Digital Ranch Interactive is releasing a full Dino D-Day game onto Steam in 2010, but you can get an early taste of the twisted World War II dinosaur action right now, courtesy of a Half-Life 2 mod preview of sorts. You step into the shoes of Sgt. Jack Hardgrave, a renowned paleontologist who thought he had left work behind, until Hitler raises dinosaurs to pit against the Allies in 1942. suddenly he's perhaps the most important weapon the Allies have against this new foe.

It sounds completely ridiculous, to be sure, but at the same time completely awesome. We're conflicted. Head over to the mod page to catch a glimpse of the trailer, featuring two really bad tastes that taste horrible together.

Dino D-Day: The Mod - Released! [Mod DB}

Still, to the designers, hat-tip for rendering it like an old 4-bit PC game. I dunno, the tone just seems to deserve that kind of treatment. And also note how your dino farts after you chow down on less fortunate sauropods. Hat-tip for that, too.

Dino Run [Pixeljam, thanks Rob]

HH: NBC ran the Virginia Tech killer tape on the day they obtained it. Steve Capus, Brian Williams made that decision. Did they make the right decision?

TB: Yeah, they did.

HH: Do you not think it's going to incite other people to try to do the same thing?

TB: No, I don't. I think...to get back to something we were talking about earlier in general thematic terms, I don't think we're doing a very good job about talking about violence in this country, either. You know, Virginia Tech went away. We didn't have any ongoing dialogue in our communities or on the air about the corrosive effect of violence. It was not what he, what people saw of him on the air that will drive them, it's what they read in blog sites, and what they see in video games. It's that kind of stuff that I think is cancerous. And I'm a free speech absolutist, but I think that at the same time, we have to have free speech in some kind of a context. And part of that context is a discussion of the possible effects of it.

One might wonder, in light of Omaha mall shooter Robert Hawkins wishes to "go out in style", boasting in his suicide note that "just think tho I'm gonna be fuckin' famous", that the promise of having one's life dissected on broadcast television might have been influential on Hawkins interest in murdering eight people before his suicide. Hey, that's just me speculating. Perhaps if I had were a bit more of a wrinkly, silver-haired dinosaur, fumbling through a world I don't understand, like many video game critics, I'd be able to better understand the "context" of the situation.

Sorry, but there's little more I can add without letting loose with a string of expletives and looking forward to the passing of a generation of confused Luddites who divert blame from some of the world's genuine problems.

Ultimately, though, if Brokaw's right, the lot of Kotaku readers are totally screwed, basking in the carcinogenic rays of video games and blog posts. Sorry for causing you to die early, dear readers, if so.

Tom Brokaw: Airing VA Tech Killer Videos Okay, But Blogs, Video Games "Cancerous" [Game Politics]

"First person shooters have a rich history on the Windows PC platform and are known for having enthusiastic, dedicated fans," said Josh Holmes, vice president and general manager, Propaganda Games. "Turok will be an unforgettable experience ideal for the Windows PC platform when it becomes available in 2008."

TUROK TO FIGHT DINOSAURS ON WINDOWS PC

Touchstone Announces Re-Imagined Story-Driven First Person Shooter To Be Released On Windows PC In Spring 2008

LONDON, England — (November 2, 2007) — Turok, the epic, sci-fi first person shooter, will be released in spring 2008 for Windows PC, Touchstone announced today. Touchstone previously announced that Turok, one of next year's most anticipated games, will be available for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Developed by Propaganda Games, Turok for consoles will be available at retail stores on February 8th, 2008.

"First person shooters have a rich history on the Windows PC platform and are known for having enthusiastic, dedicated fans," said Josh Holmes, vice president and general manager, Propaganda Games. "Turok will be an unforgettable experience ideal for the Windows PC platform when it becomes available in 2008."

Turok is an epic, story-driven first-person shooter set on a dark, mysterious planet in the future. Players take on the role of Joseph Turok, a former black ops commando, now part of an elite special forces squad, known as Whiskey Company, which is on a mission to take down a war criminal - Turok's former mentor, Roland Kane. Set on a planet inhabited by Kane and his Mendel-Gruman Corporation soldiers, Turok must use his elite military training to elude Kane's well-trained army and the ravenous, unpredictable dinosaurs, huge insects and other massive creatures that populate the environment.

Brought to Windows PC by Aspyr Studios, Turok will feature an engaging, story-driven single player experience and multiplayer modes for up to 16 players per game

Turok is rated M for Mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

For more information about Turok, log on to www.turok.com.

For all you folks still playing Perfect Dark Zero, there are two new multiplayer maps available for free on Xbox Live Marketplace. These two maps came out with the "Xbox 360 Classics" collection, so if you have the old version, now is your chance to snag them.

Can anyone explain how a game that is barely a year old and garnered not so hot reviews can be considered a classic? Dig-Dug is a classic, Pac-Man is a classic. Hell, even the original Perfect Dark could be considered a classic at this point. But, if something a year old can be made a "classic", where does that put me? Somewhere between the earth cooling and dinosaurs, apparently. Flynn De Flintstone

Here's something you may not know about Eliza: I love dinosaurs. Wee Eliza, or Weeliza, grew up in a household where a dinocentric novel and its sequels were being brewed (the now-ancient Charon's Ark), and the obsession has not loosened ever since.

So why haven't I played Turok? I mean, ever. It's one of these series that I just never stay on top of, and by the time I think about them, the latest iteration is already out of date. I figure graphics are important, here. But the next-gen Turok is on the way, and here's the rendered trailer, featuring a massive t-rex that makes me giddy.

Waiting on actual gameplay footage to be able to estimate suckage. Eliza Gauger

[via Aeropause]