Gaming news this week was all about games going gold, new releases, and even more competition between the giants of our industry. While we won't get into each new game released, one game deserves special mention. It's a title that will soon fill up a significant amount of gamers' free time: Half-Life.

　　We know that gamers have been anxiously awaiting Half-Life, and we want to play the final version as much as you do. While companies are just beginning to ship the Half-Life: Day One demo with product, we know that many of you waiting have already played through the demo and want more of the same. On Tuesday, Valve finally finished the game. From what we know, there won't be a (legal... cough, cough) demo released of the game on the Web, but from what we've seen already, it looks like a keeper. Of course, the second that we receive a copy of the finished game, we'll give you some first impressions. Stay tuned.

　　Diamond Multimedia implemented some rough cuts this week. It announced that 180 workers will get the big adios. The company has made some big expansions this year with buying Orchid/Micronics for US$31.6 million and adding a home networking business, so this may just mean that it's taking the blow for shelling out the cash. Luckily, the Monster Sound MX300 and the controversial Rio MP3 player aren't affected by the cuts.

　　The PGL is being held in GameSpot's native stomping grounds, San Francisco, this week. All the big names of the gaming world are in town for the big frag festival. Last night we even bumped into John Romero shaking his bootie on the dance floor at Eidos' Tomb Raider III launch party. No comment on how he dances. On Saturday, the Quake god himself, John Carmack, is scheduled to speak at the event. We hear that he's going to talk a little about Quake III Arena. Guess where we'll be?

　　In 3D audio news, Half-Life will be the first title to support Aureal's A3D 2.0. While the first boards capable of playing the new version of A3D are just showing up from Turtle Beach and Diamond, it's good to know that what may be one of the best games of the year, Half-Life, already supports A3D 2.0 right out of the box. In what seems to be a direct backlash at Aureal, Creative launched its new EAX 2.0 (Environmental Audio Extensions) SDK so developers can begin adding support to their upcoming titles. Backlash sounds like too strong a word, but you have to consider what Creative added. Aureal's biggest feature in A3D 2.0 is occlusion. Guess what one of EAX 2.0's big features is - occlusion.

　　While occlusion is a great technology, you know that the two companies are going to start swinging over this one. Aureal has always shied away from fights and says that its products speak for themselves. Creative is considerably bigger and seems to love a good fight. One thing may be edging Creative on: There are rumors all over the Web that say that the latest Vortex 2 audio cards (Aureal's latest processor) can run Creative's EAX along with A3D 2.0. While it might be a simple case of the Vortex 2 just running some simple DirectSound 3D calls... having one board that could play both 3D audio standards would be a huge boost for games. More on this later as we investigate.

　　Of all the suits going on in the industry, Blizzard's suit against Microstar actually finished up this week. Microstar shipped its Starcraft add-on, Stellar Forces, without the backing or approval of Blizzard. Most gamers know that you can't sell levels without the knowledge of the company, but apparently Microstar didn't do its research. The two settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. And all copies of Stellar Forces will be pulled from retailers' shelves. Hey, you may have a collector's item on your hands if you own Stellar Forces.