The Nintendo Fusion Tour, headlined by Evanescence, one of the hottest new bands in the country, brings fully immersive entertainment from the worlds of music and cutting-edge gaming to 25 cities across North America. The tour kicks off in Los Angeles on Aug. 4 and ends in the Pacific Northwest in late September. Read more for details ...

Linden Lab today officially unveiled Second Life, a rapidly growing and constantly changing 3D online society, shaped entirely by its residents. In Second Life, Linden Lab has pioneered real-time 3D streaming technologies and advanced compression capabilities to create a persistent, contiguous landscape where residents can discover a world of exploration, socializing, creativity, self-expression, and fun unlike any other.

Nosferatu is a modern word derived from the Old Slavonic word *nosufur-atu, borrowed from the greek nosophoros, a plague carrier. Nosferatu - The Wrath of Malachi crosses the brooding, creepy and scary atmosphere of the successful survival horror genre (Resident Evil and Silent Hill), with "traditional" first person shooter action, making the game cross genre of FPS and survival horror. Nosferatu is shocking fear, violent action and entertaining FPS game play.

Lock and load your M-16 and grab your flak jacket, it's time to hit the jungle in Battlefield Vietnam. Electronic Arts announced today that Battlefield Vietnam for the PC is under development and expects to debut in early 2004. The title will be published and distributed by Electronic Arts under the EA GAMES brand. This is not an addon, but a full fledge sequel! Read more for details & features..

Continuing its close partnership with the prestigious Prancing Horse-brand automaker and its history of unique and innovative accessories, Thrustmaster is thrilled to announce the release of the Enzo Force Feedback Racing Wheel. Bringing the power and precision of the Enzo Ferrari, Ferrari's mechanical and technological pinnacle, the Enzo Force Feedback Racing Wheel is compatible with all PlayStation 2 and PC games for maximum versatility and enjoyment.

New in-depth Horse racing Management Simulation STARTERS-ORDERS released by UK developer Strategic Designs to be distributed digitally in partnership with Softwrap. Starters Orders is a highly detailed and accurate Horse racing management game for the PC.

Gamers get ready to rip across a lake by a high-powered speedboat and pull off huge tricks in Activisions new action sports video game, Wakeboarding Unleashed featuring Shaun Murray. Featuring revolutionary water graphics, unique rope mechanics and innovative two-player modes, the game has been given the Elite Award by the Official Xbox Magazine (June 2003). Wakeboarding Unleashed featuring Shaun Murray is currently available for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox video game system from Microsoft at retail outlets for a suggested retail price of £39.99 and carries a 3+ PEGI rating.

Yesterday there was, initally, the story that Half-Life 2 was not coming to xbox, then GameSpy got the confirmation from Valve that it WAS scheduled. Now GameSpy has talked to Microsoft Xbox Group product manager David Hufford that it is coming and explaining how the confusion about the fate of the Xbox version of HL2 came into existence in the first place. Check out the soap story!

Microsoft Train Simulator 2 provides the opportunity to command a 200-ton modern diesel locomotive or operate a steam-breathing behemoth from the past.

Gamespy has posted the transcript from their chat with the guys from Splash Damage on Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory last Friday. This stand-alone expansion pack to Return to Castle Wolfenstein is freely available and rather popular. In fact, it has become one of the top three most-played games on the Internet, regularly taking on Battlefield 1942 for the second place place, right behind Half-Life.

Evil Avatar dug up some Half-Life 2 news from Seattle Bizjournals, were product manager David Hufford from Microsoft Xbox group says "As of now, Half-Life 2 is not going to be on the Xbox... Here is a small clip:

Raisys, who owns Microsoft stock, expressed disappointment that the combat game Halo 2, the sequel to one of Microsoft's few exclusive smash hits, won't be available for the holiday season. Halo 2 isn't expected to be available until March 2004.

In addition, Hufford acknowledged that another anticipated combat game sequel, Half-Life 2, made by Seattle game developer Valve Software, won't be available for the Xbox as had been previously announced.

"As of now, Half-Life 2 is not going to be on the Xbox," he said. "Valve is sending us mixed messages on that."

Day of Defeat is a World War II multiplayer first-person action game that pits players in Axis vs. Allies battles in Western Europe at the height of the war in 1944. Players enlist as snipers, infantrymen, machine gunners, riflemen and sergeants, and then hit the frontlines running using authentic weaponry. The game, which initially debuted as a MOD, features multiple modes of play, a total of 15 multiplayer maps of action -- including 10 new maps, all new character models, hundreds of new animations, increased textures and all new particle effects system. Day of Defeat will also launch with a new Allied squad -- the British.

