Nineteen King's Bounty screens are on offer at Worthplaying.

Jay Barnson continues his run through Wiz8 at The Rampant Coyote.  Spoilers might apply:

The big quest Myles had for us (though he's talked about robbing the bank) was to rescue some girl by a crashed space ship. We had to fight off a group of Savant Guards - robots with blades on their hands. Definitely challenging, and they don't scare easily. There were also some bandits - Higardi raiders - monkeying around outside the ship that we had to fight our way through. Fortunately, they do scare fairly easily. We had to use every bit of tactics I could come up with to defeat them without losing anyone in our group (I actually took them on before bringing Myles on board).

One bummer about fights in Wizardry 8 is that the enemy can flank and surround you, but you can't really do the same to them. You can, however, dictate a lot of the terms of the fight - maneuvering with your back to a wall (or better, a corner) to limit their frontage, force them to come to you while you pelt them with ranged attacks (especially magical area-effect attacks), and use temporarily disabling spells like fear spells or sleep spells to disrupt them from attacking.

Soldak has moved the beta v1.12 Depths of Peril patch to "official" with no changes, after finding no problems.

Some interesting comments from GamersGlobal, who played Fallout 3 for an hour at Leipzig:

Now, at GC in Leipzig, we spent about an hour with the PC version of Fallout 3 (which is supposed to have the same gameplay) and could verify most of what Pete told us. V.A.T.S. no longer felt too mighty, and in fact, we were able to cripple the limbs of a super mutant without killing him, as it should be. Still, a successful V.A.T.S. shot can instantly kill an opponent if the damage to the limb brings his overall hitpoints to zero. For example, we shot 2 times at the left arm of a raider; the first shot hit and made him lose his weapon, the second shot crippled his arm, at the same time killing him. We are STILL not quite convinced about V.A.T.S., because our standard tactic was to try to get very near the opponents, who didn't seem to hit us much better than over a greater distance, and than entering V.A.T.S.: With this tactic, the relative low range of our pistol or hunting rifle didn't count, and we could hit our target with a to-hit probability of 80 to 95 % percent. The opponents, on the other hand, do not have V.A.T.S. Also, the Action Points still filled up pretty quickly, so running away from a Super Mutant for half a minute would replenish them to the maximum, allowing us to fight him effectively again. But to make this clear: the fighting no longer felt far too easy or flawed. As in Oblivion, opponents will run or swim towards you in order to reach you, or fight from afar when they have appropiate weapons. Some will throw grenades at you, others will fight you with poles or clubs.

Duck over to IGN for a collection of new Dragon Age screens from GC.

CD Projekt Red has sent out the latest newsetter, covering The Witcher at the Leipzig CD.  I can't see anything new but head over if you're a dedicated fan.

Bethsoft has announced the official release date for Fallout 3 - October 28th for NA and October 31st for Europe:

Fallout 3 Available October 28

Major Launch Planned for the Winner of E3 2008’s “Best of Show”

August 20, 2008 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company,  announced today that its highly anticipated title, Fallout® 3, will be available on store shelves and online in North America on October 28, 2008 and in Europe on October 31, 2008. Developed at Bethesda Game Studios – creators of the 2006 Game of the Year,  The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion® – Fallout 3 is slated for release on the Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows.

“We are very excited to let gamers get their hands on Fallout 3, the latest chapter in this beloved and highly acclaimed franchise,” said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. “To meet the huge demand for this title by our fans worldwide, we are planning one of the biggest launches of any game released this year.”

Fallout 3 features one of the most realized game worlds ever created. Set more than 200 years following a nuclear war, you can create any kind of character you want and explore the open wastes of Washington, D.C. however you choose. Every minute is a fight for survival as you encounter Super Mutants, Ghouls, Raiders, and other dangers of the Wasteland.

Hailed as one of the most anticipated games for 2008, Fallout 3 has already won numerous awards including Best of Show from the official Game Critics Awards at E3 2008, a selection voted on by an independent group of journalists from 36 leading North American media outlets that cover the videogame industry.

Fallout® 3 has not yet been rated by the ESRB.  For more information on Fallout 3, visit http://fallout.bethsoft.com.

The official site is also promoting three new screens - I'll toss the link up, even though it doesn't seem to work at the moment, just in case it's a temporary server glitch.

The new GC trailer for Piranha Bytes' upcoming RPG Risen can be found just about everywhere, for example on World of Risen.

Thanks Sir Brennus!

