For the full list of changes implemented in patch 3, hit the jump for details.

General Changes:
Implemented Interoperable cross-play between Xbox and PC players in Ranked, Quickmatch and Conquer the World modes.
Team voice chat fixed so that communication between players is on a team basis during tactical combat
Fixed an issue where difficulty for Achievements was not being tracked correctly resulting in cases where Achievements might not always unlock.
Fixed an issue where the Corruptors would not fire on enemies within their attack radius.
Fixed an issue where Defilers would walk in place if the Project Radiation ability was targeted to close to them.
Fixed an issue where Collectors would stop collecting because they were trying to reach resources outside the playable area.
AI players are now added to custom multiplayer sessions with unique color and team settings.
In replays objects should no longer be tinted as if under the fog of war.
Implemented a quality of service check for multiplayer games to improve game matching, especially in Conquer the World mode.
Fixed an issue where Altea's aura would not un-phase enemy units.
Fixed an issue where Avengers would take zero pop-cap.
Fixed an issue where cloaked units that have been in the sight radius of a Sight-linked unit loose their ability to cloak until Sight link is removed.
Fixed an issue that was having a Conquer the World player leave the session if the other player disconnected BEFORE the stats results could be reported, preventing the player who remained connected from getting the win.
Fixed an issue where the light/dark mode was not properly reset during a tactical battle restart.
Fixed an issue where units selected in a group would not respond to orders if some were locked down by a Hacker.
Forged Alliance Achievement Renamed to Peacebringer. Requires the player to defeat 2 ranked game or CTW opponents on the opposite platform.

Xbox 360 Specific Changes:
Performance optimizations.
Fixed a random game freeze issue related to particles.
Fixed a random game freeze related to voice chat.
Fixed several Out of Sync issues, including a high-latency issues which would
cause the game to go OOS instead of correctly waiting for players.
Added Guard mode to the special ability carousel.
Added Patrol mode to the special ability carousel.
Fixed an issue where network selection lag would cause the carousel to never come up.
Fixed an issue where the build queues selected from the Command carousel would randomly disappear in battle.
Fixed an issue with paint select decal selecting units outside its radius.
Mirabel now plays her unit responses.
Fixed an issue with Foo cores not adhering to double-click movement rules.
Fixed an issue where Hackers were able to be built without the Science Center.
Fixed the invisible radar map issue in the Novus Homeworld tutorial.
Fixed an issue where the A button might appear behind something in the Novus patch menu.
If saving a replay to a full memory unit an appropriate error message is now displayed.
Players can no longer incorrectly bring up the pause menu at the battle end screen.
Multiplayer is now properly paused when the Battle End Screen is activated after the game is over, so you don't get continuing sound and rumble effects.
Fixed an issue that was causing the skirmish lobby to force the pop cap *UP* to 60 if you added 3 AI even if your chosen pop cap was less than 60.
Fixed an issue where the Y button prompt appears off the Radar Map and fails to function when maximum build cap is reached.
Fixed an issue with accepting an invite while the attract movie is up.
Fixed issue with white texture showing up for the neutral detection array's scan pulse ability.

PC Specific Changes:
Added Patrol mode via hotkey: Ctrl+A
Added progress bars to display unit/upgrade production in tactical and global modes.
Added multi-threaded support for systems with multi-core processors providing a large performance increase on those systems.
Research now available in Single Player Campaign.
Fixed an issue where using a laptop with a touchpad containing a horizontal and verticals scroll touch option would break the mini-map.
Fixed an issue where the help text would display off screen.
Fixed an issue where dropdown text would get cut off at extremely high resolutions.
Fixed an issue where tooltips for the capture ability would give an incorrect time.
We now hide the Private Game combo box when hosting, so you must make the decision about hosting a private game when you first create the session ... you can't change your mind later.
Fixed an issue which was preventing disconnected game notices from ever being displayed.
Game now pauses when LIVE dialog screen is up.
Fixed an issue which was causing multiplayer games from ending properly if the game was minimized when the battle ended. In Conquer the World this could prevent a player from being awarded a territory in some cases.
We now check save files to make sure they haven't been corrupted on the PC.
Fixed an issue where the game would crash when holding ALT key while loading and saving a game.
Fixed an issue with the research tree and other menus closing intermittently while in a MP game.

