Welcome, dear reader, to this first installment of the developer's diary for UFO: Aftermath. I hope that you will find it both enlightening and light-hearted; I abhor the dreary dullness of the hype-filled marketing-made buy-this-game "diaries" just as the self-indulged ego-trips of the developers who believe anybody is at all interested in their minutest whims. As a result I am not going to talk much about my work as such but rather about the game we are working on; and I will try not to hide from you any doubts, sacrifices, dubious decisions and the like as they happen along the way. This is not to say that I will not be holding anything back, but I will try to be as honest and open as possible, under the circumstances. Thanks to Altar's Jiri for passing this on!

Fans of the Close Combat series had a lot to talk about today, after Strategy First and Freedom Games announced that they have entered into a North American publishing agreement for the G.I. Combat series, the next generation of real-time historical strategy gaming. The first release will be G.I. Combat: Episode I, Normandy.

After an exciting couple years, the game is shipping! We all had a lot of fun during the development and can't wait to play against you all. Check your local stores in the next couple days to pick yours up! A special thanks to all the beta testers and server hosts for their hard work in helping make this game great! Global Operations is a stand alone, team based, first person shooter based on a significantly modified version of the LithTech 2.5 engine,. Although it is being developed as a multiplayer experience for up to 24 players, there will also be a single player game with AI controlled teammates and opponents. We'll be bringing you some screens and info as soon as we got it in the mail.

Big Huge Games just put up the FAQ on their upcoming RTS "Rise Of The Nations. Items such as release date, demo, public beta and many other goodies are discussed .. Here's a snippet ...

Q: How is Rise of Nations different from Age of Empires?
A: While both are "historical RTS games", the two products are very different. In particular, Rise of Nations covers the sweep of human history, not just one specific time period. Players can guide their civilization from the stone age to the modern era, all in the span of an hour.

Following up a recent report that Hitman 2: Silent Assassin was delayed, Eidos sends word that "in our effort to make Hitman 2 the best game it could be" the contract killing sequel is now scheduled for release September this year, in order "to give additional time to the development team." In other release-related news, Microsoft has posted a Dungeon Siege International Release Dates schedule giving an idea when the game is expected in your area. Loaded Inc. posted a preview of Dungeon Siege based on the press beta build

Star Wars Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II is a dynamic single and multiplayer action experience that continues the saga of the once powerful Jedi Knight, Kyle Katarn, as he struggles with the power – and dangers – of the Force. Through a multitude of complex and richly detailed Star Wars environments players face a variety of powerful enemies and once again fight for the Rebel cause. Armed with the power of the Force, and an arsenal of weapons, including a Jedi Knight's signature lightsaber, players hold the fate of the Star Wars galaxy and the destiny of Kyle Katarn in their hands. I'm battling my way through the game and i must admit ... i am impressed! The graphics are great .. the AI is good, the animations are crisp and above all .. the level design is fabulous ... tricky, hard, and big levels ... a few more days patience people ... it is da coming! In the meantime take a glimpse of what to expect and check the screens ... a whopping 60 and more coming as i slash my way through the game!

Since we announced it earlier today that Take2/Rockstar are coming up soon (May 2002) with the PC version of GTA3, people starting hunting down some screens ... Gamespy got 2 nice one's and ign managed to dig up 3 others... Check em out!

While looking for a little Asheron's Call 2 news, I noticed that the AC Vault posted a Q&A of sorts with Turbine, which is based from developer responses that took place over the past week. HomeLAN kicks off the week right with an Q&A with Ingo Horn of Westka Interactive talking about their sci-fi genre blender, The Y-Project (powered by the Unreal Warfare engine). Gamehelper.com offers a status report on Gearbox Studios upcoming Counter-Strike game, Condition Zero. Black Moon Chronicles Q&A #8 on RPG Vault chats with Benoît Papy, lead game master at Vircom on their upcoming MMORPG based on the French comic, discussing his goals for the servers under his control. There's a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Chat Transcript on Games Domain recapping Friday's chat session with BioWare's team creating this upcoming Star Wars MMORPG. The log is in an easy to follow color-coded Q&A format. There's a Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness Q&A on The Electric Playground talking with Core's Adrian Smith about the Lara Croft franchise, the movie spin-off, the future of the series, and more. There's a Cameron Spence Q&A on BarrysWorld talking with this former SAS operative about the expertise he's lending to the team creating Conflict: Desert Storm.

Warrior Kings...come out and pla-ay! Microïds sends word that the US version of Warrior Kings, their 3D RTS game that's already invaded Europe, is gold. The game is expected to be in stores throughout North America by April 15.

The largest movie franchise of all time ­ all 180 feet of it -- will stomp into gamers’ living rooms around the globe this Fall.. Infogrames, Inc., a leading global publisher of interactive entertainment software, is bringing Godzilla®: Destroy All Monsters Melee, to the Nintendo GameCube in a global launch slated for Fall 2002. Based on the classic movie license from Toho Co., Ltd. and Sony Pictures Consumer Products, the fighting game challenges players to punch, kick, stomp, throw and blast each other to claim the title of King of the Monsters.