Berlin based publisher TGC - The Games Company announced they were granted a The Dark Eye (Das Schwarze Auge or DSA in German) license. They will use it to let their internal studio (Silver Style; -> The Fall) develop an action-RPG.

According to Dr Stefan Blanck from license holder Chromatrix in the official Drakensang forum TGC's license is non-exclusive. It does not prevent Radon Labs from making a sequel or add-on to Drakensang.

Thanks Alrik and Rohal!

Update: GameBanshee found the PR:

TGC Acquires „The Dark Eye" License

The Berlin-based publisher announces an epic action role-playing game taking place in the "TDE – The Dark Eye" universe.

Berlin/Leipzig, 20th August 2008: TGC – The Games Company starts off into the first day of this year´s Games Convention with fantastic news for all RPG fans. The Berlin-based publisher was able to acquire the most successful German RPG license for the development of a high-end game. The license has been granted by Chromatix GmbH, the holder of rights of the globally successful “TDE” brand.

“TDE – The Dark Eye” has enthralled RPG fans all over the world (in German: “DSA – Das Schwarze Auge”) for the last 24 years. At the beginning “TDE” was only available as a traditional pen & paper role-playing game, but within the last 16 years the license has also been used for four PC games. TGC´s latest “TDE” project offers the most intensive role-playing experience so far in the idyllic but dangerous fantasy world Aventuria.

TGC´s in-house development unit is responsible for the realization of the ambitious “TDE” adaptation. In Berlin the developers work at an action-oriented role-playing game that is to impose new standards within the genre with its enormous depth and an epic, movie-like story. The detailed background story sends the player on a thrilling adventurous journey through the vast “TDE” world Aventuria. The charismatic main character is controlled from a freely zoomable and pivotable isometric perspective. The authentic fights are based on the current edition of the “TDE” rulebook.

“I am glad that we have got the coveted license”, says Carsten Strehse, CEO at TGC. “It emphasizes TGC´s high ambitions to be able to use such an attractive license for our lavish game development. This enables us to provide players not only with a very good but with an extraordinary RPG. We strive to set new standards in story-telling, graphics and game worlds with our “TDE” project.” “An action-oriented role-playing game offers fascinating new possibilities to carry the player off to the varied world of Aventuria”, says Dr. Stefan Blanck, managing director at Chromatix. “I am convinced that gripping gameplay combined with an emotional story will offer an exciting experience to role-players.”

JoWooD used the start of the Games Convention in Leipzig to reveal the developer responsible for Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods. It´s the Indian company Trine Game Studios. They´re also working on the next The Guild product.

G3: Forsaken Gods will be a stand-alone add-on based on Gothic 3 technology. The story is written by Spellbound to ensure a smooth transition to Gothic 4.

Codemasters, Atari, Reality Pump, Topware and Techland to take 25,000 pirates to court according to The Times.

The game makers have appointed the law firm Davenport Lyons. This week Isabela Barwinska, an unemployed mother of two, became the first person in the UK to be ordered to pay damages to a manufacturer. She must pay more than £16,000 to Topware after downloading Dream Pinball through a file-sharing site.

Roger Billens, a partner at Davenport Lyons, said: “Our clients were incensed by the level of illegal downloading. In the first 14 days since Topware Interactive released Dream Pinball 3D it sold 800 legitimate copies but was illegally downloaded 12,000 times. Hopefully people will think twice if they risk being taken to court.”

The law firm is applying to the High Court for an order requiring internet service providers to hand over the names and addresses of 25,000 individuals suspected of illegally downloading computer games. They have already obtained almost 5,000 addresses after providing evidence that illegal file-sharing had taken place. The move has provoked strong criticism within the games industry. A source close to the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association said that most publishers would be reluctant to bring legal actions against their “core market” and would be likely to look for other ways to minimise losses due to piracy.

The PC Gaming Alliance, a nonprofit corporation promoting PC gaming composed of PC industry members such as Microsoft, Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, and Dell, has a report out called "Horizons," looking at the state of PC gaming and coming to some overall positive conclusions. You can read a summary of it here, but here's a sample of the main points revealed so far:

Speaking at the Games Convention Developer’s Conference in Leipzig, PCGA president Randy Stude announced that PC gaming was a $10.7 billion industry during the year of 2007, with retail sales accounting for just 30 percent of total revenues. According to the report, growth was largely driven by online revenues from Asia, the world’s largest market, which is approaching half of total worldwide sales.

