The official Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures patch notes for the June 23 update have been released.  It seems that the developers made good on fixing some of the problems in siege warfare, as well as added a number of changes that we're sure players will enjoy. Want to see the patch notes for yourself? Then head on over to the full article.

Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures servers were taken down (and are still down as of this article's writing) so that the developers could apply a number of bugfixes, and improve the gameplay balance. Want to know what the devs are changing? Then head on over to the full article for the full patch notes.

*update* The servers are now up! So you can now check out the fixes first hand!

The game industry may be getting swamped with sequels, remakes, annualization, and all manner of money-raking tactics. That's bad news, an analyst says, because creativity among developers is often compromised. He says, however, publishers are better off in the long run by breeding talent among the minds behind the medium. Get his full take in the article after the jump.

Remember all those sci-fi movies where astronauts hibernate in cryogenic stasis during long space flights? Researchers are now looking into a way to make space hibernation a possibility - without the cryogenics though. They plan to make them breathe in swamp gas instead. Wait... Swamp gas? You'll have to read the full article to find out why.

For many a player at SOE's Vanguard MMORPG, the next thing to do come level 45 is to beef up your arsenal with the highly coveted swamp armor sets. Wondering what sort of perks and requisites your potential new war wear has? Visit the full article and find out!

It's still sinking, but Shanghai's gradual descent into the sea is now at its slowest pace since 2000 thanks to massive engineering efforts to keep the city above water.

According to Reuters, the Shanghai Daily newspaper quoted the Shanghai Engineering Administrative Bureau on Tuesday as saying that the city sank only 7.5 millimeters (0.3 inches) last year. In 2005, the city sank 8.3 mm while in 2004, it sank 8.7 mm. Officials say however that more has to be done.

"Shanghai plans to control the yearly subsidence level to within seven millimeters by 2010," Liu Shouqi, of the city's land subsidence supervision department, was quoted as saying. Authorities have deployed sensors around the city to detect subsidence and cause water to be pumped underground to shore up the subsurface if necessary.

Reuters note that Shanghai, China's commercial and financial hub, is built on swamp land at the mouth of a powerful river, and lies a scant 4 meters (13 feet) above sea level on average. Its soft soil, massive development and overuse of underground water reservoirs have raised the threat of inundation.

 

When traveling from Ost Guruth to Garth Agarwen, adventurers beware. You'd have to pass through treacherous areas such as the Haragrim swamp and the corrupted forest of Agamaur. There are a number of quest on the way (Lone-Lands to Bree-Land) and of course, players are encouraged to take advantage of it.

Garth Argawen is littered with ruins, eerie red trees, and pools of water. Its denizens are the Hillmen of Rhudaur and the Shades of Arthedain, both in service of the Red-maid. Adventurers will find that wandering around Garth Arawen is no easy feat as groups of hillmen and gloom-waters lurk around the ruins.

As adventurers travel deeper into Garth Argawen, they will encounter a glade where they will meet a corrupted tree Grimbark, formerly named Oakenbark. It will make full use of its branches and roots to stop adventurers from going any further. It also drops beehives to eliminate threats.

Ready to go against a giant tree? Arm yourselves.

  

Over at TenTonHammer, they have a preview of The Slave Pens, an instanced area meant for level 62-64 characters. The preview gets a bit long, so we'll just serve you guys with the juicy bits of the treat, mob info and boss info for that instance. If you want the full meal, you can click on our source link below.

The preview does come with a warning though - and that everything in it is from the beta. Obviously there may be some changes to WoW: The Burning Crusade before the release.

Here be the details:

• The instance is full of lobster and crab type creatures. If you're wearing cloth or leather armor, be careful about pulling aggro. Be wary of the female naga casters and the elite guards. The female casters can mind control, and the elite guards have a magic shield that pops every now and then that renders them immune to damage. Something similar to the paladins bubble.
• Mennu the Betrayer can be found patrolling a ramp surrounded by groups of other MOBs. He's a hard hitting boss and he pops totems every now and then. A quick kill is a must.
• Rockmar the Crackler is a giant lobster. He seems simple enough, but he's got a debuff called grievous wound that causes damage-over-time to any opponent he's in close combat with.
• Quagmarran is a giant swamp creature with tentacle arms. He has a cleave attack that can hit everyone in his front arc. He also has a poison volley attack that hits everyone in about a 40 yard range. He also has a poison debuff that did 600 - 800 damage a tic. Ouchies. Given his abilities and the fact that he hits hard, tanking to protect your team can be difficult.

The report says that it isn't uncommon to see players starting to trade off damage bonuses to get more stamina on their healing items. It only makes sense. Given these hard hitting bosses, you need the health. Okay, so now that you know the stuff to expect on that instance, will you put in the time so you could run through that map?

The Jolly Green Giant is back. Nope, not the Hulk (Ultimate Alliance has him), but the "other" guy - Shrek's back again, and if you haven't seen the trailer yet, you might wanna check it out.

Activision's just announced the lineup of development studios that will be backing the game up as Shrek the Third makes its multi-platform launch in May - just enough time for you to see them movie version when it hits theatres this March.

Here's the developers:

• Shaba Games is handling the console release (Xbox 360, PS2, Wii).
• Vicarious Visions is handling the DS and GBA releases.
  
• Amaze Entertainment is handling the PSP release.
  
• Beenox is handling the PC release.
  

As for the game and movie's story: Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) have to stand in as rulers for the Far Far Away kingdom when its heir disappears.

For them to return to their swamp, Shrek, Donkey (Eddie Murphy), and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) must go on a journey to find the lost heir, all the while as Fiona defends the Far Far Away Kingdom from a coup d 'etat launched by Prince Charming (Rupert Everett).

The tracks of success of Monster Hunter Freedom are still fresh (650,000 sold in Japan, making it the biggest PSP title to date) but here comes Monster Hunter Portable 2 (to be known in the U.S. as Monster Hunter Freedom 2) anyway. According to Famitsu, the sequel begins in Pokke, a village headed by a female chief but the main setting is the snowy mountains around the village. But the gameplay areas extend to a forest, a desert, a volcano and a swamp.

If the snowy mountain area looks familiar it's because they were featured in Monster Hunter 2 (PS2). But unlike the PS2 title, Monster Hunter Portable 2 does not have its the day-night-season time flow system where conditions change as the game is played. The PSP version features quests taking place at set times of the day. Other PS2 elements carried over to the PSP's Monster Hunter Portable 2 includes the samurai blade, the hunting horn, and the long bow. Famitsu also mentioned wireless play and downloadable content but didn't provide the details.