Desperate for information about their son, Jacob's parents enlisted the help of Thompson, a longtime nemesis of the video game industry. Although it is unclear what efforts Thompson may have undertaken, late Wednesday afternoon, the attorney e-mailed GP with the following caustic update:

We found the Pribyl boy. He is in Illinois holed up with crazed gamers. We found him because of my going public and good police work. Tell your sycophantic, panting audience that.

With a little legwork, SOE established that the beta account had indeed been loaned to Jacob. SOE was finally able to track down a phone number where the missing man was said to be visiting a female friend he met through online play. GP's small part in this was to reverse-check the phone number. We came up with an address in a southern Illinois town. This was new information to the Pribyls.

Ziff Davis Fate Decided Today 01:58 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: General News (0 comments)
The fate of Ziff Davis is going to be decided today, according to the NY Post, as bidding for the publisher comes to a close. Thanks [H]:

For the current bust-up, the company is being split into the gaming group, which includes video gaming magazines and Web sites, and the enterprise division, which includes PC Magazine - once the biggest magazine tracked by the Publishers Information Bureau in terms of ad pages.

Bidders still looking at parts of the company include Apprise Media and Viacom's MTV publishing unit. Quadrangle is said to have dropped out.

Age of Conan Update 01:43 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: MMOG (0 comments)
This Friday's Age of Conan weekly update takes a look at the Scion, a support class (kinda like a shaman) from the realm of Stygia. Some of their powers include: healing, buffs, damage-over-time spells and at level 80, the ability to shapechange into a giant snake. Neato.

Newsflash: Kids like Videogames 01:33 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: General News (1 comment)
Shocking, I know! Kids dig videogames:

There's so much focus on the elusive 18-34 male demographic in the video game industry that some companies may be overlooking another important segment of the population: kids. According to Kids & Digital Content, a new study from The NPD Group that examines how children interact with electronic devices and how they acquire digital content, kids are actually playing video games as early as age 2. These increasingly tech savvy children are also downloading content to cell phones, using computers and listening to portable digital music players.

NPD said it used an online survey sent to a "nationally representative" sample of mothers with children ages 2 to 14 in their households. The survey revealed that an overwhelming majority (93 percent) of kids play games on a computer, cell phone, video game console or portable or digital music player. This was way ahead of the second highest activity reported, listening to music, which garnered 52 percent.

SupCom Single Player Preview 01:20 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: Real-Time Strategy (0 comments)
PC.IGN has what I assume to be gold code for Gas Powered Games' Supreme Commander, where they explore the Aeon and Cybran campaigns. Included, are a bunch of new screenshots and videos.

If there's anything we're really concerned about with this game, it's the unit pathfinding. It's not that units get lost, but in groups of several hundred they have some surprisingly inefficient routes for getting where they're going. This is especially true of naval units, which for some reason require a notably large berth to move. Confused units can be successfully maneuvered by selecting pieces of the whole and moving them individually, but it'd be nice to see the large masses of units move around as an intelligent, cohesive whole. Regardless, this game's been fun so far, though more so in the Skirmish mode than any of the Campaigns.

Bioware Episodes? 01:17 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: General News (0 comments)
It looks like Bioware is looking at the episodic gaming scene with some serious interest:

"...we have big plans afoot at BioWare for post-release and episodic content for upcoming cool BioWare games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Jade Empire: Special Edition and other upcoming BioWare titles, both on console and PC", BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka divulged in an interview with CVG which we'll be publishing shortly.

Hardware & Tech Nuggets 01:01 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - hardware: General News (0 comments)

Boards

• abit AW9D-MAX Mainboard - Xbit Labs
• Gigabyte 965P-DS3P rev 2.0 - TechSpot

  Cases
  

• NZXT Adamas Premium Crafted Chassis - Overclockers Club

  Cooling
  

• Vantec Iceberq 6 VGA Cooler - Big Bruin

  CPU
  

• AMD Quad FX Megatasking - Hexus

  Mice
  

• Ideazon Reaper Gaming Mouse - XS Reviews

  Memory
  

• Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-8000 - Neoseeker
• OCZ FlexXLC Edition DDR-2 PC-9200 Memory - Tweaktown
• Patriot PC2-6400 2GB Dual Channel Memory Kit - Viper Lair

  Power Supply
  

• HuntKey HK500-13BP 500W Power Supply - MadShrimps

  Video
  

• HIS X1950Pro 256MB AGP - 3DGameMan
• XFX 8800 GTX XXX - Bjorn3D

Assorted Downloads 12:56 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: General News (0 comments)

• Caesar IV retail/download patches v1.2
• Diver: Deep Water Adventures demo
• Faces of War retail patch v1.04.1a
• Steel Fury alpha demo
• Tribal Trouble demo v1.6
• UFO: Afterlight demo

