PopCap Games today announced the release of the PopCap Games Framework, the in-house development toolset used to create smash-hit titles such as "Bejeweled," "Bookworm," "Zuma," and other wildly popular casual computer games. The PopCap Games Framework is offered under an open source license and can be used free of charge by any developer for commercial or non-commercial use.

EA Europe today announced plans to co-publish Dead to Rights II, scheduled for release on the PS2, Xbox and on PC in summer 2005. Dead to Rights II marks the return of action-hero Jack Slate and his K-9 companion, Shadow. In this super-charged sequel, Jack and Shadow find themselves once again in the squalid, mean streets of Grant City, ensnared in a labyrinth of crime, corruption and betrayal.

SCAR, a brand new racing simulation licensed by Alfa Romeo, and developed by racing sim specialists, Milestone, creators of the Superbike series and Racing Evoluzione. SCAR, Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo, is a stunning racing simulation which combines both realistic car physics, and vibrant graphics together with classic Role Playing Game elements to become the first 'CARPG' ever developed.

Yes, today is the day to answer the call to save Earth and all of humankind in the tournament we've all been waiting for. Gamers have two weeks from today, 7th March, to register in what is the first stage of the Halo 2 Championship, hosted on the Xbox Live service. Registration closes on 20th March when eight winners will battle to win the title of UK Halo 2 Champion and, ultimately, the chance to take part in the Xbox Live Halo 2 Worldwide Finals in April.

The latest Settlers game takes the franchise and pushes it to the next level with fully animated 3D technology and enhanced gameplay features,. The game will take the player to a medieval setting, to re-conquer the kingdom currently under the domination of an evil tyrant. While Heritage of Kings is not released yet in English territories, Blue Byte is already working on a "The Fog Realm" addon with new maps, new heroes, and editor.

GMX Media are announcing the release of five new PC games for March 2005.. If you're into exploring new worlds, fighting realistic military battles, embarking on mysterious adventures or taking to the skies in some of the greatest flying machines know to man – then read on!

Only a few more weeks to go and Sony's PSP handheld will be released in North America. SCEA revealed the full list of titles that will be available on March 24, when it goes on sale. Read more for details ...

Rockstar launches Beaterator, a groundbreaking new Flash-based music sequencer, sampler and mixer built to work right in your browser. Beaterator gives anyone with an internet connection and Macromedia Flash the ability to craft advanced, original beats… and walk away with them as mp3s.

Twisted Metal: Head-On, developed Incognito Entertainment, hits the road this spring, allowing gamers to take destruction anywhere, anytime. Featuring new gameplay designs, multiplayer modes via wireless connectivity and Mini-Game bonus levels, Twisted Metal: Head-On provides a wide variety of gameplay options for gamers on the go.

GameSpy is reporting that LotR: Battle for Middle-earth design director Dustin Browder will be leaving EA, effective March 9, to team up with Blizzard as senior designer. The former Westwood employee worked on titles like Red Alert 2 and C&C Generals, and while Dustin did not disclose what Blizzard project he would be working on, he did confirm his new position was with the Warcraft/WoW team, and with his strategy background it could be a new Warcraft of Starcraft product. The article also states that another ex-Westwood employee, nobody less than EA's VP and Executive Producer Mark Skaggs is taken a leave of absense for personal/family reason.

Activision will be enlisting gamers in an all new tour of duty this fall with its latest Call of Duty game for the consoles. The company will develop the new title using its internal studios Gray Matter, the developer of Call of Duty: United Offensive, and Treyarch, creators of the popular Spider-Man series.

Atari announced today that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Spark Unlimited for worldwide publishing rights across all media to all future titles developed by the award-winning creative team at Spark Unlimited, the studio behind the recent hit console game Call of Duty: Finest Hour.

At a lavish Berlin launch event to celebrate today's release of PAL versions of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the creator and director Hideo Kojima informed assembled journalists that, while Snake Eater did indeed wrap up his initial trilogy, he will be involved with a fourth Metal Gear Solid title.

