For the first time gamers will play as friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger as well as Harry Potter, switching between characters and utilizing their key attributes and skills to resolve challenges and overcome enemies. Read more for some new screens...

1C Company unveiled today the 21 titles to be shown at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in May, 2004. The largest collection of interactive entertainment titles to date, the 1C Company is showing a blockbuster lineup across all genres of gaming, including first-person action titles, real-time strategy, simulation and role-playing games, set across history and in deep space, on both land and sea. 1C Company will be located at booth #6059 in Kentia Hall, in the heart of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Bigben Interactive has released a demo for 10tacel Studios' racing game Michael Schumacher World Tour Kart 2004 featuring 1 race track, although no specific details are available. This demo is in German, but since its a "racing" game there should not be much trouble as the menu's are in English (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for download links ...

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 :

• You Are Empty - Trailer
• Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth - Trailer
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Take control of Banjo, Kazooie, and other characters from the beloved Banjo-Kazooie franchise in one of the most visually stunning, well-tuned racing experiences ever to come to Game Boy Advance. Soar through the skies in custom vehicles, racing on tracks filled with power-ups, obstacles, and more. Up here, the air is Rare!

Co-publishers Groove Games and ARUSH Entertainment today announced that their upcoming, highly anticipated title Playboy: The Mansion, published under license from Playboy Enterprises, will be available on the PlayStation2 and Xbox during the 2004 Holiday season.

Attorney General John Ashcroft announced today the most far-reaching and aggressive enforcement action ever undertaken against organizations involved in illegal intellectual property piracy over the Internet. Beginning yesterday morning, law enforcement from 10 countries and the United States conducted over 120 searches worldwide to dismantle some of the most well-known and prolific online piracy organizations.

Crave Entertainment today announced that Future Tactics: The Uprising has reached gold master status for the PlayStation2, the Xbox and GameCube. If you haven't yet, check our latest Future Tactics preview...

Ion Storm has implemented a new 3rd person cinematic action view as well as the classic 1st person perspective from the previous Thief chapters. Breaking and entering, stealing, sabotage, combat, assassination, and setting up ambushes - tasks master thief Garrett is well equipped to perform. Read more to check out some new screens ...

Winter Wolves Studio, creators of Universal Soccer Manager, announced today that they have released their next sports manager simulation, Universal Boxing Manager. Create a custom manager by assigning skills in training, negotiation, scouting, and more. Manage up to 6 boxers in 17 weight categories, selecting from a database of over 1,000 unique boxers!

"Iron Phoenix" is the title is the first ever 16 -player fighting game, introducing a new genre to online games as a squad-based kung-fu brawler. "Iron Phoenix" is slated for release on Xbox in Holiday 2004 and is not yet rated. Read more to check out some new screens ...

If you are interested in having a Dev Chat Session with the team working on B.C., this is your chance! Next Tuesday (27th April 2004) #intrepid channel on Quakenet will host its first chat. The moderated chat will start at 6:30 GMT, and there will be at least five members of the development team present at this chat. These will include; Peter Molyneux and Joe Rider, as well as many other members of Intrepid and Lionhead Studios.

Mythic Entertainment announced today that their flagship massively multiplayer game “Dark Age of Camelot” will be offering a new service to their subscribers beginning on April 27th. Known to players as “account splitting,” it allows players to transfer one or more characters from an existing account to a new account.

Namco Hometek Inc. announced today that it is bringing Ghosthunter, a dark and atmospheric third-person action-adventure game from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s Cambridge Studio, to the U.S. market. Scheduled for release on the PlayStation2 in August, Ghosthunter is set in a paranormal environment and features film-quality graphics with stunning ghost effects.

Eidos today announced its return to the world of extreme wrestling with Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood. The sequel to the genre-bending phenomenon Backyard Wrestling: Don’t Try This At Home, Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood is currently in development by Paradox and will be available for videogame consoles including the Xbox in the Fall of 2004 in North America.

Buka has released a new patch for G5 Software's action/helicopter sim, Fair Strike. This update brings your retail game to v1.04 (only for Euro versions) and adresses some multiplayer issues, the usual fixes & tweaks but also adds camera options, better joystick control, logging, etc. Read more for details & download links ..

For the first time, Sims are living in the city where reputation (rep) is everything. Players will custom-create these new Sims, called Urbz, by customizing their unique style and building their status to become the biggest "player" in the city. Read more to check out the first screens ...

THQ Inc. today announced Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams, the sequel to Tak and the Power of Juju. Tak is the first property released under THQ and Nickelodeon's ground-breaking agreement to create new cross-media intellectual properties for initial release in the videogame space with the express intent of migrating the properties to other entertainment media. Developed by Avalanche Software, Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams is scheduled to release in October 2004 and will be available on the PlayStation2, GameCube, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance.

Jolt has ventured forth into the realms of role-playing and found a likely adventuring companion in the form of the RPGDot network. After two months of ale-swilling, orc-slaying, more ale-swilling and possibly some serious discussions, it was agreed that Jolt would provide valuable new equipment in return for RPGDot's keen eye and steady hand when it comes to tracking down and reporting the latest news and developments in the unpredictable world of video game RPGs.

Digital Jesters today announces the re-release of their smash hit racing game TrackMania including the free 'Power Up' add-on. The new combo pack, entitled 'TrackMania: Power Up!', will be available in the UK on the 14th May 2004, priced £19.99.