Square EA is about to blow the lid off its upcoming PlayStation 2 adventure roleplaying game, Kingdom Hearts with a community event centered around the game called the Kingdom Hearts Consumer Demo Day. On Friday, August 23 Square EA will give players the chance to get a hands on preview of this wonderful adventure that combines the characters and locales of various Disney movie franchises with the worlds created by SquareSoft. Attendees will also get a chance to meet the game's director and character designer Tetsuya Nomura and voice talent David Gallagher ("7th Heaven") and Hayden Panettiere ("Ally McBeal," "Remember The Titans"). The event will be held at the PlayStation store, located at 101 Fourth Street (Fourth & Mission streets) in San Francisco on August 23 from 2:00 - 6:00 PM. Limited edition posters will also be handed out at the event, but the most important thing is that you'll be able to play the game before September 17 - the day the game hits retail in North America! (Thanks GameSpy).

Fans of the Rayman series will be excited to hear that Rayman's two best friends, Globox and Murfy, will return alongside Rayman in Ubi Soft's action-adventure, cartoon fantasy game Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc . Globox and Murfy play important roles in the game and Globox is especially intertwined in Rayman 3's plot. Not to reveal too much of the story (that'll come later), all we can say for now is you'll be seeing a lot of Globox and Murfy as Rayman comes face-to-face with some of his greatest adversaries yet, including the Hoodlums and evil Dark Lums.

Aces of World War I, the ultimate flight simulation meets action combat PC game, fully immerses gamers into the heat of World War I combat. Assuming the identity of Edward Rickenbacker, a great American ace, players are challenged to hold their ground against the most lethal German flyers of the Great War. Flying in one of six authentically rendered planes, players must successfully combat all of the opposing ground, air and sea German forces if they intend to win the war victoriously. Check out the Aces of World War I site for yourself. There you'll find all sorts of in-game details, plane and in-game images and a game trailer. We have a local mirror for the trailer so "read more" for links ...

It's robots fightin' time! A team of employees at Sony Online participates in the remote-controlled fighting robot competition BattleBots by entering our very own bot known simply as "S.O.B." See how our bot came into being, from the initial meeting full of wild ideas, through early designs and prototypes, to the final product. Follow the story of one tough S.O.B. as it competes in the fourth and fifth seasons of BattleBots on Comedy Central. Read more about the Sony Battlebot right here.

GoneGold today reports that Battlefield 1942 has gone gold! They got it confirmed after they talked to Jerris Mungai, Sr. PR Specialist for EA. He stated the game is indeed gold and will be shipping out for duplication in a day or two.

Ubi Soft Entertainment will release an upgrade for its multi-award winning World War II combat flight simulation title, IL-2 Sturmovik. The IL2-Sturmovik version 1.2 upgrade includes four new flyable aircraft including theYak-9, Yak-9D, Bf-109-E-7/NZ and Ju-87B-2, and features 10 new single player missions and six new cooperative online missions for the IL-2 community. Version 1.2 will be available for download in three weeks from the official il2sturmovik website and also check some early screens here.

As an added bonus and thank you to all IG2 players, the level designers in Ebensee have restructured the mission levels so that they are suitable as endless games. This time, Mission Emerald Creek can be downloaded as an endless level. Every effort has again been made to maintain the original character of the level to the maximum possible extent. Get the redesigned 'Mission Emerald Creek' here.

Ubi Soft Entertainment today announced a rebate program for its forthcoming Chessmaster 9000 PC title. Under the program, current Chessmaster owners will receive a $10 rebate when they upgrade to Chessmaster 9000 from any previous version of Chessmaster, starting with Chessmaster 4000. Chessmaster 9000 has an MSRP of $39.99, and will ship to U.S. and Canadian retail shelves on August 27, 2002.

Recreating the association that brought Duke Nukem – Manhattan Project across the Atlantic, the Amsterdam-based powerhouse of innovative and exciting gameplay has teamed up yet again with Arizona-based publishers Arush Entertainment to secure European publishing rights to the amazing cyber thriller Devastation.

JoWooD Productions promises that the festive season will be filled with fun for gamers as Santa Claus Jr. Advance launches on GameBoy Advance on 1st November 2002.

Fresh off the overwhelmingly successful Pentium 4 Processor Summer Championships, the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) today announced their next major event in the United States - The Pentium 4 Processor Winter Event 2002. Scheduled for December 18th to 22nd at the Dallas Hyatt Regency, the event will bring together the best professional computer gamers on the planet to play Half-Life Counter-Strike, Unreal Tournament 2003, and a special Team Fortress Classic tournament.. With over $150,000 being awarded, the Pentium 4 Winter Event will be the largest US gaming event this year.

Nintendo and Rare join forces to bring Fox McCloud and friends to NINTENDO GAMECUBE. Eight years after the defeat of Andross, the Star Fox team discovers a beautiful prehistoric planet ruled by a sinister tyrant known as General Scales. Players take charge of Star Fox team leader Fox McCloud to free inhabitants from Scales's evil clutches and restore peace to the primal paradise.

Celtic Kings is an RTS which combines strategy and role-playing elements in single mode, and which also includes online multi-player functions. Players must take control of the destiny of the heroic Larax and try and lead him to victory by developing a personal strategy and showing a mastery of military tactics. Celtic Kings is due for release in September 2002. (4 slightly small screens is included with the game story)

Time of Defiance unleashed on the public; limited discount subscriptions available. Two million gaming minutes served over a year of beta testing will culminate this Wednesday with the release of Nicely Crafted Entertainment’s (NiCE) Time of Defiance. Read more for screens, features and download link for a five-day demo!

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is the follow-up to the BAFTA award nominated Hitman: Codename 47. Developed by Io Interactive, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin will be released on PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in September.

Grandia Xtreme is the first original Grandia title for the PlayStation2 and is scheduled to ship September 30. Grandia Xtreme carry an estimated retail price of $49.99. Check out 16 slightly small PS2 screenshots.

GGMania got a chance to chat with FireStarter Project Manager Slava Klimov to find out more about this upcoming arcade-style shooter currently in the works at GSC Game World. Included with the interview there is six impressive new screenshots. Here is a clip:

GGMania: What is the current status of the game's development and when will it be in stores?

Slava Klimov: At the moment we have passed the half of development way with FireStarter, the expected release date is Q1 2003.

Return to the frigid north of the Forgotten Realms in the sequel to the critically acclaimed Icewind Dale. This exciting high-fantasy action adventure unites 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, new character classes and races. Enhancements such as auto balancing game-play and an upgraded Infinity Engine allow for more dynamic battles than ever before. Icewind Dale II delivers the depth of gameplay expected by Action-RPG fans while providing an attractive entry point players new to the genre. Check the nifty screens we snapped!

Turok: Evolution is a prequel that takes us back to the origins of the Turok lineage. In the beginning of the game, we see our hero, Tal'Set, fighting his nemesis Captain Tobias Bruckner in 1886 Texas. During the battle, a rift between their world and the Lost Lands opens and Tal'Set is sucked into it. Turok: Evolution is an epic adventure of treachery, exploration, and war in a land of lush jungles, suspended cities, mysterious temples, reptile armies, and towering dinosaurs. Njoy the show!