Novus Balance Changes:
Hackers now autonomously lock down targets in range.
Constructors now repair 14% faster.
Increased Constructor’s FOW reveal by 20%.
Reduced Constructor’s build time from 18 to 13 seconds.
Reduced Constructor’s price from 650 to 500.
Increased Constructor’s crush defense from 10 to 30.
Increased Founder’s Prowess health from 900 to 1100.
Increased Founder’s FOW reveal range in Prowess mode.
Increased Founder’s health from 500 to 650 in performance mode.
Decreased Vertigo’s FOW by 10%.
Increased Vertigo’s health from 700 to 775.
Increased Vertigo’s guard radius by 15%.
Increased Mirabel’s base weapon damage by 20%.
Decreased Mirabel’s Snipe recharge from 55 to 52 seconds.
Increased Mirabel’s missile damage volley by 10%.
Increased Mirabel’s missile speed by 10%.
Decreased Mirabel’s missile range by 25%.
Increased Amplifier’s movement speed by 10%.
Changed Amplifier’s armor from light to heavy.
Decreased Amplifier’s global cost from 450 to 400.
Decreased Amplifier’s tactical cost from 900 to 800.
Decreased Amplifier’s build time from 28 to 26 seconds.
Increased Amplifier’s guard range by 15%.
Increased Amplifier’s crush from 6 to 21.
Increased Field Inverter’s FOW reveal by 15%.
Decreased Field Inverter’s global cost from 600 to 500.
Decreased Field Inverter’s tactical build time from 30 to 28 seconds.
Increased Field Inverter’s guard range by 25%.
Increased Field Inverter’s shield mode walk speed by 25%.
Increased Field Inverter’s damage by 15%.
Decreased Hacker’s speed by 15%
Increased Hacker’s guard radius by 20%
Increased Hacker’s cost from 500 to 600.
Decreased Hacker’s max targeting range on lockdown ability by 15%
Increased Ohm’s max attack range by 25%.
Increased Ohm’s run speed by 10%.
Increased Ohm’s health by 15%.
Increased Ohm’s guard radius by 20%.
Decreased Corruptor’s cost from 600 to 500.
Increased Corruptor’s guard radius by 20%.

Hierarchy Balance Changes:
Increased Kamal’s health 900.
Decreased Kamal’s FOW reveal by 20%
Increased Nufai’s health from 700 to 750.
Increased Nufai’s guard radius by 15%
Increased Defiler’s cost from 775 to 850.
Increased Defiler’s build time from 26 to 30 seconds.
Increased Defiler popcap from 3-5 (updated)
Increased Saucer’s guard radius by 10%
Increased Saucer’s popcap from 3 to 4.
Decreased Saucer’s build time from 30 to 28 seconds.
Decreased Saucer’s cost from 825 to 750.
Increased Saucer’s speed by 10%.

Masari Balance Changes:
Decreased Light Mine damage by 50% for standard and upgraded figment mines.
Increased Charos, Zessus, Altea and Disciple’s guard radius by 15%
Increased Zessus’ health from 800 to 850.
Decreased Altea’s walk speed for both light and dark modes by 15%
Increased Altea’s health from 600 to 725

But Universe at War looked fantastic, despite its only moderate reception. And now it's available as a demo on the Xbox 360. So if you enjoy RTSs but don't have a PC or trust console-ported controls, it might be worth giving a download. And just think: if such demos were around back at Leipzig, I probably wouldn't have to run all my posts by Tristan before publishing. And Mini Bash might have approved my raise, too.

Demo: Universe at War: Earth Assault [Major Nelson]

...you could look at the transition of RTS from PC to console as "dumbing down" of the genre, but really that's completely inaccurate. The evolution of RTS from PC to console is all about re-discovering the core fun of the genre while stripping away the redundancy, over-complication, and bloat that has been attaching itself to RTS games over the years.