Online PC gaming revenue led the way in 2007 with $4.8 billion, nearly double the worldwide retail sales numbers for PC games. Digital distribution sales approached $2 billion, while advertising revenues from websites, portals, and in-game ads accounted for $800 million. Both are expected to grow substantially as major developers and publishers begin to adopt formal strategies to take advantage of new online opportunities.

“Our analysis clearly shows incredible growth in online PC gaming, proof that this industry is far stronger than anyone has reported,” said Stude. “Today’s consumers shop where they live - online.”

IGN also has a Q & A with PCGA pres Randy Stude(Intel), and Roy Taylor(NVidia), the PCGA's CTO, that goes into the subject of what the Alliance is about a bit further. Here's a sample question:

IGN: The issue of PC game piracy creeps into just about every "state of PC gaming" discussion, but how are we to know how much damage it's actually doing? Will we ever really be able to get a definite sense of how piracy is really affecting game sales, or will it remain the sort of nebulous threat it appears to be today?...

Roy Taylor: Piracy is stealing. It's as bad as taking money from someone's wallet. Those users that do it often hide behind a number of excuses. We are very serious about addressing all aspects of this issue. But this includes not treating honest and desired users as bad guys. Poor anti-theft measures are part of the problem. They help justify downloading illegal non-protected copies and they cause resentment. The subcommittee is aware of all of these and is working on them. It's a big subject.
 

Diabloiii.net has an array of Diablo III artwork and 13 screenshots from the press CD for the Liepzig Game Conference. The site notes that most of this is new but may look familiar as it's part of the same batch of media out since the WWI.

First the screenshots:

A poor rating given by Brett Todd of Gamespot.

As one last kick in the teeth, Legend doesn't even give you the option of skipping out on its lifeless single-player campaign for multiplayer mayhem, because there is no multiplayer option. It's hard to imagine such a perfunctory exercise in action RPG game design being any more enjoyable online than it is offline, although it would have at least been nice to have this as an option. Despite the above litany of complaints, Legend isn't so much an awful game as it is a dreary, cheerless one designed with a paint-by-numbers sense of artistry. Some action RPG fans may find it a reasonable way of passing the time, although more discerning players will quickly grow tired of its lack of imagination.

Dragon Age game director Dan Tudge speaks to Eurogamer in a rambling 4-page article, reinforcing the "spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate" line and possibly hinting at a demo and DLC.  Here's a bit on the origin stories :

Eurogamer: What about game mechanics, what haven't we seen before?

Dan Tudge: I can't really go into the full details, but a subtle Origins example is something that I found very emotionally compelling. I was playing one of our origins stories and I actually had a situation where I had a very, very close friend within my origin... And to become a Grey Warden I had to make a difficult choice and had to leave my friend behind to what I felt was certain death. Playing through the game several hours later, I was actually doing a dungeon crawl underneath the city and I came across a prison area, and one of the individuals in one of the prison cells was my friend that I left behind, and I was actually elated because I had the opportunity to actually save him. Now I had picked any other origins he would have been some non-discreet player, but to me he was my friend. So it's a very subtle thing but very emotionally compelling.

...and Gamers with Jobs has a podcast that includes David Gaider.

Jay Barnson has kicked up the second part of a Wizardry 8 playthrough (not really a retrospective, not having played it before).  Here's a snip:

Scorpia refers to Arnika Road in Wizardry 8 as the "Terrible Road," and I now understand what she was talking about.

The previous location, the monastery. had a lot going for it. It was full of interesting features (including computers and an elevator), clues as to the "big picture" of what was going on and as to the history - ancient and recent - of the order that dwelt there and the world itself. While it had its share of empty tunnels (I guess the contractors thought they could ad lib a bit and get paid extra for making long corridors that didn't really go anywhere), it was worthy of exploration. And while it had a couple of challenging encounters, it had nothing truly punishing. It was a solid, exciting intro dungeon with lots of promise for the rest of the game.

Arnika Road was something of a let-down after that. And not just because I had my kiester stomped on the second encounter. And the third. And the fourth. More on that in a minute. For now, let's talk about the kiester-stompage. That pretty much defined my experience on Arnika Road, and that part isn't all bad. It's just unfortunate that it was pretty much the most interesting part of the journey.

A link to the first part is in the article.

