What do you call an area where evil lurks in the shadows, buildings lay in ruins, streams are filled by a brackish muck and a thick, greenish mist has invaded every crevice and corner? Fans of the upcoming City of Heroes' online game will soon be creating their own heroes and fighting evil in "hazard zones" like this. Now, they have a chance to name the first hazard zone and forever leave their creative mark on Paragon City, the game's fictional metropolis. Read more for details & some screens of the infamous hazardous zone...

VE3D posted up some news (available here) from Epic Games, including links to a GDC video and the $1,000,000 NVIDIA Make Something Unreal Contest.. Here is a clip:

The video is a direct screen capture of a Matinee sequence we put together to show off what our engine could do circa GDC, 2002. This sequence captured in this video was shown behind closed doors running real-time in the Unreal Engine at our GDC booth in March 2002. It had not been publicly released prior to now. Matinee is a tool for making real-time cinematic sequences within the Unreal Editor. Matinee and other tools you can use to create sequences like this come with the PC version of Unreal Tournament 2003.

The purpose of releasing the video now is to provide a little inspiration for the real-time non-interactive movie (i.e. Machinima) category of the $1,000,000 NVIDIA Make Something Unreal Contest

Ubi Soft, in partnership with DC Comics, Warner Home Video, and GamePro Magazine have announced a joint promotion in support of Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, the first video game to introduce a new character into the Batman universe. The promotion will include, the "Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu - Art Attack! Contest" sponsored by Ubi Soft, which will run from now through October 31. Entrants submitting their best drawings of Batman will be judged by legendary comic book artist and Sin Tzu's co-creator, Jim Lee.

Have you ever wanted to have YOUR own avatar in a game? Or thought that you didn't have enough options to make the avatar YOU really wanted and envisioned? NOW is your chance to make that thought a reality! Participate in the "Face of Mankind Skinning Contest" and you could have your very own avatar in the game! Then what are you waiting for? Get skinning! Visit their Contest pages.

Epic Games and Digital Extremes, co-creators of the award-winning Unreal game franchise, along with NVIDIA Corporation, Atari Inc, AMD, and Alias Wavefront today announced the kickoff of the "$1,000,000 NVIDIA Make Something Unreal" contest. The contest, backed by a grand prize worth US $400,000 and one of the largest overall contest prize purses in the video game industry, rewards and publicly recognizes talented individuals from around the world who can create the ultimate game and entertainment mods (a new game or add-on created with tools from the original title) based on the best-selling Unreal Tournament 2003 and upcoming Unreal Tournament 2004.

Lunkwill Labs and GarageGames announce the first annual Robot Battle programming contest; a battle of wits to see who can design and code the smartest most adaptable fighting robot. The contest challenges players to devise their own autonomous robot for a head to head fight to the finish.

If you have pictures of your grandiose palaces, proud cities, mighty battles or impressive buildings then just send them to the 1503 A.D. team to take part in next month’s Screenshot Contest! Submit your screenshots before the middle of the month to take part in the current qualifier. They will then choose the twelve best submissions and post them in the brand-new Screenshot Contest area on their website.

A little while ago our 'Reign Of Fire' (PS2) contest ended, and now we have announced the winners. Want to check out if you were one of the lucky people to win a Reign OF Fire PS2 copy, or maybe you got one of the Reign of Fire watches/mousepads! The 10 winning contestants will be receiving a confirmation email in a few days time. Check out the winners page !!!

Following a nationwide search of college campuses to find the most promising ninja-inspired short films, two students have been chosen as the winners of the Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, "Reel Ninja Film Contest." Legendary film director John Woo and producer Terence Chang of Lion Rock Productions awarded Joshua Gorin from the University of Pennsylvania the $15,000 Grand Prize for his submission, "The Ninja Movie," a clever three-minute live action short set in a snowy cemetery.

NovaLogic is pleased to announce that the competition to find who can build the best Delta Force - Black Hawk Down Fan Site on the Web will begin on March 5th, 2003! To help get people started, NovaLogic is providing some basic assets in a Web Design Kit. These include screenshots, vehicles, characters, weapons, logos and box art. Entrants may also explore the NovaLogic website (www.novalogic.com) and the Internet for additional material. Entrants are not required to use all the assets in this kit.

