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The first week of the newest Codemasters European contest has come to a close, and we're already set for more. Last week's winners have been announced and now it's time for you to enter for your own chance to be the next week's winner.

How do you enter? Simply log in to Lord of the Rings Online at any time during the week and answer the questions on the competition web page, and from there you'll automatically be entered into a drawing for a chance to win some great prizes including iPod Nanos, NVidia graphics cards, lifetime LotRO subscriptions and more. Even if you're not a current LotRO subscriber, you can play the 14-day trial for eligibility. Keep in mind though that this contest is only open to those players in Europe and South Africa. Sorry Americans!

Not that there was ever anything wrong with Lord of the Rings Online Europe's website to begin with, but they've recently decided to completely revamp their site to better accommodate the new expansion and future content.

Codemaster Online's new website now features a separate branch for Shadows of Angmar and one for Mines of Moria, as well as the obligatory CGI trailer, free trial info, competitions and a link to their e-shop. Separating the two volumes like this allows the company to present news, features and contests that are specific to a certain expansion, which will become more valuable as the list of expansions grows in the coming years. They also promise that the community section will benefit from the creativity of their designers soon, and will be brought in line with this new layout.

It's a done deal for the European markets. Codemasters Online, the European distributor and operator of The Lord of the Rings Online and Partnertrans, one of the leading interactive entertainment localization agencies are partnering together again. Partnertrans will provide localization, audio recordings, and additional linguistic support on the new expansion and has been providing localization support for Lord of the Rings Online since August 2006.

Lord of the Rings Online has one last book before a new volume, Mines of Moria, is opened. Turbine and Codemasters Online are keeping the beta secrets locked away, but in the meantime to tide you over there's fun web-games and teasers to unlock the Mines of Moria website. Hands down these interactive web-games are better and much more fun than what Blizzard is doing with their one-a-day screenshot to fuel the speculative hype-machine on their unannounced game to be unveiled very soon. Although, it is working!

Codemasters Online has released information about its upcoming expansion to the free-to-play ArchLord. Titled Episode 3: Spirits Awakening, the also-free expansion will feature 3 new game zones, over 80 new class skills, new ruling ArchLord abilities, new collectible armor sets, and new monsters and zone bosses.

For those who haven't heard of this title, one of ArchLord's unique properties is that any player can rise to the top and become the ArchLord of their particular server, gaining access to a castle, stronger spells, and a dragon. Needless to say, the title is in constant flux, which provides a great incentive to continue to play. The press release doesn't give specifics for the actual expansion release date other than it's due in a few weeks. Once it arrives, we'll take another look at this MMO.

Codemasters Online, publishers of popular free-to-play MMORPG, Archlord, announced that it has signed over half a million players. The rising popularity of the game has seen the addition of a new server to handle the expected load as they ramp up to the next free content update, Episode 3. In Archlord, you fight not only monsters, but other players, to become the Archlord -- the supreme power in the land. "Raise an army, rule the world" is their motto. Though with so many players, what would happen if they all got together and voted in a benevolent, peaceful democracy?

Both Ten Ton Hammer and MMORPG.com are sporting exclusive screenshots of a Quantar ship. The Quantar are one of the many playable factions in NetDevil's upcoming space combat MMO, Jumpgate Evolution. These mystics construct their ships according to spiritual principles and believe that the pilot and ship evolve to become a single being. The Quantar are very gifted pilots, which might be due to being raised among asteroids.

Ten Ton Hammer has two shots of this goldfish looking starship, while MMORPG has one.

Jumpgate Evolution is a space combat MMO. How players control their ships will be instrumental to the enjoyment of the game. When you think of joysticks and flight sticks you likely think of highly detailed flight simulators and not massively multiplayer games. But if that's all you think about then you've likely never heard of, let alone played, the greatness that was some of the X-Wing, TIE Fighter and Wing Commander games. JGE plans on bringing back the joystick and - as Ten Ton Hammer's Cody "Micajah" Bye calls it - the "strap yourself in" mentality. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Bye sat down with NetDevil's Hermann Peterscheck and asked him about their game's combat controls. Aside from the basic keyboard and mouse setup, players with very elaborate control setups will be able to use those as well. But the gaming control goodness doesn't end there. NetDevil is also supporting more advanced input devices such as TrackIR, and will continue to evaluate other brand spanking new hardware as it becomes available. JGE will also provide both third and first person modes, giving players the ultimate choice in how they want to play. So if you can't find a setup you like, well... lighten up. You're too finicky.

But won't people with a tricked out setup have an unfair advantage over those with just a lil ole mouse and keyboard? Find out after the break!

Ten Ton Hammer has posted another of their Jumpgate Evolution bi-weekly interviews, this time with Hermann Peterscheck, Producer for JGE. In this installment, Peterscheck answers questions about the game's factions and missions.

While reading through the Q&A I was comforted by the fact that Peterscheck continues to push the idea that JGE doesn't have hard and fast rules, and that they are trying to put as much of the game's outcome into the hands of the players (through their choices) as possible. This was something he mentioned during his interview about death and roleplaying as well, so it really does seem like something they intend to follow through with. In this case, while players will have to choose what nation to play (Quantar, Solrain or Octavius) there are no rules about allegiances, thus factions can interact in a myriad of ways with all of them.

