Spartan is the third in a series of empire-building strategy games that includes the best-selling Legion and Chariots of War. partan focuses on one of the most influential civilisations in the history of mankind – the Ancient Greeks, and allows players to choose from 100 nations to lead to victory, including Sparta, renowned for its total dedication to the art of war and for producing the ultimate fighting machine of the ancient world – the Spartan Hoplite; probably most famous for the courageous last stand of 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480BC.

JoWooD Productions Software AG today officially announced the Add-On to SpellForce: The Order of Dawn named SpellForce: The Breath of Winter. The multi award winning RPS (Role-Playing-Strategy) Game has enthralled Real Time Strategy and RPG gamers alike and has been received to critical acclaim, winning a range of awards for its market performance. Read more for details ...

Majesco Sales Inc.today announced an agreement with Nickelodeon to publish several episodes of the network's high-profile cartoon programs as part of its new Game Boy Advance Video product line.

Shrapnel Games has released a new patch (and updated demo) for Stormcloud Creations' gladiator-management sim Coliseum. This update brings your retail game to v1.6 and addresses several bugs & gameplay tweaks, and a few entirely new features such as the ability to bribe opponents, 10 new enchantments, a playoff display, and a quest mode. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

Nintendo Co. Ltd., which at one point stopped production on its GameCube video game console due to slack demand, has now nearly sold out of the console in the United States and is seeking to bring supplies in from elsewhere, a spokeswoman said on Monday.

The Sims changed the face of gaming in the new millennium and quickly became the #1 PC game of all time. In the next generation of The Sims, The Sims 2, players control their Sims over an entire lifetime for the first time. Every choice that is made has a relevant and dramatic effect on the life of a Sim. More life-like Sims, all-new gameplay, and the ground-breaking addition of genetics, with the DNA of Sims passed down through generations gives players a more vivid, realistic, and in-depth Sims experience. All of this takes place in a new, amazingly life-like 3-D world. Experience the crazy, unpredictable ride of a Sim's lifetime in The Sims 2.

LucasArts has released a new patch for BioWare's sci-fi 3D RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. This update brings your retail game to v1.03 (contains the English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish editions all in one) and fixes a bug where the Walk key was not bindable, and some ATI Soft Shadow issue. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

NVIDIA is pleased to announce that id Software recommends the GeForce FX family of graphics processing units for DOOM 3. This week, many of our add-in card and system builder partners have begun to display a special sticker on their retail packaging and company Websites to promote this recommendation to consumers. This marks a great achievement for GeForce FX GPUs. Look for this sticker on video cards equipped with a GeForce FX GPU and witness the mind-blowing detail of the DOOM 3 experience - the way it's meant to be played. To have a look at the sticker, please visit our DOOM 3 page on NVIDIA nZone, located at http://www.nvidia.com/object/nzone_doom3_home.html.

Mashed is a miniature arcade racing game under development at UK's Supersonic Studio, to be published by Empire Interactive. Up to 4 players will be able to compete at the same time, with one goal in mind: win at all costs - either by finishing first, either by destroying your opponents. Expected on store shelves June 2004 for PS2, Xbox and PC.

Maestro is a Mike Oldfield creation and is aimed at users of all ages. Maestro aims to appeal to users on many levels: some will compete, others will meet and greet and use the world of Maestro to forge communities. Some will transform Maestro into the world's most magnificent chat room. Maestro has been hand-built, from the ground upwards with a unique philosophical vision. Read more to check some "odd" screens or download the demo...

"Since it seems like so many European countries are upset with America at the moment because of our foreign policy, we felt it was the ideal time to offer them a harmless means of venting their rage," explained Running With Scissors' honcho and international diplomat Vince Desi. "We sat down at the UN and reached an agreement with our European Allies to share our pain, as in POSTAL 2: Share The Pain."

Ubisoft today announced the acquisition of Austin-based Wolfpack Studios, the developer of Shadowbane. The critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online (MMO) game for the PC and Mac platforms and its recently launched expansion pack, Shadowbane: The Rise of Chaos, are operated and supported by Ubisoft's online gaming division, ubi.com, which is among the top five gaming portals in the world.

Buka Entertainment is pleased to notify you today of the agreement with Pointsoft Gmbh, one of the prominent German games publishers. The agreement states that Pointsoft acquires the rights to publish Battle Mages in German-speaking countries. The release of the game is scheduled for April 2004. Battle Mages will be entirely localized.

Another day, another batch of game trailers were released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• Solar - Trailer
• Rainbow Six 3 - Trailer
• Transformers: Armada
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

'Toon Army' is a gritty, foul mouthed, wise cracking, cartoon, World War 2, FPS, battlefield game allowing both single player and multiplayer modes over a multitude of terrain's, with up to 32 players in a game. Following the misadventures of GI John Doe the player takes on the dreaded Axis powers across Africa and Europe. Read more for details, screens and first trailer ...

Global Star Software has released a patch for InterActive Vision's modern combat flight sim Jetfighter V: Homeland Protector.This update will brings your retail game to v1.01. and adds a keyboard configuration menu, full Internet multiplayer support with a new deathmatch mode, a chat feature, a save option for the mission generator, etc (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for details and download links ...

Microids has released a demo for Benoit Skokal's adventure sequel Syberia 2. No specific details are available at this time but this demo gives you the chance to try out an early part of the game. Stay tuned for our soon coming Syberia 2 preview. Read more for download links.

Rockstar Games is pleased to announce Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the next iteration in the globally successful Grand Theft Auto franchise. Developed by world-class designers Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will be available exclusively for the PlayStation2 and is expected to be in stores in North America on October 19, 2004 and in Europe on October 22, 2004.

Stalingrad is a real-time strategy (developed by DTF Games) based on the modified Blitzkrieg engine. The game tells a story of one of the most dramatic periods of World War II and covers all major events from June 1942 till January 1943. The game consists out of two campaigns. During the first one players will lead the advancing German forces and after that will assume the role of a Soviet commander, whose aim is to liberate the city and smash the 6th Army of Wehrmacht