According to published reports Electronic Arts' Origin Systems division is expected to inform its employees today that the company will be closing Origin and relocating its operations to California sometime in the near future. While the Austin game development community is obviously disappointed by the EA's decision, the Austin region will continue to thrive as the 3rd largest hub of game development activity in the United States, with more than 50 companies in the local area making major contributions to the game industry, including game development, publishing, tools, middleware, chips and hardware.

Yee-haw cowboy, time fer ya' to wipe the dust off tha't horsey! Iridon's PC Western title has been signed to BigBen Interactive GmbH for publishing and distribution in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Under the deal a German edition will be produced which is scheduled for release on March 26, 2004. The title will carry a value price point. The Wanted Guns website is located at www.wantedguns.com

Vivendi Universal Games announced today that Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, the follow-up to the number-one on-line action game in the world, Counter-Strike will hit the streets worldwide March 26th, 2004. Co-developed by Valve and Turtle Rock Studios, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero introduces a brand-new single-player experience to the Counter-Strike series, along with special enhancements for on-line play.

In the year 2093 the Nazi's control Earth after winning the Second World War. They appear to possess a time machine, which gives them ultimate power. As one of the members of the conspiracy, you decide to move back to the year 1944 to change the course of the war. Unfortunately the mathematical calculations fail and instead of landing in the time machine room you find yourself just outside the snowy castle.

Encore and JoWooD have released a second demo for Phenomic's RTS/RPG game SpellForce: The Order of Dawn. This updated demo includes a game tutorial, a single-player mission (Farlorn's Hope) and two multiplayer maps (the new Whisperling Swamp, plus Ashvale from the first demo) that support up to four players. Read more for download links...

Bioware has released the final patch for their 3D role-playing game Neverwinter Nights, and both its addons Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark. This upgrade brings your retail game to v1.62 and adds the Sea Hag and Winter Sky skybox to game resources, fixes custom talk tables in multiplayer and a various other bugs. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

Activision has released a new "beta" patch for Infinity Ward's WW2 based FPS Call Of Duty. This upgrade brings your retail game to v1.3 and addresses several server list problems, a couple of exploits, a sniper rifle animation bug, and some balancing issues. Read more for a detailed list and download links ...

Tecmo officially announced today that the ship date for its eagerly anticipated new action title, Ninja Gaiden, for the Xbox will be Tuesday, March 2, 2004. Gaining an incredible amount of buzz since it was first shown on the E3 floor in 2002, the powerhouse title will ship out to retailers across the country in mass quantities, arriving on store shelves throughout the first week of March.

Another day, another batch of game trailers were released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• WWX Rumble Rose - Trailer
• Neo Contra - Trailer
• Van Helsing - Trailer
• Far Cry - 'Hammer' Trailer
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  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...