You may recall Twenty Sided's Shamus Young had been dissecting The Witcher (see Meet Geralt and Presentation) and after a delay, we have the Final Thoughts.  Shamus has decided to avoid actually critiquing the game, other than the obvious inferences in his sarcasm-laden post:

It turns out I never really took the steps needed to enjoy the game. I’ve been unfair. Luckily, people have provided me with lots of helpful tips on what I’ve been doing wrong. It turns out that to really enjoy the game you just need to:

   1. Read a 72-page manual.
   2. Read the series of books on which the game is based. (You need to learn Polish first, as only the first book is available in English.)
   3. Wait until the patch comes out in a few months that will fix up all the annoyances and problems with the game.
   4. Spend hundreds of dollars upgrading your computer. Only a fool plays a game with mid-range hardware, anyway.
   5. Play for several hours until you get to the good parts.

I admit, I just jumped right in and expected it to be fun. Seems kind of crazy in retrospect. I’m going to discontinue this series until I can complete the tasks in that list so that I can give the game a proper review.

This latest Inside the Vault at the Bethblog profiles QA Project Lead, Brian Bloomfield:

What is the best part about working as a testers? The worst part?
I work with some of the most talented people I’ve ever met. It is also an awesome sight to see your name in a game played by millions.  The worst part, I think, is the misconception that I get paid to “play video games”. I have a friend, who happens to be a firefighter in Frederick County, and he thinks my job is a step above Mime, and a step below Magician.

CD Projekt sent out this PR on the packaging for The Witcher Enhanced Edition:

THE BEST REACHES PERFECTION WITH 'THE WITCHER: ENHANCED EDITION'

Improved, Enhanced and Expanded Edition of CD Projekt RED's Acclaimed PC Role-Playing Title Coming September 2008

LYON, FRANCE – 19 August 2008 – Atari today announced the forthcoming launch of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, the PC role-playing opus from Polish development studio CD Projekt RED, which continues to garner high praise and new fans the world over thanks to its unique blend of mature fantasy universe, tough decision making and intense tactical combat. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition is an improved, enhanced and expanded version of the game considered by many players and media as the best PC RPG of 2007, and is scheduled for release across Europe in September 2008.

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition will be presented in a high-quality package, bound in a luxury embossed box set featuring a wealth of high-value extra content including additional adventures, music from and inspired by the game, re-mastered making of feature, a short story by the creator of The Witcher Andrej Sapkowski and much more. Numerous enhancements have been made to the widely acclaimed original game to deliver an experience second to none in the PC RPG genre.

“We always have the fans’ best interests at heart so we have listened closely to their comments. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition has given us the opportunity to put their feedback into action as well as offering something totally new with exclusive content,” said Adam Kicinski, CEO of CD Projekt RED. “We believe that The Witcher: Enhanced Edition is a product of exceptional quality – packed with gameplay improvements and additional physical value – that should come close to being the ideal game for fans of PC role-playing.“

Technical enhancements include faster loading times alongside improved combat responsiveness and precision. Following feedback from fans, the English script has been re-worked, while extensive amounts of the voice-over has been re-recorded for the English and German versions, all to deliver an even more immersive and involving story experience. All of the enhancements will be available as a free download to existing game owners via the game’s official website, www.thewitcher.com.

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition will be available in a highly desirable, content-packed box set, the full contents of which include:
• Multilanguage The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, a reworking of the best PC RPG game of 2007;
• DVD bonus disc including the D’jinni Adventure Editor and two brand new adventures created by CD Projekt Red:
- the D’jinni Adventure Editor: allows players to create or modify their own adventures in the world of The Witcher;
- "The Price of Neutrality": the adventure tells the story of Geralt coming back to Kaer Morhen and finding a mysterious camp near the stronghold (featuring 3 new quests);
- “Side Effects”: the first ever release of this new adventure which focuses on Geralt's close friend, Dandelion, and his troubles in Vizima City (featuring 5 new quests);
• Remastered “Making Of” documentary with never-before-seen bonus material;
• Soundtrack CD of original music written specifically for The Witcher;
• CD of original music inspired by The Witcher;
• Instruction manual and game guide;
• Short story by Andrej Sapkowski featuring new art from the Monsterbook;
• A map for exploration throughout The Witcher ’s world.

A site called The HD Room has a review of Too Human, awarding a score of 7.9/10:

Too Human's combat design is its greatest strength and glaring weakness at the same time. Baldur's smooth close-quarter directional melee moves executed with the right analog stick at enemies encroaching from 360-degrees are easy to pick up and learn and fun to piece together. Unlike Diablo which Too Human will inevitably be compared to, Baldur "slides" across the floor for attacks rather than leaving the ground which aids in simplicity but subtracts from his attack options. The face buttons never come into play unless to evade by either jumping or rolling away from danger.

