2404.org has a Project Origin Q&A up, also offering a couple of new screenshots from Monolith's real F.E.A.R. sequel.

GameTap will no longer be publishing Derek Smart's episodic game series, the company revealed to Gamasutra.

Announced in early 2007, Galactic Command: Echo Squad was originally slated to be a four-part space-sim series created by Battlecruiser designer Derek Smart. Much like Telltale's Sam & Max games and American McGee's Grimm, it was to be released through GameTap's digital distribution platform as part of the company's Originals line.

"It was a good game, it was very solid, but as we were going through, it ended up not being the right title for our audience," explained GameTap content VP Ricardo Sanchez. "We thought it would succeed better with Derek's core base."

Despite the termination of the publishing agreement, Sanchez remained extremely positive about the project, and noted that Smart is still planning to release. According to the game's dev blog, all four episodes of Echo Squad were completed and delivered to GameTap owner Turner in June 2007.

"It was a tough call. I think it's one of the strongest games ever made," Sanchez noted. "I honestly think it's one of Derek's strongest games."

After the completion of Bravo Squad, developer 3000AD then began work on Galactic Command: Talon Elite, a fleshed-out sequel Smart claimed would "re-invent the space sim genre." A third Galactic Command game, Bravo Team, is planned to arrive in late 2009.

A demo is now available for Shadowgrounds Survivor, Frozenbyte's top-down shooter sequel. The trial allows you to kill aliens for 30 minutes, after which you can buy a key to unlock the rest of the game.

GamersGlobal has posted a Sid Meier Q&A, asking the designer about his past, present and future.

Stardock announced today that Ironclad Games' Sins of a Solar Empire (PC) has gone gold and will be released on February 4. Priced at $39.95, the 4X and RTS mash-up will be available in retail stores and via Stardock's digital download service next week. A collector's edition which includes a CD soundtrack, poster, and other bonuses will also be released for ten dollars over the standard version.

Shacknews can exclusively debut the first screenshots from Virtual Heroes' upcoming sim Ultimate Team Play, announced yesterday. The Unreal Engine 3-powered simulation game includes independent NPCs, branching dialogue, and multiple player classes: housekeeping, food service, engineering/maintenance, and reception. It is expected to be released to Hilton Garden Inn employees in January 2009.

Virtual Heroes develops training simulation software for many corporations and organizations, including the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Special Army Command, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Discovery Channel Canada.

Sudden Strike developer Fireglow Games' PC fantasy RTS/RPG is heading to the New World.

Already released in Europe, Stranger will hit the States on March 3.

I really have no idea what this strange hybrid is about. Even the official website is vague in its details. Check out the demo, available on FileShack, and please explain it to me.

bit-tech.net has posted a Conflict: Denied Ops preview, offering hands-on impressions of the first person shooter sequel.

Stargate Worlds Explored is an IGN interview with the people at Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, asking them about their plans for the MMORPG based on the now cancelled TV series.

Game Developers Conference organizer CMP Media has opened up voting for the Audience Award component of its annual Independent Game Festival. Eleven games, whittled down from 170 entries, have made it to the final round to be voted on by gamers.

All games are freely available for online play or download, with Shacknews' own FileShack serving as the IGF's exclusive official download partner. Head over to the official IGF Audience Award website to browse descriptions and download links for all entries. The winner will receive a $2,500 prize.

The winner of the Audience Award will be presented with the winners of the other IGF categories at the festival's award show just prior to the Game Developers Choice Awards on February 20 at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Voting is open up until the day of the ceremony.

New patches for StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War are now available updating both to v1.15.2. Neither games require the CD to play anymore now.

Developer GarageGames has sent over the first official screenshots from its upcoming browser-based action game Fallen Empires: Legions. Alpha video footage of the game was leaked last month. It is said to draw inspiration from Dynamix's multiplayer classic StarSiege: Tribes, a game on which numerous GarageGames founders worked.

Fallen Empires: Legions is part of GarageGames' partnership with InstantAction.com, a service that plans to bring action games to browser-based interfaces, hopefully bridging the gap between dedicated hardcore gaming and more casual PC gaming. Shacknews' Chris Faylor reported on InstantAction.com's goals and several of its upcoming titles late last year.

