With their recent office relocation to Maidenhead and additions to their staff, which include a new UK Office/International Marketing Manager, Cenega Publishing is planning for the future. At this years Score event Cenega Publishing will be presenting their three titles planned for 2003 on the Pinnacle stand. Shade: Wrath of Angels (PC/Xbox), UFO: Aftermath (PC) and Korea: Forgotten Conflict (PC/Xbox) which have already received extensive UK and Europe coverage with the leading UK magazines tipping these titles as ones to watch out for in 2003. (All three titles are planned for Quarter 3/4 2003 release.)

Deus Ex 2 allows players to participate in the telling of a powerful story, rich in mystery, lies and intrigue. In addition to a host of new conspiratorial friends and foes, players can expect encounters with a variety of characters from the original Deus Ex game. And, once again, players visit a variety of real world locations made more exotic by the passage of time.

Cheating-Death (C-D) is an anti-cheat system for Half-Life, which includes both a server and client. Unlike HLGuard, which is a server-side only anti-cheat, C-D offers more protection by blocking the cheats themselves before the player joins the server. Now the UA Anti-Cheat Team has released another update (client only) with these changes:

• [NEW] Added Auto-update.
• [FIXED] Fixed Code[32] for ATI Radeon users.
• [FIXED] Fixed problems for AU8830 chipset soundcards.
• [FIXED] Fixed Code[16] for ActionHL.
• [FIXED] Fixed third person spectator mode.

Sony Computer Entertainment UK today announced the PlayStation 2 Creative Award 2003 and also announced that renowned BritArtists Dinos & Jake Chapman and Marc Quinn will be on the judging panel for the award. Designed to recognise fresh talent from UK universities, nominations for the PlayStation 2 Creative Award 2003 will be taken from work submitted to an intriguing art exhibition, "Primal Art - portrait of the artist as a video gamer".

Fasa Studio's Von revealed following MechWarrior information on their forum:

Over the past few months there has been plenty of speculation, email, and pleas for information regarding the future of the PC MechWarrior franchise, namely MechWarrior 5. Although an exceptional effort was made by an extremely creative and talented development team, we have decided not to continue the development of the project at this time. There were several factors in this decision, but most prevalent was our concern that we were not advancing the genre enough to meet and exceed our customer's expectations. Please know that this was a very difficult decision, but one we felt was in the best interests of our customers.

We deeply love the Mechwarrior franchise, and are committed to keeping it alive. Our plan is to re-invent Mechwarrior in a way that brings a fresh experience to our devoted customers and new fans alike. We would like to thank all of you for your continued support of the Mechwarrior 4 series of games, and greatly appreciate all the feedback we've received on our games. We are intensely focused on delivering outstanding game experiences, and rest assured we are working feverishly on some wonderful next-generation games.

Shrapnel Games announced today that Interstellar Trader 2, the strategy game touted as easy to learn and difficult to master, has begun shipping. Interstellar Trader 2 is the sequel to the original strategy simulation Interstellar Trader where you become the owner of a start-up merchant business in outer space. You do this by traveling from planet to planet in the galaxy, buying and selling items in the various marketplaces.

A few days back Take-Two Interactive announced VIETCONG for the PC went gold. VIETCONG, a first person shooter set during the Vietnam War, is set to hit stores shelves in March 2003. Now you can listen to the hot newcomer band Rude Kostry and its instrumental soundtrack for VIETCONG, playing at Radio Vietcong. (thanks Unrealik)

ARUSH Entertainment, Groove Games and Digitalo have just released a performance fix for the Devastation Multiplayer Demo. This is a performance fix and not a full patch. This performance fix addresses specific problems that may cause players to experience extreme frame rate loss and connection lags even when running a local LAN game. Read more for further details and download links ...

Big Mutha Truckers sees the player take command of an 18-wheel rig, trucking from city to city, wheeling and dealing and upping the stakes as they battle to build up a personal fortune. Along the way players will run into the local biker gangs, corrupt sheriffs and even their own redneck siblings, who are also out to amass their own fortune – even if it’s at the player’s expense! This demo lets you play as one character (Rawkus Jackson) and two levels in mission mode. Read more for download links ...

