The world record for one of history's most revered classic arcade games has fallen. Steve Wiebe of Redmond, Washington, has scored 947,200 points on Donkey Kong, leaving in the dust noted rivals like the legendary Billy Mitchell and Timothy Sczerby of Auburn, NY. "The feat was recorded on videotape so future generations can see how it was done," explains Walter Day, Chief Editor of the forthcoming edition of Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records. Wiebe is not a newcomer to video game royalty: last year he became the first player in Twin Galaxies' 23-year-history to pass the one million-point barrier on Donkey Kong Junior. "Donkey Kong was one of the top three most hotly contested titles in arcade history, the other two being Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man," says Robert Mruczek, Chief Referee for Twin Galaxies. Mruczek was the Twin Galaxies employee who viewed Wiebe's 2-hour long videotape in order to verify the legitimacy of the claim to the Donkey Kong title.

Interactive Multimedia Solutions, Inc. is pleased to announce that Amaze Entertainment has licensed IMS LIPGen for its KnowWonder Studio. KnowWonder is best known for creating popular PC games such as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Finding Nemo." KnowWonder will use the IMS LIPGenTM application to create facial animations for a number of high-profile games currently under development.

Quake Expo 2003, the online event for showcasing all work being done with the Quake 1 engine, has officially opened today. Quake Expo offers virtual booths to Quake modders and mappers to showcase what is coming, and what has arrived. The event is a week long celebration of Quake, scheduled to mark its recent 7th birthday. This semi annual event is a chance to display all sorts of creative energies within the Quake 1 community. With a vast range of material being displayed, from online and singleplayer oriented engine modifications, deathmatch mods, a wide range of maps, entire standalone games and even bot sports. The event will showcase that Quake is not only alive, but that community behind it can offer a unique experience to any gamer willing to give this modern day classic a go.

Mayhem Studios has issued a new update for their recently released turn-based fantasy strategy game Empire of Magic Its main goal is to enhance Empire of Magic and reward players with a new multiplayer level. It also fixes some minor bugs as well as a problem appearing in the eighth level of the game. Read more for download links ...

An accidental hero finds himself on a remote tropical paradise, where a madman plays God; engineering various species of enhanced creatures to replace what he believes is a genetic dead-end… mankind. The game is set around 2020 on a set of tropical islands in the pacific. And has a strong tropical-paradise feel, scenic in its beauty, but, harbors a terrible threat. It is a mix of jungle / primal / and next-gen technology. As the player you find yourself drawn into a secretive plot involving secret research facilities with scientists involved in military genetic-research, a secret "security" force of mercenaries, and, advanced net-generation weaponry and equipment. Check the new screens ...

Shortly after the previous patch Strategy First and Object Software have released another patch for their RPG game Prince Of Qin. This upgrade brings your retail game to v1.21 and includes several optimizations and bug fixes. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

Slitherine has released the first beta patch for their recently-released strategy game Chariots of War. This upgrade brings your retail game to v1.12, and although the patch is still undergoing testing, it will work on any language edition of the game. The patch adds several new features and fixes a few bugs. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

Noticed on HomeLan that Epic Games' Mark Rein made a post on the official Unreal 2 bulletin board announcing that they are working on a free multiplayer add-on for Unreal 2 (which previously had NO multiplayer capabilities). The message read as follows : Lack of multiplayer is a temporary issue with Unreal2. Legend are currently reviving their XMP design for mulitplayer and it will be released as a FREE downloadable add-on for people who own Unreal2.

Digital Fusion has released the first patch for their shooter, Beach Head: Desert War. This upgrade brings your retail game to v1.1 and simply fixes a locking up on Level 108 (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for download links ...

'Aquanox 2: Revelation' is a new story of the underwater world Aqua. In 2666 a young freighter pilot called William Drake sets out to search for the heritage of a mythical ancestor. He is looking for adventure - and finds greed, ruthlessness, merciless hatred … and also unexpected help. But very soon he has to realize that he is not the only one hunting for his ancestor's legendary treasure. Read more to check some new screens ...

AFL Live 2004 will provide video game players with the closest possible experience to actually running out alongside your AFL heroes. From bone crunching tackles, to freak goals, huge grabs and high marks, AFL Live 2004 will have your heart pounding as you play in front of packed grandstands in the quest for Premiership glory. AFL Live 2004 is a fully licensed product of the AFL and includes all players, all clubs and all guernseys for the AFL teams. Read more for details & screens ...

Perimeter is a real-time strategy game built on the concept of territory seizure using detailed terraforming and on the subsequent encircling of these zones with a special protective perimeter. The game combines proven principles of controlling resources and unit groups with titles featuring a clear-cut seizure of living space. The gamer has three powers at his or her disposal: The first is terraforming. The second is being able to surround areas of land with an impenetrable force barrier generated by special perimeter units. The third power is being able to carry out military operations with the help of ground and air forces.

Intense 3rd person shooting action explodes in this post-apocalyptic tale of good versus evil! Konami's Apocalyptica delivers unparalleled gameplay as PC gamers control a technologically advanced religious soldier in a team-based quest to destroy Neo-Satan. Gamers are armed with an arsenal of deadly weapons and attacks including firearms, melee weapons and spell casting, as they battle in the dark and distant worlds of Apocalyptica's crushing multiplayer "Mission" and "Deathmatch" modes. Check out the new screens, straight from hell!

Sonic The Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka and SONICTEAM return with their first all-new platform game since the SEGA Saturn era! Darkness has fallen upon a once-magical land. An evil King who seeks to rule with an everlasting night has captured the creatures that inhabit this realm. Now, a young boy must use the powers of a legendary suit to control special eggs in order to restore light to the land.

Climax today celebrated its fifteenth year as one of the nation's leading development studios with five nominations in the inaugural Develop Industry Excellence Awards. One of only two companies up for five awards, Climax has been nominated in the coveted categories of Technology, Innovation, Business Development, Best Online Development Studio and Best Independent Development Studio.

Set in ancient Japan and steeped in real-life folklore and mysticism, "Otogi - Myth of Demons" is the story of Raiko, an undead warrior who must stop a ferocious demonic army that has been unleashed upon the Earth. As a long-forgotten doomsday myth materializes, Raiko must quickly master more than 30 weapons and 12 varieties of magic to dispatch endless hoards of demon warriors, massive boss characters and everything else that gets in his way. Read more for 50+ new screens ...

Worms 3 will utilise the full power afforded by next-generation platforms, featuring ground-breaking fully deformable landscape technology, and will continue the wild humor and intensive, addictive fun that gamers expect from the Worms franchise. Worms 3 will showcase a raft of new gameplay features, while retaining all the familiar chaos of the original titles, complete with bizarre power-ups, loopy weaponry, and crazy cartoon graphics -- in both single and multi-player modes. Check out the big batch of wormelicious screens ..

Today Global Star Software has announced plans to release Emergency Services Sim for the PC Platform. This Real-time city builder simulation will allow players to control every aspect of a large city’s fire, police and health care services. By performing these duties well, players will enable their cities to grow and prosper. The game is currently under development at Interactive Vision and will release during the fall of 2003 at a M.S.R.P of $29.99.

A series of grisly murders brings Lara into conflict with a sinister alchemist from the past, and a secret alliance of powerful individuals shrouded in mystery. At the centre of this conflict are five 14th century paintings - the Obscura Paintings, which the alchemist is desperate to repossess. Barely out in stores, Eidos has already released the first patch for Tomb Raider: the Angel of Darkness. This upgrade brings your retail game to v42 and adresses several game crashes and freezes, adds a shotgun, fixes the FMV player and EAX logos etc. Read more for details & download links ...