The third title in the popular Tropico series of island management sims once again places players in the role of "El Presidente", the ruler of an island in the Caribbean during the Cold War era. The game centers around developing your island nation, keeping the citizens happy while juggling the various political factions trying to win your influence.

It sounds very much like a remake of the original Tropico by Bulgarian developer Haemimont Games, rather than the full sequel delivered by Frog City Software, the developer of Tropico 2: Pirate Cove. If it manages to carry over the tongue-in-cheek humor from the original title as well as the themes, characters, and settings, it could very well be worth strategy gamers' whiles to plan for an island vacation this fall.

The rumblings from last month prove true as Electronic Arts stamps a release date of June 2nd of the eagerly anticipated PC title The Sims 3. The change in date is never actually referred to as a delay in the official press, instead being simply given a new release date, shinier and happier than the original. Just a bit later.

“The June launch combined with the break-through game the team is building gives us the perfect runway to create awareness for The Sims 3,” said Russell Arons, Vice President of Marketing for EA. “The Sims 3 will be the original IP summer blockbuster of 2009 as we build off the success of the best-selling PC franchise of all time to create awareness with both loyal Sims fans and new players.”

See? Everything is just fine. They're just building a runway for the game. Fans are advised to wait until the very last moment to update the death clock they've downloaded for their The Sims 2 creations. It's just more entertaining that way.

Developed in collaboration with Duke University, Virtual Peace: Turning Swords to Ploughshares allows groups of students to enter a shared virtual world and take on different roles - from aid agency workers to government officials - and work with one another to tackle a humanitarian crisis.

The demo video after the jump gives a rough idea - in this case the crisis is Hurricane Mitch. While this is clearly not intended as a 'game' as such, it is interesting to see MMO-like tech being used in this way.

Virtual Peace: Turning Swords to Ploughshares [VirtualPeace.org via Slashdot]

The MOD already uses modified videogames to train ground troops but researcher have just invested £20,000 to investigate whether adding the sense of smell to a game experience can significantly enhance its realism and hence its value as a training aid.

"Smell is so closely linked to emotion and memory," says Professor Bob Jones of Birmingham University, "it's something that we need to take seriously."

If the research proves effective, it may not be long before games consoles adopt the technology.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the games companies are looking for an inexpensive version for the domestic market," said Jones.

"I think it could be translated into the computer games market in two-and-a-half years."

Just imagine - by 2011 you could be playing Gears of War 4 with two little Microsoft-branded plugs up your nostrils. I bet that armor really starts to stink after a couple of hours out in the field.

British soldiers could be trained on a computer game with smell [Daily Telegraph]

Ridemaster Pro Horseriding Simulator Is Just Sad [Giz]

Wagner James Au points out that a Second Lifer has programmed some ants to seek out and find food and in turn to recruit other ants to help out. The clip above, courtesy of New World Notes, shows the ants leaving pheromone trails as they wander to aid in their recruitment.

Pretty cool stuff. I could see this sort of thing being used in a game. Can you imagine a game that has your character leaving a scent trail and features dogs that can track him or her? Brian Crecente

ANT FARM [NWN, via BoingBoing]

A military sim trainer without weapons? Tactical Iraqi focuses not on body counts, but body language. Soldiers learn things that might be offensive in the US are not necessarily in Iraq and vice versa.

Developed by the USC's Information Sciences Institute, the game differs from previous sims that focused solely on language. Tactical Iraqi must navigate language, cultural gestures and taboos. So far, 300 soldiers have used the system and several thousand more are expected to have by the end of the year.

The game contains no weapons or combat situations. Rather, soldiers must gain the trust of Iraqi communities in helping to rebuild. "I got a kick out of removing the weapons and replacing them with gestures," says the program's technical director Hannes Vilhjalmsson.

In Iraq, things like introducing oneself with out introducing others and showing the soles of one's feet are considered rude. Vilhjalmsson recalls when an Iraqi man gestured at a female troop by rubbing his fingers together. The gesture meant friendship. Situations like this can lead to misunderstanding in the volatile war-zone.

"An 18-year-old who joins the military might be in a foreign land for the first time and think that everyone does it like we do in America," says Marine Lt. Christopher Seeley.

We've got our fair share of FPS titles, how about a few First Person Interaction games? Civilians learn how to interact with various types of people. Because Lieutenant, it's not only new recruits that think that way.

More Here [Wired]

US Troops Taught Iraqi Gestures [BBC]

The red phone in the Kotaku office just lit up and EA let us know that their insanely popular Sims 2 was shipping a week ahead of schedule for Sony's handheld. Now instead of Dec. 13, the realish-life simulator ships Dec. 7 (omg next week!). It is a little disheartening that one of the biggest PSP titles of the holiday season is one of the biggest PC games - from last year.

EA Sports is readying a thinking man's football game in NFL Head Coach, a new strategy football title slated for release this spring. The game puts players in charge of building a football team from ground level, and involves creating a successful franchise from the sidelines. In their quest for realism, hopefully EA includes a "sleep at the office" function, along with a "getting nagged by your wife to spend more time at home" feature and a "you've missed out on your children's childhood" mini-game. EA Sports, it's in the game, right?

EA Offers New NFL Franchise