Will Wright, creator of The Sims and one of the game industry's most well-known designers, will kick of a new "Legends of the Game Industry" Speaker Series being hosted by The Art Institute of California – San Francisco. The free event will be held from 7 to 8:30 pm on Feb. 25 at the school, located at 1170 Market Street (at 8th) in San Francisco.

Deep in the wildest outback the best rally pilots compete on some of the most beautiful and longest tracks of the world. Races are dangerous: arriving in one piece at the end of a stage is already a victory... Choose from 30 vehicles the one that you consider to suit best to conquer the vast wilderness. And attention, with Grand Raid Offroad you will definetly be facing vastness. Read more for details & screens ...

ValuSoft today announced the release of NHRA Drag Racing: Top Fuel Thunder for PC. This intensely competitive racing game is rated "E" for Everyone and is now available at retailers throughout North America for $19.99.

Three Hollywood heavy hitters have lent their talents to the much anticipated stealth-action game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow. Joining the development team are Michael Ironside (Sam Fisher), Dennis Haysbert (Irving Lambert) and Lalo Shifrin (Composer, Original Theme). Read more for detailed information...

Sammy Studios today announced the launch of the dedicated web site for "Seven Samurai 20XX". Exclusively for Sony PS2, "Seven Samurai 20XX" is a fast-paced action game inspired by Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "The Seven Samurai." Visitors go behind-the-scenes to gain access to a wide selection of art, movies, screenshots, character and story background and artist profiles to get a look into how the greatest action tale of all time has been "digitally remastered" for the video game generation. Scheduled for release spring 2004, "Seven Samurai 20XX" is rated T for Teen and has an MSRP of $39.99.

3000 AD has released the first patch for their futuristic 3D action game Universal Combat. This release candidate will be superseded by the final patch later this week and addresses a ton of AI tweaks, interface improvements, content and gameplay revisions, multiplayer enhancements, bug fixes, and more. Read more for details and download links ...

SEGA of America, Inc. today announced the release of "Nightshade" exclusively for the PlayStation2. The latest chapter in one of the longest running and most revered videogame franchises, "Nightshade" delivers more intense gameplay, bigger environments, and sharper visuals than its popular 2002 predecessor, "Shinobi". It also offers a more reasonable learning curve and a new 'Easy' mode, making the title more accessible for casual players.

NCsoft Corporation announces the beginning of its pre-order retail box campaign for Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle and City of Heroes in North America. The boxes will begin to appear on store shelves this week at computer game retail outlets throughout the United States and Canada. Both games are expected to launch commercially this spring.

Enlight announced today that its highly anticipated title Wars and Warriors: Joan of Arc is now available in retail stores across North America. Inspired by the legendary story of Joan of Arc, Wars and Warriors: Joan of Arc sends players to medieval France to experience the most epic battles of the Hundred Years War.

The official add-on Blitzkrieg: Burning Horizon, throws you in even more dramatic battles of WWII. Burning Horizon offers a huge 18-missions-campaign around General Rommel, giving you the opportunity to play famous battles like Ardennes, Tripolis, Tobruk, El Alamein, Sicily and, of course, Normandy. Furthermore, the add-on contains 8 single missions, with an entire new nation at war: Japan. Read more for details ...