RPG Vault Goodness 12:49 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: Role-Playing (0 comments)

Hellgate: London Peek #9
Bill Roper takes us under the hood to look at Flagship's technology, and behind the scenes to learn about the team - Includes two exclusive 1680x1050 screenshots

The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean Media #3
A new septet of visuals showing assorted situations from the impending Nihon Falcom and Microvision PSP release - Seven exclusive screenshots

Game Reviews 12:32 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: General News (0 comments)

PC

• Gothic III - GamePyre - 65%
• Flight Sim X: VFR Photographic Scenery - Generation X - Boomtown - 8/10
• Rayman Raving Rabbids - GameSpot - 7.3/10
• World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade - Hooked Gamers - 9/10

  360
  

• Heavy Weapon - 360.IGN - 7.3/10

  DS
  

• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All - 1Up - 6/10
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All - Worthplaying - 8/10

In Other News... 12:15 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - In-House: In Other News... (1 comment)
I picked up a Zune yesterday to fill my mobile music needs. It's about the size and width of a deck of cards, which makes it a little smaller than I expected. As far as I can tell, the video/movies section of the Zune service isn't available yet, which kind of sucks. The music selection isn't too bad though, although there are some obvious omissions such as Tool that aren't currently available to download, or even purchase.

To start out, I grabbed all of the Deftones albums, a bunch of nin, some Iced Earth, a little American Head Charge, a sampling of Iron Maiden and a pinch of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Most of the music is free to download as part of the Zune membership (you get a 2 week free trial) but there's a lot of crap you need to pay to download (like most of the Chili Peppers stuff). 30 gigs holds a lot of music.

As far as the hardware itself goes, I like it quite a bit. It sounds great and the screen is really sweet. The Zune online stuff could use some improvement though. I would not have minded a more windows like interface (like having the option to view just the details, rather than the images, etc) and its a bit chuggy. I think Vista's interface is better with it though. We shall see in a few weeks. Hopefully they will have the movie section up by then also.

Today's TGIF question:

What games are you currently playing?

Police Investigating "Hold Your Wee For A Wii" Death 01:09 pm - Andrew Burnes - Games: General News (27 comments)
The tragic death of a mother who took part in a water drinking contest to win a Nintendo Wii is now being investigated by police after they obtained a recording of the show in which the perpetrators of the poorly-planned contest showed blatant disregard for the safety of the competitors, even after being informed by a nurse who rang into the show that drinking excessive amounts of water in a short period of time can lead to 'water poisoning,' a symptom of which is death.

On Tuesday the show was taken off the air and the staff involved fired, though the radio station now faces a wrongful death lawsuit from the victim's family.

101 Free Games 01:00 pm - Andrew Burnes - Games: General News (2 comments)
Up on 1UP today is an article originally printed in their Games For Windows rag that details 101 independently developed games that you can download and play right now.

Check it out here.

Supreme Commander Goes Gold 11:19 am - Andrew Burnes - Games: Real-Time Strategy (10 comments)
It's true, SupCom has gone gold and will be out on February 20th:

THQ Inc. today announced that Supreme Commander, developed by critically acclaimed Real-Time Strategy designer Chris Taylor and Gas Powered Games, has reached the gold master stage of development and is now entering manufacturing. Supreme Commander offers unprecedented scope and scale, superior RTS command and control and three unique single player campaigns. Developed for Windows PC, the game is scheduled to ship to retail outlets worldwide on February 20.

"Supreme Commander is pushing the boundaries with its massive size and scale, delivering an innovative gameplay experience that advances the genre tremendously," said Kelly Flock, executive vice president of worldwide publishing, THQ. "THQ is leading the industry in strategy games, and on February 20th gamers everywhere will be able to experience the ultimate in strategic conquest."

"Supreme Commander delivers the first-ever full Theatre of War zoom function, adding tremendous depth to the three story-driven campaigns and highly addictive multiplayer," said Chris Taylor, creative director and CEO, Gas Powered Games. "We've taken RTS gameplay to a whole new level and I can't wait for fans to get their hands on it."

Boom Boom Rocket Screenshots 10:29 am - Andrew Burnes - Consoles: Xbox 360 (7 comments)
First screenshots of Bizarre Creation's "Geometry Wars with fireworks" Xbox Live Arcade title:

Oblivion: Shivering Isles Screenshots 10:25 am - Andrew Burnes - Games: Action / Roleplaying (21 comments)
Hit the forum thread for more Shivering Isles info:

The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles - Frequently Asked Questions

When will Shivering Isles be available?

The worldwide release will be this Spring. We'll announce the specific release date as we get closer to release.

Is it just for PC, or for Xbox 360 too?

