Purge is an online-only computer game. It is a First-Person-Shooter / hybrid Role-Playing-Game set in the near future accounting a war between the diametrically opposed forces of science-fiction (the Order) and fantasy (the Chosen). Technology versus magic. Science versus religion. Purge is being developed by Freeform Interactive LLC and utilizes the LithTech Talon system. Over the course of next few Mondays, an avid fan Roy Smart will discusss one type of character. We were introduced to Wastelander last week, and today's guide discusses the Cyborg. Monk, Fighter, and Mage will be coming up soon ...

Amped 2 is the ultimate freestyle snowboarding experience offering the largest, most varied trick library of any snowboarding game. Explore vast areas of wide-open, spectacularly rendered real mountains packed with terrain parks designed by world-famous snow park architect, Chris Gunnarson. Play head-to-head with friends to compare skills or challenge up to 7 others in various multiplayer modes. When ready to take it to the next level, connect to Xbox Live to check rankings and challenge the world’s best virtual riders.

Out of the Park Baseball 5 is the newest version of the award-winning baseball simulation that offers a sports gaming experience unlike any other. Multiple play options, a career mode, an exhaustive financial model, an open-ended design allowing you to completely customize your gaming experience, and much more. .400 software has just released a new update patch which fixes a number of minor issues and adds a few new features. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

Earth. Twenty-second century. Five years after the rebellion on Mars. For the last 15 years the corrupt dictator, Sopot, has oppressed the people of the Commonwealth. His relentless pursuit of unification with the neighboring United Republic has left the country soaked in unnecessary bloodshed. A battle for power and control that leaves the people of the Commonwealth in poverty. As not so ordinary citizens, a squad of super soldiers injected with nano-technology is formed. Fed up after years on the front lines each member vows to unify with the common goal of replacing the dictator. Today we serve up a whopping 80 PC, Xbox and Gamecube screens .. Njoy!

Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon is a skillfully-woven global adventure and a landmark in interactive story-telling. George and Nico return in this epic adventure as they fight through the steaming jungles of Congo, eerie castles in Prague, the chic back-streets of Paris and the historic village of Glastonbury – amongst many other locations - to unravel the secrets of the Sleeping Dragon and save mankind from the threat of a global catastrophe. Read more to check out 20+ new screens.

Its all here in .400 Software Studios' Tournament Dreams College Basketball, the most comprehensive basketball simulation available for the personal computer. Hit the ground running with any of 320 Division I schools, and build a dynasty to last the ages. Recruit players from over 3,000 actual U.S. high schools and junior colleges, and also foreign players. .400 Software release a demo that lets you play a single-season. Read more for download links & details

Set in Somalia in 1993, Delta Force – Black Hawk Down is based upon and around the Operation Restore Hope and Task Force Ranger campaigns and follows members of the elite Delta Force and US Army Rangers as they participate in a number of daring raids against the oppressive Somali warlords in and around Mogadishu. Read more for a batch of 30+ new screens ..

Noticed on GameSpot that Enigma Rising Tide has reached 'Gold' status meaning that the boxed retail version of Tesseraction's naval combat game is complete, and we can expect it to reach US stores around May15th. This is the offline part of the game, offering graphical enhancements compared to the previously released demo's, and does not include the original multiplayer portion, as originally planned. Back on Sept 26th the game already went gold once before, but since GMX Media picked up the offline rights, who knows what happened inbetween now and then...

Dungeon : Gladiator is a multiplayer oriented First Person Melee Game. Welcome to Verlorn, an island of a rich and troubled history, recently devastated by the feuds and wars of the foul Tyrants holding dominion here. In days passed, when humankind's Empire yet held an unsteady peace with its allies the Krehl, Verlorn was once known by a different name. Looking further back, remnant archives tell of the island when two great races once dominated. Beyond this, all that remains are sparse legends of creation full of myth and speculation. Where would you begin your quest for knowledge? A new batch of screens, njoy!

Ubi Soft Entertainment today announces that it has signed a deal to obtain publishing rights of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan's (SCEJ) Ape Escape 2 in North America. The game will be made exclusively for the PlayStation 2 for release this summer.

