It is generally expected that Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft will unveil their next-gen consoles at the upcoming E3 in Los Angeles, which kicks off mid-May. As is usually the case, all three companies do their major announcements the Monday & Tuesday prior to the official E3 start. Microsoft sent out its invitation to the press yesterday, announcing its conference on the usual Monday evening. Interestingly enough, Sony sent out theirs shortly thereafter, but surprisingly moved up its event to Monday afternoon, beating Microsoft to the punch to unveil its next-gen console by mere hours. Not to be outdone by all this maneuvering, Ourcolony.net, Microsoft's newest ilovebees project, has a timer counting down to May 12th. Maybe an announcement then? Oh, the suspense!

Bowser's raising ghosts to join his evil cause. When he uses these ghosts to take over Yoshi Island, Yoshi sets off to defeat the malicious spirits and run Bowser off. Yoshi's Universal Gravitation takes advantage of Nintendo's tilt-sensor technology, making Yoshi move and manipulate certain objects by tilting the GBA. No release date North America has been anonunced yet, but it will be available in the UK end of April.

Dragonshard will incorporate classic role-playing themes, a powerful and dynamic real-time strategy engine all woven together with a rich storyline involving a global conflict for an immensely powerful artifact with the power to change the fate of Eberron itself.

Grandia III is the newest title in Game Arts' role-playing series, coming to the PS2. Grandia III will use an all-new engine, N3, allowing for larger and more detailed environments. No specific European or North American release date has been announced yet, but for now it is scheduled to launch in Japan this coming summer.

SEGA today announced the next installment in the popular Phantasy Star series, Phantasy Star Universe, is being developed for both the PS2 and the PC. Phantasy Star Universe offers two complete RPG experiences - a single-player action adventure spanning multiple planets, and a robust online multi-player component

Vivendi Universal Games today announced that Empire Earth II has gone gold and will hit store shelves in the US on Thursday, April 28th. Empire Earth 2 will build upon the award-winning formula of its predecessor by adding features requested both by casual game players interested in a brief spin through history and by more hard core gamers who demand a real-time strategy game that will challenge them for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours.

The first-ever Battlefield console installment will drop players into the heat of battle on the high tech frontlines, entering a new modern era of combat with more firepower and new expansive environments. Armed with the latest modern weaponry, players can take control of over 30 vehicles, including tanks, helicopters and fast attack vehicles, to engage in major conflicts in some of the largest online battles.

Tony Tough 2 acts as a prequel to 2003's Tony Tough and the Night of Roasted Moths. In this 3D point & click adventure game you get to Tony at the age of 13, and he has his first case to solve. Under development at ProGraph, and published by dtp, Tony Tough 2 is scheduled for release in April 2005. Not much info available at this point, but we do have some new screens...

Capcom Europe announced that it is pushing back Killer 7 from its original June 24th release date to July 15th. In Killer 7, players take on the role of Harman Smith an unlikely assassin who lives life at his own pace. Switching between seven different personalities, he employs each character’s abilities to terminate targets he deems "deserving to die." Read more for details ...

The latest issue of PC Gamer UK has no less than 10 pages dedicated to what now seems to be a confirmation on the next (and no doubt, one of many) Half-Life 2 expansion pack. Half Life 2: Aftermath will pick up where the original left off and, as has been rumored for a while, will feature an all-new story line with the focus on Alyx, although not necessarily alongside Gordon Freeman. While no release date has been set, strong indications are that it may only be available through Valve's online delivery system, Steam (thanks ve3d). You can read more about it over at EuroGamer, who has reprinted some of the article content.

The Adventure Company today announced it will publish ECHO: Secrets of the Lost Cavern on PC. Delve into a world of exploration and intrigue as you embark on a quest filled with puzzles and mystery. Use your wits and powers of observation to survive the vast wilderness as your journey leads you to one of mankind’s forgotten wonders.

Microsoft Corp. today unveiled its all-star lineup of award-winning publishers committed to making the leap into the HD Era on Microsoft's next-generation Xbox platform. Read more for details ...

Deep Silver and Stormregion are delighted to announce their cooperation on a real time strategy title using the latest version of the Gepard Engine. Stormregion the creators of the award winning title Codename: Panzers are developing a new AAA game that is to be published worldwide by the expanding games label Deep Silver and exclusively presented to press at E3.

For all the eager TrackManiacs out there, TrackMania Sunrise finally hits the shops today! With 3 new stunning environments, TMS keeps the spirit of the original and kicks it up a whole load of gears that'll see you flying round the crazy tracks at speeds over 700mph!! Other new additions include 2 new single player modes, the incredibly insane and addictive 'Platform' and the last man standing 'Crazy'. With well over a 100 tracks to go at you'll be kept busy for some time, and if that wasn't enough, theres even a little bonus surprise when you install the game and check for updates.

International software publisher Deep Silver are delighted to announce that Singles is back! This time packed with more characters, more locations, more lovin' and more troubles. The sequel to the charismatic 'eye-opening' romantic life-sim focuses on the lives of 3 fun-loving singles that have been brought together under unforeseen circumstances. Singles 2: Triple Trouble releases on May 27th and will be available on PC only for £19.99.

Build your own movie studio and make films to capture the world’s imagination. Start filming in the break-neck 1920s and rewrite history as you pioneer the great cinematic advances. Be the first to introduce talkies, colour, animation or computer-generated special effects. Pick the scripts you want to shoot, design and construct the sets and hire the director, the crew and the stars.

Grey Dog Software today announced Bowl Bound College Football. BB is scheduled for a Q3 release and will be made available for digital download exclusively through Grey Dog Software for U.S. $34.95.

Parkan II is a 3D space simulator combined with first person action planet side. In the game players will get an opportunity to explore a vast universe, visit different planets, their satellites, huge space stations and immense space destroyers.

Groove Games has released the first patch for Direct Action Games mmilitary shooter Combat: Task Force 121. This patch brings your retail game to v1.02, adds support for 3D & EAX sound, and optimizes the dedicated server which now also in GUI window. Read more for download links ...

Invasion is an adventure and action game which takes place in a non-fantastic medieval world, where a young caporal is going to fight to take back his kingdom. To achieve this goal, the main character will have to use his communications skills, by adapting his clothes and attitude in function of the persons he will meet. Using this ability, he will gain trust of people and organize an army to fight back the oppressor. Invasion features varied gameplay to ensure a great experience for the player, where he will fight entire armies of medieval age knights. Invasion is currently in pre-production at Kylotonn (Bet on Soldier).