Pirates is broadband only, with high-end hardware specifications for graphics -- a GeForce 3 or better is required in at least a 1GHz machine, and the game is optimized for the latest DirectX 9.0-class cards. Pirates is being published on-line directly to gamers using Valve's new Steam technology, the same delivery system used by Half-Life 2 and Counterstrike 2.

Rise of Legends is in so many ways the spiritual successor to Rise of Nations, but the long and the short of it is we got excited about doing a fantasy game. Now clearly your traditional "orcs, elves, dwarves" sort of fantasy has been—shall we say—thoroughly covered in other games, and so the story which got us excited is one where the magic of fantasy meets a world of technology. So magic and technology collide, with cataclysmic results!

Planetwide Games has announced today that major video game retailers such as EB Games, Gamestop, and mass market, electronics, and online retailers such as Best Buy, Fry's Electronics, CompUSA and Amazon.com will be among the first to sell the highly anticipated new Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game RYL: Path of the Emperor, according to Planetwide Games' President, Kevin Donovan. RYL: Path of the Emperor is one of the world's most popular Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games.

THQ today announced that it has entered into a worldwide publishing agreement with Gas Powered Games, founded by game design visionary, Chris Taylor. The two companies will work together on the RTS game Supreme Commander. With Supreme Commander, Taylor, an early pioneer in the RTS category, will mark his return to a genre that he helped popularize.

The Roots combines a classic RPG with dynamic gameplay and the fast paced plot characteristic of action-adventure games. The Roots has a complex, multi-threaded storyline and a vast world, which the player discovers whilst traveling with his party, fighting various monsters and living through great adventures.

At long last, Vivendi has released the long awaited patch for Irrational's tactival FPS SWAT 4. This update brings your retail (US,UK, French and German) game to v1.1 which adds multiplayer versions of three single-player missions (Convenience Store, Hotel, and Jewelry Heist), added a mod tool for the games in the software dev kit, fixes for multiple issues, improved file checking to help prevent cheating. Read more for download links ...

Hammer & Sickle is new turn based strategy game set in the award-winning Silent Storm universe, and currently in development by Nival Interactive.

Previously announced as one of its two unnamed titles, Digital Illusions' signing announcement does not reveal anything new, apart from a delays from its original fall 2005 release date to spring 2006 (thanks Blues).

Mojo Master is the first virtual fantasy game of seduction presented by AXE Unlimited. Developed in partnership with WildTangent, Mojo Master launches online today and is now available to play, FREE for guys ages 17 and older.

Having a new publisher (Take 2) has allowed Firaxis to facilitate continued development on Pirates! Patch 1.0.2 (World patch, not just U.S.) will be ready by mid-summer. Thanks for all your patience during our transition from Atari to Take 2. It looks like clear sailing ahead (so to speak). We'll of course have it available on our fileserver network when it becomes available...