Atari has released a new update patch for the latest installment in Sid Meiers strategy franchise Civilizations III: Conquests. This upgrade (suitable for the English, German, Italian, Spanish, and French versions of the game) brings your retail game to v1.20 and implements a bunch of changes and bug fixes, old save games are incompatible with the new version (thanks Blues). Read more for details and download links ...

During the month of April 2004, Valve is extending a special offer to Cyber Cafes. During this time, a 12-month cyber café license for Valve's games is being offered at a savings of 33%. The license includes all of Valve's available Steam content, including Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress Classic, and more. Licensed Cyber Café's also receive product key protection, promotional materials, tournament licenses, and priority access to Valve support. This offer ends at 11:59 pm PST on April 30, 2004, is subject to change and is not available in every territory. For more information, please email cafe@valvesoftware.com.

In India, Emperor Asoka Maurya has embarked on a non-violent campaign to bring prosperity to his people and promote Buddhist philosophy. In China, the king of Qin struggles to unite the seven kingdoms and stave off invasions by Hun tribes. To the west, a fledgling Rome battles with Carthage for Southern Europe and the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Egypt and Seleucid Persia wrestle to control Syria and the Near East. Choose your side and lead your empire to Strength and Honor! Check out the new batch of screens ...

UFC: Sudden Impact brings real fighting to the "Ultimate" fans! Experience the full contact intensity found only in the Octagon. Create the Ultimate Fighter, train him to be a master and brawl your way through five different modes of play including the fan favorite Tournament Mode and an all-new, enhanced Story Mode. Read more for some new screens ...

Film and Video Game production company Union Entertainment announced today the procurement of development financing for the company’s video game division. Backed by Korean software company Digital Tetra, the fund provides $1.2 million for Union to develop new games to a playable demo level before shopping the titles to game publishers. The deal was brokered by Clemensen Capital.

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE) today announced that EverQuest II will be the first MMO game to feature voiceover for in-game Non-Player Characters (NPCs). The voiceover will be comprised of more than 130 hours of dialog and approximately 1.5 million words (the equivalent of more than 65 feature films worth of content). The addition of voiceover to the game adds a new dimension of realism to the MMO genre that is unmatched by the current generation of titles. Read more for details & new trailer filled with speech...

The Hostile Intent team has released a new version for their Half-Life mod, bringing it to v1.2 and has a slew of bug fixes and game tweaks. Read more for details and download links ...

Strategy First has released a patch for Legend Studios' 3D RTS War Times. This upgrade will bring your retail game to v1.01. and fixes a bug with AI players in multiplayer games on the server, rebalances some unit stats and improves LAN play. Read more for download links ...

'KOF: Maximum Impact' will feature the most popular KOF characters such as Terry Bogard and Kyo Kusanagi all rendered in 3D. The game will also feature several brand new characters to the franchise and a wide assortment of detailed battlegrounds and fighting maneuvers. Check out the freshly launched KOF: Maximum Impact website or read more for new screens ...

Publisher Strategy First and developer Legend Studios announced today that War Times has shipped to retail stores nationwide. War Times is a World War II real-time strategy game that gives players the opportunity to fight some of history’s most prolific battles as the country of their choice: the USA, England, the Soviet Union or Germany. War Times has a SRP of $39.99 and has been rated T for Teen.

Vivendi today announced that "Van Helsing", based on the highly-anticipated film from Universal Pictures, is also coming to the GBA. Van Helsing, the new epic action-adventure film from writer-director Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns), draws inspiration from the studio’s classic horror properties and introduces Van Helsing, Bram Stoker’s fabled monster hunter, who is summoned to a distant Eastern European land on a quest to vanquish evil.

Fable is a ground-breaking role-playing adventure game from Peter Molyneux, in which your every action determines your skills, appearance, and reputation. Create your life story from childhood to death. Grow from an inexperienced adolescent into the most powerful being in the world. Check these 50+ new screens ...

