• Neverwinter Nights Patch
  BioWare has released a new (v1.22) patch for Neverwinter Nights.

• Dungeon Siege Patch
  Gas Powered Games has released a patch (v1.1) for Dungeon Siege.

• Hitman 2 Soundtrack Interview
  Gamespy has conducted an interview with composer Jesper Kyd about his work on the Hitman 2 soundtrack which will be available separately. Here's a couple interesting Q&A:

  GameSpyDaily: Will tracks on the album be more elaborate than what is in the game itself?

  Jesper: Yeah there are some of that in there. Especially the bonus tracks have been reworked and also several music pieces from Hitman Codename 47 have been re-mastered and mixed.

  GameSpyDaily: What are your thoughts on "dynamic music" that changes according to how the player is doing in the game? Do you think this type of design is the future or do you think that traditional sound tracks will remain the standard?

  Jesper: Both Hitman 1 & 2 use interactive dynamic music. The soundtrack adapts to the way you play the game. Playing the game in purely stealth mode will result in a different music experience than playing the game as an action game. I think that interactive music will become more and more interactive as new ideas and tools are thought out. Still, it is very important to me that the music quality does not suffer in this process. If the sound quality is not the same as CD music (44 or 48KHz), I'm not that interested in converting my music to low quality, just for the sake of interactivity.

• Bill Brown (Composer) Q&A on Music 4 Games
  Music 4 Games has conducted an interview with composer Bill Brown discussing among other things his work on the Tom Clancy's games The Sum of All Fears, Ghost Recon - Desert Siege and Rainbow Six. In related news Bill Brown's website mentions new music tracks from Return to Castle Wolfenstein and the upcoming X-box version of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, video clip from Ghost Recon for X-box. Bill Browns website also mentions a feature on GANG by Bill Brown regarding the use of live orchestral soundtracks and chorus in games

• Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Soundtrack
  Music For Games has posted some news as well as a preview of the soundtrack for Hitman 2: Silent Assassin.

• Hercules Muse Lt & XPS210
  Bjorn3D has posted a combined review of Hercules CMedia CMI8738 based Muse Lt soundcard and its inexpensive 2.1 system ($50), the XPS210. The short review is overall positive considering the combined price ($70). It includes comparisons to Altec Lansing's ACS45.

• Monsoon PlanarMedia 9
  Inside Mac Games has posted a somewhat mixed but mostly positive review of the Monsoon PlanarMedia 9, a new $100 2.1 flat panel speaker system. While I don't disagree with the reviewer that the Monsoon speakers do have a pronounced sweet-spot where they sound clearly better I have been using a set of PlanerMedia9s to provide music through out my basement while I paint it with more than acceptable results. I would also not use tinny to describe the system. The satellites on their own could certainly be described as bright (which holds true of pretty much any small sat system) but my current overall impressions are much more positive than in the linked review. Now until I test them under proper circumstances (the desktop that they were intended for) I will of course refrain from more detailed judgement. (I did offer some additional impressions in our forum). One other bit I will comment on is the headphone hiss they report. I just tested the headphone output on the PlanarMedia9 using a Toshiba DVD player as a source and Sennheiser HD525 headphones to listen and even at full volume there is no hiss which points to their Mac sound system as the source of the hiss reported in the review.

• Altec Lansing 221
  Tweaknews has done a short and very positive review of Altec Lansing $50 221 2.1 Amplified Speaker System.

• Jazz J9929B Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Speaker
  Hardware-test.dk has posted a short and mixed review of Jazz J9929B Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Speaker Set. It's a 5.1 system which includes a Dolby Digital / DTS decoder that retails for about 1800 Danish kroner (242 Euro/US$235).

• Creative Jukebox3
  Digit-Life has posted a detailed review of Creative Jukebox3 including objective sound quality testing. Digit-Life found it to perform very well with the exception of the bundled headphones.

• PlayStation 2 Defeats Xbox and GameCube
  Twenty-nine percent of all video gamers own a PlayStation 2, versus ten percent for the GameCube and eight percent for the Xbox, according to the "Digital Gaming in America Survey," a marketing survey about the demographics of the game industry released by the Ziff Davis Media Game Group at their Sixth Electronic Gaming Summit in Napa, California.

