Predictions of a continued upward trend in the popularity of leisure software, highlighted at the beginning of the year by The European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), are still on track. New figures published today by ELSPA, sourced from Chart Track, show a continuing increase in sales of computer games in the UK with 11 million units of software sold in the first quarter of 2002. This is a 6 per cent rise on the same period last year. The value of games sold, across all formats, rose by 20% from £219 million in the first quarter of 2001 to £262 million in the first quarter of this year.

Get up and get down, Sam fans - now's the chance for all you budding level designers to express your creativity and kitsch sense while you frag the night away. You could win a brand-spanking new top-end Visiontek Xtasy GeForce 4 Ti 4600 video card, featuring the fastest Nvidia GeForce 4 chip on the market - all for showing us you've got a unique mix of design skills combined with a penchant for polyester pants.

Legion transports players back in time, over two thousand years ago, before the world was ruled by Rome and when the next great empire was set to rise. Players take control of one of the many tribes, city states or leagues in Italy at the time prior to Rome’s domination of the area. The time would come when armies would have to become organized, take advantage of terrain and make sure that the best formations were implemented to ensure victory. Njoy the new screens!

Just noticed over at Blues that Microids has just released new patches for the UK and French versions of Warrior Kings. The new patch upgrades those 2 version of their 3D real-time strategy game to v1.3. Both are aprox. 3.5mb big and mainly fix game balance & Gamespy issues ...

Rick Johnson from Ravensoft today updated his .plan file with following SoF2 MP Test information:

If you are playing SoF2 MP Test and can't connect to any servers because of an invalid game version, you are playing with leaked version. You must download the official version that was released today!

Infogrames has just released the new Civilization III patch upgrading their Tunr Based Strategy to v1.21f. The 8.8 MB download has a very large amount of fixes, tweaks and additions. Click "read more" for a detailed update list and links where to grab this 8mb puppy.

Recently, the inhabitants of the futuristic metropolis Neocron have learned to use the body and sign language! As soon as a gamer has entered a chat-text, the program checks it for special keywords. If such a headword crops up, the Avatar of the game makes a corresponding movement. Whenever the word "Hello!" appears, the Avatar kindly waves his hand, in case of a "Yes" he nods quite approvingly and every "No" is accompanied by the shaking of his head. No, don't panic. A lot of triggers such as "vo" and "vup" as well as "yes" and "yeah" affect the same animation. In case of words such as "bullshit" or "no way" the Avatar may even give someone the finger, and for enthusiastic expressions such as "wow" and "top stuff" he may even move his hips. (It's Rock 'n Roll Babe !!!). Yeah Yeah! More about it!

Activision, Inc. is taking gamers back to the dark ages with the announcement that the company will be publishing Creative Assembly's Medieval: Total War for the PC, due soon. As the sequel to the highly acclaimed Shogun: Total War, the game challenges players to reshape the history of the Middle Ages through a combination of epic real-time 3D battles and turn based empire building. Check the 15 new screens we just got in ...

Attention Soldiers! Suit up and dig in to the first mission and unit descriptions for Blitzkrieg. Nival been raiding the archives to bring you the most realistic WWII RTS yet. Now they added the first descriptions of Missions and Units that will be appearing in the game. Your briefing can be found here.

Blizzard Entertainment confirmed today that it and its parent company Vivendi Universal Games have filed a lawsuit against members of the BNETD project as well as Internet Gateway, Inc., a St. Louis-based Internet service provider. The lawsuit centers on the creation, hosting and distribution of BNETD, a software program that incorporates Blizzard's copyrighted materials without authorization and enables pirated copies of Blizzard games to be played online. Head over to Battle.net for full story!

After winning the Best Massively Multiplayer Online Game award from PC Gamer magazine for its game, Anarchy Online, Funcom announces the release of a special retail edition shipping to stores on May 15, 2002. Customers can pre-order a copy of the game later today through Funcom's online store. Full pressrelease below!

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today its continued support for the PS one game console with a broad array of upcoming first party software releases for the 2002 Summer. This summer, Sony Computer Entertainment America will release three first-party titles for the PS one console that offer entertainment for all ages. With the new portability features of the LCD screen (for PS one) and car adaptor (for PS one), consumers will be available to enjoy these titles on the road, as well in the living room.

Black Isle Studios, the RPG (role-playing game) division of Interplay Entertainment Corp., announced today their plan to create a collector's edition of Icewind Dale II featuring collectible items, exclusive gameplay enhancements and much more. Limited quantities of the Icewind Dale II Collector's Edition will be available for a limited time exclusively at www.Interplay-Store.com.