Shivering Isles will be available for both Windows and Xbox 360. The Windows version will only be available in stores. The Xbox 360 version will be available for download via Xbox Live. A retail version is not possible for the 360 at this time. Both versions will be released simultaneously, worldwide.

Is this just another gate to Oblivion like the ones in the main quest?

No. Oblivion is made of lots of planes, one for each Daedric Prince. Oblivion featured the fiery realm of Mehrunes Dagon. The Shivering Isles is the realm of Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. It's a place unlike anything you've seen in Oblivion.

How big is Shivering Isles?

Shivering Isles is about � the size Cyrodiil, where Oblivion takes place.

How many hours of gameplay should I expect?

About 30 hours of new content, including an all new main quest -- in addition to miscellaneous quests you can complete, lots of landscape to explore, dungeons to discover, etc.

Bill Roper Interview 10:20 am - Andrew Burnes - Games: Action / Roleplaying (7 comments)
This GameSpot interview with Bill Roper pretty much confirms that there'll be a subscription-based Hellgate: London multiplayer mode alongside the standard multiplayer stuff talked about during the project's development:

GameSpot: What are the plans for the multiplayer component of Hellgate: London? Will there be free multiplayer gameplay? Are there plans for some kind of subscription content? If so, what would be the difference between free and subscription multiplayer?

Bill Roper: We have always had the intention of providing rich, robust, massively multiplayer online gaming experiences for our players. This means that we will be providing everything from a secure client/server infrastructure to 24/7 customer support to maintaining a complete live team to provide not only balance and bug fixes, but more importantly, continuing, ongoing content updates to the game. And while we are still finalizing the commercial and game aspects of our online plans, we can tell players that there will definitely be significant free online play.

Download Windows Vista, Legally 10:19 am - Andrew Burnes - Games: General News (6 comments)
Microsoft have just announced that they'll be digitally distributing Windows Vista:

"With the consumer launch of Windows Vista so close, we're excited to announce three new ways to make the purchase and upgrade experience easier than ever," said Microsoft marketing manager Brad Brooks.

The Anytime option will enable people to upgrade their Windows operating systems to Vista online directly from Microsoft or its authorized partners, according to Microsoft.

Suggest prices for upgrades ranged from 79 dollars (US) to 199 dollars, depending on which editions of the software are involved.

Anytime online upgrades will be available in Europe, Japan, Canada and the United States at www.windowsanytimeupgrade.com when Vista debuts at the end of January, Microsoft said.

So no Vista Ultimate Edition download? Weak.

RoboBlitz Postmortem 10:04 am - Andrew Burnes - Games: Action / Strategy (1 comment)
Up on Gamasutra is a look back at the game's development to see what went right, and what went wrong. Here's a bit of wrong:

Building a game based entirely on physics is difficult. Building a fun game based entirely on physics is OMGWTFBBQ difficult! The problem we encountered was that reality just wasn't very entertaining, so we were constantly balancing between "real" physics and "fun" physics.

One example is the way Blitz drives - it took weeks to balance the programming and tweak the parameters so that he'd drive as smoothly as he does now. He still doesn't move around like Mario, but in a game where everything is physical, that's just not possible.

Blitz's grabby arms were another sore spot. We re-wrote the code 14 times until we came up with something that was user-friendly and enjoyable. The key there came down to building several A.I. heuristics into Blitz's grabby routine. He'll actually auto-adjust his alignment to pick things up better, and if something is too low for him, he'll bend down just the right amount to pick it up. We decided to implement this feature because it's just not fun for the player to have to do everything manually. We believe using A.I. to drive physical animation is going to be the future of procedurally animated games, but we didn't realize it until late in the development process and it cost us quite some time.

New Today On Xbox Live 10:02 am - Andrew Burnes - Consoles: Xbox 360 (5 comments)
If you've got Xbox Live Gold log on to the service to access a number of new play things:

• Battlestations: Midway Multiplayer Demo - Be one of the first to experience a new style of online warfare. Featuring massive Xbox Live battles with over 100 fully controllable warships, aircraft and submarines, each player can take full command of a fleet of units and fight cooperatively with their team-mates in the greatest sea battles of WWII. Prepare for war on a totally new scale! [PC Demo out toward the end of the month]

• Call of Duty 3 Valor Map Pack - Five all-new Call of Duty 3 multiplayer maps for online, split-screen, and System Link play! Battle it out in abandoned prison camp in Stalag 23. Engage in epic house-to-house fighting in a rural French village in La Bourgade. Navigate the battered warehouses and naval machinery of an oceanfront shipyard in Ironclad. Launch an all-out assault across a battleground choke point in The Crossing. Take cover in the thick trees and overgrowth of a mountaintop listening post in Wildwood. [800 points and a bug]

• Heavy Weapon - Sure, you can defend our way of life for free. For a while. But if you're serious about liberty and committed to dealing out gigajoules of destructive power, there's only one way to go. Buy Heavy Weapon now! [Xbox Live Arcade title; 800 points]

Dystopia Version 1 Screenshots & Info 10:00 am - Andrew Burnes - Games: Action (1 comment)
Dystopia is a class-based mutliplayer Half-Life 2 mod that mixes Team Fortress-esque action with Tron style cyberspace hacking, and now the Dystopia team is about to release Version 1 of their mod that has been pimped out by Valve as hot stuff.

