This new beta version takes a quantum leap forward with new features and enhancements, a direct result from the thousands of players who have contributed to our Open Game Development. Luna is the first ever 3-D Sim/Strategy game featuring complete camera freedom and dynamic surround sound within ultra realistic, fully 3-D environments. Build lunar colonies, create industries, trade with Earth and alien races, and survive the perils and disasters of life in space. [Download: DemoNews]
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Activision, Inc. and Raven Software are offering players another tour of duty with the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager by announcing the official add-on pack for the highly acclaimed PC game, Star Trek Voyager Elite Force. In the add-on pack, players will reprise their role as commander of the Hazard Team, a specially trained security detail designed to combat the perils of the Delta Quadrant.

The official Star Trek Voyager Elite Force add-on pack will offer players a variety of diverse gameplay experiences. For the first time ever, trekkers will be able to explore an interactive 3D recreation of Voyager's interior in Tour Mode. Once aboard, players will have unrestricted access to 15 decks of the ship, including the bridge, officer quarters, holodecks, the transporter room, Hazard Team crew quarters, sickbay, astrometrics, the shuttlebay and engineering. Additionally, many of the ship's systems and all of the crew will be interactive. Players can perform complex tasks like initiating Voyager's self-destruct sequence or shutting down the warp core, along with finding secret items hidden objectives, and mini-games. Once players finish touring the ship, they can hone their Hazard Team skills in two new single player campaigns - a Captain Proton holo-novel and an assault on a Klingon compound.

Multiplayer also benefits from the new add-on pack with 17 additional multiplayer maps and 12 new models. The Star Trek Voyager Elite Force add-on will also feature two new game mods. In a new class-based team game, players will be able to select a character class (i.e. security, medical, engineering...) with unique skill bonuses to complement their style of play. Additionally, in the assimilate mode, a group of players have to neutralize a lone Borg invader before they become assimilated.

The official Star Trek Voyager Elite Force add-on pack is expected to be available in the spring of 2001.
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The Groove Alliance announced the launch of Alien X, a 3D, browser-based, first-person shooter game, on AtomShockwave's award-winning Web site www.Shockwave.com. Alien X challenges casual gamers to an extreme shoot-em up battle to save mankind by blasting away evil aliens bent on destroying humanity. Set in futuristic outer space, in the year 2049, Alien X takes gamers to deep space to eliminate the Cyhnus X alien attackers from a research center. Players must use their sharp-shooting skills to extinguish the intruders and save the day. Scourging the halls of the research center, gamers will uncover high-powered weapons and unlock doors that lead to the ultimate victory against the head alien.
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Topics this week in our 18th edition of the Forum Frag include threads on Clive Barker's Undying, Giants, various yesteryear games, Counter-Strike, Racing Games, and lots more! Check it out here.
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Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. announced that it had record PlayStation and PlayStation2 sell-through for the one-week period ended February 17, 2001 according to NPD/TRST data. The Company's software sell-through exceeded 5% of total unit sales for the PlayStation and 10% for the PlayStation 2 for this period. In a separate development, Take-Two announced that sales of its recently introduced budget titles exceeded three million units since their launch in June 2000.
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Electronic Arts Inc.'s EA.com unit acquired pogo.com Inc., a provider of online games. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. pogo.com is the leading provider of popular Internet-based family games, including card, board, word, puzzle, trivia, sports, classic arcade, and no-risk casino games. Some of pogo.com's most popular games include Poppit, a puzzle game that offers the chance to win a progressive jackpot and Buckaroo Blackjack, a card game with a western theme. pogo.com's Video Poker games combined to generate nearly four million hours of usage in January 2001 and have attracted major consumer advertisers such as Taco Bell, Pepsi and Nissan.
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Eidos plc announced results for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2000. Revenues for the quarter were 83.5 million pounds ($124.3 million), down from 98.5 million pounds for the corresponding period last year. On a US GAAP basis the Company's profit before tax for the quarter ended December 31, 2000 was 14.5 million pounds ($21.6 million), giving a net profit of 7.3 million pounds ($10.9 million) and an earnings per share of 7.1 pence (10.6c), compared to a net profit of 14.2 million pounds and an earnings per share of 14.1 pence in the corresponding period last year.
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Screenshots:

• 4D Rulers have launched a new website for there upcoming FPS Gore, and have new screens posted
• VoodooExtreme has posted a few new screens from Tex Atomic's Big Bot game
• ShackNews' Star Trek Voyager Mission Pack screenshots (released by Activision)
• Ga-Source has screens of Revolution Software's upcoming game - In Cold Blood

Interviews:

• Daily Radar talks to Kenn Hoekstra (Raven Software) about the upcoming Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force Add-on
• OGR interviews one of the mod authors of Quake III Madness

Reviews (and Previews):

• GameLoft has a new preview of Neverwinter Nights
• The Avault previews Outlive from Take-two Entertainment
• Daily Radar talks to Kenn Hoekstra (Raven Software) about the upcomingStar Trek: Voyager - Elite Force Add-on
• PC.IGN previews Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo

Patches Etc.:

• 3D Files has the Echelon Demo update
• 3D Files has also posted the Requiem: Avenging Angel Patch