JoWooD Productions is proud to announce the first official details on the three character classes featured in Gothic II, the breathtaking role-playing action adventure game scheduled for a UK release in Q1 2003 on PC CD-ROM... Details and screens below!

Nicely Crafted Entertainment Ltd. (“NiCE”) today announced the launch of Time of Defiance Skirmish Servers. The new servers will be available exclusively to subscribers to Nicely Crafted Entertainment’s Massively Multiplayer Persistent-Universe Online Real Time Strategy game Time of Defiance. Unlike the normal restriction of only being able to participate in one game at a time, subscribers will be able to make use of the new skirmish servers whilst also participating in their regular game. Running at four times normal game speed, Skirmish Server games will typically last for around seven days, and can be used by subscribers to practice new tactics, settle outstanding disputes quickly and easily, or just for the enjoyment of playing the game.

The official homepage of Panzers holds some new screenshots for you! You're going to witness fierce street fights and gorgeous graphics. German Tiger vs. the English Sherman is one of the duels..

The skies darken as Harbinger enters a solar system, dwarfing planets and leaving devastation in its wake. Entire civilizations are cleansed, planets eliminated. The majority of the survivors fill the ship’s work camps. Those less fortunate are released to the laboratories where vicious experiments eventually rid them of their sanity. But a few have escaped and formed an underground society deep within the forgotten levels of the behemoth. Equipped only with what they can scavenge, the denizens of the wastelands must resist the relentless patrols sent for them. A ship this size has many places to hide and much technology to exploit.

Everybody knew it. But today, Microïds wanted to make it official. Syberia II, the sequel of the 2002 Adventure Game of The year, is currently in development at the developer/publisher Montreal-based studios. Microïds is also excited to release today the first images, screenshots and artworks, of Syberia II. The game will be released in the Fall of 2003.

LucasArts is pleased to announce that Indiana Jones® and the Emperor's Tomb for Xbox has been approved for manufacturing and will be in stores February 25th! Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb features The Collective's proprietary 3D engine that supports completely immersive, highly interactive environments. The game will offer 10 levels, all set in unique locales such as a 15th century castle that looms over Prague, an underwater palace in Istanbul, and a mountaintop fortress in China. A sophisticated camera tracking system makes sure that the player always has an optimal view of the third-person action. Stay tuned for reviews soon ...

The last studio linked to the iconic video game company is winding down its operations this month. More than a hundred employees are losing their jobs. Some of these staffers date back to Atari's heyday in the 1970s. One employee worked on Atari's second game, Tank. Parent company Midway Games, which bought Atari's arcade division in 1996, said the downsizing is necessary to cut costs.

A few days after Battlefront.com released the v1.02 patch for the US version of Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin, now CDV has released the Euro patch (but its quite a big bigger). This patch includes 17 new and improved vehicle and gun models, refinements to several commands and further tweaks to the fatigue and moral systems. Added Features include a new "pure armor" Quick Battle force type which will only allow "armor" units to be purchased plus dozens of unit and weapon/armor data updates and bug fixes. Read more for download links and detailed fix list ...

Netamin Corporation reported today that over 1,200 gamers registered and requested to take part in the initial alpha testing for Ultimate Baseball Online. The first pitch of the opening game was thrown February 7, 2003 and the testing will continue through March 1, 2003.

Shrapnel Games announced today that Stormcloud Creations' Interstellar Trader 2 has gone Gold. The game should be ready to ship in Early March.. More about it below!

The non-profit making science fiction and gaming organisation, Infinite Frontiers, is now pleased to announce a major expansion to their software downloads section covering a range of platforms including the PC and Amiga... Dozens of 8- and 16-bit games available for download, with the original authors' blessing. (And, for what it's worth, ours too.)

Hard Hitter 2 builds on the success of the original with improved ball physics, more stylish animated graphics and a host of new one and two player options. Guide your chosen player through a whole series of world-wide competitions. Earn ranking points and prize money throughout the tournament year, or simply create your own unique character, for a more personal challenge. Add to this a series of crazy mini-games and lots of multi-player options and you can see why this game a must for all tennis fans... 11 smashing screenshots below!

On Feb. 16th, Nintendo of America Inc. kicks off the official pre-sell program for the eagerly awaited Nintendo GameCube game, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.. Already, more than 250,000 gamers have reserved their copy of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker before the official pre-sell program has even started.