MMORPG.com has a new interview with Steve Hartmeyer about Jumpgate Evolution's PvP component. As my "hero" Donnie Baker (a frequent caller to the Bob & Tom Radio Show) would say, "I can't wait to play this game! I swear to God I can't!"

However, PvP in JGE will be... different. And that fact alone has the original game's community all hot and bothered. Understandable. Take a "small" game replete with a die-hard fan base, give it a major overhaul to appeal to a bunch of "n00bs" and you got yourself a recipe for a nice slice of Pissed Off pie. But it's inevitable... that is, if you want to make a game that appeals to more players. And that's what the folks at NetDevil want most desperately. A game, any game, is made to make money. Period.

In this particular case though, Hartmeyer likens the community discussions on the subject to "religious warfare" with two very polarizing sides. One side says "No place in the game should be safe from PvP", while the other demands "Don't push your RP on me." Yikes! Talk about a thin line. But at some point the community can only have so much input and the developers have to go down the path they feel will garner the most players. Hartmeyer's journal entry is fascinating. and as you read it you can feel the sincerity emanating from the screen. It it is an absolute must read for anyone interested in this particular upcoming sci-fi MMO.

By now you know I'm a sci-fi geek, reporting on everything even remotely interesting (and some of our readers would say, not even that on occasion) about Tabula Rasa, Jumpgate Evolution, Stargate Worlds, Earthrise, etc. I also have a fondness for the guys and gals at NetDevil, makers of the now defunct and often criticized (yet loved by it's core of loyal fans, myself included) Auto Assault.

In a new dev diary posted on MMO Gamer, NetDevil programmer Steve Hartmeyer talks about the inspiration behind the evolution of Jumpgate. We've reported before that the space combat in JGE will be reminiscent of X-Wing vs. TIE fighter, but until now I didn't know what the impetus behind that comparison was. Apparently Scott Brown (founder of NetDevil) is a lot like me (and many others I'm sure). In 1977 both of us saw Star Wars - and it changed our lives indescribably. JGE stems from his passion for that masterpiece, but it's not the only ingredient. Hartmeyer goes on to include Battlestar Galactica as another key inspiration. Apparently the original Jumpgate development team was inspired by other shows I watched (and obsessed over), such as Space: Above and Beyond and Babylon 5.

They had me at Star Wars. With the addition of these other sci-fi franchises which I loved so much, well... The rest of the entry is chock full of inspirational goodness. If you've been sitting on the fence about this game, it might be the very thing that makes you finally say: Hells ya!

When asked about how they were planning to handle death penalties, Peterscheck basically sidestepped the issue. He says it will be different from JG:C, which has players lose items upon death. And they seem to be staying away from a death penalty where you drop all your stuff and lose half a level of experience, but a straightforward "this is how we're dealing with death" answer wasn't given.

There are a few more questions worth checking out, such as the prospects of crews, the classless system and home areas.

Jumpgate Times is a new source for all your Jumpgate Evolution info needs (just don't forget about Massively). The first edition of this slick newsletter just hit the virtual newsstands and provides readers with a nifty summary of JGE community activity, news and screen shots.

The premiere volume features an entry from Scott "Scorch" Brown's diary -- which I commented on a few days ago, and includes a very cool feature called "Jumpgate Underground" written by Awen. This mysterious lore piece is written as if it were in-game and will provide insider news about the game. Convenient wrap ups like this are always a good idea for those of us with hectic lives, so be sure to check it out.

Scott Brown is one of the founders of NetDevil, makers of Jumpgate Classic, Auto Assault and the upcoming Jumpgate Evolution. In a new developer log posted on the JGE site Scott waxes philosophical on the burning question: Why Jumpgate Evolution?

OK, maybe it's not a "burning" question to everyone, but it is to me since I so enjoyed Auto Assault and actually raised a pint in an honorary toast when it came to a crashing halt last year.

In Scott's reflections on the past he says that even though AA didn't perform to everyone's expectations they still learned a lot from the experience. They took that knowledge and applied it to evolving the Jumpgate franchise into what is looking to be a spectacular space frag-fest. Additionally, Scott talks a little about the development process of JGE and reveals some insightful tidbits about how NetDevil evolved that will surely warm the hearts of even the most k001 "jaded" gamers (and there are many of those, something I've never quite understood - they're games, but that's a topic for another time). Heartfelt honestly in this industry is few and far between. Give it a read and tell me you aren't more stoked about JGE!

Last week it was officially announced that Codemasters was going to publish Jumpgate Evolution, NetDevil's upcoming sci-fi MMO. MMORPG has the first detailed interview with the newly minted publisher up on their website.

Among the more intriguing nuggets pertains to the buzz-words that Codemasters uses to describe the game. Yes, they are the PR goombas specifically using them in order to sell the game, but to be honest ... it's working with me.

"Twitch-based combat" where players can literally jump into the cockpit and take part in an action packed space dogfight ... using a joystick (if they feel like it)! Sounds like X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. Something that I've commented on before.

"Think of Jumpgate as the Battlestar Galactica of sci-fi MMOs." OK! The analogy makes sense too, since both are properties taken from the past (in this case the original Jumpgate from back in 2001) and have been re-imagined into something far grander. At least we hope so. And based on the screen shots and game video ... it seems to be heading in that direction rather than going down the toidy.

Codemasters plans on releasing the game in the winter of 2008 in both North America and Europe, but they won't commit to a firm date. Read the whole interview for all the details.