YouPlayGames today announced that it has signed an exclusive deal with id Software and Even Balance, Inc. to offer Return to Castle Wolfenstein as the premiere title available through the company's new skill-based online gaming service. YouPlayGames is pioneering the world of professional online gaming by bringing massively popular multi-player licensed titles into homes and providing everyone with the chance to make money while playing their favorite computer games.

TDK Mediactive Europe announced today the release of its latest action-adventure game for the Nintendo GameCube system. "Darkened Skye" is a third-person action game set in a timeless fantasy world combining magic, evil, fantasy and humour with combat and fast-paced gameplay. "Darkened Skye" for the Nintendo GameCube will be available at a suggested retail price of £39.99 on March 28th 2003.

Buka Entertainment, one of the leading game publishers in Russia, is pleased to announce that today we signed a contract with Moving Imagem Editora Ltd, one of the biggest distributors of software products in Brazil. According to the contract Moving Editora will distribute Buka's Midnight Nowhere and Hard Truck Tycoon, localized in Portuguese.

Funcom has today unlocked Anarchy Online accounts for a 30 day free trial of the The Notum Wars. The motivation behind the initiative is to allow people to try out the award-winning booster pack with their old characters.

THQ Inc. is a worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms including PC CD-ROM, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Nintendo and Microsoft... In their latest Line-Up we can find three new WWE wrestling games that will be coming out for XB/PS2/NGC this fall (WWE Smackdown 5 - WWE Raw 2: Ruthless - WWE Wrestlemania XIX).. Read more for details!

Microsoft has signed up more than 350,000 subscribers worldwide for its Xbox Live online video gaming service, as it prepares to bring the platform to Europe. The company had claimed sales of 150,000 subscription kits one week after its November launch and 250,000 kits as of the first week of January for its initial roll-out in the United States and Canada. Microsoft launched the $49 subscription kit enabling online play for its Xbox game console last November in the United States and in mid-January in Japan. It will be released in Europe on March 14. The first set of downloads was recently launched for the game "Mech Assault," and Microsoft registered more than 172,000 downloads for the new content in its first week. The next major game to have downloads will be "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell" from Ubi Soft Entertainment; a new level for the game, called "Kola Cell," will be available simultaneously with the Xbox Live launch in Europe.

SEGA of America, Inc. today announced that Yu Suzuki was awarded the coveted Interactive Achievement Hall of Fame Award from the Academy of Arts and Sciences (AIAS), a non-profit member organization dedicated to recognizing the art and science inherent in videogames. The Interactive Achievement Awards were presented in conjunction with the D.I.C.E. Summit (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) on Thursday, February 27, 2003 in Las Vegas.

Step into the boots of a Marine Corporal, survive the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, and drive the Japanese Army from the Pacific in Medal of Honor Rising Sun from Electronic Arts. Developed by EALA, Medal of Honor Rising Sun creates an immersive and authentic WWII experience in either single-player or multi-player modes. Medal of Honor Rising Sun will be available for the PS2, GameCube and the Xbox in the fall of 2003.

The award-winning software publishing arm of BBC Worldwide has announced it will support the BBC's latest pre-school series, Fimbles, by publishing a PC CD-ROM based on the show. The Fimbles PC CD-ROM, called 'Fimbling Fun', will be published on March 28, 2003. The title follows the success of BBC Multimedia's children's software, which includes Bob the Builder, Teletubbies and Tweenies titles on PC, PlayStation and Game Boy platforms. In all, the company's range of software has collected over 50 awards from the multimedia and toy industries, including accolades from BAFTA, IVCA and BIMA.

Can you lead Ace Lightning on his mission to defeat the evil Lord Fear and send him and his gang back to prison in the sixth dimension? Taking the CGI characters, the storyline and the humour from CBBC's leading drama, this third person action adventure is set for release on PlayStation 2 this Spring.