CNN Money reports that Sony was planning to stun the world and release the PlayStation 3 this year. At least one major wire service took the bait and ran the story, forcing Sony to issue a quick and firm denial. Even the most optimistic sources don't expect to see the next "next generation" consoles until late 2004 – and that's almost certainly a fantasy. More and more, it appears that the PlayStation 3, Xbox 2 (or, as some are calling it, the "Ybox") and next Nintendo game machine won't see the light of day until 2006.. A price cut is widely expected for PS2 in May, but publishers and analysts are starting to reign in expectations for that as well. $179 is being batted around as a potential new price point, rather than the $149 everyone was so certain about last year.

Gathering and developer Illusion Softworks in association with development team Pterodon, today announced "Vietcong" for the PC has gone gold. "Vietcong(tm)," a first person shooter set during the Vietnam War, is set to hit stores shelves in March 2003.

It has been a while since the last America's Army patch but here it finally is. The game includes the first-person-perspective action game Operations, as well as Soldiers, the role-playing portion of America's Army in which players navigate life's challenges to achieve life goals. The new version contains an updated Unreal game engine, a new "Radio Tower" non-combatant rescue mission, better projectile penetration, incorporates ricochets and adds a large number of other additions, changes and bug fixes. Since it turns out the 1.5->1.6 patch from yesterday isn't really "official, we decided to mirror the full 1.6 download, being a whopping 360mb. Read more for download links ...

SC2 features seven distinctive modes of game-play including: Arcade, Vs, Time Attack, Survival, Team Battle, Practice, and the console exclusive, Weapon Master. Weapon Master is a "complete the mission" mode combined with an RPG twist. In this mode, the player can collect and equip their character with up to 200 different weapons, thus adding a deeper level of strategy to every new battle. Check out 40+ Xbox screens ..

Kemco U.S.A. INC. has shipped the highly anticipated Batman: Dark Tomorrow for the Xbox and GameCube to retail outlets nationwide. Developed internally by Kemco, Batman: Dark Tomorrow is rated T (Teen) and has an SRP of $49.99.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today the worldwide fall 2003 release of Jak II, created exclusively for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. Developed by Naughty Dog Inc., the company responsible for 2001's smash hit Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and the highly acclaimed multi-million unit selling Crash Bandicoot series on PlayStation, the newest installment of the Jak and Daxter series, Jak II, takes action-adventure gaming to a whole new level.

Capcom today announced the release of Clock Tower 3 for the PS2. In this chilling mystery, an ordinary girl must unlock the mystery of her heritage and stop the evil powers that have enslaved her ancestors for generations. Clock Tower 3 promises to evoke fear with unnerving visuals and an equally intense storyline. Clock Tower 3 carries an “M” rating for mature audiences from the ESRB and is now available at retailers across North America... THQ and JAKKS Pacific today announced the release of their newest World Wrestling Entertainment licensed video game, WWE Crush Hour for the PS2 and GameCube. WWE Crush Hour takes the intensity, competitiveness and brute strength of the squared circle and drops it into the world of vehicular combat. The game is now available at retail outlets nationwide. SEGA officially announced today the release of "SEGA Sports World Series Baseball 2K3" for the PS2. "SEGA Sports World Series Baseball 2K3" launches with a host of gameplay and visual enhancements, including an ESPN telecast-style presentation, Hall of Fame legends, retro uniforms and ballparks, and new player moves and animations.

Asylumsoft, the Austin, Texas-based game development company, is pleased to announce that its eagerly anticipated Multiplayer Online Game (MPOG) DRANSIK is available globally via download. DRANSIK combines the best in classic role-playing with innovative and fresh game play to deliver the most fun and deep MPOG experience. Asylumsoft welcomes all online game players to download the highly acclaimed game for FREE, as well as 10 days to play for free. The client is available here.

Rayman, the only gaming hero with no arms, no legs, helicopter hair, and brand new powers, is storming more next-gen consoles with the latest installment of the 11-million-plus-best-selling franchise! Ubi Soft Entertainment today announced that Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox video game system from Microsoft have both shipped for retail.

