For the first time ever, consumers and game enthusiasts will get a first-hand virtual look inside the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo), the world's preeminent interactive entertainment trade show, the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) announced today. The Web site, E3Insider, will launch on May 14th at 10am when E3Expo's doors open to thousands of industry professionals at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Majorem is on its way to E3 with the latest available demonstration of Ballerium, and today we received a small progress report. Ballerium is a fully persistent MMPORTS (Massive Multiplayer online Real-Time Strategy Game) with final release set to occur Q4 2003... Read more for the progress report!

Renowned for their daring stunts, racing on all terrain and competing against all comers Motorcross Mania 2 takes this to the 'X'! Containing all the action of the thrilling first Motorcross Mania but with improved turning accuracy, enhanced graphics, updated bikes and stunts to leave you in awe! Man and machine battling side by side across 3 levels, each with 3 different courses. There is even an Edit Track feature to make your style of racing even more extreme. Catch big air on jumps to do awesome stunts and get ready to experience the 'X' for yourself! Read more for some screens ...

Empire Interactive plc ("Empire") is pleased to announce a key distribution deal with Canadian company Digital Leisure Inc. ("Digital Leisure") to launch the eJay music software range for PC in North America. The deal, which covers the USA and Canada, consists of 24 SKUs scheduled to debut from mid May 2003.

The French site Newtechnix.com tossed up some new screens from Valve Softwares upcoming fast-paced action 'Half-Life 2'. The game will make its public debut at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Check out the screens here!

A message on our forum (thanks jmette) let us know that there will be a special launch promotion for Orbz 2.0 “Developer’s Challenge” this Friday night at 8PM Eastern (5PM Pacific). Download the demo and compete online against the developers of the game for a chance to win a free copy of the full retail version. "Orbz is an action/arcade game set in colorful 3D environments. The object of the game is to shoot your orb at targets located throughout 14 distinct courses in a race to score the most points. Game play includes both strategic single-player challenges and intense multi-player action".

Head over to our forum for all information!

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.

Nintendo is celebrating the anniversary of the European launch of the NINTENDO GAMECUBE with the release of a very special Limited Edition Pak on May 3rd 2003. The celebratory pak will feature an exclusive platinum NINTENDO GAMECUBE and controller coupled with one of the most anticipated video games in history, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, also launched on this date. The Limited Edition Pak also contains a bonus disc featuring the original NINTENDO 64 title, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: The Master Quest, updated exclusively for NINTENDO GAMECUBE.

Publisher Whiptail Interactive today confirmed that it will be unleashing POSTAL 2, the highly anticipated first person PC adventure game, on gamers across Europe and the UK from 14th April 2003.

Majorem Ltd. is pleased to announce the addition of new unit types to Ballerium. New screenshots showing the new air and cannon units can be seen on Ballerium's gallery. The new units are the first two in a line of units that will be added to the seven original races of Ballerium. These units can be purchased at cities across Ballerium, in the local Smitium of each such city. Like everything else in Ballerium, the prices of the new units will be determined according to the players' demand of those units, imposing a perfect balance in the game.