Riverdeep today announced the upcoming release of School Tycoon an all-new life simulation strategy game that presents kids with the ultimate fantasy ? the opportunity to rule their own school. The product combines classic "build and management" simulation with wacky and hilarious comic mischief, as kids endeavor to balance the super-cool elements they have created within their school, with the typical administrative policies and procedures required to run an orderly campus. School Tycoon will be available this fall on Windows for a suggested retail price of $29.95.

School Tycoon sends players on a mission to design, build, and master the Ultimate

Under license from Hasbro Consumer Products, Atari has announced plans to take one of the most popular trading card games ever created to the Xbox videogame system from Microsoft with the release of "Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds." A PC CD-ROM version of the game was also announced. Currently in development by Secret Level, "Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds" is filled with faithful translations of classic creatures, spells and enchantments from the premier trading card game in a visually stunning 3D game environment rife with real-time strategic fighting, devastating wizard arsenals and intense creature combat.

"`Magic' represents one of the best

Perimeter, PC, Q4 2003 release date

Perimeter is an original RTS experience combining innovative warfare and terraforming capabilities with traditional RTS gameplay. The gamer will create modifiable combat units using advanced nanotechnology – units that can be modified in mid-mission as tactical situations change - and launch a campaign to seize territory. Once land is captured, powerful defensive perimeters are arrayed and the land is converted into the principal energy source. Developed by K-D LAB.

Rig'n'Roll, PC, 2004 release date

Rig'n'Roll (from creators of famous Hard Truck series) is delivering players the ultimate truck driving experience with authentic models of trucks and their

Particularly in the spotlight this year, six blockbuster games are expected to wow fans and rack up record sales:

• Beyond Good & Evil: Based on an original idea by Michel Ancel and developed by Ubi Soft's in-house studios, this title blends an ambitious, fluid new gaming experience with an epic storyline. Its Jade engine ensures that players benefit from the most advanced technologies available in the industry today.
• Far Cry: This cunningly detailed action shooter - which boasts a meticulously designed, next-generation Far Cry engine - pushes the boundaries of virtual combat to shocking new levels.
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time:

Get the Dusk-12 Trailer off PW (70mb)

DUSK-12. The project to create the perfect soldier ran out of control, and turned itself into an incurable virus. The whole city is now under quarantine as the inhabitants transformed into blood-thirsty assassins. A group of Spec Ops. soldiers are now trying to uncover the secrets of those aborted experiments undertaken 4 years ago...

DUSK-12 is a state of the art first person shooter, full of action for single and multiplayer and hyper-realistic graphics full of details where the player will incarnate two heroes. One of the soldiers of the group, with

Sonic's new adventure unfolds from a storybook of the classic tale, Arabian Nights, the last several pages from the book have gone missing, and it's up to Sonic to re-create the story. The vibrant environments provide for a refreshingly new look to the franchise filled with brightly colored mosaic tiles, glistening oases, swaying palm trees, and crumbling stone columns. Sonic activates specific areas in the prismatic environment to pull off new tricks and stunts, in addition to interacting head-on with various obstacles by jumping, dodging, and dashing.

Pop Idol, set to be the mass-market game of the year for PlayStation 2 and PC, will be exclusively presented from a themed stage on the booth. Codemasters will challenge show-goers to see how well they can perform as a virtual Pop Idol singer as they control the in-game voice of a contestant through the music-based rhythm-action gameplay.

Every in-game performance is judged by a computer-generated Simon Cowell, and there may be some very familiar Idols faces at Codemasters' E3 booth too...

Codemasters will also unveil the next level for its power-brand games including Colin McRae Rally, Operation Flashpoint and LMA Manager.

Premiering

Featuring Miyasato Family, payer can select one of the two brothers and one sister, who are superbly depicted by CG. In addition, popular domestic and overseas courses are faithfully detailed, such as “St Andrews Links” in England. The title contains many replayable elements, such as putting golf and and challenge missions