GameSpy has a preview of Sacred 2 after playing a little at GenCon.  Their biggest concern is the complexity of the character system, which sounds like a plus to me:

As we worked our way through the Dryad's opening quests, we took the opportunity to examine her initial powers, which was where the confusion set in. At the very beginning of the game, every character has 15 separate powers to choose from (along with the specific ones derived from the deity), although only one can be placed into the character's quick slot at any given time. These powers range from totems that fire poisonous arrows to a root that freezes an opponent in place. Easy enough. The kicker comes as the dryad levels up and the player realizes that each of these powers has its own skill tree that allows the player to completely customize their power depending on how they decide to play it. An AOE attack, for example, can have its duration, power or number of targets modified so a moderate meteor attack that hits five enemies can be changed to a weaker version that hits 10 or narrowed into a devastating single strike.

Ragon told us dtp and Radon Labs released the first patch for their already surprisingly polished RPG Drakensang. A download link and detailed notes can be found in the official forum.

The patch includes a little bit of everything. It adds comfort functions (camera speed slider, screenshot key, windowed mode, select-whole-party key, cycle-through-quickbars keys, improved quest handling logic, improved command queue editing), changes a couple of map or party related things (two new exit portals on certain maps, dynamic light outside of dungeons through spells or torches, more flexibility combining shoulder armour with other armour) and fixes ca. two dozen issues (technical bugs, collision problems, balancing issues).

Bill Roper talks about the recent troubles at Flagship Studios.

GFW: But, seriously, would you take the IP back and say, "Now I'm going to do it. Now I've got the resources!" I just mean from an emotional and mental standpoint, more than anything else. Do you feel done, after what you've been through, or would you want it back?

BR: I think it would be rough from that emotional standpoint. I think that's a thing that the general world never sees. They just assume, "These guys make games. They have this business. They did it. It didn't work out. They move on." It's amazingly difficult from an emotional standpoint. You don't start a company, two companies, and pour five years into doing something and not become emotionally attached. It's impossible. For me, personally, it's been incredibly difficult, because this is the first company I've ever started, you know, and been a part of. I kind of always lived and died by the games. As anybody could tell you, during the last days of Flagship, I was pretty much a wreck. And it wasn't because, oh, all our dreams of financial success are flying out the window. It was the fact that here're guys that I've worked with for anywhere from two to five years that we handpicked. Some of them are in their first jobs in the gaming industry.

I was really happy that we did have some successes, that we actually launched the game. And it wasn't like it was the worst game on the planet. It had problems -- we understand that. But it wasn't a complete disaster. We built the company to do that. We built an online game-services group. The Ping0 tech was amazingly stable. I think contrary to people's perceptions, or what they wanted to believe, the only time the game came down in the first days was when we took it down on purpose to fix a bug or address a billing issue. It didn't crash. It was so much more stable online than Diablo II when we launched it. Which I think was a huge mark of achievement for all the guys that did that. So it definitely got to a point where I was just sick to my stomach knowing that at some point, unless we could get some kind of deal worked out, we'd eventually have to lay people off, [that] things were eventually going to go pear-shaped. Once you get over that hurdle, it's not like it's suddenly OK, but it's like breaking up a relationship. Before it happens you're like, "Oh god, I'm never going to be able to do this." You're nauseous. You're up all night, panicked about what's going to happen. After it's done, it's not like you feel good about it, but at least it's done.

So I think if your rich, beautiful woman showed up with that pot of gold -- can I throw beautiful in there, too? -- I would love to be able to try to buy things free and clear. Unhindered by any past encumbrances. I would do a lot of things really differently. I think that maybe part of the silver lining in all this -- and there isn't a lot in a very dark cloud -- but personally, I learned a hell of a lot that I think will make me a better developer, a better executive, manager, whatever. It's a pretty tough learning experience.

Don't take this too seriously...not realising the Drakensang demo is only German, Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Jim Rossignol downloaded the demo but decided to push ahead with some humorous impressions anyway:

Playing a text-heavy RPG, however, is rather different. The logic and mechanics of an RPG as generic as this are not hard to master, but knowing what else you’re supposed to be doing, or how to do it, is rather impossible. I talk to people, guess which of the three dialogue options accepts the quests (it’s the top one, natch) and then off I go. I’ve talked to a jester and a sexy lady, and they told me to go do something, probably. They’d previously they’d had an argument with a soldier, but I have no idea what it is about. (Obviously.)