Also: marketing logos.

TenTonHammer has a new Stargate Worlds Q&A, asking the Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment folks about the game after seeing the first trailer.

An extended PC demo of Valve Software's 2007 hit (and Shacknews Game of the Year by both readers and editors) Portal (PC, PS3, X360) will be made available for free to gamers with NVIDIA graphics cards, the developer announced today.

The demo, called Portal: First Slice, comes as part of a recent agreement between Valve and NVIDIA to "collaborate on development, distribution, events, and more." Gamers equipped with NVIDIA graphics cards looking to give the test chambers and deathtraps of the Aperture Science labs a trial run must allow Steam to auto-detect their NVIDIA cards to unlock the demo.

First Slice and the collaborative campaign between the two companies marks a departure from the former marketing team-up between ATI and Valve, shifted by an increase in NVIDIA hardware use among Steam gamers. "More Steam gamers, including myself, play on NVIDIA hardware than any other GPU," said Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi, citing Valve's frequent gamer hardware surveys.

Portal: First Slice is available for immediate download from Steam—provided, of course, that you've got an NVIDIA card under the hood. Like Valve's previous free game offer for ATI users, this download also includes Half-Life 2: The Lost Coast and Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, as well as Peggle Extreme.

The first Stargate Worlds teaser trailer, first shown on the Sci-Fi channel a couple of days ago, is now available online. No release date has been announced for the Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment MMO, which is based on the now-cancelled Stargate SG-1 and the Stargate Atlantis spin off.

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Amidst an already busy CES, Microsoft also announced nine new titles set for Games for Windows branding, to be released in 2008.

• Alone in the Dark, Eden Studio (PC, PS3, X360)
• Bionic Commando, GRIN/Capcom (PC, PS3, X360)
• Conflict: Denied Ops, Pivotal Games (PC, PS3, X360)
• Empire: Total War, Creative Assembly (PC)
• LEGO Indiana Jones, Traveller's Tales (TBD)
• Microsoft Train Simulator 2, Microsoft Game Studios (PC)
• Sins of a Solar Empire, Ironclad Games (PC)
• Space Siege, Gas Powered Games (PC)
• Tomb Raider: Underworld, Crystal Dynamics (PC, PS3, X360)

Microsoft did not disclose whether any of these titles will support Live for Windows, cross-platform play or achievements. This newest roundup of games will join an existing roster of anticipated releases in 2008, including Gearbox Software's Borderlands (PC, PS3, X360) and Fallout 3 (PC, PS3, X360) from Bethesda Game Studios.

The entirety of Rockstar Games' PC offerings arrived on Valve's Steam service today, with a 10% discount on titles purchased within the launch week. Though each title is also available individually, the entire Rockstar Collection of 10 titles can be purchased as a package for $53.95 during the first week.

"Rockstar Games brings some of most viscerally engaging games the industry has ever witnessed to Steam's expansive library of titles," said Steam business director Jason Holtman in an announcement heralding the addition. "We're delighted to provide a place where gamers across the globe can discover all the fine work Rockstar Games has produced."

The collection comprises the PC versions of Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto II, Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Max Payne, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Midnight Club II, Manhunt, and Wild Metal Country. Steam users can browse the titles at the service's Rockstar Games page.

Gamers in Deutschland wanting to try the full version of Valve's Team Fortress 2 (PC, PS3, X360) can give the class-based multiplayer shooter a multiday tryout this weekend.

After downloading the title, the normally $29.95 PC game can be played for free from Friday through Sunday. Like many Steam-purchased titles, the game can be downloaded and preloaded by German gamers before Friday and played once the free weekend begins.

Although this free weekend doesn't include North American gamers, Valve representatives have previously stated that a free Team Fortress 2 weekend would be coming in the States as well.

There's a Q&A with Sam & Max designer Steve Purcell on Adventure Classic Gaming. Purcell is asked about the history of the two characters, LucasArts' cancellation of Sam & Max Freelance Police and working with Telltale Games among other things.

Valve has announced that every game in the Steam store is now on sale. Titles in the catalog are discounted between 10% and 50%, which means you can now get games like The Orange Box for $38, BioShock for $41, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl for $22.

There's no need to get on this right away; the sale lasts until January 1st.