The countdown is over to StarShift's first Beta Test. Starting Tuesday April 22 at 7:00PM (GMT-4:00), between 25 and 30 lucky gamers, who were chosen randomly from different countries, will get the opportunity to have the first public look at CODECO's newest title: StarShift - The Zaran Legacy. This initial phase of beta testing is a limited access test, but during a second phase of beta testing, gamers from around the world will be able to play StarShift on CODECO's servers. Read more for details ...

Noticed on GameSpy that according to the results of a search of the US Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS), Digital Illusions has trademarked the name "Battlefield Vietnam" for a PC computer game project. The Trademark was submitted February 12th of this year. Could this be the official sequel to Digital Illusion's ultra popular action game series, Battlefield 1942? Of course this has not been confirmed by EA nor Digital Illusions, but maybe we will hear more about it during the E3

Russian publisher 1C Company will unveil a massive slate of 14 titles at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in May, 2003. Covering the genre spectrum, the titles run the gamut from WW2 action to whacky racing games. 1C will be located at booth #6035 in Kentia Hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Read more to check out 1C's E3 line up!

Shack today got this very brief statement from Valve Software, 'Half-Life 2 will be shown at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo'.. Gamez.nl got a magazine cover from PC GamePlay, featuring Gordon and a female character.. The magazine preview itself is said to mention the game will be out before the end of the year.

Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is a upcoming 3D adventure game from Ubi Soft and developed by Cyan Worlds. "Uru opens the world of the D'ni civilization to today's explorers. The once thriving, underground city is coming back to life as the D'ni ancestry in each of us beckons our return. The adventure includes a single-player component, an amazing experience of its own, and one that's sure to awaken a desire in the lone explorer for the wider, online community and endless additional Ages".. Today we have four new screenshot that you can check out below!

Noticed on Bluesnews that this Ubi Soft financial resultsheet reveals some interesting future projects: "Batman 2, Raven Shield, Prince of Persia, Loose Cannon, BGE, Ghost Recon 2, Splinter Cell: Shadow Strike, Settlers V, Far Cry, Strike'R, Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon, Charlie's Angels, Myst online." Nothing has been confirmed nor are any details given, but most interesting are without any doubt the Splinter Cell: Shadow Strike and Ghost Recon 2 revelations.

Pocket PC Films, the worldwide leader in multimedia distribution for handheld devices (Pocket PC, Palm OS, PDA’s and portable media devices), today announced that their Portable Media Devices unit has formed a joint venture with Pocketainment, to market and distribute the Pocket Pix Cartridge™, a plug and play adaptor that enables full-length feature films, video, and MP3’s to be played on Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance, and Game Boy Advance SP.

Activision, Inc. and Raven Software are giving gamers and Marvel fans the world over the chance to build their X-Men dream team with the announcement of X-Men: Legends for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, Xbox video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo GameCube. In this real-time RPG, players get the chance to assemble, train and lead their own X-Men fighting force in a battle against some of the deadliest foes in the Marvel Universe including the Morlocks, the Brotherhood of Mutants and robotic Sentinels. To be successful, players will have to draw on the powers of a diverse pool of X-Men and use teamwork to unleash the full power of their squad. X-Men: Legends is expected to ship in 2004 and has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

Atari announced today that Test Drive and Stuntman for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system will be relaunched as part of Sony Computer Entertainment America's "Greatest Hits" program this summer. To be eligible for the special collection, each game must be available at retail for more than nine months and boast sales in excess of 400,000 units.

Atari announced today that Test Drive for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft has been selected for inclusion in Microsoft's "Platinum Hits" program. The "Platinum Hits" program recognizes the most popular and best-selling games for the Xbox and repackages the titles with the "Platinum Hits" banner and a suggested retail price of $19.99.

Resident Evil No Serenity is a Half-Life single player mod based on Resident Evil. It includes two main characters. The first one is the african american, Logan Walker. And the white female, Kim Forester.. Read more about this new mod and check out some ingame pics from Resident Evil No Serenity here!