Novalogic has released a demo for their upcoming FPS multiplayer game Joint Operations. the demo features one 'Twin Island' multiplayer map with day and night settings. The demo will be playable over the NovaWorld Games Network and via LAN. Other features in the demo include:Up to 100 player games via NovaWorld with 32 players on a LAN, 19 land sea and air drivable vehicles,27 Weapons,5 classes: Rifleman, Gunner, Engineer, Sniper & Medic. Read more for download links ...

Darkfall is a next generation Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game that combines real-time action and real-time strategy in a fantasy setting. Darkfall is currently in internal beta testing and preparing for the open playtesting. RazorWax has launched/revamped the official DarFall website, go check it out, or read more for some new screens ...

Ubisoft and Microsoft are pleased to announce that an autoupdate is now available online to address the issues with optimatch that Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow players experienced. The game will automatically update itself the next time you connect to XBOX Live. The updated game will no longer freeze when displaying optimatch or quickmatch results. Read more for details ...

Ubisoft today announced that its new flight combat title, Pacific Fighters, will launch this fall. WWII's Pacific theater was the backdrop for some of the most famous aerial battles in history. In places like Midway, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, allied fighters and bombers went head-to-head against the air power of the Japanese empire. Pacific Fighters provides the opportunity for players to experience the realistic action, intense flight combat and immersive gameplay of WWII's Pacific air war. Read more for details & screens ..

Vaishvanara is a computer role playing game based upon Ancient India epos. With the help of deities the player descends into the depths of chaos to fight with the Asuras, elder brothers of gods. Vaishvanara is built on custom 3-D engine developed from scratch, and using 3rd person perspective view. Read more for some new screens ...

Wargaming.net reports Massive Assault Network beta test has been successfully completed. The final version is scheduled for release on April 12th, 2004.

Sid Meier’s Pirates! is among the most popular and loved titles in gaming history. Originally released in 1987, Pirates! received unprecedented critical acclaim for crossing multiple game genres to offer unique, unrivaled gameplay options. Pirates! set the industry standard for innovative game design with its unique blend of open-ended role-playing, real-time adventures and thrilling action sequences. Read more for some new screens ...

Set in the 60s and using the Cold War as its inspiration, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater forces the player to adopt a number of new skills to survive in Snake's new jungle environment. Danger lurks everywhere as Snake explores the beautifully-realised forests, encampments and rivers, with guards patrolling key routes, dangerous animals to contend with, and the uneven terrain and noisy foliage making the silent approaches the Metal Gear hero is famed for virtually impossible. Read more for some new screens ...

Supported by true-to-life satellite imagery and authentic military intelligence, Kuma Reality Games’ Kuma: War provides players with the opportunity to jump from the headlines right into the frontlines of international conflict. This final; client offers the same two missions as the open beta (set in Afghanistan and North Korea). No further details whether there are any improvements over the last public beta or not. Read more for download links ...

CDV has released the first patch for Brat Designs recently released sci-fi FPS Breed. This update is simply labeled as patch #1, is valid for ALL language versions and adresses several singleplayer issues, various multiplayer problems general improvements. Read more for download links ...

Hitman: Contracts delivers more action-packed and suspense-filled missions, with a greater variety of ways to make the perfect kill and an increased arsenal of firearms and close-combat weapons. A new graphics engine showcases your 'work' in brutal detail and brings the new locations to life. An improved control system and more gradual learning curve will ensure that the game is accessible to all aspiring hitmen.

Game Developers Conference is pretty titillating. No, I’m afraid GDC is one of the few conferences with booth babes who are fully clothed and well-versed in C++. But there’s another kind of stimulation to be found here. A sense of community amongst people who love the same thing -- making games. Our man in the field was present at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) held in San Jose, California, checking out titles such as Fable, Serious Sam 2, Far Cry, Tribes Vengeance, Painkiller...

Budding Al Capone's across the world are set to play out their gangster dreams in Gangland, a new hybrid format that combines the best elements of real-time strategy, role-play and simulation gaming genres with a totally new style of in-game combat. Read more for the full review ...

Matrix Games and Destroyer Studios are pleased to announce the upcoming release of an exciting new space combat simulator, Starshatter, to be published this summer by Matrix Games. Read more for details and the first screens ...