For all those who missed the 2004 cult classic Doom 3, Bethesda and id are remastering it for today's gaming platforms (widescreen PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3). Called Doom 3 BFG Edition, the new title includes the entire back catalogue of the Doom franchise, plus Doom 3 (main and Resurrection of Evil) with added levels, that's remastered (our wishlist includes higher resolution textures, improved special effects, tessellation maps, and EAX 4-like sound effects over software). What's more, the perspective will finally be optimized for 16:9 and 16:10 widescreen displays.Bethesda and id will detail the title further at E3. For now, check out the groovy trailer after the break.

This month is the 20th Anniversary of Wolfenstein 3D. To celebrate id Software and Bethesda have given us all a free browser-based version of its seminal shooter. John Carmack has also given a director's commentary, full of the usual fascinating Carmackchat. You can play the snazzy HTML 5 version of Wolf 3D if you're browsing in Firefox 10, Chrome 16, Internet Explorer 9, Safari 5, or newer. Fingers crossed that your work computer is updated vaguely frequently. id Software got distracted by Doom and Quake after the release of a Wolf 3D prequel, but the series returned in 2001 with Return to Castle Wolfenstein from Grey Matter and Nerve Software. Splash Damage followed this with the superb free multiplayer spin-off Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, then the last entry in the series was Raven's Wolfenstein in 2009. The iOS version is also going temporarily free in the App Store some time later today. Here is the Link

Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, today announced The Elder Scrolls Online, an MMO in development at ZeniMax Online Studios. The Elder Scrolls Online will be the first Elder Scrolls game to allow gamers to explore the legendary Elder Scrolls world with others.

The Elder Scrolls Online is being developed for PC and Mac under the leadership of industry veteran Matt Firor, who has spent the last two decades working in online game development. Details about the game are revealed in an exclusive cover story in Game Informer's June issue, which ships to subscribers and newsstands this month.

Since Prey 2 is stuck in neutral rumors of an incarnation to Rune seem to be gaining momentum. Human Head Studios has been dropping hints of a Rune revival. Now that Prey 2 is likely pulled from the studio's slate, the company is being a little more overt about its hopes to bring back the franchise. "I can't reveal what we've got planned, but we fully intend to bring digital viking mayhem into the here-and-now," Human Head co-founder Ted Halsted said. Halsted told Neogamr that the recent Facebook poll was to "gauge fan excitement" and learn more about what aspects of the original game they enjoyed most. He says viking combat is "where Rune's heart beats." He also suggests that the story of the sequel will focus on a more brutal Ragnar, since the end of days (Ragnarok) has come. It will still be a third-person action game, but Halsted says the combat is still "evolving." The company wants to make the game more like modern titles with more tactical options for the action. Plus, thanks to the fan support of multiplayer, he says it will focus on that aspect and clan features.

As for how the studio will fund the project, many guessed a Kickstarter fund was only a matter of time after the word broke of a possible feature. "We certainly wouldn't rule out Kickstarter," Halsted said. "As a developer, we're pleased that there's a wide variety of funding methods for modern projects, from Kickstarter to investors to the traditional publisher model." While Human Head hasn't officially been taken off Prey 2, Bethesda's delay announcement was harsh, to say the least. It claimed the game had "not progressed satisfactorily" and "does not currently meet our quality standards." An anonymous source told us that the studio had stopped work on the game last November due to a contract dispute, which would leave plenty of time for pre-planning of a Rune sequel.

News that Prey 2 had not been cancelled, but rather delayed, was relieving to fans of the original. However, why has there been such secrecy surrounding the project over the last several months? According to a Shacknews source who asked not to be identified, Human Head was not happy with the terms of its contract with ZeniMax, and deliberately stopped work on the game in November so it could try to negotiate a more favorable deal. While doing that, many on the development team were laid off, with the hope they would be rehired if the contract issue was resolved favorably. The process seemed to be gathering some positive momentum until January when ZeniMax's responses all but stopped, causing some of the laid-off Prey 2 team to wonder if the game would ever see the light of day.

By March 1, the source said, things had progressed a bit, leaving the Prey 2 team hopeful that they would return to work soon. But that quickly soured the following day. The source could provide no further first-hand details after March 2. When contacted for a response, an official at ZeniMax responded that "we aren't commenting on the game's development beyond what was said in the statement that was released this morning." In light of the new information, the official stance that "the delay is due to the fact that game development has not progressed satisfactorily this past year, and the game does not currently meet our quality standards" seems to throw Human Head under the creative bus. With development stalled for months, it's no surprise that the game would be unable to meet so-called "quality standards."

Portal 2 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim won big at the Game Developers Choice. Bethesda's smash-hit title bagged the coveted "Game of the Year" (GOTY) title, while Portal 2 bagged three top honors, winning "Best Narrative", "Best Game Design", and "Best Audio".