To celebrate this upcoming release a mountain of screenshots and info has been posted on their website, which you can check out here.

Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike Revealed 10:00 am - Andrew Burnes - Games: Action (10 comments)
Planet Battlefield tonight has info on Northern Strike, the first of many (I presume) Booster Packs for Battlefield 2142:

The PAC (Pan Asian Coalition) has secretly moved into northern and central Europe, using abandoned urban areas to establish new strongholds. Intense close-quarters warfare awaits the EU forces when they mobilize troops for a full-force assault to claim back their land. The Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike™ Booster Pack brings all-out infantry-focused battles into new snow-covered battlegrounds across Europe.

Three new maps provide the setting for the Booster Pack. High up in the Alps the EU uses launch pods to launch an assault on a PAC Titan docking harbour on the map Port Bavaria. Bridge at Remagen, the scene for one of WWII's major battles, is once again the setting for intense battles as both sides fight to secure the bridge. Finally, night has fallen when the EU launches their assault on the city in the Liberation of Leipzig..

Battlefield 2142: Infantry Storm offers an asymmetrical vehicle set-up with one new vehicle available to each army. The heavy IFV Goliath is a massive, slow-moving firing platform available to the EU, the attacking side, only. It is used to provide cover, as well as health and ammunition, to nearby infantrymen. The fast-moving hovering light IFV Speeder, available to the defending PAC only, is an efficient vehicle killer when staffed by a well coordinated pilot/gunner team.

The above is the content hinted at at an earlier date.

Update: The official Battlefield site now carries word of the expansion and reveals that a beta test will be conducted in the near future.

Warhammer Online Screenshots 02:00 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: MMOG (17 comments)
A smattering of new Warhammer Online nudies, Mythic's forthcoming massively-multi-player RPG:

(Click to Enlarge!)

Thanks Warhammer Vault.

Hardware & Tech Nuggets 01:15 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - hardware: General News (0 comments)

Cooling


• Spire VertiCool 3 Heatpipe CPU Cooler - Tweaknews

  Pads
  

• Func F10.S Large Mouse Pad - techPowerUp

  Video
  

• BFGTech GeForce 8800 GTX Water Cooled Edition - [H]
• XFX GeForce 7600 GT Fatal1ty Edition - Guru3D
• The Silent XFX Fatal1ty GeForce 7600GT - HWUpgrade

RPG Vault Goodness 01:03 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: Role-Playing (0 comments)

The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean Interview - Part 2
More from Nihon Falcom and Microvision on the PSP adaptation of the third title in the celebrated Gagharv Trilogy

Heavy Duty Media #6
In our latest vignette from Primal's amalgam of strategy and action, a downed alien spacecraft still poses a danger - Five exclusive screenshots

Game Reviews 12:47 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - Games: General News (3 comments)

PC

• Sam & Max Episode 2 - 3DAvenue - 4/5

  360
  

• Heavy Weapon - Team Xbox - 8.3/10
• Heavy Weapon - GameSpot - 7.9/10
• Heavy Weapon - Killer Betties - 4/5
• Lost Planet - Game Revolution - B+
• Lost Planet - Game Informer - 8.25/10
• Lost Planet - Boost Mobile Gaming - 74%
• Lost Planet - Worthplaying - 8.2/10
• NCAA March Madness 07 - TeamXbox - 7.3/10

  Wii
  

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Gameslave - 9.5/10
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - ActionTrip - 94%

  PS2
  

• NCAA March Madness 07 - PS2.IGN - 5.9/10

In Other News... 12:30 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - In-House: In Other News... (28 comments)
After a three month hiatus I managed to drag myself to the gym last night. 30 minutes into the cardio I came to the conclusion I need to get an ipod or something. Those Zune thing-a-mah-jingers look kind of neat too, but perhaps a bit too big to drag around a gym. Suggestions?

Today's question:

If you could get any band to do the soundtrack of a game, who would you pick and why?

The Sequels we'd love to see feature was pretty well received (the front page Slashdot love was a nice suprise) and I plan to do more stuff like that in the future. It'll be another week or so though, as we have a C&C; 3 hands-on preview and World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade review coming up shortly.