Piggyback has again joined forces with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. This time piggyback will develop and publish the Jak II: Renegade official strategy guide for PlayStation 2 across Pal territories for simultaneous release with the game. The guide will be published in four separate language SKUs: English, German, French and Spanish.

These days, racing sims tend to come in three flavours: boring, boring and more boring. Some developers are happiest encouraging users to fiddle with gear ratios and big ends. But not French coder Nadeo - its forthcoming, blisteringly fast PC racer TrackMania, due to be published in the UK by Digital Jesters on November 28th 2003, takes the computerised Highway Code, rips it up and chucks it out the rear window.

Digital Jesters crack champagne against PC and launch Virtual Skipper 3.. Owning a yacht is something only most of us can dream about. They're expensive from the off - and that's without running costs nor mooring costs; not to mention the hassle of actually learning to sail the things in the first place. But soon PC owners will be able to experience the thrill of competitive sailing in the most advanced simulator of its kind: Virtual Skipper 3, released on November 28th 2003 by Digital Jesters.

Mythic Entertainment, developer and publisher of the award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game 'Dark Age of Camelot,' announced today that the game's latest expansion pack, 'Trials of Atlantis,' has entered 'Beta 3,' the first large-scale beta test. This expansion pack to the winner of Online Game of the Year from Computer Games Magazine and Computer Gaming World introduces a slew of graphical upgrades to behold, a newly revealed half-submerged continent to explore and a series of epic trials to complete.

Buena Vista Games and Square Enix Co., Ltd. announced today that they are to join forces again to develop two sequel titles to KINGDOM HEARTS, which was released worldwide in 2002 for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. The sequels include KINGDOM HEARTS -CHAIN OF MEMORIES- for Game Boy Advance and KINGDOM HEARTS II for the PlayStation 2.

DreamCatcher Games today announced that it is accepting applications for its Painkiller Multiplayer Test (PC). This is not a Demo, but a closed beta to stress test the netcode and playtest maps. Interested gamers should fill out the Painkiller application form. The company will be selecting a team of 200 from the applicants over the next few weeks, and will notify the chosen recipients by email. The testing itself will take place in Mid-October.

In this platform action/adventure game, Spyro and his friends have inadvertently torn a hole in the fabric of space between the Rhynoc and Dragon Realms. At the command of the elusive Ripto, droves of Rhynocs are now pouring into the Dragon Realms. Spyro must help close the hole quickly before the portal and Ripto's ego grow too large and the two realms fuse together permanently... A set of character biographies. We'll know AI has really moved on when we start to receive character autobiographies. Check it out below!

We earlier posted up some information and screens regarding this new title and today Vivendi Universal Games announced the development of Red Ninja: End of Honor for the Sony PlayStation2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox video game system from Microsoft. Red Ninja: End of Honor is an action-adventure title, developed by Tranji, a new studio formed by the Japanese developers New Corporation and Opus, which will feature a variety of innovative game-play features blending action, adventure, stealth, seduction and fighting. These elements have been placed in a historical Japanese environment with an event-driven story written by famed Japanese feature film director, Shinsuke Sato.

The president of the Japanese software game maker, Satoru Iwata, said Friday that game consoles equipped with super-large chips and ever more functions may not be the answer for the future of the struggling games industry. Instead, easy-to-play games requiring no prior knowledge may be a better way to attract potential users, Iwata said, referring to Nintendo's surprise hit series of Pokemon software including "Pokemon Ruby" and "Pokemon Sapphire."

Electronic Arts today announced an exclusive relationship with NASCAR for worldwide rights to develop, publish and distribute NASCAR-branded interactive racing games through 2009. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. This agreement allows EA to create interactive games on a number of gaming platforms, including consoles and PCs, using NASCAR properties. EA's NASCAR Thunder 2004 video game features over 65 drivers including Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Jeff Gordon, as well as 23 official tracks and 175 cars of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series.