An anonymous reader writes "The University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television, thanks to a multi-million dollar gift from game industry powerhouse Electronic Arts, have started a game design track within the Interactive Media Division. 'The School's rich storytelling tradition and long-standing commitment to technological experimentation make it an ideal partner for EA,' said Don Mattrick of EA. The entire press release can be read from the department's weblog." Interestingly, this donation funds a Electronic Arts-branded degree: "...the EA Interactive Entertainment Program... a 3-year Master of Fine Arts degree program."

DasJan writes "German website Adventure-Treff.de got hold of the last available screenshots of Sam & Max 2, the recently cancelled adventure game. The last 10 images in this gallery are the screens that LucasArts gave out to print magazines around the world to accompany their previews. Some of them are completely new, others were only available in blurry scans. They are probably the last thing we ever see of our beloved duo." Seems like an awful lot of work to scrap. I wouldn't be surprised if the game is resurrected in another form someday, but for now, these images are all we have.

Bob Sherpowski writes "According to CBBC News, they have come up with a 'game' that you control directly with your brain waves. University College Dublin researchers have designed a game where you are trying to get a monster to walk across a tightrope - if he leans one way or the other you have to concentrate on a box on either side of the tightrope to make him tip the other way. It's still in research and it's not for sale yet but it's the first step. "

Thanks to GameSpy for its interview with the lead designer of The Matrix Online, featuring new details regarding the PC MMO which recently parted ways with original co-developer UbiSoft, meaning the newly rejuvenated Warner Bros. Interactive "...is now the sole publisher of the title." According to the article, the developers Monolith are utilizing a combat system called Interlock, where "...players have the opportunity to optimize their fighting technique by managing their move-by-move combat tactics, and performing combos and other special maneuvers. This is definitely not 'click and watch.'" There's more information at the official Matrix Online FAQ.

randomErr writes "According to a San Jose Mercury News article reprinted at the Miami Herald: 'Mark Vange is in the vanguard of globalizing the video-game industry. He employs 30 game developers in St. Petersburg, Russia, who have worked on everything from flight simulators to dragon-fighting games. 'We can get the work done for half the cost that it takes in the U.S.,' said Vange, president of Ketsujin Studios. Similar outsourcing of video-game production is being done in places like China, India, Vietnam and parts of Eastern Europe. California game developers, who are the creative force behind a $10 billion industry in the U.S. market, view the trend with a combination of fear and anticipation'."

Jason Scott writes "I've put up my gallery of images from Phillyclassic 5, taken on Saturday, March 20th (and posted that night). Phillyclassic is a large classic games convention being held in King of Prussia, PA. They have a very informative webpage with details... I drove 600 miles in one day to stop in, and it was worth it. Homebrew carts for sale, lots of free arcade games to play, and all manner of vendors and characters. The convention's not over, either.. it lasts throughout Sunday the 21st, so if you didn't know about it, get down there! If you're nearby, you have no excuse!"

SyniK writes "After buying a PS2 Network Adapter 2 days ago and trying some unofficial media players, turns out I'll be getting a second adapter because the PlayStation 2 Linux kit is now $99 - half of its former price. The kits, which include an internal 40 GB hard drive, a Network Adapter, a monitor cable, a USB keyboard and Linux on 2 DVD-ROMs, are now 'slightly limited edition' as they will not be replenished in the future."

Thanks to IGN PS2 for its article discussing a hands-on look at the U.S. PlayStation 2 hard drive, bundled with Final Fantasy XI, which launches on March 23rd for $99. The article notes: "What's the big deal? ...well, let's just say that the Network Adaptor was the first step for players to get online, and the HDD is the next step... But in the short run, the HDD really only has one main purpose, which is to get players online playing Square Enix's potentially enormous MMORPG." The drive also comes with other advantages, as it's explained: "Players... can copy data from the (SCPH-10020u) memory card to a folder on the HDD", and it's speculated (although this is unconfirmed), that "SCEA might give gamers the choice to save data with games that require HDD use to either [memory card or HDD].

Thanks to GameSpy for its article discussing a variety of possible ways to store an extensive videogame collection. The author points out: "The more video games you buy, the more storage space you need to keep them all. You'd think this goes without saying, but a lot of people don't give it much thought until their bedroom's paved in CD cases, piles of NES carts have transformed into makeshift tables, and ... is that an Intellivision peeking from the fridge?" He goes on to suggest that "...the ability to maximize vertical space and the ability to adjust the height of individual shelves" is most important for game storage, and "a more modular approach: stacking plastic drawers" is advisable for "boxes of controllers, cables and lightguns."

Carlos Camacho writes "Piracy has been in the news recently within the game developer, and game player communities. You've seen all arguments against piracy in the past... Or have you? GBA and Mac game developer Aaron Fothergill of Strange Flavour Software wrote iDevGames a guest-editorial that will hopefully lead more users who copy games to re-think exactly it is that they are hurting. 'One of tenets of the software thief, is that "software is too expensive." They will then usually go on to bemoan how the 'giants' of the industry treat users unfairly and how stealing their software is their way of getting at 'the man.' Unfortunately, little do they realise, that the opposite is happening! Instead, rampant software theft benefits the 100 stone gorillas at the expense of new products that would otherwise be able to compete on price and features, resulting in only the big monopolistic companies keeping their products in the market and being able to control it'."