Vivisector: Beast Inside developed by Action Forms (creators of Chasm and Carnivores series) is a unique mixture of 3D Action/Horror. The game blends a thrilling interactive story with intense, high-adrenaline action and immerses players in a rich and fascinating storyline.

Ubisoft today announces that Cold Fear is now available across all European retail stores on Xbox and PlayStation 2.

Europe 1942. These are desperate hours for Allied forces as the Nazi war machine rages across a devastated European landscape. You are US Army Lieutenant William Holt, hand-picked by William “Wild Bill” Donovan to be the first field agent of the newly formed Office of Strategic Services­the OSS. Medal of Honor European Assault makes you the driving force in the struggle to liberate Europe.

Atari today announced that Act of War: Direct Action, a near-future, techno-thriller for personal computer, featuring a story created and written by New York Times best-selling author Dale Brown and nearly one hour of original, live-action feature film footage has gone gold in Europe and is on schedule for its March 18 ship date.

Matrix Games announced today that they will be working with Strategic Studies Group to release an updated version of the Reach for the Stars sci-fi strategy game. The original classic was released in 1983, but the new release is an updated version of the second Reach for the Stars release in 2000.

Valve's SteamPowered website has been updated with details regarding yet another update for its Source SDK which adds motion mapper, new example character model, new character creation documentation, QC eyes tool, more in-depth shader examples and a fix to the dedicated server. Just restart steam for the effects to take place. Valve also announced that they have selected the three winners from the Half-Life 2: Deathmatch map competition, the winning maps will get added somewhere during the course of the month.

Due to a mishap in our calculations (always confusing when companies start their fiscal year in November) we falsely reported GTA: SA being delayed, it is still on track for its scheduled June-ish release date. Our apologies for the confusion. At the same token it was also revealed that Rockstar Leeds (May Payne for GBA) is working on a GTA title for the PSP, set in GTA III's Liberty City, which is planned for release in the Q3 2005. Out of a total of 140 upcoming titles, Rockstar has two all new, yet undisclosed, products in development for later this year.

Created by Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the top performing product in Take-Two's publishing business in the quarter. According to NPDFunworld, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the top selling PlayStation 2 title in the United States in each of the four months since its release. The Company's life to date sales of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas through the end of the first quarter have exceeded 12 million units.

Tecmo and Xbox Live revealed today that Tecmo’s popular and sometimes controversial head of Team Ninja and creator of the Dead or Alive series, Tomonobu Itagaki, will participate in “The Dead or Alive Ultimate Mystery Gamer Competition” by taking on the role of the elusive DOAU Mystery Gamer for this Sunday’s session of the tournament.

Dreamcatcher has released a demo for the North American edition of Hydravision's 3rd person survival horror game Obscure: Learn about Fear. This demo features the same content as the previously released European version, but with added bug fixes. In the demo you take on the role of popular basketball player, Kenny. As he wraps up nightly practice and heads for the showers, Kenny stumbles upon a secret that will change their lives forever. Read more for download links...

Pandora Studios was formed in January of 2005 as a PC game development company. Originally just known as "Team Frag.Ops," the mod team behind the creation of the UT2004 Frag.Ops mod, after repeated success in the MSU contest the decision was made: an LLC would be created and Pandora Studios would pursue future projects in game design. We believe our love of classic, deep gaming and knack for creating epic concepts is just what the industry needs - a lot less feature consolidation, and a lot more depth.

Cold Fear is the first action-horror title to be published under the Ubisoft brand and combines the popular elements of both action and horror releases, delivering an action-packed, tension-filled gaming experience. Ubisoft is organizing a Cold Fear chat with the Darkworks developers on Wednesday March 9th at 6 PM (euro time), 9:00 AM PST or 12AM EST. Here is everything you need : server type beyondIRC (irc.beyondirc.net), channel : #ColdFear. Read more for some new screens ...