Def Jam Vendetta II, the ultimate hip-hop-fueled fighting video game, is currently in development under the EA GAMES brand, Def Jam Vendetta II features more than 70 characters, including more than 35 of the most renowned artists and personalities in hip-hop today, including Busta Rhymes, Lil' Kim, Ludacris, Method Man, Redman, Slick Rick, Snoop Dogg, Carmen Electra and many more.

Wideload Games, Inc., unveiled itself to the world today as a new development studio dedicated to making hit video and computer games by injecting a unique blend of their visionary development model, creative gameplay and oddball humor into the computer and video games industry. Wideload was started by Alexander Seropian, industry veteran and founder of Bungie Studios of Halo, Myth and Marathon fame.

Acknowledging the global demand for and success of the Dragon Ball Z video game franchise, Atari today announced its DBZ lineup for 2004. The two titles, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 for the PlayStation2 and Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors for Game Boy Advance, find Goku and his fellow Z-Warriors in a new realm of challenges and missions.

Star Wars Battlefront is an intense open-ended multiplayer action game set in the Star Wars universe due out this fall for the PS2, Xbox and the PC. Star Wars Battlefront will put fans and gamers in the heat of the action as they re-live all of the epic battles from the classic and prequel eras of the Star Wars universe. Read more for some new screens ...

While EA hasn,t officially announced Tiburon's Madden NFL 2005 yet, the NFL season has just finished off its first round draft and we now have new screens from each player drafted in the first round--showing how they'll look in their new pro uniforms in the upcoming Madden NFL 2005 from EA SPORTS. Read more to get the first look at the NFL rookies in uniform.

ShellShock: Nam '67 depicts the true horrors of the Vietnam War for the first time in a video game. ShellShock: Nam '67 focuses on one man's experience of the most controversial war of modern times. You take on the role of a rookie soldier on his first tour of duty as he experiences the fear, chaos and atrocities of the Vietnam War.

The Champions of Norrath have destroyed the god Innoruuk, shattering his body into shards of hate. Innoruuk's followers and allies have taken it upon themselves to gather these shards in order to resurrect their fallen prince. Firiona Vie has called upon the champions to take up the crusade against evil to rid Norrath of this evil threat once and for all. The game offers more than 75 hours of gameplay per character, unlimited battles, deadly missions and the ability to import characters from the original game.

Gran Turismo 4 further demonstrates its mission to provide the most authentic driving simulation available in the marketplace. New features will extend above and beyond just pure automotive racing, providing a unique destination for automotive and PS2 enthusiasts to enjoy car culture in every dimension – extending that goal will be highlighted through the new "GT Photo Mode."

Immerse yourself in "Nexus - The Jupiter Incident", a real-time mission-based tactical space game featuring spectacular real time battles and breathtaking motion picture quality. Focus on tactics and action as you control up to a dozen battleships encountering aliens, unknown solar systems and astrophysical phenomena in your struggle to save Earth. Read more for some new screens.

Blizzard has released yet another new Warcraft III map, this time called "Deadlock"... Map info: "After a bloody deadlock that lasted three long years, the Centaur became the undisputed rulers of these wild plains. Claim as many gold mines as possible, or you will fall to the hate of your enemy." This is a Medium map and the suggested no. of players is 2v2, 4v4 or FFA. It is based on the "Barrens" tileset. Go download it here!

IGN got some interesting information regarding recent rumours that EA might be supporting Xbox Live in its future titles. "After years of discussions, Electronic Arts and Microsoft are putting the final touches on a partnership enabling four of EA's sports titles, and possibly three non-sports games, to go online with Xbox Live this fall. The Redwood City, Ca.-based publisher will announce its strategy at the annual Electronic Entertainment Exposition this May, but it may reveal plans earlier to investors during its upcoming fiscal announcement this April 29."

Encore has released an updated beta demo for Wings Simulations online multiplayer shooter SÖLDNER: Secret Wars. This beta demo features the same 2 maps (Cold Winter & River Side), 3 game modes (Conquest, TDM & Hostage Rescue) and already has several of the weapons and vehicles enabled as before but with a ton of fixes and game balancing. Read more for details & download links...

Atari has released the European version of th patch for Human Head' western based FPS Dead Man's Hand. This upgrade #1 addresses various bugs, multiplayer fixes and 6 new maps (Sawdust, Backlot, OnTheTable, Silverado, Prison, Hacienda for DM, TDM & Bounty modes). Read more for details and download links ...

Version 1.1 of CS:CZ will be released next week and will include a new "Buy Package" system for buying favorite loadouts quickly, the CS:CZ Custom Mission Creation Kit, all new player and weapon models, new audio content, and other enhancements. Read more for details ...

The Natural Selection team has released an updated patch for the latest version of their Half-Life mod Natural Selection v3.0. The beta 4 patch contains map updates, HLTV fixes, balance changes and...the ns_bast remake. Read more for details and download links for the Windows client and dedicated server files patches ...

Strategy First announced today that it will be bringing Chaos League, a fantasy sports game that combines strategy with hard-hitting action from French developer Cyanide, to the North American market. Chaos League is scheduled to ship in North America in Q2 2004 for the PC. Read more for details & screens ...

Another day, another batch of game trailers were released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• ShellShock: Nam '67 - Trailer
• Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 - Trailer
• Project Freedom - Trailer
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Proudly made in England and the only official game of The FA, England International Football is coming to PlayStation 2 and Xbox on April 30th and Codemasters today announces that every copy will come with a free 2-hour DVD England video as an additional in-pack disc. Read more for screens & trailer...

Microsoft has released a demo for Big Huge Games' 'Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots'. The demo features four nations: the Persians from the expansion pack, and three others from the original game. Players will be able to play through the tutorial and then get a taste of the Alexander the Great campaign, one of four historical campaigns in the retail version. Gamers will also be able to try their hand on the battlefield on one of three different random map types.