NCsoft Corporation today announced Toy Strikers, the third of NCsoft-developed games following Lineage and Lineage II. The game maker has been developing Toy Strikers over the past year. Unlike its two predecessors Lineage and Lineage II, both of which are MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), Toy Strikers is a massively multiplayer shooting game, and the first product for casual gamers developed by NCsoft.

Tenchu: Return from Darkness brings the acclaimed Tenchu stealth ninja series to the Xbox, delivering the most realistic ninja action-adventure game ever. Based on Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven for the PS2, Tenchu: Return from Darkness offers several new enhancements including two exclusive single-player maps, improved gameplay balance with re-tuned enemy intelligence and new enemy placement, a user-interactive training mode and Xbox Live featuring two player online co-op and versus action. Read more for some new screens ...

JoWooD Productions Software AG has completed it’s turnaround following difficulties during the business year 2002. The positive result for 2003 confirms the company’s successful restructuring and repositioning The preliminary EBIT increased to EUR 7 million (2002: EUR –42.8 million). The preliminary group result after minorities increased to EUR 3.7 million (2002: EUR –28.6 million). JoWooD has, thus, managed to achieve a sustainable profitability increase through a successful strategic and structural reorganization of the company.

Ensemble Studios has released a new patch for their 3D RTS AoM (v1.09), as well as The Titans expansion pack (v1.02). The AoM version adresses some exploits and cheat fixes while the Titans patch adresses some additional bug fixes and game balance tweaks. Read more for download links ...

Developed by Ubisoft's Shanghai studio, the game offers the most thrilling and realistic single- and multi-player counter-terrorist experience available anywhere. The PS2 version features exclusive content (single- and multi-player missions) and a very cool split screen feature for 2-player, offline cooperative gameplay. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 will be released for the PlayStation2 in March 2004, in the meantime, check the new screens and in game footage trailer ...

Ubisoft manager Rand Miller has announced that the multiplayer portion of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is no more. "Even with all of the time, money, resources, code, people, sweat, and heart that were poured into Uru Live, we needed a certain number of subscribers to pay the bills. We didn't get there. Uru Live is innovative and unique; its online universe is one of the most beautiful and complex ever built, anywhere. The idea of ongoing content was dramatic and forward-looking, but it required a substantial continuing effort to sustain. We were just not able to sign up the number of subscribers (even for free) necessary to pay for that effort." Cyan Worlds plans to release new content for the singleplayer part of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst somewhere in March 2004, the first expansion "To D'ni", will be free.

Russian developer Burut has announced that they started working on the "GoldenLand :Cold Heaven" localization (means translating for non-Russian distribution). While the original game is not even available in English speaking territory, the addon has already gone gold in Russia and is expected to appear in stores soon. Rumor has it that both titles might ship at the same time (maybe as a package deal?) in English speaking territories. Read more to check out two new screens ...

Russian publisher Buka has revealed the first details of their new upcoming FPS 'The Stalin Subway' (under development at G5 Software, previously known for Fair Strike, Red Shark). The Stalin Subway is a realistic first-person shooter which is set in Stalin's Moscow of fall 1952. Iosif Stalin, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of USSR is now 72 years old. A group of military officials of high rank decides that the Generalissimo is weak and the power can be taken away from him. But the fear of the Father of the Nation is still strong, and conspirators choose unusual weapon which can produce huge destructions and mass deaths... Read more for details and early screens...

EA has released another patch for Black Box's street racing game Need For Speed Underground. This update #4 (Euro/US editions available) will correct the black screen NOS effect with certain video settings. Read more for download links ...