The Sims: Vacation will be the fourth expansion to The Sims. This new expansion will let players take their sims to a number of different locations, including a beach, a mountain setting, and a wilderness camping area. Maxis has confirmed that they are working on a new expansion for The Sims, but did not confirm any details. A spokesperson said an official announcement would be made next week.

Civ Fanatics let us know that Civilization III will have multiplayer as an add-on and this new "expansion" add-on will be out February or March 2002. Here is a snip from the posting:

According to the Civilization III review on the December issue of the PC GamePlay UK magazine, the multiplayer feature of Civ III will be released as an expansion pack in February or March 2002.

Hundreds of people who bought Microsoft's hot new Xbox gaming console over the holidays received defective systems, and some said they had to wait weeks and endure shoddy customer service before their systems were fixed.

Today on Blizzard's Warcraft III Races Page you can check out, The Archer, a Night Elf Unit in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos..

Infogrames confirms Unreal Tournament 2 in the making by Digital Extremes. As rumored all week online, the co-creators of Unreal and Unreal Tournament are currently working on the sequel to the infamous 1999 Game of the Year... Read more below for full story, game description and key features.

It's like christmas for all Unreal fans nowdays. PlanetUnreal let us know that the Dutch/English site GamePower got 5 new Unreal 2 screens posted on their site. Bring it on.

Fishtank Interactive, a division of Ravensburger Interactive Media, announced today that "Car Tycoon," their unique simulation game for the PC, is now available in retail stores. The first of its kind, this automobile business simulation allows players to design a winning business strategy and conquer the automobile industry.

GamingGroove tossed up an article and some nice links today about the folks that producing the cinematics for WXP's The Lord of the Rings, have released some concept art and still shots from the E3 trailer. Full story here!

30 GOLD screens came at the same time as the Serious Sam: The Second Encounter was announced today. Just hit the Read More link below to enjoy the screens!

Computer and video game publisher Gathering of Developers, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., along with PC developer, Croteam, announced today that "Serious Sam: The Second Encounter" has gone gold. The game is due to arrive on store shelves February 5, 2002.

Earlier today we tossed up 18 screens from Sony's upcoming PS2 title, Virtua Fighter 4. Now we bring you six character renders to check out. Njoy!

Today afternoon, Russian developers Burut have posted a new Kreed video on their website in 40 MB Bink format: This version is available here. But at the same time tiscali.cz have converted this movie to a much smaller DivX version and it's available in 2 versions: high-res version 16 Mb (640x480) and a low-res version 5 Mb (160x120). Grab them here.

The Thing is the upcoming third-person action adventure in the works at Computer Artworks that's based on the classic 1982 horror movie by John Carpenter. Today 3D Gamers tossed up some screens and a movie trailer that sports over three minutes of gameplay and cutscene footage. Bring me there.

THQ Inc. today announced Matchbox Rescue Rigs for PC. This title will mark THQ’s fourth release under the strategic publishing agreement with Mattel, Inc. for both Matchbox and Hot Wheels which was announced in January 2001. As one of the most highly recognized worldwide brands for boys, Mattel’s Matchbox brand has been a household favorite for nearly 50 years. Matchbox Rescue Rigs for PC is scheduled to release in winter 2002.

We just recived 18 screens from the PS2 version title, Virtua Fighter 4. Release date: PS2 - March 2002. Check them out below!

High Voltage Software and Digital Mayhem have released a new 11.6 Mb movie for their 3rd person action X-Box title Hunter: The Reckoning. Grab this movie at Fileplanet.

Blizzard update: Today you can learn about Immolation, an ability of the Demon Hunter, a Night Elf Hero in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.

The Belgian site JIM.be posted up the press kit for Unreal Tournament 2 that Infogrames were handing out. Screens here and Artwork here.

We just received a 32 Mb movie from Unreal 2. The movie includes a interview with Mike Verdu and Matthias Worch and a movie of a visit at Legend, also showing dynamic fogg, a bot-fight and Aida. Side-note : half of the video are interviews with Mike Verdu and Matthias Worch, in German. Grab this movie here! Our server is heavily overloaded at the moment, mirrors is available below..

UPDATE: Here is the sites that help us mirror this movie.. link #1 PlanetUnreal, link #2 Fragzone, link #3 Unreal Sector, link #4 tiscali.cz .. Thanks to Spenser, Phat, James and jd for your help!

Lionhead's today let us know that the expansion pack, Black and White: Creature Isle, will be released globally on the 18th January 2002. Check out full story at the official site.