If anything, I'm glad that console is becoming dominant for gaming because it's going to force some evolution on a genre that has been fairly static for quite some time. We need to grow the RTS market and bring in new players, not isolate it further into eventual niche obscurity.

Which is exactly why we all need Halo Wars to be really, really good.

"Universe at War: Earth Assault" Post Mortem Q&A [TheArmchairEmpire]

I've had a pet project I've been working on for years, three of them if my memory is right. It started as a simple idea: You can judge a lot from a person's desk. I bet you could judge just as much from their home entertainment system. So I decided it would be fun to try and track down some pictures from the work desks and home gaming set-ups of the people who work in and cover the video game industry. Simple right? Not so much.

Turns out that many of the people are either too busy or too private to want to participate in such a project. To make matters worse, there's always fear that something sitting on someone's desk, that ends up in a photo, could actually be news worthy. Like a secret project or the next big thing. But I didn't give up and about once a year I'd harass a bunch of game developers for photos. Finally, this year, the harassment paid off.

What started as a trickle of photos turned quickly into the collection of galleries you'll find on the jump: More than 40 different photo galleries from 17 studios, seven publications, two industry movers and shakers and a couple of fun surprises.

You'll get to see the desk of such greats as Sid Meier, Peter Molyneux and Tetsuya Mizuguchi along with plenty of others. Remember you can comment both on the next page and on each individual photo if you click on them.

If I find there is interest, I will try to periodically update this gallery of galleries with more developers, journalists and industry movers and shakers. Have fun.

DEVELOPERS
2K Games

ASTRO Gaming

Buzz Monkey Software

Capcom

Eat, Sleep, Play

Electronic Arts

Firaxis Games

Flying Lab Software

Gearbox Software

Harmonix Music

Incognito Entertainment

Insomniac Games

Kojima Productions

Lionhead Studios

NanaOn-Sha

Naughty Dog

NCSoft

NetDevil

Neversoft Entertainment

Ninja Theory

Pandemic Studios

Petroglyph Games

THQ

Q Entertainment

JOURNALISTS

Blue's News

BoingBoing

EGM

The Escapist

GameLife

Joystiq

Kotaku

MTV

Slashdot Games

VE3D

VH1

INDUSTRY FOLK

MISCELLANIES
I AM 8-BIT

Penny Arcade

Whorecraft

Video Games Live

Which writer’s father bought a Playstation 3 specifically to play Grand Theft Auto 4?

Introducing the Universe at War Soundtrack, Merry Christmas, Petroglyph Community! [Petroglyph]

I really like this Petroglyph card, not just because it has a cute remake of the Walkers, one featuring a Santa hat and beard, another turned into a Christmas ornament, and not because they gave their game a clever rename. No, I like this card because I hate Chrismas elves and it looks like they're about to suck it hard. Santa, fortunately, managed to escape while the death of his tiny work force provided a distraction. Ho, Ho, Ho indeed.

We'll just see about that.

Where console players will be at a disadvantage, however, is when they'll get their hands on the game. The PC version is due to ship this calendar year, with the 360 version arriving in early 2008. You console boys are gonna get your strategic asses handed to you.

PC, 360 at War [IGN]

The game looks great and all that—check our gallery below—but when Sega announces an RTS, I'm hoping for a game based on the great ChuChu versus Puyo war that's often being played out in my head. Michael McWhertor

WORLD DOMINATION AT STAKE AS SEGA ANNOUNCES UNIVERSE AT WAR: EARTH ASSAULT FOR THE PC

The Future of Earth Hangs in the Balance in the Next Epic Real-Time Strategy Game from Petroglyph, Makers of Star Wars: Empire at War

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (February 2, 2007) - SEGA of America Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced the development of Universe at War: Earth Assault for the PC. Developed by Petroglyph, this combat-intensive real-time strategy (RTS) game enlists players in an epic struggle to prevent total alien domination of planet Earth. Universe at War: Earth Assault is scheduled to ship to retailers in North America and Europe in the Fall of 2007.