The year 2011 also saw the raising of the technology bar with two new game engines, CryEngine 3 from Crytek, and Frostbite 2 from EA-DICE. The two were implemented in flagship titles, Crysis 2 and Battlefield 3, respectively; both of which were published by EA. In the end, Battlefield 3 won "Best Technology". "Best Visual Arts", however, went to Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.A list of top honors follows.

Today Shacknews is reporting a new beta patch available on Steam. This is what they had to say, "Covering its back and yours, Bethesda recommends that you only install the patch if you're affected by issues fixed in the patch, and that you backed up your saved games before installing the beta. If you're still ploughing ahead with it, here's what to do:

1. Log into Steam
2. Click on Steam in the upper menu
3. Select Settings
4. Under the Account tab, go to the Beta Participation section and select Change.
5. A drop down menu will appear. Select Skyrim Beta.
6. Select OK.

Steam will now restart. After Steam restarts, Skyrim will be updated to the Beta version currently available.

The beta patch adds an option for Skyrim's Steam Workshop, a portal which will allow mod makers to upload their creations directly to Steam, but the Workshop won't work it and the mod Creation Kit actually launch later this month."

A list of changes can be found here.

Today Shacknews is reporting Bethesda the publisher of Fallout has settled with Interplay the original publisher of the Fallout series over the frozen development of the much anticipated MMO based off of the Fallout universe. When Interplay sold the intellectual property of Fallout to Bethesda in 2007 it retained the right to develop an MMO. The stipulation was Interplay had to be in full scale development of the MMO by April 4, 2009 with a minimum of a 30 million dollar budget. Bethesda claimed Interplay failed to meet this criteria and wanted full control of the Fallout intellectual property including the developing MMO.

However, today Bethesda and Interplay have apparently called a truce. ZeniMax, Bethesdas parent company announced the following, "ZeniMax will pay Interplay $2 million as consideration in the settlement, each party will bear its own costs of the litigation, and Bethesda will continue to own all Fallout intellectual property rights."

This agreement also allows Interplay the right to continue the sale of original Fallout titles, including Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics through December 2013. Does this mean we will see a MMO based off of the Fallout universe from Bethesda now? Only time will tell. However if Interplay wants to continue to carry the older titles past the agreed submission date we may have another battle on our hands. War. War never changes.

It should come as no surprise that Skyrim would be a popular game for the PC platform. However not many people would have ever guessed it would surpass Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in PC sales. On Thursday that became a fact as Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve Corporation confirmed to IndustryGamers in a candid interview. He is quoted as saying,

"Skyrim is the fastest selling title in Steam's history," said Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve Corporation. "Bethesda's commitment to and understanding of the PC as a gaming platform shows in the great review scores, spectacular launch, and continued high player numbers that Skyrim has received. We are delighted that Bethesda chose to use Steamworks to support Skyrim both at retail and digitally."

Considering the Call of Duty franchise has been a SteamWorks distributed game for the PC since Modern Warfare 2, it says a lot for Skyrim's popularity on the platform. As a matter of fact, one could say Call of Duty was on its way to being the best selling game ever on the PC......until it took an arrow to the knee.

According to GameIndustry.biz, Paul Oughton, Bethesda's publishing executive has been briefly discussing the companies plans in general, as well as indicating that the next Elder Scrolls title should be with us sometime in 2010. It was also interesting to note that despite Nintendo's success with it's home and handheld consoles, Bethesda had no interest in releasing their games on other platforms.

At the moment we've got Fallout 3 for this year and potentially there's a new Elder Scrolls title in 2010... [and] at the moment we're not that interested in the Wii. We're going to stick to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. We'll continue to pursue three or four titles a year and go for big titles.

Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today that its highly anticipated title, Fallout 3, will be available on store shelves and online in North America on October 28, 2008 and in Europe on October 31, 2008. Developed at Bethesda Game Studios - creators of the 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Fallout 3 is slated for release on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows.

"We are very excited to let gamers get their hands on Fallout 3, the latest chapter in this beloved and highly acclaimed franchise," said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. "To meet the huge demand for this title by our fans worldwide, we are planning one of the biggest launches of any game released this year."

Game developers have been gradually trying to create more-open games over the past few years, but it looks like Bethesda is planning to take a huge leap forward with its upcoming title Fallout 3, which will feature over 200 different endings to the game. The company's executive producer, Todd Howard, said:

Being that we are Bethesda, everything gets a bit big, so as of last week we're over 200 endings. That's not an exaggeration.

He explained that small changes and additions to the endings are multiplied by other factors influenced by the player's choices and decisions in the game, adding:

Fallout is probably twice the size that we originally had on paper. We've definitely gone overboard... It won't end up being as big as Oblivion, but it's approaching that. The game is easily a hundred hours.

Bethesda Softworks, the company that developed games such as Morrowind and Oblivion, has made its own map for Valve's hugely innovative Portal after being so infatuated with the title. Bethesda's level designer Daryl Brigner was responsible for creating the map, which is currently up to version 1.2 after a few tweaks have been made.

The map is available for the PC version of Portal only and can be downloaded at TWHL.