games are never as good as the games we all played when we were younger. Sequels never seem to do the original justice, and remakes never get finished. What Paul and myself have done is take one of the best games of all time, X-Com: Enemy Unknown (UFO Defense for the Americans) and turned it into an unofficial, freely downloadable / printable tabletop war game, 'X-Com: Tactical'. What better way to spend an evening sending your Chrysalids against your friend whose troops are only just walking out of the Skyranger?"

Thanks to Armchair Arcade for its article discussing alternate videogame control schemes from the '80s to the present day, particularly concentrating on "a consumer VR glove called the P5", which takes a cue from "the legendary [Nintendo] Power Glove." However, the author comments "One thing you will quickly notice when playing [P5-compatible] games is how tired they make your arm... When I was in elementary school, I had a teacher who would punish students by making them stand with their arm over their head for five minutes. At the end of the ordeal, your hands are cold from lack of circulation and your muscles are fatigued. It's the same thing here." Armchair Arcade also has a number of other new articles online, including a look at intellectual property and videogame history, and a discussion of FPS games vs. 2D platformers.

Thanks to the New York Times for its article (free reg. req.) discussing the cresting popularity of retro game chic over many types of media, noting: "Last month Saturn introduced a commercial featuring its Vue sport utility vehicle rolling through a town, absorbing dots to the officially licensed sounds of a grazing Pac-Man. Billboard magazine's Hot 100 singles chart includes 'Game Over (Flip),' a song by the rapper Lil' Flip that contains a beat built from the sounds of Pac-Man." There's also insight into the financial benefits: "Robert Ennis, chief operating officer of Namco, publisher of the transcendent Pac-Man, said that classics represented about 5 percent of his company's revenue. More important, he said, the company's several 'museum' collections have involved little financial risk."

Sad Gamer writes "Well, it seems long-awaited Xbox Live-compatible MMORPG True Fantasy Live Online has been cancelled. Apparently: 'The main reason cited for this action was the inability to deliver the intended experience to users of Microsoft's XBox Live service in Japan...' This leaves a tiny list of titles that left that can help to push XBox Live in Japan. 'Now Japanese XBox Live users only have titles like Halo 2 and Dead or Alive Ultimate to look forward to in the upcoming months.'" GameSpot has a full translation of the brief Microsoft Japan press release regarding this previously discussed, Level 5 created MMO, formerly likely for Western release as well, which notes: "The MMORPG genre, across all platforms, has become an incredibly crowded and competitive marketplace. In response, Microsoft Game Studios has decided to streamline its portfolio, making fewer bets in this genre."

An anonymous reader writes "Sony has seen fit to release Gran Turismo 4: Prologue in both Europe and Japan, but the U.S. arm of the company chose not to ship it in the States. The result? Only importers and select members of the media have been able to play the game. Thankfully a limited U.S. demo has turned up from a very non-gaming source, according to GamePro.com, who explain how to navigate through the Toyota web site and request a Toyota Prius-specific two track demo of Gran Turismo 4, completely free of charge. The demo is playable on a standard U.S. PlayStation 2 console. I wonder if Toyota made enough copies of the demo to satisfy every PS2 owner in America?" We previously reported on the Japanese version of this disc, released last September.

Random Guru 42 writes "GameSpot is reporting that Interplay is sliding further down the spiral of going out of business. Hopefully the rumors of Interplay's demise are greatly exaggerated." We previously covered earlier rumblings of Interplay's demise, and Sivar writes "According to a Fallout news website, Interplay has 'told the employees to file for unemployment' [a later source indicates 'the employees have until Friday to move all of their personal possessions out of... the Interplay offices]." Finally, an update to the GameSpot story has an un-named, masked employee insisting on the closure rumors: "No, that's not true" - it's also pointed out Interplay "...is facing a battery of lawsuits, including one by Arden Realty for $432,000 in back rent and another by BioWare for $156,000 for unpaid Baldur's Gate royalties."

Phil John writes "As announced on the America's Army site, version 2.1 of America's Army: Special Forces is now available for free download, either as a full install or an update from 2.0.0a. There's a BitTorrent version of the update patch and a full standalone Windows version available from 3D Gamers to ease the load on the download mirrors. New goodies available: 2 new maps, brand new physics engine, new weapons and even an armoured vehicle with 50mm gun turret. Go forth, download and continue fighting the 'global war on terrorism'."

WebGangsta writes "Comcast announced a new gaming service available to anyone: for a monthly fee of $14.95, subscribers will have unlimited access to more than 60 PC-based games, from mainstream titles to educational software. New titles will be added each month. Games referenced in the press release included Atari's Dead Man's Hand [plus other largely Atari titles from the recently launched, similar Atari On Demand, including Neverwinter Nights and Civilization III: Conquests]. Is this one of the revenue streams Comcast was thinking about developing when they combined G4 with TechTV? Is there really a market for pay-service video games, and was there a lesson to be learned from Sega's attempt at this market (which was priced $2 less just nine years ago)?" Update: 06/02 17:06 GMT by S : Commenters point out Yahoo! is offering a similar service, currently with a greater variety of games.

Thanks to GameSpy for its 'Sole Food' column discussing why certain Xbox games were missing from Microsoft's line-up at last month's E3 show in Los Angeles. Titles mentioned, with included late-breaking Microsoft response, include "part action, part collectible-card game" Phantom Dust ("Microsoft Game Studios has decided to not publish Phantom Dust for North America"), action title and "everyone's favorite goggle-wearing, vacuum-wielding, time-shifting cat" Blinx 2 (We plan to make an official announcement after E3"), and "console massively multiplayer online RPG" True Fantasy Live Online ("The Level 5 team is focusing on developing and polishing the game for the Japanese release this winter, and as a result the timing of the U.S. release of the game is still undetermined.")

ceemrl writes "All About N-Gage have the scoop on ending the silly-looking phone side-talkin' required if you own an original Nokia N-Gage game deck/phone, with a neat hardware hack." Amusingly, the hack involves: "Taking a 3mm drill bit and very carefully working through [the back of the N-Gage near the phone speaker housing] until you break through the plastic", and the authors note: "As long as you didn't damage the speaker when drilling, the sound should be a similar level to side talkin'."

Joe Barr writes "Over at Newsforge [part of OSDN, like Slashdot], there's a look at the arcade/system emulator movement and two Linux-based Live CDs designed to put you in touch with your inner Donkey Kong: KnoppixMAME and AdvanceCD. I'm happy with gameplay under both. I only wish I knew more about the legality of using them." S!: We previously covered release details on KnoppixMAME and AdvanceCD last year, and also mentioned the categorically legal, if limited StarROMs site on Slashdot Games a few weeks back.

jasoncart writes "News from Japan today informs us that the Sega-Sammy merger is progressing apace ahead of the October completion date, with the announcement of new appointments at the holding firm, and news that 'Sega's seven internal divisions, including famous studios such as AM2 and Sonic Team, will be amalgamated ahead of the merger.' Sammy boss Hajime Satomi argues: 'I feel that Sega has high individual capabilities, but it's too separated into different subsidiaries... It's about time that we returned back to the old Sega' - there's also a new company logo for the holding company. At a time of great change for Sega, the only thing now certain is this great shift, with which Sammy aims to push Sega back into profitability."