Playback: The Week in Review

This was the week of the update. Eidos Interactive, LucasArts, Firaxis, Bungie, and Hasbro Interactive all issued game updates this week just in time for your summer gaming pleasure, as if you really wanted to go to the beach or swimming pool. Here's a look back at some of the things we've seen from inside the gaming industry this week.

Eidos let GameSpot help release the biggest update for Tomb Raider II. With all the success of Tomb Raider III, it appears that it was time to update Tomb Raider II with a full update to Tomb Raider II Gold. That's right... if you bought Tomb Raider II but you didn't buy Gold because you didn't want to spend your hard-earned cash - all you need to do is download the patch. Now only if we could talk other companies into doing this for older games....

In other Tomb Raider er... action, Core, the series' developer, won a court injunction against Playboy which allows it to place a sticker over the Tomb Raider logo on the current issue's cover in the UK. The issue has a pictorial of former Tomb Raider model Nell McAndrew completely without any Lara clothing. Core's attorney claimed that the pictorial basically marred Lara's squeaky-clean image. We received several letters from readers who laughed at the ruling, since they don't see Lara as squeaky clean. We think the magazine is probably selling like hot cakes. One reader had a really interesting take on the situation.

"I own a PlayStation, and though I'd seen the numerous advertisements that used physique as a selling point, I'd never paid any attention to the games. Since *cough* reading the article about Nell McAndrew, I not only rented Tomb Raider III, but ended up purchasing it. My point is that had Nell not posed for Playboy, Core Ltd. would have one less purchase."

In a barrage of updates, Alpha Centauri, Myth II, and Rogue Squadron all were updated this week. While most of them focus on fixing various game issues, the one that stands out the most is a patch to be released late on Friday that will let Rogue Squadron players fly the ultrafast Naboo starfighter. We can't wait to take it for a spin.

As readers may have already guess, I love Palm devices and have used them since they were first introduced to me at PC Expo a few years ago. Before E3, I was introduced to the game on paper and was given the demo by Electronic Arts during E3. While I'll admit I have never touched a golf title (outside of miniature golf game), Tiger Woods PGA Tour for the Palm got me hooked. The game is simple to play, difficult to master, and has some of the best animations I've ever seen on the Palm. If you own a Palm, I'd suggest you take a look. A demo is coming sooner or later, and after speaking with the developer, there are more titles on the way - unfortunately, the developer won't say what those titles are.

What do gaming professionals do for kicks? They play other people's games. Over the weekend, John Romero and Chris Taylor will show up at Ensemble Studios' new office to play the latest build of Age of Empire II. Microsoft will be covering the event online, and GameSpot will have a report on the event on Monday.