The Australian Headquarters Training Command Army (HQTC-A) has now formally accepted TacOps 4 as meeting contract requirements for an Australian/New Zealand version of TacOps under the working title of "TacOps ANZAC (v4& v5)". This version is now available for issue to all members of the Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces. The final ANZAC version v5 will likely include enhancements that are under concurrent development for the v5 retail edition of TacOps and for the official US Marine Corps v5 edition "TacOpsMC". The v5 retail edition of TacOps will be available later this year only from Battlefront.com, and will not be available in stores.

The Perfect General is an abstract game of strategy on a tactical level. Players buy units such as tanks, artillery and infantry, place them on a map, and try to capture and hold strategic areas. The game plays in a series of turns, with each turn having different planning, fire and movement phases... Now Killer Bee Software is looking for beta testers. Find out more and sign up here!

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory offers gamers a unique, squad-based single player game, enlisting players as the leader of an elite Allied force throughout a series of mission-based scenarios that range from Western Europe to the deserts of Egypt. Featuring multiplayer support for as many as 64 players and 2-player co-operative play, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory challenges gamers to the ultimate test of teamwork and strategy. In case you totally missed it, Activision released the full & totally free addon late last night, get it here, or read more to check out a few screens

UK based Sales and Marketing company 'Nobilis' has teamed up with Slovakian developer 'Mayhem Studios' to proudly announce the much anticipated release of Empire of Magic for the PC in August 2003. Empire of Magic is an absorbing turn-based strategy game with a complex storyline and an RPG style of gameplay... Read more to check out a bunch of new screens and the gamestory / features!

As mentioned earlier we now have the Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory available for download. The free class-based multiplayer game comes with six maps and we have in in Win/Linux versions. You do not need Return to Castle Wolfenstein to play it and this is totally free! Read more for download links and let the madness begin!

The Canadian Press reports that Microsoft has a vision for just how its Xbox video game console should fit in consumers' homes. It's a hub-and-spoke strategy. The personal computer is at the hub of the home, where people store their music, digital photos and other files. But when people want to share that experience, it's usually in front of the family TV.

All you need is Music Mixer, a product unveiled at the recent E3 Convention in Los Angeles. It allows you to transfer digital music and photos from the PC to the Xbox, play DVDs or CDs, strip lyrics off music - even karaoke. You can also customize your own soundtrack and visuals.

Check out the full scoop here!

New nations, new campaign missions and a new game mode. An add-on disc, basically. Except... it isn't... Strategy players who can't get enough of CDV's classic RTS American Conquest will have a new set of challenges as American Conquest Fight Back is published in August. Read more for details and screens ...

ARUSH Entertainment and Playinteractive, LLP today announced a major licensing deal with NBC Enterprises and Endemol USA to create, market and distribute interactive video games based on the worldwide hit TV series Fear Factor. Tentatively titled Fear Factor: Unleashed, the games are targeted to be in stores in 2004. Joy Tashjian Marketing Group helped broker the deal.

Half-Life 2 was unquestionably THE game to see at this year's E3. For the people who did not manage to get to see it (which probably means most of you), we now have it freely available on our file servers. This 25 minute trailer shows engine & in-game footage and comes in hi-res, so be prepared for a lenghty download (thanks GameSpy). Read more for download links ...

More than 62,000 industry professionals from more than 80 countries gathered at the Los Angeles Convention Center for the ninth annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo), the world's premier interactive entertainment trade show. According to the show's owner, the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), approximately 400 exhibitors showcased thousands of software titles, including more than 1,350 never-before-seen computer and video game related products, occupying 520,000 net square feet of exhibit space. Exhibitors reported 83 percent of these products will be found on store shelves this holiday season.

Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc. announced today that the SOFTIMAGE/XSI software, the industry-leading nonlinear 3-D production environment, was used exclusively by Valve to create all the characters, models and props for the new game Half-Life 2. This widely anticipated sequel to one of the best selling PC games of all time introduces life-like in-game characters that herald the next generation of characters for interactive entertainment. To exceed the expectations of a more sophisticated audience and deliver the new title on schedule, Valve converted its production pipeline to the award-winning SOFTIMAGE/XSI environment.

Command an elite, multinational squad of special operatives against a hidden terrorist foe. In Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3, the third installment in the wildly popular Rainbow Six series, Team RAINBOW races against time to stop terror and unravel a mystery. In locations around the world, from London to the Cayman Islands to Rio de Janeiro, lead Team Rainbow in a desperate effort to battle a madman and foil his doomsday plot.