Players will experience fast-paced shooter action through 10 huge varied levels and additional expertly designed multiplayer maps. The Ancient Greek/Roman setting allows for unique weapons that support the game's theme, including a Medusa Gun, Flaming Crossbow and Acid Rifle. The game's "real-time shattering" technology allows for a wealth of breakable objects, providing gamers with the experience of a truly interactive environment. With Will Rock's advanced gameplay technology and level design, players must rely on both quick thinking and reactions to solve environmental puzzles and survive the hardcore action!

C.Net reports. Taking a break from working on his doctoral thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate student Andrew "Bunnie" Huang decided that it might be fun to poke around the security systems protecting Microsoft's Xbox game console. With a little creative tinkering and a measure of precision soldering, Huang quickly isolated the main public security keys. Although legally prevented from sharing the keys with the world, he described his methods in detail in a widely distributed research paper, helping spur a wave of Xbox-hacking that has led to the development of Xbox versions of Linux and other homemade software. After graduating from MIT last year, Huang set up his own consulting business, specializing in reverse engineering. But he still has some more Xbox insights that he'd like to share with the world--that is, if only he can find a way.

This weekend Infinite Interactive updated the official site for their upcoming turn-based fantasy strategy game, Warlords IV, with details on three special units, The Orkish Bunny, The Hot Cross Goblin and The Egg Chukka.

Rich Vogel Executive Producer for Star Wars Galaxies has updated the official forum with a status report (thanks Blues). Here is a clip from the posting:

Well, it’s been a while since I last posted. Some people probably don’t know who I am. I am the Executive Producer of SWG. I thought I would give you guys an update on where we are in development.

The client team is busy working on adding more visual effects, polishing and enhancing UI, adding more optimizations to the client, and fixing bugs. The Beta Testers have already seen the results of some of our efforts with a faster frame rate, less hitching as you walk around town, new character system features (such as pitch-pointing weapons in combat, or the soon-to-be-released head-turning towards your look-at target). There’s more to do here, and like art, we’re grateful to have a little time to really polish up the client.

Our current plan is to go to Open Beta in early May. This all depends on how polished we are. I realize lots of you want to play but it is important that we make your play experience an enjoyable one.

Asylumsoft Inc. has updated the official Dransik site with news of the latest patch (server update, version 1.02). This update provides some new content as well as fixes to many bugs and problems (thanks GameSpy). "DRANSIK is a Medieval Fantasy Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Interact with players from around the world. Go hunting alone or with others for powerful artifacts. Gain knowledge in dozens of skills that keep the world functioning". Listed below are all the changes!

Kaan, the young and fierce Barbarian hero, has to retrieve the Orb to save his world. 27 enemies, 6 weapons, 5 shields with special powers, 7 combos & 4 special attacks: the renewal of hack and slash, by award-winning Eko Software. Kaan will be published by The Adventure Company on PS2 and PC next month. Read more to check out some screens ...

In India, Emperor Asoka Maurya has embarked on a non-violent campaign to bring prosperity to his people and promote Buddhist philosophy. In China, the king of Qin struggles to unite the seven kingdoms and stave off invasions by Hun tribes. To the west, a fledgling Rome battles with Carthage for Southern Europe and the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Egypt and Seleucid Persia wrestle to control Syria and the Near East. Choose your side and lead your empire to Strength and Honor! Check out the new batch of screens ...

AKI, the development team behind the insanely popular Wrestlemania 2000 and No Mercy WWE games for the Nintendo 64, has been keeping busy during the past several months developing Ultimate Muscle. When you consider that Ultimate Muscle moves much faster than just about any other wrestling game to date, it's clear that the game will keep you on your toes. In addition, its slick cel-shaded look, solid animation, and brisk frame rate really add to the overall arcade feel of the game.

Activision has launched the teaser website for Infinity Ward's PC, and Spark Unlimited's console, version of the upcoming WWII action series, Call of Duty. Apart from a few screens of the PC version the website merely offers some info. More to come...