Galleon can be summed up in a single phrase: "The Voyages Of Sinbad". The game is set across six unique islands that will take the player from the bustling port of Ackbah to islands populated with giant monsters, evil slave lords and of course damsels in distress in a story of intrigue, magic, love, obsession and revenge. Read more to check out some new Xbox screens ...

EA and DICE have released a new free map for Battlefield 1942. This totally unexpected announcement allows owners of Battlefield 1942 to download the new desert based map, Operation Aberdeen. Operation Aberdeen is the latest free map from DICE. It is an all armor battle set in the desert. There are 5 points to capture, and players will need to secure both outposts, and the area around the central town to ensure victory (thanks VE3D). Read more for download links ...

Revenge? The chance to prove your courage against deadly, bloodthirsty adversaries? The sheer joy of combat? There's no wrong reason to enter the KING of FIGHTERS tournament! Whatever yours is, King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood will more than live up to the great expectations already established by this phenomenal series! With fluid action, intriguing storylines, state-of-the-art graphics and cutting-edge gameplay, King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood is ready to conquer your GBA! Read more for details and the first screens ...

A unique graphic engine has been created for the game. The engine is aimed to make use of the latest achievements in 3D technology. All objects are constructed in spline technology. This means the description of an object is based on mathematical curves, not on a fixed grid. It allows the creation of rounded objects and avoids angularity, so typical for 3D games. All character animations are created based on a skeletal animation system, with character skin stretched onto the skeleton. It enables the creation of smooth animation while keeping the effect of a living object. As for textures, we make use of bump mapping and per pixel specular light mapping technologies. They allow the effect of wood roughness and reflections on metal.

Publisher Strategy First and developer Techland announced today that they have begun accepting applications for the open beta of their Sci-Fi Tactical Shooter, Chrome. The open beta will begin on April 7th and will run until May 9th. Read more for details ...

CITY interactive announces that their development team has already started working on a new title called Project Earth 2. Development has started last year and CITY is planning to have the title ready for sale at Q4 2003. (thanks Blues)

Take an adventure as Pitfall Harry, the daring, risk-taking explorer who laughs in the face of danger. Featuring over 50 levels of fast-paced action and puzzle solving adventures, the game challenges players to swing, fight, climb and crawl through eight types of treacherous South American environments including lush jungles, dark tombs, ancient Aztec ruins and glacial mountains. Pitfall Harry also includes favorite features from the earlier Pitfall® games such as vine swinging, gaping chasms, crocodiles and scorpions. Gamers can overcome the obstacles using all of the tools in Harry's arsenal including a sling, dynamite and ice axes, and rescue those in distress from deadly foes like snakes, scorpions and spiders.

Buka Entertainment is pleased to announce, that they have already signed a Joint Publishing Agreement with Tri Synergy Inc. for Paradise Cracked. It is a significant step Buka made to broaden the visibility of its products for the North American market as a whole.

The US version of 1503 A.D. - The New World, will go on sale on 28th March 2003. The european version, entitled ANNO 1503, will be available on 11th April 2003. The game will be released worldwide across 75 countries and localized in 12 different languages.

Buka Entertainment let us know that they updated the official site for their upcoming helicopter action/simulation game "Fair Strike" with some new screenshots and a lot of new key features. Have a look...

After more than 300 comic books, an animated series and most recently a blockbuster feature film featuring the X-Men, Wolverine is the one character that grips the public's attention more than any of the other X-Men. Wolverine's Revenge allows you to play as Wolverine, explore the enigmatic hero's past and carve up a host of bad guys along the way. Check out 49 fresh new GBA shots.

The award-winning historical real-time strategy has returned! For the loyal and die hard fans, Back To War offers over 100 new missions, new countries and new units, and even more improved AI. For the newcomers, Cossacks – Back To War has been developed as a product in itself, so that you get the latest and most updated Cossacks experience packed with the newest of gameplay features. Fight your way across the battlefields of Europe, seek allies and vanquish the enemy. It's yet another must for any Cossacks fan old and new!