Tri Synergy announced that its role-playing, first person shooter Purge has shipped to North American retail outlets. The online-only PC game blends science fiction with fantasy as players square off in a war-like environment to defend their respective belief systems.

Those crazy Ape Escape monkeys are back on the loose and plotting to take over the world as Ubi Soft Entertainment, one of the world's top videogame publishers, announces plans to publish Ape Escape 2 exclusively for the PS2. Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, Ape Escape 2 promises the same fun gameplay as the original version including advanced game features, amazing 3D graphics, and plenty of monkey pandemonium! Ape Escape 2 has an ESRB rating of "E" for Everyone and will have a suggested retail price of $39.99. It is scheduled to ship July 1, 2003.

Racing throughout Mother Earth's most unpredictable terrains and into consumers' living rooms, Acclaim today announced that it has shipped Dakar 2: The World's Ultimate Rally for the Nintendo GameCube. A rough-and-tumble ride through 7,000 miles of the most turbulent environments in the world, Dakar 2: The World's Ultimate Rally offers high-speed arcade action that captures the thrill of the famous Paris-Dakar Rally.

Austrian based developer and publisher JoWooD Productions Software AG today announced that it has signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Encore, Inc. a majority-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation for the marketing and distribution of nine games throughout North America. Encore will be managing the sales, distribution and marketing for these titles while JoWooD will be delivering content.

Midway Games Inc announced today that SpyHunter 2, the high-speed, mission-based, action/combat racing game is scheduled to ship in fall 2003 for the PlayStation2, the Xbox and GameCube.

DreamCatcher today announced a worldwide deal with Arkane Studios to publish Arx Fatalis for the Xbox. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Arx Fatalis is a first-person RPG, which plunges players into an amazingly complex fantasy-world of trolls, goblins and 'Snake-women'. Creating weapons, solving puzzles and completing amazing quests, gamers become heroes as they battle in an evil world. Players will also need to master a unique real-time magic system to cast more than 50 different spells based on 20 different runes.

In development for nearly two years, VEXX has been specifically designed to push the limits of this generation of hardware to deliver an unparalleled gameplay experience, that has yet to be achieved in a platform game. With incredible graphics, non-stop action, immense levels and an engrossing storyline. VEXX is an original platform action title that allows players to assume the role of the title character as he embarks on a dark, heroic quest to seek vengeance on those that enslaved his people and murdered his family.

Purge is an online-only computer game. It is a First-Person-Shooter / hybrid Role-Playing-Game set in the near future accounting a war between the diametrically opposed forces of science-fiction (the Order) and fantasy (the Chosen). Technology versus magic. Science versus religion. Purge is being developed by Freeform Interactive LLC and utilizes the LithTech Talon system. Over the course of next 5 Mondays, an avid fan Roy Smart will discusss one type of character. We were introduced to Android last week, and today's guide discusses the Commando.

Xpand Rally races take place in different parts of the world, the player gets to race in different environments – from deserts to polar snows. This gives him opportunity to experience cars’ physics changing in different weather and on different surfaces (gravel, sand, snow, ice and asphalt). Terrains in Xpand Rally are created on Chrome Engine. This enabled the XR team to create realistic and abundant in flora terrains of a few dozens of square kilometers. It will give the players a completely different feeling from driving in a narrow gutter known from most racing games... Some new shots below!