Electronic Arts today announced the acquisition of Studio 33, a globally recognized developer of games in the racing genre. The team of roughly 30 Liverpool-based employees will join the existing team at EA Northwest in nearby Warrington. Both teams - a total of 75 employees - are scheduled to move to a new facility in Warrington shortly.

A new photo-quality demonstration, based on emerging real-time tree and grass technologies, was released today to establish the vastly more realistic possibilities for future gaming worlds. "The Valley" features stunningly realistic trees and grass, blowing in the wind and including advanced level of detail and presentation algorithms. Read more for details, screens & an impressive trailer ...

Buka has released the English demo for Steamland, their funny and beautiful RTS, set in the fantastic world of lively trains, which fight with each other making their way to victory. This game is easy to play both for children and grown-ups without sacrificing keen gameplay. 3D landscapes, changing weather conditions and shadow effects give us the overview about the fabulous world. Striking variety of fantastic units and weaponry completes this surprising civilization. Read more for download links ...

'Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy' is an enchanting adventure filled with mystery, action and a deep, compelling storyline. The game is set in an entirely original universe that is styled upon ancient Egypt where players will embark on an epic quest exploring new worlds, uncovering dark secrets, interacting with hundreds of fantastic creatures and discovering new abilities. Traveling the world via magic portals to foil the evil plans of Set, players will guide Sphinx on a journey requiring all his wits, agility and special powers in an attempt to find the stolen mystical crowns of Egypt. Read more to check out the new screens ...

The original Hidden & Dangerous (now available for free download) was released in 1999 to widespread acclaim, and was the forerunner for the squad-based tactical action game. With sales in excess of one million copies, Hidden & Dangerous established itself as a leading title in the genre. Its creators, Illusion Softworks, have for the last four years been quietly developing and perfecting the sequel. Read more for a few new screens ...

Novalogic has released a new patch for their teambased FPS Delta Force: Black Hawk Down. This upgdate brings your retail game to v1.3.0.37 and brings in several of new additions, improvements and bug fixes (thanks Homelanfed). Read more for details and download links ...

Encore today announced that it has begun shipping Pirate Hunter and Patrician III, life simulation games developed by Ascaron Entertainment. These two PC games offer a unique combination of trading and fighting, one on the high seas of the Caribbean, the other in the cities of Northern Europe during the Middle Ages. Both will begin reaching store shelves by the end of this week and will retail for approximately $30 and $40, respectively.

The FPS Master, the first controller specifically designed to optimize performance in first person shooter (FPS) games on the Xbox, is now available from Radica Games under the Gamester brand. Read more for details ....

Get ready to pilot the world's most powerful trucks and go head-to-head in pulse-pounding off-road competitions. Whether you're grinding through mud pits in Louisiana, crunching up cliffs in California, or smashing up trees to make the ride a little bumpier for they guy behind you, keep your eyes on the prize: cash you earn on the circuit goes to buy new trucks and build up your ultimate Monster machine. Read more for some new screens!

Microsoft has released a map pack for Relic Entertainment's 3D RTS game Impossible Creatures. Impossible Creatures is a 3-D real-time strategy game that pits the player against an evil villain in an action-packed campaign across a chain of remote and diverse islands. Using Earth's most formidable animals as building blocks, the player creates an army of unique, mutant monsters in a desperate struggle to protect an unsuspecting world from a horrible fate. This map pack requires you to have the latest v1.1 update patch (also available on our file servers) and features a few new multiplayer maps :Ring, 2Fort4, Rival Islands, Double Twisted Bill and Shinwa (thanks Relicnews)Read more for download links ...