  When queried, "what console do you plan to buy?" 17 percent of gamers planned on a PlayStation 2, 15 percent an Xbox and 9 percent a GameCube. Because the study is designed to be projected against all U.S. households, those percentages give Sony the lead in 2003 with a 24.1 million user-base, Microsoft will take second place with a 13.7 million and Nintendo third with an 11.2 million. And all three systems are very close in customer satisfaction, with owners of the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox rating each console at eighty-eight, eighty-seven and eighty-one percent as "very satisfactory."

  You can find more details in the full press release.

• Archos Launch Music, Video, Photo Handheld
  The Archos Jukebox Multimedia 20 is at once a handheld entertainment center combining an MP3 music player, recorder, built-in microphone, photo album, carousel, camcorder, video player and recorder in a single unit measuring less than 5 inches in its largest dimension.

  The system's base unit provides an MP3 Player, a photo and video viewing capability, and a 20-GB hard drive that can hold up to 5,000 MP3 songs, 200,000 photos in VGA, and up to 40 hours of video. It can also serve as a backup 20 GB hard drive for personal data. Archos will offer the Jukebox Multimedia 20 base unit for an MSRP of $399.95. You can find more details in the press release.

• CAR 4000 – smaller and better – now available!
  Terratec has announced that its complete digital audio centre for your Hi-Fi rack, the CAR 4000 is now available. It combines the functionality of a digital audio recorder, a CD player and a digital jukebox for thousands of music tracks. You can find more details in the press release.

• TerraTec phono PreAmp Studio USB Introduced
  TerraTec is now introducing the phono PreAmp Studio USB to the market. Hardly the size of a deck of cards, phono PreAmp Studio USB lets you edit records and cassettes on your computer at a professional level of quality and then immortalize them onto CD—all without the need for a sound card! Simply through a USB port. The phono PreAmp Studio USB will be available as of September. You can find more details in the press release

• Sony Introduce New ES-Series Player
  Sony Electronics has introduced its newest ES-series DVD player. Technical advancements include Precision Cinema Progressive output and multi-channel SACD playback, as well as Pixel-by-Pixel Active I/P Conversion for sharp and detailed video projection, and Audio-Video Alignment to produce precise on-screen picture and sound synchronization.

  The DVP-NS999ES player will be available in October for about $1,200. You can find more details in the press release.

• DVD+RW Alliance Announces Higher Speed Specification for DVD Recording
  The DVD+RW Alliance has announced the specifications for 4x DVD+R recording speeds and for 8cm DVD+RW/+R media. DVD recorders and data drives designed to this specification will provide the ability to record at 44 megabits per second, taking less than 15 minutes to record a full capacity DVD+RW/+R disc. You can find more details in the press release.

• Memorex Announces DVD+RW/+R Drive
  Memorex Products has announced that it has partnered with Ricoh to deliver a high performance, high speed DVD+RW/+R Drive which also supports writing to CD-R/RW discs. The drive which is available now for $380 includes Ahead Software's Nero® 5.5.8.5 to create or edit audio and data discs, Sonic Solutions' MyDVD(TM) and Arcsoft Showbiz to create and edit DVDs, and Cyberlink's PowerDVD® to watch DVD movies. You can find more details in the press release.

• Alpine Begins Shipping DVD-Based Multi-Format Head Unit
  Alpine Electronics of America has announced that it is now shipping its new DVA-7996 DVD-based AM/FM tuner to authorized dealers. The DVA-7996 combines in-dash DVD video playback with built-in MP3 decoding and support for XM Satellite Radio, CD-R/RW playback and other audio formats in one head unit. Alpine's DVA-7996 delivers high-end audio and video playback with ultimate system flexibility and control at a suggested retail index of $1,300. You can find more details in the full press release.

• MySoundStudio
  Geekshelter has posted a review of the recently released MySoundStudio. It's described as a professional-grade digital audio recording, editing and mastering software for professional and consumer uses. This $69 package offers an extensive set of features for manipulating audio and video include sound editing, multi-track support, a unique mixer and a library of powerful effects. The review is mixed but overall positive with a score of 7 out of 10.

For more news from last week check out our news archive.

As always if you have any ideas for products we should review or features we should do, please let us know.

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