Thanks to EvilAvatar for pointing to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer article discussing how gaming sequels tower above most movie sequels in terms of desirability and quality. The piece argues of movies: "Sequels suck, right? For every 'Godfather 2' and 'Aliens' there are hundreds of horrendous rehashes clogging the video store shelves. Hollywood wants your money; quality control be damned", before contrasting them with games: "Fans chomp at the bit for a few screenshots from the next installment of beloved games such as 'Half-Life' and 'Halo.' When the games arrive they rarely disappoint. Gaming franchises get better and better while their celluloid cousins go straight to video." Valve's Gabe Newell also comments on feedback for sequels: "We are super-involved in the community that has sprung up around our games. Whether through e-mail, the forums, the fan sites, or calling my house at 3 a.m. in the morning, we have a pretty good idea what they are thinking. And it absolutely factors into our decisions."

An anonymous reader writes "A year ago gaming on LCD monitors was laughed at, now days it's becoming much more practical thanks to more responsive LCDs like Samsung's SyncMaster 172X, reviewed over at OverClocker's Club. The 172X is a 17" monitor, with a very important feature for us gamers and hardcore computer geeks, a 12ms response time. A 12ms response time literally means zero ghosting in games and in fast action movies."

Thanks to Gaming-Age for its feature discussing the continued popularity of Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series, which starts out by noting "the DDR series now has had nearly 50 different releases, all territories figured in", and interviews Konami's Yasumi Takase about the possibility of being able to use any music CD in a DDR game ("Having access to your personal music CDs is great, but coming up with your own step data for these songs is not so easy unless you are an expert player"), before talking to female DDR player 'Lyra' about her views of female players ("We do tend to have a lot more guy players than girls, the only girls we ever get are people who either try it out once, or sluts who are trying to get a guy.") Elsewhere, DDRFreak points to an academic essay on the history of DDR (PDF link), produced for Stanford University's History Of Computer Game Design class.

Thanks to Insert Credit for pointing to the freely downloadable PC shoot-em-up Every Extend, advertising "The Ultimate UCHU-Action From STG" - over at fansite Doujinaroni, there's an interview with the creator, Omega (scroll down for Frenchlish version) rating the game as "a real drug", and when asked about the hidden boss' name, ABA, says "I show my respect for [TUMIKI Fighters creator Kenta 'ABA' Cho, previously featured on Slashdot Games] so I use his name in my game."

Shay writes "With the recent release of Blender v2.33, including the return of the game engine, we have brought GameBlender.org back online to help users in creating games with Blender. The site is back with a new CMS, a new layout, and new features. Of those features the most important is the forums. With the introduction of the forums here at GameBlender.org we hope to give users a place to post and answer questions about free modeling, animation, game making software, Blender!"

Thanks to USNews.com for its feature discussing the increasing dominance of videogame publisher Electronic Arts, pointing out that, using figures from its recent financial results, that: "In 1999, EA had eight platinum, or million-plus-selling, titles. In the past year, it produced 27 of them. Back then, EA possessed 10 percent of the North American game market. Today, it has captured 22 percent of it." The article discusses EA's wish "to double the size of the company every four or five years", and also talks about revenues from online gaming, where it's hoped "some 15 to 20 percent of EA revenue should come from... during the next console cycle", despite the "costly failure" of The Sims Online - however, EA CEO Larry Probst "...guesses that future online gaming will follow the cable television model, where you will pay a subscription to access various 'channels' of gaming services"),

CowboyRobot writes "LucasArts engineer Nick Porcino has an article detailing what to expect from graphics in the next generation of game systems including the "influence of cinematic realtime rendering, the promise of advanced lighting techniques and high-dynamic range images, the uses of the rendering pipeline, and the future of multiprocessor-based rendering and advanced geometry." These will allow run-time rendering of high quality backgrounds and characters, ultimately resulting in games that are closer to full-blown Pixar animations, allowing better narratives and more immersive user experiences."

Thanks to GameSpy for its interview with Gearbox Software's boss Randy Pitchford regarding Halo: Custom Edition, a "Gearbox-created add-on that includes a little of everything: editing tools, tutorials, technical updates, and more", and will be "free to Halo PC customers." Following previous controversy over alleged "Bungie/Microsoft testing and approval delays" of Halo PC patches, it seems Gearbox has arranged a direct route, and "will provide [technical] support", for the content, which includes "'Fast Shaders' (improves performance up to 60% on pixel shader hardware), improved network code (reduces the incidence of player 'warping')", as well as the Halo Editing Kit (HEK), a "package of tools, source material and tutorials that will allow modification makers to bring their own visions to life within the Halo engine", all due out "very, very soon."

Bill Kendrick writes "Handy, the Atari Lynx emulator, has been re-released as Open Source software. (So that libSDL port I've always wanted might become a reality!) Handy's official website has moved to SourceForge, and the source-code is in CVS!" There are some neat homebrew Atari Lynx titles, both demos and game prototypes, available, too.

