Over at FileShack you can find a demo for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, the racing game sequel also available on a variety of console platforms. The 1.63GB download includes two tracks, Solo Drift, Drift King and Circuit Race goals, and four cars: the Nissan 350Z, BMW M3, Holden Monaro and Saleen Mustang.

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Valve has announced that Codemasters is the latest publisher to put part of its game library on Steam. Available right away is the Mercury Steam horror action game Clive Barker's Jericho, with the fantasy action adventure game Overlord from Triumph Studios and off-road racer DiRT following later this month. Future games from Codemasters will be on Steam day and date with their retail release. The agreement only covers new and future games, older Codemasters titles will not find their way onto Steam for the time being. "With major new content in the portfolio, Codemasters continues to expand its publishing and distribution reach," said Peter Chan, Director, Business Development, Codemasters. "As the industry's leading online platform for digital delivery of PC entertainment, Steam is a natural addition to the suite of leading platforms Codemasters is targeting with its leading new and recent releases."

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The PC edition of Epic's grimy cover-based shooter Gears of War (PC, X360) has gone gold, Microsoft announced today. The title will hit retail stores November 6, almost one year exactly after its November 7 release last fall on Xbox 360. In its PC form, Gears has several additional goodies for gamers: five new singleplayer chapters, a new Annex multiplayer game mode, three new multiplayer maps, and a game editor. You also get to throw down with the Brumak, that big scary thing you never actually got to fight in the 360 version. The entirety of Xbox 360 downloadable content will be included on the disc as well, and the package will retail for $49.99. For more on the title, check out the Shack's own thorough preview.

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There's an article format Q&A with Chris McKibbin and Daron Stinnett of Perpetual Entetainment on MMORPG.com, asking the two about the recent cancellation of Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, and the future of the studio and Star Trek Online.

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EverQuest 2 had a terrible launch. Since then, its quests have been markedly improved. The enormous experience punishment for death is mostly gone. Solo play is more viable. Zones have been revamped, and character classes refined. All expansions include the previous content, so catching up to the crowd isn't a problem. Sony's done a decent job of salvaging its user base in this respect.

Considering this, I went into the newest expansion beta with open eyes. The Ruins of Kunark was the first expansion to the original EverQuest. Seven years later, The Rise of Kunark marks the fourth expansion to EverQuest 2, the sequel to Sony's groundbreaking MMO. This updated version essentially adds the same features that Ruins did: the lizard-populated continent of Kunark, an increase in level cap, a new playable race, and "epic" quests. In fact, the continent of Kunark in this new expansion is essentially a total reconstruction of the original land mass, right down to some of the same dungeons and zones. Players of the original game will recognize locations such as Karnor's Castle, Sebilis, and Veeshan's Peak, all redone in the EverQuest 2 engine, and re-imagined to accommodate the sequel's comparatively-futuristic timeline. For instance, while Sebilis was the capital of the lizard-like Iskar, the area has since been turned into a war-zone, transformed by invading hordes of frogloks in a sort of Kermit Apocalypse. Because the Iksar already exist as a playable race in EverQuest 2, a new species was added to Kunark, the equally reptilian Sarnak. These red and green man-dragons possess characteristic horns and mouthfuls of dagger-sharp teeth. The Sarnaks' long tails actually give them somewhat of a hover mode when jumping as they flick them back and forth through the air. It's a strange effect, and not particularly satisfying. I prefer my characters to have some sort of weight to them, to where I feel solidly grounded in the world. As it is, the Sarnak feel as if they are playing on a moon--and in EverQuest 2, the moon has already exploded. New Sarnak players will begin their journey in Timorous Deep, a chain of islands dotted with Asian architecture, giant redwoods, and the token over-sized spiders. Karnor's Castle will be one of the first landmarks you encounter, and it appears to stay faithful to its previous form, right down to appearing bland and uninteresting, Castle Blah. Its residents include Drolvargs, werewolves with maces and ugly, overbearing turquoise shoulderpads. Coupled with some rain, the whole portrait was uninspiring, and a little depressing. One encouraging note is that Kunark's larger areas will no longer be separated by discernible zone "gates." Loading them up is fairly imperceptible now. Unfortunately, the lack of any coherent design within the open plains is still an issue. In one wide-open plain, cougars, rhinos, long-beaked birds, and cacti with eyes all milled about within a few feet of each other. Their detailed character models set against the flat, barren terrain textures clashed more intensely than any two warriors I encountered. And that's where EverQuest 2 still needs work. The core RPG now seems functional to the point where it's a contender for your money, but with so many other options, it still falls short, failing to provide any sort of captivating environments or innovative features. There are times when the overall blandness is pierced by an interesting building, or a pretty pool of water. However, zoomed out and taken as a whole, the game still strikes me as just plain muddy. From the perspective of existing EverQuest 2 players, this expansion will likely meet your needs. Your level cap has been boosted to 80, there are more spiders and winged monsters to dispatch, and you've got a new race to mess around with. It's a traditional MMO expansion in that sense. For my part, The Rise of Kunark feels more like a long, slow slide back into Ruins.