Ubi Soft announced today that the third installment of its best-selling Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Series, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield is available this week at retail outlets across the U.S. The game was developed by Ubi Soft's Montreal studio, most recently renowned for creating Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. If you haven't yet, check our RavenShield preview!

Being a spacesim, game takes place in space. You are a pilot and need to find a new home for your clan, Troiden, which was expatriated from Kloto, its native planet - to live in peace there. Fight against different opponents, different clans, take part in exciting battles, complete missions which will get you closer to the victory, navigate spaceships, command even a whole wing of them, meet aliens - and find your homeplanet! You'll feel right at home with these four new shots, showing off the Luther, the Razor, the Rhino Stargate and the Silencer Stargate.

As part of its on-going recruitment drive, Climax is today delighted to announce the creation of a handheld development dream team. Having handpicked the best talent from Crawfish and combined them with its existing people, Climax has created one of the most experienced and technically gifted handheld development teams in the industry.

Ubi Soft Entertainment, one of the world's largest videogame publishers, today announces more details on the packaging of its upcoming titles to be released in Q1 2003: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six3: Raven Shield, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. The company decided to follow the trend initiated by the DVD movie industry and to propose to its customers qualitative and innovative packaging as well as Limited Edition versions of their games for the fans.

Publisher Strategy First and developers Paradox Entertainment and Slitherine Strategies have teamed up again and are pleased to announce Chariots of War, their new strategy title, scheduled to release in North America in Q2 2003.

Computer created racing drivers with the necessary skills and intelligence to compete in the US's IndyCar Series, the fastest and most intense motor racing championship on Earth, have been "genetically" developed for Codemasters' video game simulation IndyCar Series, coming to PS2, Xbox and PC. This genetic development of computer drivers is being used to form a complex Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that will control the player's racing opponents in the IndyCar Series game. Read more for details and a batch of new screens ...

Set on post-apocalyptic Earth where survival and ultimate dominance are all that matters, Devastation is an action teamplay oriented first person shooter. Developed by Digitalo and powered by the heavily modified, next generation Unreal Engine technology, it pits teams of rebelling street fighters, gang leaders, mercenaries and ex-military fighters against overwhelming armies of high-tech corporate troopers. Read more for eight new screenshots.

JAM International Partners, Inc. announced plans today to begin testing video game product placement effectiveness on behalf of its clients seeking to validate the power of this medium for brand communication. Working on an independent, third party basis with University of Wisconsin Assistant Professor Michelle R. Nelson, a leading academic researcher in the field of video game and film product placement, the quantitative research promises to be the first of its kind to be commissioned by a triumvirate of companies working in partnership on a product placement deal.

OUTSOURCING games specialist Babel Media has collaborated with THQ and Climax to localise Moto GP 2 in record time. The three companies worked closely together in a move away from the traditional relationship between developer, publisher and localisation company.

ATI Technologies today announced the company has reached agreement with Intel Corporation for a Pentium M processor bus license. This gives ATI the necessary rights to build integrated chipsets for PC platforms based on Intel Pentium M processors. Additional details of the agreement were not disclosed.

SEGA of America, Inc. today announced the release of "The King of Route 66" exclusively for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. Challenging gamers to race from Illinois to California in a massive nitro-powered 18 Wheeler, "The King of Route 66" is the ultimate demolition derby-style big rig road trip.

Industry professionals who register before April 4th for E3Expo 2003, the world's most important show for interactive entertainment, can purchase exhibit and conference packages at reduced rates of up to $75 off. Package prices range from $275, offering three-day show floor admission only, to $475, allowing full access to workshops and conferences. Hundreds of never-before-seen computer and video game products will debut at E3Expo 2003, "Where Business Gets Fun."

Nobilis, the newly established sales and marketing company are collaborating with Kemco to release the highly anticipated Batman: Dark Tomorrow on the Xbox and GameCube; the game will be available from all good retailers on 11th April 2003.

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 :

• Rainbow 6 : RavenShield (Ubisoft)
• F-Zero (Nintendo/Sega)
• Silent Hill 3 (Konami)
• WingCommander GBA (UbiSoft)
• Copperhead Engine
  
  Read more for download links ...