Ubisoft today announced the release of Flipnic. A new fast-paced pinball game for Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation2, developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, and will be released in Europe and Australia for the 2003 Christmas season.

Now gamers can save the City of Angels and take out the bad guys Hong Kong action flick style with Activisions upcoming release of True Crime: Streets of L.A. which begins shipping to retail outlets worldwide on November 4, 2003.

The Muppets are starring in their first party game ever ...and no one knows how to party harder than the Muppets! They set sail for a fun-filled party cruise, but as fate would have it, our magnificent Muppets find themselves stuck on the bottom deck of the boat. But don't worry, they've set up lots of mini-games in their cabins to earn party favors! Use the party favors to battle your way up five decks to first class and on to victory. Join Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal and many more of your favorite Muppet characters in this interactive board game complete with 30 action-packed mini-games. Perfect for the whole family to play together! Read more for facts and six... ooh, PS2 screenshots, we're guessing.

Her Interactive, a developer and publisher of interactive entertainment for mystery fans of all ages are releasing Nancy Drew: Danger on Deception Island and Nancy Drew: Haunted Carousel for the PC.. Read more for pressrelease.

Ubisoft announced today that Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 for Xbox has reached gold master status and is expected to hit store shelves in the coming weeks. Eagerly anticipated as the must-have Xbox and Xbox Live game for the holiday season, the game has already enjoyed a massive pre-sell campaign, as tens of thousands of orders in the first weeks of the offer signal that the game will be a huge success for 2003

Chess Commander is an innovative new Chess interface for the PC running any version of Windows. Powered by OpenGL graphics, the software displays a scalable high-resolution chessboard, and pieces with blended edges. Designed to appeal to chess players of all skill levels, the friendly interface supports multiple boards (produced from digital photographs of real chess sets), natural voices and an orchestral soundtrack.

Astral Tournament is a magic combat simulator with the best features of "Magic: The Gathering". Long ago the Great Tournament was declared in Astral and mages from the Universe has arrived to gain the astral power. And you play for one of these mages who with the help of magical and tactical skills wants to win the Tournament. You can cast numerous spells and summon fantasy creatures to win your opponents. Besides the tournament game there is a capability of playing single duel with computer or your friend. Version 1.3 contains new features in internet gameplay. System requirements: PII-300, 64Mb RAM, 4Mb VRAM. Read more for screens and download links!

Gary Wood @ Nicely Crafted Entertainment let us know that they updated their Time of Defiance site with 'a day in the life of a NiCE artist', included is also hand drawn concept sketches and screens. Here is a clip:

The art department at Nicely Crafted Entertainment is responsible for all visual and creative aspects of the company. This not only includes the creation of game objects, but also corporate identity, marketing materials such as web and print adverts, and the development of the website style. In any one week, tasks can vary greatly from creating a promotional advert, to modelling and texturing a new ship or building for Time of Defiance, to designing new company business cards and letterheads.

Achim Heidelauf, currently involved in CDV's 'Codename Panzers' and 'The Kore Gang' let us know that he updated his production site with following news:

Take a closer look behind the scenes of “Codename: PANZERS” and “The Kore Gang”. Both sections have been updated with new screenshots, behind the scenes photo galleries, work in progress artwork, wallpapers and more!

See the first three screenshots of a new PANZERS `9–part-series´ where the US forces try to take a french village from the Germans! The next three screenshots will be available in a few days.

P.M. STUDIOS announces that the Action-Rpg videogame ETROM – 'The Astral Essence' will be published in Russia (2004) and all the Russian speaking Territories by "Logrus International" and "1C Company".

"(Fabio Belsanti Managing Director & Lead Designer P.M. Studios) We decided to publish ETROM in Russia with Logrus and 1C because these companies are the best in this part of the world. ETROM is a great project for the worldwide market, dedicated to all the players of the world! Etrom will be surely a great success in Russia."