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Sega sends along a new Sega Rally Revo demo, as it now includes two tracks and two cars. The previous demo only included one of each. Sega Rally Revo is now in stores everywhere for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PSP, with the PC release following later this month.

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Honolulu-based Avatar Reality, whose management and advisory boards feature something of an all-star cast of industry veterans, released early screenshots and concept artwork from its sci-fi MMO Blue Mars. The company also joined BioWare in licensing StreamBase Systems' Complex Event Processing technology for its game's online infrastructure. Blue Mars was already announced as using Crytek's CryENGINE 2 as its rendering solution. Unsurprisingly set on a terraformed Mars, Blue Mars seems highly focused on the community and customization aspects of MMOs, with avatar creation mentioned prominently in all the game's press releases. It will be demonstrated at this week's E for All Expo in Los Angeles. Heading up Avatar Reality are Kazuyuki Hashimoto, CG supervisor on Square's Final Fantasy VII (PS, PC) and more recently technology VP for new platforms at Electronic Arts, and Li-han Chen, formerly of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within production company Square Pictures and more recently project manager on Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest II. Interestingly, Avatar Reality's advisory board is made up of three figures crucial to the early success of Nintendo: Henk Rogers (listed on the company's site as "mastermind"), who notoriously secured the original rights to Tetris after befriending designer Alexey Pajitnov and went on to found The Tetris Company; Minoru Arakawa, the first president of Nintendo of America, who helped establish the initially floundering branch; and Tetris creator Pajitnov himself, who went on to co-found The Tetris Company with Rogers. Blue Moon is planned to enter a beta phase in late 2008.

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The first title for GarageGames' web-based 3D gaming venture InstantAction.com has been announced, and it's coming from Bungie spinoff studio Wideload. Titled Cyclomite, the game is being created by Wideload Shorts, the developer's team for digitally distributed titles, and will debut early next year after the launch of InstantAction.com. "The moral of the story is, indie game developers are guys who let you be a zombie," Wideload CEO Alex Seropian said at the Independent Games Conference keynote today in reference to Wideload's commendable work on Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel Without a Pulse (PC, Xbox). "So if you want to kill the zombies, you're probably a publisher. If you want to be a zombie, you're one of us. That's what I think an independent developer is." Cyclomite requires players to drive the titular vehicle--represented by a multicolored ring--through a meteor storm, catching runaway space rocks to save the universe. The game will feature both cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes. Cyclomite will be previewed at the Independent Games Conference, so expect Shacknews' own Chris Faylor to report more on the title. Flush with cash from an agreement with IAC, GarageGames' revealed its plans to make web-based gaming site InstantAction.com last month. The site will be a community of sorts with 3D online-only games when it launches in January of next year, and aims to push web-based gaming toward a less casual gaming audience.

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Valve has now started the pre-load process for Half-Life 2: Episode Two. Those who pre-purchase the game via Steam, either as part of The Orange Box or all by its lonesome, can now begin downloading game assets in anticipation of its October 10 release. Episode Two's Orange Box buddy, the brain twisting puzzler Portal, began pre-loading yesterday. The other previously unreleased game in The Orange Box, the colorful team-based shooter Team Fortress 2, has been in open beta for pre-purchasers since September 17. Along with Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2, The Orange Box packs the original Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One, both of which have been available to Orange Box customers since the package debuted on September 11. Those who already own either of both of the two games can give or sell away their extra copies on October 10 via The Orange Box gift program.