Softwrap, the leading British-based provider of virtual 'shrink-wrap' solutions for the games and software industry, today announced that it is attending the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Jose, California, 4 - 8 March, and is also offering games developers the chance to win a whopping $10,000 in prize money!

Rise of Nations fans will have the opportunity to enter the Rise of Nations Sneak Preview Beta Contest for a chance to win one of 1000 copies of the Rise of Nations beta. The contest will stay open from February 14 to 11 AM PST, Monday, February 17. Winners will be selected from a random drawing from all eligible entries received. Fans from around the world are invited to participate.

Microsoft Game Studios today announced that gamers will soon have the opportunity to enter the Rise of Nations Sneak Preview Beta Contest for a chance to win one of 1000 copies of the Rise of Nations beta. On Friday, 14th February, fans can sign up at the official site, where complete contest information and official rules can also be found. Winners will be selected from a random drawing from all entries.

Freelancer Sneak Preview Contest... Microsoft posted following information today on the official site for their upcoming epic space adventure game, Freelancer. Here is the clip:

On Friday, January 24, you will be able to enter both here and at Lancers Reactor to win a Sneak Preview copy of Freelancer. We will be selecting 15 winners from our site, and 15 winners from Lancers Reactor for a grand total of 30 lucky fans. Winners will be selected via a random drawing from all eligible entries received. Contest is open to fans around the world and you will be able to enter between Friday, January 24 to 11 AM PST, Monday, January 27.

Silverstyle, developer of the Real Time Strategy (RTS) game "Soldiers of Anarchy" for the PC has announced a level design contest. Starting today through November 22, fans can submit their user-made map via the SOA web site. 'Soldier Of Anarchy' comes with an easy-to-use level design editor that allows gamers to create their own worlds to play in. These levels can be played in single or multi-player mode via the Internet. To enter the contest, gamers have till November 22 to submit their level via the Soldiers Of Anarchy web site. Instructions on how to submit entries can be found at the web site.

To celebrate this Friday’s (13th September) release of its staggeringly involving role playing game Divine Divinity, CDV Software Entertainment UK is offering all Web browsers the chance to win some excellent PC hardware – provided they defeat the Black Knight. Read more for details!

First Child Born On 9-1-02 and Named 'Turok' For One Year Will Win Savings Bonds Towards College Tuition.. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. today announced its 'Turok: Evolution' Labor Day contest that will award $10,000 to the first infant born on 9-1-02 and named 'Turok' for one year by their parents.

The Neverwinter Nights 'Contest of Champions' module from BioWare's RPG is now available for download. This module is designed to allow a group of players to jump into combat against each other on up to for 4 different teams. Anything goes within the two different battle arenas. The last team standing at the end of combat wins the round.

Rockstar Games is pleased to announce the return of the Rockstar Games Upload online media awards to celebrate independent artistic endeavors on the Internet. In 2001, Rockstar hosted what was considered to be the first strictly online media awards program where an astounding collection of imaginative contest entries were sent in via the Rockstar FTP site. Judging for the contest and the awards ceremony took place entirely online, making for a completely digital experience.

Test your skills playing "Star Wars Jedi Knight® II – Jedi Outcast" by using the Force to destroy 12 opponents. Plus, you’ll get a chance to win some very cool prizes (Win over $60.000 in prizes)! Register today to join our largest Gateway Gaming Challenge to date!

Have you ever dreamt of creating your own character and admiring it in your favourite game? Stop dreaming! The first official Neocron skin contest has just started in the community forum of the eagerly-awaited MMORPG. Prove your creative abilities and design cool skins for a Private Eye, Spy, Tank or Psi-Monch. As first prize for the best skin you’ll win a Neocron Beta Account and have your skin included in the final game!!!

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.

Dreamcatcher announce a new GORE contest. The contest started April 19th, 2002, at 12:01 P.S.T. and ends May 31st, 2002 at 12:00 midnight P.S.T. Draws will be made on or about June 4, 2002 at 12:01 P.S.T. Representatives from DreamCatcher Interactive Inc., will select the winners from ALL eligible entries submitted by MAY 31, 2002. The names of the winners will be posted at the website on or about JUNE 14, 2002. Find out more here!

Today we announce the winners for our latest contest, "Disciples II: Dark Prophecy". Did you win a copy? Well, find out here. A new contest will be announced soon. So stay tuned!