Activision, Inc. confirmed today that Treyarch is in development on a Minority Report game for the PlayStation2 , the Xbox and Nintendo GameCube. Inspired by Steven Spielberg’s upcoming feature film, “Minority Report,” a 20th Century Fox and Dreamworks co-production starring Tom Cruise slated for release on June 21, the Minority Report video game puts players in the role of a PreCrime Police Officer wrongfully accused of murder. Throughout the 3rd person action/adventure game, players will explore many of the locations from the film, as well as make use of advanced weapons and gadgets straight out of the movie in an attempt to clear their name. Minority Report the game will be released in the winter of 2002 and has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

Owners of the Xbox video game system from Microsoft are to get a dedicated edition of the million-selling military simulator Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis. Codemasters will publish a customised Xbox version of the multi-award winning game this winter. The Xbox edition is being developed by Bohemia Interactive Studio, creators of the original PC title, and will contain the entire original game along with an additional prequel campaign called Resistance.

BONGFISH has released a new demo of it's extreme freeriding videogame STOKEDRIDER. Among the features of the new demo are more radical tricks, a brand new physics engine and more backcountry fun utilizing the game's unique procedural geometry engine.This release is supported by FLOW snowboard products and a new soundtrack by REDLIGHTSFLASH and CIRQUE DE DELAY. Grab the only 4mb sized demo at the newly redesigned web site.

After being released earlier in Europe, Microïds' newest real-time strategy title, Warrior Kings, has hit the North American store shelves today. The US and Canadian versions of the game have been upgraded and a patch (1.3) will shortly be available to resolve all existing issues with the game. Warrior Kings is entering the North American market as one of the most anticipated title of the year and has already received some great reviews and accolades from US and European publications. The game has been a sales success in Europe with over 100,000 copies sold in less than two months on the East side of the Atlantic Ocean. "Warrior Kings is a true RTS, not a tactical skirmish game. From building an economy through to structuring large armies, Warrior Kings bridges the gap between the tactical game and the full on strategic real time War Game."

JSRF – Jet Set Radio Future uses the power of the Xbox to create living, breathing cities that are filled with opportunities. Featuring unique anime-style graphics, new tricks and incredible stunts, JSRF – Jet Set Radio Future brings the hippest game ever into a futuristic world. Choose a character, strap on your rocket powered skates and immerse yourself in the vast environments. The story unfolds depending upon which areas of the game you explore. Along the way, you’ll compete with rival gangs, be chased by the cops and perhaps discover something unthinkable. Wherever your adventure takes you, it’s all about extreme skating, extreme action and of course extreme style. Did we extremely like it, or did it extremely bore us?

Wake up kid, the entire Universal Studios Theme Park is yours to explore for the day... Kemco just send us 15 new if slightly fuzzy screenshots from Universal Studios Theme Park for GameCube. Check them out below!

GSC World released some more info on their upcoming game "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost". Go check it out. They give more details about the gameplay, different character and story behind the title ( the game is situated in and based on Chernobyl ). After reading all of the info you will HAVE to come to the same conclusion as we did .. this is a title to look out for ! Of course we will keep you up to date on new developments.

The saga continues as Sierra Entertainment and Fox Interactive announced today the development of the Aliens versus Predator 2: Primal Hunt expansion pack. Aliens versus Predator 2: Primal Hunt continues the nail-biting terror and suspense from the award-winning Aliens versus Predator 2. With all new single-player and multi-player levels, weapons, and new player characters, this original interlocking story is an all out battle of three of the deadliest species in the universe as the Aliens versus Predator 2 saga begins.

Activision, Inc. is bringing the high-speed, high jinx of the best-selling WRECKLESS:The Yakuza Missions video game series to the PS2. The title, which has remained a top-selling game on the Xbox sales charts, takes mission-based driving action to new heights with platform specific features including free-roaming interactive environments, more cars to drive, a variety of sub-mission objectives that unlock game-enhancing cheats and a multiplayer mode for head-to-head action. WRECKLESS:The Yakuza Missions is not yet rated by the ESRB and is expected to ship this fall.

WildTangent, Inc., pioneering the Interactive Broadcast Games industry, announced today in cooperation with NIKE, Inc., the release of a retail quality online game as a key element of Nike's Global "Secret Tournament." The game, starring 24 of the world's best soccer players, is live at Nikefootball.com.

Infogrames Entertainment has acquired one of Europe’s leading developers of console games and added to its creative capabilities for simulation and action games. Eden Studios, one of Europe’s leading developers of console games and a specialist in car rally simulations and action games, has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Infogrames, which had previously held a 19.8-percent stake in the company.

Activision, Inc. is expanding its industry leading Activision O2 brand lineup with the development of a new motocross game that will be headlined by three-time undefeated Summer X-Games freestyle gold medallist, Travis Pastrana. The sixth title to be marketed under the Activision O2 brand, Travis Pastrana’s Pro MotoX™ will feature other top riders including Mike Brown, Tommy Clowers, Ernesto Fonseca and Carey Hart.