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Strategy game publisher Strategy First has signed on to publish Revolution Studios' inaugural title, the gang-themed real-time strategy and third-person-shooter Urban Empires, the publisher announced today. Scheduled for retail early in 2008, the game was previously called Gang Wars, and is in development by Revolution Studios' 22-year-old sole employee/founder/president/hair model Danny Green. The online-focused RTS/shooter mashup will support up to 18 players online, and allows gamers to switch between traditional group RTS control and single character action on the fly. Gangs are seemingly segregated based on race, as examples of the "9 different gang types" included Irish, Russian, Japanese, Latino, and Italian. Offline, gameplay is limited to multiplayer matches with bots, as there will be no single player campaign, according to the game's FAQ. Strategy First also included several screenshots to go with the announcement.

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The latest addition to Microsoft's 25-year-old flight sim franchise, Flight Simulator X: Acceleration from Microsoft's wholly owned ACES Studio has gone gold, Microsoft Game Studios announced today. Acceleration is the first expansion to last year's Flight Simulator X, and will arrive just over a year after the original sim's release on October 23. Fittingly, the game retails alongside Project Aces' Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, the latest in the long-running Namco Bandai series of jet-sim titles, which also went gold today. It'll be a good week for the flight sim fans when the expansion retails for $29.99 later this month.

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Continuing the August celebration of 12 years of commanding and conquering, EA announced a new Command & Conquer compilation today. The Command & Conquer Saga includes all of the Westwood Studios and EA titles from Command & Conquer: The First Decade, with the addition of this year's Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars from EA Los Angeles. The compilation will be available for PC for $49.99 some time this month. The package comprises 13 titles in total, listed below with their original release dates.

• Command & Conquer (August 1995)
• Command & Conquer - The Covert Operations (April 1996)
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert (October 1996)
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Counterstrike (March 1997)
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert - The Aftermath (September 1997)
• Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (August 1999)
• Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Firestorm (February 2000)
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (October 2000)
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - Yuri's Revenge (October 2001)
• Command & Conquer: Renegade (February 2002)
• Command & Conquer: Generals (February 2003)
• Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour (September 2003)
• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (March 2007)

If you didn't see it the first time, EA has also released the full version of Command & Conquer Gold for free, available on FileShack as two discs. The next installment in the Command & Conquer series, the expansion Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath, debuts this spring. A recent EA Job listing indicated a second Command & Conquer-themed FPS may be in development, though there has been no official word.

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New at GameSpot is this RACE 07 - The WTCC Game Q&A. Creative Director Diego Sartori is asked about SimBin's newest racer, of which you can find a demo on FileShack.

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Ubisoft has released a Heroes of Might & Magic V: Tribes of the East demo for those of you interested in trying the upcoming strategy game expansion pack. The 900mb demo allows you to play as an Orc faction and use their new "Blood Rage" and "War Cries" features to rock the battlefield. Developed by Nival Interactive, the retail version of the stand-alone expansion ships October 16.

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VSTEP's naval sim Ship Simulator 2008 (PC) will voyage to North America in the first quarter of next year guided by the beacon that is Lighthouse Interactive, the publisher announced today. The Dutch developer's title was released in Europe earlier this year, and is the sequel to the original Ship Simulator 2006. One of the very few available options for fans of the ship simulation genre, Ship Simulator 2008 includes new vehicles like jet-skis and hovercrafts, and adds locations like Southampton, Marseille, and San Francisco Bay. Virtual captains sailing in the game's San Francisco Bay area can imagine traveling past Shacknews editor-in-chief Chris Remo's coastal condominium as they partake in multiplayer and open sea missions. The title features advanced weather effects, visible hull damage, dynamic waves, and even icebergs for Titanic-replicating wrecks. Dual-screen support gives players a navigational chart on their second monitor to make their computer room a virtual bridge. No price or exact date was announced for the title, but FileShack has a downloadable demo of Ship Simulator 2008 for your privateering pleasure.

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