Black Label Games, a studio of Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games), has announced it has entered into a production agreement with Liquid Entertainment to develop "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring," a real-time strategy (RTS) game for the PC platform. The game will be developed through VU Games' long-term agreement with Tolkien Enterprises to create interactive entertainment based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic novel "The Lord of the Rings." The game will be released in early 2004.

Come and join BioWare's lead designer, James Ohlen and producers, Casey Hudson (BioWare) and Mike Gallo (LucasArts) for a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic chat, at RPG Vault on Thursday evening (Dec. 5th)... Read more for all details!

A Tale in the Desert "MMORPG" is a blend between city-building games and games of guile like Diplomacy and Illuminati. There's no combat - you must win by smart management and sharp-witted negotiation, not by weapons. The game has a plot that unfolds in response to player actions, and when the story is over, the game ends. More info about this game and new screens can be found here!

Jolt.co.uk public forums let us know that the alpha mod version 1.80 of Strike Force for Unreal Tournament is available for download. The alpha release is about 80 MB, and performance and graphics tweaks are included along with gameplay alterations. (thanks Blues)

Q3Matador is a modern-quake remake of the original Matador mod, that was around in the days Quakeworld was still the big fish for Id software. Just ask any old school Quaker who played matador back in the day, they will tell you just how interesting things can get in a good match. Find out more about this mod and download it here!

The game will closely follow the original Bubble Bobble Arcade classic, which burst into the gaming archives in 1986. 'Old and New' will be splicing together two gaming generations and will employ the same graphics and gameplay structure as the original. In addition to this, it will also take inspiration from the sequel, 'Rainbow Islands' (1989). Developed by Taito, based in Japan; developers of, Space Invaders and Super Bust-A-Move and many more titles make up their official development portfolio.

Charm of War is an upcoming RPG/RTS from Buka Entertainment, developed by Antitank. Last week we received the latest build of this game, and of course we fired off some screens. Release date is set to III quarter 2003.. Read more for the screens and features!

GT Racing 2002 is a mod that converts Electronic Art's F1 2002 into a GT Racing game. GT Racing 2002 is much more than just a conversion, it represents a significant development from the FIA GT MOD V3... GT Racing 2002 features:

37 cars from the 2002 season; Extensively remodelled car dynamics; completely revised tyre models, featuring 4 different tyre brands with individual slip curves, wear rates and temperature tolerances; A real-time, dynamic suspension model which takes advantage of the super-high-rate physics engine; A sophisticated brake modelling system, with warm-up, optimum temperature and fade characteristics; Completely reworked AI system for an unprecedented level of racing realism; A unique menu system and game mode control user interface; 7 brand new tracks; An all new 10 round FIA GT championship mode; Brand new interior and exterior car sounds, menu soundtrack and Intro Video. GT Racing 2002 supports two distinct classes of cars. The powerful and difficult to handle GT cars and the easier to control but fiercely competative NGT cars. The latest screenshots can be seen here and the 278MB mod is available here!

Planetarion II is a science fiction online war game where thousands of worlds and hundreds of galaxies fight for the domination of the universe or merely survival. Now the community for Planetarion got following announcement posted on their site:

Planetarion is coming to an end on the 23rd of December 2002. Many will also know that Fifth Season AS, the company which owns Planetarion, has announced that they will no longer develop nor support the game and community off Planetarion and today are announcing the opening off bids for the sale off the game Planetarion.

IGI-2 builds on objective-based scenarios seen in other popular first-person shooters and takes those systems one step further. Each mission has multiple objectives that must be completed to win the round... Yesterday we received Codemasters' latest IGI 2 Beta build, including the Timberland map. Ofcourse we fired off a few rounds, and made some screens for you to drool over. Read more & Njoy!

Earlier noted as a Japanese demo for EA/Maxis' eagerly anticipated SimCity4, EvilAvatar has just noted that this is just a mere in-game movie/trailer. For the true fans we decided to mirror this on our file servers, but please don't hold us responsible if you can't read j@#k-shit whats being said or done (thanks Ice-Bird for the heads up). Read more for links where to grab the goods.

Galactic Civilizations is a turn-based strategy game set in space at the dawn of the 23rd century, where you become the leader of the human civilization. The galaxy has 6 major civilizations and the race is on to colonize, conquer, and dominate the galaxy using whatever means necessary. Stardock has just launched its beta3 and here are some new screens to show you the improvements ... If you have not read our preview yet, check it out here!!

Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc will feature many brand new game elements. Its action adventure format will be familiar to many fans but advanced combat will form the heart of this latest installment. Rayman will have new movements and powers including, The Power Fist, Grapple and Super Helicopter, and he will certainly need them as he comes up against over 20 powerful enemies, including the savage Hoodlum tribe. The new Tactical Arcade Combat System will ensure players use their brains, as each enemy has specific strengths and combat strategies, and will only be defeated by the correct fighting techniques. Check out the new screens ...

"World Championship Snooker 2003" is currently being developed for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC formats and is expected to launch in spring 2003. Continuing the genre-leading brand's reputation as the most realistic snooker video game, World Championship Snooker 2003 will bring all the skill, tension and atmosphere of professional snooker matches to game screens. Read more to check out the goods...

Defy the tormented undead in The House of the Dead III this winter. Load your shotgun and prepare to take on the terror, as you explore a post-apocalyptic wasteland of unrelenting horror. Fans and new comers alike will be thrilled at the beautifully rendered gore, time-sensitive gameplay and a wide variety of branching paths.

Colorful crazy world of a fantastic planet. Bizarre plants, strange landscapes! Under these unusual conditions there arose steam-robots civilization. But there’s no peace there – robots are at war. Day and night, rain and meteor shower, volcano and snow – nothing can stop armored trains which rush towards each other in order to have a cruel fight. You need to develop your economy using given resources and to repulse attacks of various hostile creatures and elemental forces. The task is complicated by the fact that the locomotives can move only by railroad. But your main objective is not just enemy defeating. After your long and difficult journey you’ll get to … what? This will be clear at the end of your mission... Read on for NEW screens and features!

Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon fuses exciting gameplay with a radical new Ray Tracing graphic engine, resulting in a fully 3D game that looks and feels unique and which will captivate a broad audience of gamers. Check out some new shots below!

Hercules is delighted to announce the release of its 3D Prophet ALL-IN-WONDER 9000 Pro 64MB, the latest entry in its award-winning line of innovative graphics and multimedia boards. Read more for a detailed list of features ...

To be released December 6th.. Championship Manager season 02/03 boasts a number of improvements like the implementation of the new transfer league window, the most up-to-date statistics on console and the facility to play music from your Xbox. All this should go nicely towards filling in the time between the festive football matches with the same addictive gameplay that is the hallmark of the series.