As part of its ongoing support for the games industry EM Media is delighted to announce the funding of a substantial development in conjunction with Climax's Online studio based in Nottingham. The development will consist of a slate of games based on Climax's Massive Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) engine Leviathan.

Ubisoft today reveals three additional titles currently in development for the Nintendo DS.

• Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (spring 2005)
• King Kong (holiday season 2005)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

With Hidden Stroke II, the Allied Power Team created a rousing sequel of Hidden Stroke. The completely new designed damage system and many new features are waiting for the fan of strategy. Further new units are ready for action in new thrilling campaigns and missions. Cities and coasts aren't safe - The war has begun.

Tecmo announced today that they have commenced a lawsuit in federal court in Chicago against the members of an Internet message board dedicated to hacking some of the most popular video games available, including Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive 3, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball and Dead or Alive Ultimate.

Atari announced today that Tycoon City: New York, a PC game that challenges players to "make it big" in Manhattan, is in development and scheduled to ship during the Holiday 2005 season. In Tycoon City: New York, players become moguls by constructing and customizing hundreds of businesses and famous landmarks anywhere and anyway they want in a bustling simulation of New York City. Players must create and improve their businesses to outclass the competition, and become rich and famous in New York City.

Electronic Arts announced today that NBA Street Vol3 has shipped to retailers nationwide and is available in stores under the EA SPORTS BIG brand. The game was developed in Vancouver, B.C., by EA Canada, the studio that also is home to the industry-leading NBA Live and NCAA March Madness basketball videogame franchises.

Spellforce: Shadow of the Phoenix, scheduled for a February 18 release, will feature two new units and buildings, as well as allowing you to further upgrade your heros to level 50. An all new singleplayer campaign will be added, but also 25 new multiplayer maps, 15 of which are dedicated to coop play (a feature which was added in the previous Breath Of Winter expansion). Read more for new screens ...

The gold master production of GTR's international version is finished and the game will appear on the shelves in Europe in four weeks, March 11, 2005. Publisher 10tacle studios and developer Simbin Development Team are proud to present the additional content of this version in motion pictures and once again demonstrate the outstanding quality of the game and the endeavour to the community needs.

DreamCatcher Games today announced that it will launch Painkiller: Black Edition, a limited edition package for its best selling franchise Painkiller on DVD ROM. Available in March 2005, the special DVD set will include both the award winning original version and its expansion pack "Battle out of Hell" in a collector's box. This Special Edition will feature high quality packaging and each copy is uniquely numbered.

id Software and Activision today confirmed the week of April 4 as the worldwide release of never-ending evil, with the arrivals of both Doom 3 for the Xbox and Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, the official PC expansion pack to one of the scariest games ever created.

Konami of Europe announced Crime Life: Gang Wars, a free roaming crime based beat em up. Mixing action and strategy elements within a gritty, detailed storyline to explore modern-day urban gang culture, the player is cast as a small-time homie who must work their way through the ranks to become a gang leader. Read more to check out the first screens and ingame trailer...

Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition is the quintessential racing game for any true aficionado of the automotive and racing lifestyle. Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition is the only game to offer a full range of street vehicle culture including over 50 fully customizable licensed vehicles. The full spectrum includes import tuners, motorcycles and luxury rides all of which are fully customizable in both style and performance.

ZOO Digital Publishing is pleased to announce signing of the PC version of RPG, Sudeki. Currently undergoing the latter stages of development, the game will be released at the End of March 2005. Already released on Xbox, the PC version of Sudeki remains faithful to the original's acclaimed gameplay, but takes the adventure to an even greater level with improved visuals and richer sound.

March 24 is the day a lot of North American gamers are already looking forward to, as Sony will then unleash its PSP handheld. Of course we did not want to wait that long and decided to import ourselves a PSP so we could put it to the test. Namco's Ridge Racer was a launch title in Japan thus we also took it for some laps. Read more for our in depth report on how well, or not at all, it plays ...

Brigade E5: New Jagged Union is a tactical turn-based game. The scene of action is a small country called Palinero somewhere in the tropics. Recently a coup d'etat has happened in the country and civil war is about to break out. The main character of the game has to hire a band of mercenaries and take control of the situation. Read more for new screens ...

1C announced today that it has signed an agreement with Crioland to develop a new game based on Russian sci-fi writer Alexander Zorich's trilogy. Tomorrow's War is a space simulator set in the 27th century where you play the role of a military space academy cadet. Read more for the first screens...

Hearts of Iron II comes with a completely re-worked interface, 19 battle scenarios, 14,000 leaders and generals and the co-operative multiplayer feature adds a new dimension to the game play. The in-depth manual and tutorial will ease new players into the game. Hearts of Iron II has barely been out on shelf for a month and its fans have already created a multitude of different scenarios available for download! If you want more information about mods currently available or under development, head on over to the Paradox forums and get full details..

Zoo Publishing keeps bringing the surprises as earlier they caused some excitement by revealing it was bringing Sudeki to PC, now the UK publisher also has listings for Midway's action game NARC and Argonaut Games' sci-fi racing game Powerdrome. While NARC has not yet been released on the consoles, the PC version has a tentative June 1st, 2005 release date, and Powerdrome is schedule for a month later, July 1st 2005 (thanks Blues). No specific details are available as of yet, but more information should become available shortly.

Hell Forces is a classical FPS in which the main hero, Stephen Geist, is trying to find out what has happened to his missing friend. During this search, he is mired in a satanic conspiracy, and is trying to stop dread forces of Baphometh, the servant of Satan. Infernal legions are uncountable, but Stephen is not. Only with your help can he find out the truth and stop the invasion.