The virtual universe of Project Entropia has gone gold with the release of its latest version update 4.2. The implementation has brought exciting new features into the ever-evolving universe of PE as well as several technical updates. Read more for the highlights.

Pro Beach Soccer is a fun, arcade game featuring cool-looking players, spectacular moves, laser shows and DJs playing hot tunes, set in the unique and exotic atmosphere of stadiums from Rio to Dubai. Beach soccer originated in Brazil and is a spectacular sport played on sand - which gives it a different dimension to standard football. Aimed at both football and arcade game fans, Pro Beach Soccer combines a wide variety of acrobatic feats with a light and sound extravaganza. In Pro Beach Soccer, the athletes and spectators create a unique vibe packed with action, sun and music.

CDV Software Entertainment is asking gamers to make love AND war this Valentine's Day, through a series of radio competitions in which listeners can win replica antique duelling pistols. The competitions will be held on Friday 14th February and have been placed to celebrate the day's release of American Conquest – the latest real-time strategy epic from Cossacks developer GSC Game World. Listeners will have the opportunity to win a duelling pistol and a copy of the game on across the country local radio stations from Forth FM in the north to BBC Radio Devon in the South West. These competitions will be broadcast throughout the day, so gamers keen to get their hands on the game and replica pistols will need to keep their ears 'peeled'.

Launching next Friday, February 21, IGI 2: Covert Strike's dramatic and deadly action can be experienced today with the launch of all-new and explosive playable demo. This standalone PC demo is now available for download.. Find out more below!

Electronic Arts today announced plans to release this May The Sims Superstar, a new expansion pack to the top-selling PC game of all time, The Sims. Players can now realize their fantasies of fame and fortune as they pursue the dream of being a Rock Star, Movie Star or a Supermodel and live the lifestyle of a celebrity. All new gameplay, new social interactions and a whole new in-game destination offer players an all access pass to the world of superstardom. In The Sims Superstar, The Sims are ready for their close up.

During the development process a game goes through several steps from initial design to alpha, beta and then finally to the Gold Master stage. Strategy First tossed up some nice reading about how a CD gets from their computers onto the retail shelves and hopefully onto your computers. Go check it out!

So, you’ve been playing the Dragon Claw Studio’s innovative and highly graphic web-based role-playing and strategy game for the past 6 months? You’ve had fun but felt that something was missing? All your soul-searching hasn’t led to any clear path? Rest your weary eyes and look no further...FaitH’s Era III has implemented changes and new features that will rock your world..! Read more for full pressrelease!

BioWare has released a new patch for Neverwinter Nights, updating their role playing game to v1.28. There have been some Aurora toolset changes, there's new ATI code for the Catalyst 3.0/3.1 drivers, and there have been some stability fixes among other things. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

The Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide site is updated with a new Creatures of the desert unite wallpaper. This new wallpaper features an abundance of many-legged creatures massing in the desert! Also in upcoming weeks, they will be showcasing aspects of the 3 new Shadows of Undrentide tilesets, starting this week with the Giant Statue Head, Chasm Stairs, and Oasis tiles from the Desert tileset! (thanks gamezone.cz)

Play from a distance so great you can't see the telly any more with this new Xbox controller. And Logic3 has its own S-styled one too... SpectraVideo plc are now shipping the new Logic3 FreeBird RF Wireless Game Pad and the S-Pad– both for the Xbox console. These two new controllers feature an improved ergonomic design, but with out losing any of the functionality found in the earlier, larger controllers.

WarBirds just got a new makeover! WarBirds, Pacific Theater of Operations is an upcoming major update to the award winning WarBirds III family of products. New terrain, new airplanes, new flight models, new strategy, and new fun all will be had with this exciting new version! The remarkable game play featured in WarBirds PTO is incomparable to any previous versions of WarBirds!

Mike at the German racing site Race-Zone let us know that they now have a complete list of all 109 vehicles from Synetic's upcoming racing game, Mercedes Benz World Racing.. The game features a revolutionary 3D Landscape Engine, which not only creates separate race tracks but facilitates the creation of kilometre long 3D sceneries allowing a virtually realistic full driving experience. The player can select his favourite model car from a nearly complete range of cars from Mercedes-Benz. Each model is sculptured based on original data from Mercedes-Benz.