Summitsoft announced today that its eagerly awaited Empire of Magic is on schedule for a May 1st release. Promising a masterfully crafted blend of strategy, role playing and story driven adventure, Empire of Magic takes a different approach to strategy games. "We have received a tremendous amount of interest on Empire of Magic by the gaming community," said Bruce Lowry, President and CEO of Summitsoft Corporation. "By throwing away traditional resource management found in most strategy games and replacing it with intense story rich scenarios and interactive role playing dynamics, Empire of Magic offers an exciting and fresh twist to the strategy genre."

Publisher Strategy First and developer Stardock announced today that their highly anticipated space strategy game, Galactic Civilizations, has shipped to retail stores nationwide! "With Galactic Civilizations we've really tried to create a strategy game that provides players with a unique experience every time they play,” said Brad Wardell, Project Lead on Galactic Civilizations at Stardock. At the same time the announced Bonus Pack is now also available.

Atari has shipped the latest installment of the hugely successful "V-Rally" racing series -- "V-Rally 3" -- to the Xbox. With more than 4 million units in the series sold to date, "V-Rally 3" -- already a hit on Sony PlayStation2 -- promises to be the most authentic rally racer on Xbox.

The United Cyber Games Association (UCGA) today announced a series of over 400 qualifying events around the United States to kick off the American portion of the Samsung World Cyber Games (WCG), the world's largest e-sports competition. Teaming with sponsors Samsung, CompUSA's game fixx, and NVIDIA, the World Cyber Games USA will bring thrilling competitions closer to all of America's 140 million gamers by holding its qualifying and semifinal competitions at 20 CompUSA locations across the country from April through July 2003. The U.S. competition will culminate in a national final in August; winners there will advance to the WCG 2003 Grand Final in Seoul, Korea October 12-18.

Tri Synergy announced today that Bandits: Phoenix Rising, shipped to retail outlets nationwide. Bandits: Phoenix Rising immerses players into a vast, desert wasteland, where they must control a cannon-mounted combat car in order to defeat heavily armed enemies and ultimately defend their gang. Bandits: Phoenix Rising is rated T (Teen) with an SRP of $29.99.

One Must Fall: Battlegrounds promises to deliver the next-generation of hand-to-hand robot action-combat bringing players the most intense and visually stunning 3D fighter on the PC. Building on the growing popularity of PC fighting games, One Must Fall: Battlegrounds features unique, out-of-this-world characters; stunningly detailed graphics; lightning-paced and fluid gameplay; and a unique 3rd person fighting point of view. Read more for details and screens...

Port Royale transports players into the past where they embark on a journey through the Caribbean “New World.” As one of four nations – Holland, England, France, or Spain- pirates encounter 3-D sea battles with over 20 ships in an expansive environment that encompasses more than four million square miles. Seize enemy villages, battle opponents in the high seas, become enveloped in a sophisticated trading system and search for hidden treasure in this all new pirating escapade! A batch of new screens just arrived, njoy!

Take the command of "Axis-of-Good" forces and defeat the secret alliance of "Shadow Clique" on one of 6 distant planets. The rebels decided to seize the power on Earth by first conquering the space colonies, which provide vital energy resources to A.O.G. The war for global domination will unroll on continents, at sea and in the air. Lead your divisions, fleets and air squadrons against those, who dared threaten our freedom and democracy! Check out the new screens ...

There is a new patch for Black & White, bringing the first 3D god-playing game by Lionhead Studios to v1.30. The primary purpose of this release is to add support for the P5 Glove peripheral by Essential Reality as a new way to control the game. It's not multiplayer compatible with v1.20 but incorporates the changes from all previous patches. Read more for details and download links ...

Co-Publishers Strategy First & Project Three Interactive with developer Termite Games announced today that their tactical, team-based first-person shooter, New World Order, has shipped to retail outlets across North America. In New World Order, players meet Agent John Dobbs, one of the best military operatives in the world and GAT’s (Global Assault Team) newest recruit. Formed by some of the world’s most powerful nations, the GAT is a top-secret organization that has been brought together to stop The Syndicate, a group of militant separatists and terrorists who have set out to fill the world with fear, chaos and destruction…unless Agent Dobbs and his team get to them first.