Kieron Gillen replays The Bard's Tale (the 1985 one) and scribes up his thoughts at RPS.

It’s an odd experience. After a worryingly short period of time, Skara Brae gets beneath my fingertips. I had most of the city memorised, and the muscle memory is still there. Soon I’m running from the guild to the central temples to the magical recharge-shop to the Review Board with barely a glance at the screen. Stepping into the Catacombs (The Mad God’s Name is “Tarjan”, twenty-years out of date Spoiler fans) I effortlessly locate the room featuring 9 Wights which I used as an early grinding run, relying on my bard blowing his area-effect Fire Horn before they tore us to pieces, for about 1500XP a pop. How can I remember all this when I don’t remember the name of any 95% of my classmates? But since it’s a fledgling prototype of the modern RPG, there’s little which hasn’t been seen in more advanced games. While an interesting historical exercise, it fails on the ultimate test: which is “Is there a reason to play it now”?

Another mini-preview and video at Destructoid, this time for King's Bounty.  Apparently WoW was an inspiration:

King’s Bounty: The Legend is an upcoming PC strategy RPG developed by 1C and published by Atari. Unlike most strategy RPGs, the concept behind King’s Bounty is to create a unique and rich experience outside of the turn-based style battles. The game certainly has an MMO vibe accompanying it. As I watched the presenter at Gen Con navigate the massive map, pick up quests, buy items, and interact with NPCs, all that I could think of was how inspirational World of Warcraft has been to the creation of even single-player PC RPGs.

Destructoid has a 3-paragraph mini-preview of NWN2: Storm of Zehir from GenCon, plus a video.  My internet is flaky today, so the video isn't loading but hopefully it's new.  A snip from the article:

While I was at Atari’s booth at Gen Con, I was able check out the upcoming Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion, Storm of Zehir. The first thing that caught my eye, and additionally one of the key new features of the expansion, is the new Overland map. Players will now be able to navigate a fully realized map to fight monsters and find hidden dungeons and items. When I say hidden, think about how some of the caves in the original Legend of Zelda were dispersed in the trees.

Here's the PR:

TransGaming Enables BioWare's Jade Empire Special Edition for The Mac

Now Available For Download At GameTreeOnline.com

Toronto, Canada,– August 18, 2008 – TransGaming Inc. (TSX-V: TNG), today announced an agreement with leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), to enable the award-winning title, Jade Empire™ Special Edition, for the Mac®. TransGaming’s digital distribution portal, GameTree Online (www.gametreeonline.com), will make the title available immediately to the Mac community for purchase via direct download.

Deep Silver and GSG Gameworld announce S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is Gold and will hit stores on September 5th:

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Goes Gold!

Highly anticipated prequel will release worldwide on September 5

Hermosa Beach, Calif. - Aug 18, 2008 - GSC Game World, computer games developer, its publishing subdivision GSC World Publishing and Deep Silver, the games label of Koch Media, a leading producer and distributor of digital entertainment products, today announce that S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky has gone gold. The international release date of the game has been set to September 5th of 2008.

More information about the game is available on the official S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/stalkerofficial
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a survival FPS game for PC based on a 'what-if' scenario of the second Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. The game is created as a warning to mankind against mindless play with technologies. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is the official prequel to the renowned S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game by the Ukraine-based GSC Game World studio. The game is set in 2011and brings forth the events to have preceded the third campaign of Strelok to the Zone center. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky introduces an alternative look onto the events of the original game and offers the player to try himself out as a mercenary s.t.a.l.k.e.r. in search of his own path in the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Official game site: www.stalker-game.com

Not really RPG-related, but I know a lot of our readers are interested in classic gaming. Legendary games composer Chris Hülsbeck (Turrican) will be featured in two concerts titled Symphonic Shades, in cooperation with the German TV & Radio station WDR. They will be lead by Grammy Award winner Arnold Roth. The events sold out quickly. Those who weren´t lucky enough to secure one of the rare tickets can listen to a full live concert on WDR 4 on Aug 23rd at 20.05. A stream is available worldwide on the WDR homepage.

According to the official site this is the first time ever a game music concert is broadcast live. The site also mentions that a CD will be recorded.