Matt Slaybaugh writes "Some classmates of mine have developed a 'large-scale urban game that utilizes the New York City grid to recreate the 1980's video game sensation Pac-Man.' One player dresses up as Pac-Man and tries to cover the full Greenwich Village grid, while 4 others dressed as Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde try to catch him. Everyone reports their positions to their respective generals, who monitor progress on a central control board. I can't wait for the real-world implementation of Donkey Kong."

koworld writes "WotR have put out a really intriguing issue on piracy this week. It has Jeff Minter arguing that piracy robs developers of their livelihoods and then a senior industry figure (writing under a pseudonym) offers the counter that piracy has done more to expand the overall videogaming market than any other factor. Just to round off the debate a number of insightful personal accounts of piracy and its effects are also included."

Rydia writes "In light of the California Legislature's amendment and consideration of AB 1792, regarding violent video games, Findlaw's Vikram Amar (UC-Hastings) and Alan Brownstein (UC-Davis) have written an editorial on a child's vs. an adult's protections under the first amendment, and the right of the state to introduce legislation in this vein. It is welcome to see the topic discussed on its own legal merits, in lieu of actual law, and not the moralistic turf both sides of the debate have attempted to claim as their own."

fforw writes "One and a half year after becoming free software, the Blender Foundation has released a new version of Blender which finally enables the game engine again. When Blender became free software. the game engine had to be disabled because SOLID, the collision library was not free software. After SOLID's author Gino van den Bergen changed his mind, Blender has now restored all functionality from the closed-source period."

Thanks to MSNBC for its article discussing the mixed fortunes of TV bosses trying to get videogamers to watch shows about games. The piece starts with the question: "Golf players watch golf, but will video game players watch games?", and points out the failures (UPN's previously mentioned CG sitcom Game Over, an "esoteric take on gaming culture [which] didn't last long. Amid dismal ratings, UPN yanked the show off the air earlier this month.") alongside more long-running shows such as TechTV's X-Play (the writer notes "...enough inside jokes to please the hardcore gamers, but listen closely enough and you may detect an almost mocking tone.")

Petaris writes "For all of you hard core gamers out there a new choice is availiable for gaming notebooks. Introducing the Falcon Northwest FragBook. This notebook will be in direct competition with gaming notebooks from several competetors including Alienware and VooDoo. Falcon-nw, VooDoo, and more recently Alienware are the place to look for insanely high end and usually fairly expensive gaming systems. The gaming notebook, a more recent arrival in the industry, promises more recent processors than are commonly available for notebooks. Just make sure you stock up on batteries or settle in next to an outlet. :)"

Thanks to Gigex for its article revealing Sega has announced an OutRun 2 conversion to Xbox, as "handed off to UK-based [developer] Sumo Digital", which will "support network play for 2 to 4 drivers, along with online [Xbox Live] support for an as yet unknown number of players" - Eurogamer has the first screenshots of the conversion. Elsewhere, 1UP has new details on Sega's Shining Force franchise, as the notable RPG series gets extended, including a "completely original Shining Force strategy-RPG for PS2, developed by Amusement Vision", and the freshly previewed spin-off, Shining Tears, a "top-down 2D action-RPG with computer-controller partners to join the fight." Finally, Sega is extensively hyping an unknown E3 announcement which "will surprise the gaming world."

Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter for its article discussing whether digital distribution can really work for videogames. The piece focuses on NP Cube, developers of PC MMO Dark And Light, who are based on the tiny Reunion Island, east of Madagascar, and intend to distribute free versions via "a peer-to-peer site", before charging a monthly fee later. Co-founder Laurent Paret argues of online distribution: "It's so much more cost-effective than signing a contract with a publisher... One peer-to-peer company wants to charge us $300 a month to distribute 'Dark And Light.' I have no idea how they can charge so little and I'm not asking." However, Mark Jacobs of Mythic Entertainment disagrees with the approach, suggesting: "I know they think they can make up some of their development costs earlier if they distribute online [thus getting higher profit margins]... But they're sacrificing long-term profits for short-term gains."

Thanks to GameSpy for its overview of the changes and interview with Gas Powered Games boss Chris Taylor regarding PC action RPG sequel Dungeon Siege II, due out via Microsoft later in 2004. Taylor, lead designer of the classic RTS Total Annihilation, discusses the original Dungeon Siege ("Overall the response was very positive, and most criticism was offered as a call for features in a sequel"), and reveals features for the sequel including (Phantasy Star Online mag-like?) "exotic pets", of which he explains: "You can buy these and develop them by feeding them different items you find in the world."

illuminata writes "Can the video game industry keep its mittens out of the political slugfest? According to Kevin Parker's article Free Play, they sure can't. In it, he cites Dreamcatcher's Gore and Sega's Legacy Online and Jet Set Radio Future as main offenders. He even goes on to point out how some people want video games to convey their favorite political message in the future. Are there any particular titles or game companies that you think lay on the politics too thick, or is it all just a bunch of foof?"

Thanks to the Albuquerque Tribune for its pair of editorials, one praising violent games, tongue-in-cheek style, by lauding "the sheer joy of freeform gaming mayhem", and the other a rebuttal suggesting children are genuinely at risk. This provincial echoing of the ever-present worldwide debate starts with Sue Vorenberg's contention that: "There's nothing quite as satisfying as running over virtual French people with a souped-up sports car", and ends with Bob McCannon's statement that "the correlations between violent media and aggression are stronger than between smoking and lung cancer." What can be done to make such arguments a little more evenhanded?