Universe at War: Earth Assault is set in the near-future when multiple factions from across the galaxy have come to Earth to wage epic warfare. Containing numerous features and customization options never-before-seen in the RTS genre, Universe at War: Earth Assault will create an exceptional strategy experience for single-player and especially multiplayer battles.

"Universe at War: Earth Assault will surpass the limits of what gamers expect to see in an RTS game," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America, Inc. "Petroglyph has a proven pedigree of critically acclaimed RTS title creation under its belt with team members that have worked on the original Command and Conquer and Command and Conquer: Red Alert. Universe at War: Earth Assault will be the culmination of years of development expertise in creating exciting and innovative RTS titles."
Universe at War: Earth Assault will employ a unique balance system called "Tactical Dynamics" that allows players to retrain and customize units in the midst of battle to better cope with enemy forces and tactical situations. Weaponry and defenses can be modified in true real-time to take advantage of constantly shifting battlefield conditions. Fully customizable tech trees will allow players to control the development of technologies that they deem key to victory.

Battles in Universe at War: Earth Assault will be large in scope and take place in malleable and deforming environments. Deadly sci-fi weapons and alien powers will allow players to destroy cities and whole territories on a global scale. Because the world of Universe at War: Earth Assault is persistent, players will be able to revisit previous battlegrounds to find them still smoldering in ruins.

Featuring innovative multiplayer modes inspired by popular massively multiplayer online games and competitive online playable titles, Universe at War: Earth Assault will give players achievements, rewards, and medals in a balanced environment to further encourage players to move forward in the game. Players from around the world will battle in persistent-style online campaigns for ultimate faction supremacy across a virtual representation of the Earth.

For more information on the game, please visit www.sega.com/universeatwar.

About SEGA of America, Inc.
SEGA of America, Inc. is the American Publishing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The SEGA of America Web Site is located at "http://www.SEGA.com" www.SEGA.com.

About SEGA Europe Ltd.
SEGA Europe Ltd. is the European Publishing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. The SEGA Europe Web Site is located at "http://www.sega-europe.com" www.sega-europe.com.

# # #

Just because I wasn't impressed with it, doesn't mean it's a bad game. I'd like to check out a retail build when it's all said and done—and as of today, it is. Star Wars: Empire of War is officially gold. Empire at War ships Feb. 16, there's a couple of extremely sexy screens after the jump.

So, yesterday I tried to track down a download of the LucasArts' RTS Star Wars: Empire at War. The demo has a single mission for the Galactic Campaign and some tutorials. The mission structure has players mass a fleet in Hoth and then head to an asteroid field to battle the Imperials. How does it look and play? Details after the jump.

In RTS games, there's the whole "build-your-army, via resource collection" mechanic that gets the game moving. In this Galactic Campaign mission, players will amass a fleet on their home planet and then take that fleet against the Empire. The fleet forms from a map screen, that essentially shows all of the planets in the galaxy, once you are about to enter combat, the game shifts to a more conventional, fog of war-style view.

Conventional describes the actual combat, with the limited units and limited situation, in Empire. It could be my adoration for Star Wars, in general, that kept getting in the way, but the actual combat felt neither epic, nor very Star Wars, other than a few quips from pilots like "I'm setting up my attack run." Even that felt forced. I'm going to mess around again today with the demo, but after playing through it once, I was pretty underwhelmed. Anyone else give this one a go?

No, the Japanese publisher and RTS game makers aren't running around scooping up rings and battling Dr. Robotnik, instead, the two companies have announced a partnership to create an RTS franchise for the PC.

Petroglyph's game will be a modern military/sci-fi-themed RTS withthe title's exclusive rights going to Sega. Members of the Pteroglyph team came from Westwood Studios and worked on the Command &Conquer games. Currently, they are wrapping up Star Wars: Empire at War. Given Petroglyph's history, this game is something to look forward to.