Thanks to Gamer's Pulse for its interview discussing the making of the new game-related documentary, Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession, which airs this Sunday on the GSN channel. The documentary creators discuss their portrayal of the death of the games industry in the early '80s ("Essentially, everyone wanted in on the video game craze. Atari's success drove everyone with enough capital to mimic them and ultimately there were too many Atari clones on the market"), as well as stories they had to leave out of the 2 hour documentary for space reasons: ("When we interviewed John Romero, he told us a great story about him and John Carmack developing Commander Keen. It seems that when they decided to make a game, they didn't have their own computers; so, they 'borrowed' their workplace systems every Friday night and returned them early Monday morning so nobody would notice.")

Ant writes "A story over at Blue's News reveals that the June 2004 print issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly and Computer Gaming World (on newsstands in late April) will confirm a sequel to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and that the game is, as previously rumored, in development at Obsidian Entertainment, the developer formed by ex-Black Isle boss Fergus Urquhart."

qasimodo writes "Gamespot.com is reporting that Epic has banned the first cheater from Unreal Tournament 2004. You can read the thread explaining this on the official Atari forums for the game. DrSin, one of Epic's programmers started the thread as a warning to fellow users, and so far everybody seems to be happy. I agree with that, we need to stop the cheaters before they ruin every game out there. But the question remains: How can they stop them completely? Surely, script kiddies will just stop and go somewhere else, but how about the guys who write all the tools? They won't stop so easily." Elsewhere, nerdb0t points to an ACM Queue editorial on the subject of cheating in online games, arguing: "Perhaps game developers don't realize they're enabling roving gangs of sociopaths who are effectively destroying the virtual world the developers have worked so hard to create."

Thanks to GamerDad for its editorial discussing whether some recent videogames, such as Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, look "too sterile and perfect" . The author explains: "The animation is fine but the world Snake runs through is too sharp edged. There's no dirt and grime in the graphics because they're perfect versions of what was seen in the original game. Somehow, these better graphics have detracted somewhat from my opinion of the newer game." He continues: "DOOM 3, for as great as it looks, suffers from a lack of grit in still shots. I'm hoping the final game will not have the plastic look of the current pictures. Even the highly polished Quake III Arena didn't come across as being plastic to me." Do other gamers share this perception of graphical sterility in some recent games?

BjB writes "According to a Dow Jones Newswire article, Microsoft plans on lowering the price of the XBox to $149 (from $179) at the beginning of April. This is to compete with the PlayStation 2, which currently remains at $179."

Thanks to GamesIndustry.biz for its editorial discussing whether the market for 'Mature'-rated videogames is really that significant, following "EA CFO Warren Jenson's announcement last week that the company is working on a videogame based on Francis Ford Coppola's classic mafia movie The Godfather. The resulting game is expected to be EA's first foray into publishing M-rated... titles for several years." But the editorial argues: "Mature games, although certainly a popular theme with the stock market, are still basically a hot topic because of one franchise - namely Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto titles." It goes on to point out: "M-rated games accounted for only 11.9 per cent of videogame sales in the USA last year in total... despite this, publishers are rushing headlong into making mature games, believing that emulating the success of Grand Theft Auto is just a splash of blood and a bucketful of swearwords away."

craenor writes "Perhaps the most anticipated entry into the increasingly crowded PC MMORPG market, Blizzard's World of Warcraft, has just reached the live Beta stage, for those select players lucky enough to be picked. In a distinct change from the existing trend in Beta tests, they are not going to require NDAs for participating players, and everyone will have read access to the official Beta forums while testing takes place." The WoW site includes a basic game FAQ for beginners, and BitTorrent is now live as Blizzard's Beta distribution method of choice, as the mentioned earlier on Slashdot Games.

Richard Goodness writes "Recently I watched Simon Bysshe's film Modern Day Gamer. The film is a natural springboard for some talk of the shared experience of videogames and the legitimization of gaming as a form of entertainment. Therefore, in '2 Legit 2 Save and Quit,' I come to some conclusions." A good article, with some excellent points. I took this to heart, but I see a weekly D&D session with friends as being akin to a weekly poker game but with less financial repercussions, unless one counts all the books needed.

Thanks to Kempa.com for its weblog entry discussing music vinyl/cassettes released in the late 70's and early 80's that contained computer programs as part of the audio. The article explains: "Most of these programs were written for the Sinclair Spectrum home computer series... In the case of these programs on vinyl, the user would have to play back the proper portion of the record, record the resultant chatter to tape, and load the tape into the Spectrum." It goes on to showcase UK vinyl-based games from "rockabilly revivalist" Shakin' Stevens ("The goal of 'The Shaky Game' is to drive Shakin' Stevens' car to the center of a maze while avoiding bats, who bite you"), as well as a flexidisc adventure game starring '80s pop stars The Thompson Twins ("...a bizarre text-based adventure in which you guide the [band] around a land of beaches and caves.")

Thanks to Yahoo for reprinting a press release revealing the ex-Diablo creators now at Flagship Studios have signed a publishing deal with Namco, in a move that "marks Namco's official entry into the PC games publishing business" - we've previously covered Flagship Studios' formation on Slashdot Games. Elsewhere, several readers point out Blizzard's official World of Warcraft site, which has announced with regard to the upcoming WoW Beta test: "While we plan on having several ways available to distribute the files to everyone, our primary method will be through the Blizzard Downloader program, which uses BitTorrent technology." Update: 03/18 21:01 GMT by S : There's more discussion on Blizzard and other companies using BitTorrent in a recent mainpage post.