Easter Sunday saw the broadcast of ITV1's inaugural Game Stars awards ceremony. The awards were voted for by the public, and represent one of the biggest ever polls of video gaming opinion. In a coup for Nintendo, the GAME Retail: Most Wanted Award went to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, exclusively for NINTENDO GAMECUBE, successfully seeing off very respectable bids from Halo 2, Doom III and Enter The Matrix amongst a host of others.

After months in development on a far and distant tropical isle Tropico 2: Pirate Cove is making its sailing the seven seas into stores. An addictive real time strategy, empire building game for the PC this swashbuckling adventure is a treasure that can be discovered in stores on 25th April 2003.

Xbox, the video game system from Microsoft, today announced that "Controller S" becomes the standard Xbox controller and will be packaged inside all Xbox video game systems in Europe. Originally sold separately as a stand-alone peripheral, Controller S is the Xbox answer to gamers who wanted more choice. Smaller than the original Xbox controller and featuring a new button layout, Xbox Controller S has proven to be a big hit with gamers since its launch at retail in September 2002.

Titans of Steel Soundtrack to be Preformed by Alternative Rock Band Crownd.. Matrix Games is proud to announce signing Alternative rock band Crownd to play on their upcoming Titans of Steel Warring Suns game. Read more for details!

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

• The Suffering (Midway)
• Viewtiful Joe (Capcom)
• Lost Kingdoms 2 (Activision)
• Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil (Infogrames)
• Dino Crisis 3 (Capcom)
• 
  
  Read more for download links ...

Today Global Star Software has released a list of the PC games they will be showcasing at next month's E3 in Los Angeles. Located in Booth Booth 6021 of Kentia Hall, Global Star will be highlighting the following upcoming titles: Airport Tycoon 3, Jetfighter 5, Mall Tycoon 2, Emergency Services Sim, Firefighter 259, Rebel Trucker.

Divine Divinity is an RPG in which you take control over either a male of female character whom you guide through a highly interactive fantasy world. Your goal is to develop your character by making him/her better in a variety of skills, discover mysteries, combat enemies and save the day. Larian Studios has just issued the third patch (hotfix Nr3) for Divine Divinity, bringing your retails game to v1.33 (UK&US). This upgrade fixes problems with corrupted savegames, fixes a bug with passive skills, and several other bugs as well. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

At last the eagerly-anticipated release of the new patch for Unreal Tournament 2003 has been released. This upgrade brings your retail copy of the multiplayer first-person shooter by Digital Extremes and Epic Games to v2225. This patch can be applied to any previous version and has a buttload of gameplay tweaks and fixes, HUD/menus, AI, networking, mod support, D3D/OpenGL, audio as well as demo recording and playback. Read more for detailed fix list and links where to grab it ...

GarageGames and 21-6 Productions launch Orbz 2.0 with thirty-five all new single-player challenges, online community high scores, computer opponents called Botz, three new courses to compete on, 15 new orbs to choose from, and now available on Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. The demo offers 5 solo challenges (35 in retail), 2 courses (14 in retail), 10 orbs (30 in retail), only 2 botz allowed in multi-player, no online ranking for multi-player, no community high scores for Single-Player, no unique naming. Read more for download link...

Arx offers a number of interactions with objects and NPCs, realistic action fights, a unique real time spell casting system, character creation, dialogues, puzzles, exploration in an underground atmospheric world with various Cities inhabited by several races, galleries, dungeons and mines all intertwined by an unexpected epic plot. Arkane Studios has issued updated retail patches for Arx Fatalis, bringing their 3D role-playing game at version 1.17. This release fixes a crash with the inventory and also fixed a bug with sounds settings not being remembered. Read more for links where to grab this puppy ..

SEGA of America, Inc. today announced that "Vectorman" (working title) is currently in development exclusively for the PlayStation2 and will debut at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2003. "Vectorman" is being developed by Pseudo Interactive and is slated for release in early 2004.

Microsoft Game Studios today announced that Rise of Nations has gone gold and is scheduled to ship to stores on 23rd May (UK) and May 20th (US). Virtual field commanders will soon get the opportunity to "Conquer the World" in single player, or lead their troops into battle online with this revolutionary real-time strategy (RTS) game from Brian Reynolds. To celebrate this milestone, gamers will be able to chat live with Reynolds on Zone.com today, 22nd April, at 1am GMT. For more information on the chat, check here .

Ubi Soft Entertainment and Alienware Corporation today announced details of a cross-promotional deal for Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield for the PC. The contest will offer consumers the chance to win online prizes, including a grand prize of an Alienware system with a copy of this highly anticipated sequel in the award-winning Rainbow Six series of games. The promotion will launch in April and continue through December 31st 2003.

In Squad Assault: West Front, you command troops in both the Allied and German Armies of the West Front of World War II in an immersive full 3-D continuous time environment. Squad Assault: West Front features detailed models for all the major armies that fought in France in 1944, including American, German, British, Canadian, and Free French. For those who prefer traditional turn-oriented play, a user defined auto-pause feature for order entry and battlefield assessment allows for a more thoughtful game. A 2D overhead map view with order entry is also available for those who prefer to see the battle from above. Check the new batch of screens ...

Inspired by its celebrated Secret Weapons series of classic World War II flight combat games, LucasArts' Secret Weapons Over Normandy brings the historic air battles of that era to PS2, Xbox, and PC this fall. Secret Weapons Over Normandy presents a dynamic, deeply engaging story-driven flight action experience that puts players in control of authentic World War II aircraft and challenges them to undertake the war's most dangerous missions. Check 4 new PS2 screens ...

Step into the world of SX Superstar, an ultra-realistic trip into the essence of supercross, chock full of smokin’ arcade-racing action that will release the rock star within. In SX Superstar, you are the star. Take your rider from the poorhouse to the penthouse in the only supercross title that focuses on the lifestyle aspect of professional supercross. Pull huge air and squash the comp for a big win, then line your pockets with cold, hard cash. Rake in enough bucks and start living the good life with better bikes, bigger houses and of course, hotter chicks! It’s like your life, only better! Check the PS2 & Xbox screens...

Gamers get ready to finalize war plans and ready the reinforcements as Valve's Day of Defeat has gone gold. The multiplayer action-packed WWII game pits players in Axis vs. Allies squad-based combat in Western Europe at the height of the war in 1944. Day of Defeat is powered by Valve's Half-Life technology and is the first title to be published by Activision, Inc. under its new strategic partnership with Valve. The title is scheduled for release this May.

SEGA Europe Ltd today announced the development of Headhunter: Redemption, a cinematic third-person action epic for the PlayStation2 and the Xbox . The title is in development by Amuze and is slated for release in North America and Europe in late 2003. The title will debut at the E3.

Russobit-M is glad to invite everybody to their booth # 6427 in Kentia Hall at the upcoming E3. Read more for their line up!