Jaak was flying under the stars’ unyielding gaze, heading for confrontation, failure and death, when one of them seemed to flash and blink out of existence. It was only for a moment, and the camera drones that encircled his ship barely caught the burn on their lenses, but he chose to believe that it had happened, and that it was an omen. This, at long last, would be the time when he could debase himself, die and be reborn - rid of his indelible taint.

It wasn’t long since he’d last been cloned. He had awoken coughing and spluttering on the cold cloning bay floor, naked as dawn and soaked with the ectoplasm that had been nourishing this new body. A new ship awaited him in his hangar, courtesy of blessed forethought during a much older visit, so it was no time before he made it onboard, hooked his body up to the sensor lines in his escape pod, and undocked from the station into space and the blanket of stars.

The ones around him shone dully, their luminescence entirely failing to light his way, but the one he’d now glimpsed for an instant was enough to lift his spirits. He tended to navigate by instinct, taking whatever route that felt like it would get him further than last time, and not thinking about why he was doing this.

There was a planet in the same approximate direction as his ghost star had been, and Jaak set his ship to warp there. He could never get used to warping; the tunnel through which his ship coursed was beautiful and unreal, but the feeling that he was following a path from which he couldn’t turn was sometimes almost too much to bear.

His ship came out of warp in another part of the system, and immediately he was rewarded with an evil prize. There were pirates here, zooming back and forth through a gas cloud. They were Sansha, a freakish group of slaves bound by invasive technology to obey and protect their masters. The sun glinted off the carapaces on their ships, and made the multitude of spikes that dotted their hulls look even more unpleasant.

Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that Madden NFL 08 En Espa has shipped and is available in retail stores today for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360. Fully translated in Spanish, Madden NFL 08 en Espa features San Diego Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo on the box cover. Madden NFL 08 en Espa features exclusive Spanish language content, including additional music tracks, and Spanish play-by-play and game analysis voice-over.

Madden NFL 08 En Espa is part of a commitment the NFL and NFL PLAYERS share in delivering customized content to a growing Hispanic fan base. Other ways the NFL reaches its Spanish-speaking fans include: NFLatino.com, NFL Monday Night Football on ESPN Deportes, NBC Sunday Night Football in Spanish via SAP, Univision Radio’s 30-game lineup, Telemundo specials surrounding Super Bowl XLII, as well as NFL coverage throughout the season on Telemundo’s weekly sports and entertainment shows. In addition, NFL PLAYERS reaches Hispanic fans through various player-driven charitable initiatives and community appearances.

Madden NFL 08 en Espa features a Read and React system that allows gamers to quickly identify the strongest players on the field, and to make game-altering adjustments to further affect each and every play. Player skill icons identify on-field strengths and weaknesses, providing an immediate read on what an opponent is doing. This icon system complements a deeper gameplay experience that maximizes the skill of the individual NFL superstars, separating them from the role players, and takes NFL football strategy to a new level. In addition, the PS2 and Xbox 360 versions are interoperable with Madden NFL 08 in English for online play.

Atlus Inc., a leading publisher of interactive entertainment, today announced Baroque, a new dungeon-crawling action RPG for the Wii and PS2computer entertainment system. Dark, addictively challenging, and totally immersive, Baroque is a pure RPG experience, highly regarded by Japanese gamers and now finally scheduled to arrive in North America! Baroque is currently slated for release in February 2008.

For more on Baroque, please visit the official http://www.atlus.com/baroque/