“Starcraft is a disappointment, and I just don't like it.” Those were my words to fellow gamer buddies back when I first had the chance to take it for an initial test drive. It's not uncommon for first time Starcraft players to be overheard grumbling and feeling letdown. The long delays coupled with copious amounts of hype are going to be hard for any game, no matter how good the quality to live up to...

Codemasters has announced the existence of the next instalment of the Colin McRae series, dubbed Colin McRae: DIRT in PAL territories, which includes Australia. Its American moniker is DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road. PC, Xbox360 and PS3 versions will launch simultaneously, and a mobile version is also in the works.

There are few details so far, but DIRT will feature on- and off-road racing in a variety of vehicles, like Dakar-style trucks, 4x4s and plenty of rally cars. As well as point-to-point and Hill Climb challenges, the Pikes Peak International track through the Rockies will be included in all its 12.4 mile glory. There's also a new damage system, which Codemasters describes as "devastating". Devastatingly good, presumably. Multiplayer goes without saying.

There are some images posted at the official website, but according to IGN they're only concept shots using 3D models. So that's why they look so good. All three types of DIRT are due sometime in 2007.

Please insert two dollars to continue...

Gaming website Siliconera has thirty new screenshots of the upcoming Half-Life 2 arcade game, "Half-Life 2: Survivor".

For those who haven't been following the progress of Survivor, the unit consists of a 32-inch 1360x768 wide screen LCD monitor and a six speaker 5.1 channel surround system. The game features three distinct modes: Battle mode, Bission mode and Story mode: Battle Mode will consist of a standard two team deathmatch, Mission Mode is a cooperative mode that sees players work to clear assigned missions, and Story Mode is a pure single player mode that offers a re-arranged version of the Half-Life 2 story.

Anyone dying to play Half-Life 2: Survivor better hope that their local arcade can shell out the $60000+ price tag for a deluxe four player unit, otherwise it's back to claiming that highscore in Frogger.

New update and new maps for SiN Episodes: Emergence

Along with the usual fixes one can expect from any patch, Ritualistic have included three new Arena mode maps with its latest SiN Episodes update.

"The Pit" is a map sourced from the construction zone found in the singleplayer mode, while "Vertigo" and "Behind Zee Beaker" are completely original maps. "Vertigo" puts the player in a high rise skyscraper, while "Behind Zee Beaker" shrinks them to the size of an insect where they must battle similar sized SinTek henchman in a science lab.


The update will be applied when you restart your Steam client.

A number of industry conferences have been announced in recent weeks, so here's a quick rundown of their themes and speakers.

Texas Independent Game Conference
Austin, Texas, 22-23 July
As its name suggests, this two day conference is focused on independent developers, and will cover topics like funding, distribution and intellectual property. The keynote speakers are high school buddies Warren Spector of Junction Point and Greg Costikyan of Manifesto Games. Other speakers include old school designer Steve Jackson, who will discuss what indie developers can learn from the "paper" game industry. Given that Spector worked at Steve Jackson Games for a time, this conference is shaping up as a reunion as much as anything.

Game Convention Developer Conference
Leipzig, Germany, 21-23 August
This one is more concerned with commercial rather than creative aspects of game development, covering the general topics of Development, Business and Serious Games. It boasts some high profile international developers, including Lionhead's Peter Molyneux and Flagship's Bill Roper, as well as bigwigs from LucasArts, Midway and Intel.

Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival
Edinburgh, Scotland, 21-22 August
Making things difficult for journalists, this Scottish conference runs concurrently with Leipzig's, but has a very different focus. The EIEF bills itself as a celebration of the creative and cultural side of games, and attempts to engage the general public as well as industry figures. The keynote speaker is EA's David Gardner, who will discuss "the challenges of next gen". Other topics on the conference agenda are the educational and healing power of games, censorship, the emergence of machinima films, and that old thing about games and crying. Of interest to the public will be the sneak peaks of upcoming games, and the Edge Award that rewards innovative games. The Award's short list, which includes Fahrenheit and Guitar Hero, is posted here.

The Balancing Act: Game Industry Careers and Quality of Life
Seattle, Washington, 16 September
Organised by Women in Games International (WIGI) and sponsored by Microsoft and Ubisoft, this conference will offer advice on how to balance a successful career and a healthy lifestyle. Bonnie Ross of Microsoft Game Studios will deliver a keynote on "managing insanity", while other topics will cover career options and quality of life issues.

Tokyo Game Show 2006
Tokyo, Japan, 22-24 September
Primarily concerned with showcasing the games themselves, this year's Tokyo Game Show will run under the theme "New Excitement. New Sensations. A New Generation." As the title implies, most of the buzz surrounds the next generation console systems, but PC and mobile games have a sizable presence as well. Sony's Ken Kutaragi will deliver some Playstation 3 propaganda in a keynote speech, while other companies in attendance include Microsoft, Konami, Square Enix, CAPCOM and ATI.

Phew. The great thing about this list is how diverse the topics are. They range from technical and business concerns, to creativity and culture, to the most important thing of all, the games. There's something for everyone.