While in a frenzy of Yom Kippur-induced hunger, I stopped by my local GameStop this afternoon and picked up a budget-priced collection Eidos put out that includes the original Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver games and for some odd reason Fighting Force for good measure. I've always wanted to check out the first two Legacy of Kain titles, and while I'll probably never touch Fighting Force, I'm not going to throw it out either. Considering how little I paid for the set, that's a whole lot of gaming. Also arriving today at the loonybin was Mad Maestro, which I ordered from Amazon only because it's on sale for $10 with free shipping. Mad Maestro is one of those games I found incredibly amusing, but would never spend $50, $40, $30, or even $20 on...but for $10, with free shipping? That's about right. Oh, and since I was asked yesterday in the Sunday Afternoon ShackReviews comments, I should probably post it here as well...the awesome deal by which I picked up Ikaruga last week is this one over at Best Buy, where they're (still!) selling the game for $20 with free shipping. My stack of games is extra-specially large right now, so I don't think I'll be buying anything for a while. Besides...if I've learned anything from my insane gaming habits, it's that given enough time, everything comes down in price. And considering how long it takes me to get around to playing some of these games, I suspect I'll be buying very few games at launch in the future (must-have games like Soul Calibur II being the exception, of course).

	Zelda Collection Confirmed! IGN is reporting that the rumored Legend of Zelda collection has been confirmed as a pack-in with new GameCube systems. Want proof? They've posted an image that shows off the disc's cover art and one promo image of it with a new system. This collection contains some serious retro-coolness, as it features The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and a demo of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Not bad for a pack-in, huh? IGN speculates that it may also be available as a pre-order with The Four Swords, although if that's true then the pre-order bonus would be a magnitude more significant than the rather bland game you're actually purchasing.
	Limited Edition Rainbow Six 3 with Headset Ubi Soft announced today that they will be shipping a headset by Thrustmaster with a special limited-edition version of Rainbow Six 3. No word on what this means for those who already pre-ordered the game to get the special demo CD.
	Silent Hill 4 Confirmed This shouldn't be too surprising, but nonetheless, according to PS2.IGN, Konami Japan is currently working on Silent Hill 4. The game is apparently scheduled for release in Japan next year, and will feature a male protagonist and an updated look for the series.
	Rallisport Challenge 2 Interview Computer and Video Games has conducted an interview with Karl Magnus Troedsson, the producer of Rallisport Challenge 2, the upcoming sequel to the fan-favorite racing game. Among other things, the interview deals with the developer's plans for Xbox Live support.
	Nokia Smoking Crack Has High Hopes for N-Gage In a story posted by Reuters today, a Nokia representative is quoted as saying that the company hopes to sell "several million" of their $300 N-Gage phone/game system in 2004. *cough*. Back on planet Earth, the latest edition of CNN/Money's Game Over column has their review of the system, which like most every other one, is hardly enthusiastic. Look for my review to run tomorrow.
	New Spawn Character in Armageddon Namco and Todd McFarlane announced today that the upcoming game Spawn: Armageddon will feature a brand new character known as Mammon. The character will later appear in the comic series.
	Kombat for Less Midway sent out a press release today announcing that Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance has been added to the budget-price programs for all three platforms. If you've been holding out until now, knock yourself out.
	Twice the Otogi From Software has announced that the first shipment of Otogi: Hyakki Toubatsu Emaki in Japan will include the English-language version of the original Otogi: Myth of Demons. The game hasn't been announced for released outside of Japan yet, so there's no word if such an offer will be repeated over here (it's doubtful).
	Dinosaur Hunting Announced One Xbox game that has been announced for released in this country is Dinosaur Hunting, the action adventure game that was developed by Microsoft Game Studios Japan that's based on Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World. It will be released on these shores in early November.
	Gladius Gold LucasArts announced today that Gladius, their RPG epic of manly battling and togas, has gone gold. The game will be released for all three platforms at the end of the month.
	New Wavebird Announced It's hardly in the same league as the other GameCube news you'll find at the top of tonight's LNC, but regardless, Nintendo announced today a new, platinum colored edition of their WaveBird wireless controller. This ought to go nicely with a new platinum GameCube and that Zelda collection.
	Misc. Media/Previews GameSpot has new previews of EyeToy: Play and Culdecept (both PS2), along with new shots from Monster Rancher 4 (PS2), Fable (Xbox) and WWE Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain (PS2). Over at IGN they have new footage from Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (GC), a new trailer from Baten Kaitos (GC), a Japanese commercial for the GameCube version of Wario Ware, a pair of new shots from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2) and some new shots from Final Fantasy XI (PS2). Elsewhere online, Games Are Fun links to a new trailer from Gungrave OD (PS2) and offers some new shots (which are probably just caps from the trailer linked elsewhere here) from Baten Kaitos (GC), GameSpy has new previews of Final Fantasy XI (PS2) and Tony Hawk's Underground (GC, PS2, Xbox), The Magic Box has new shots from Naruto: Narutimet Hero, Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission and Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Got und Bose (all PS2), CVG has new shots from Mario Kart: Double Dash (GC) and GameInformer has a hands-on look at Tony Hawk's Underground (GC, PS2, Xbox). And finally, PSO World has some nifty images of pre-order bonuses that are being offered in Japan for Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution and a look at a special-edition PSO Trilogy set (thanks Slashdot Games).