In an ongoing effort to shape and define standards in the graphics industry, NVIDIA Corporation today announced that it is working with the Arapahoe Work Group to help develop the graphics bandwidth capabilities of PCI Express, the new Intel Corporation third-generation Input/Output (I/O) specification that connects computing subsystems and peripheral components at high-bandwidth speeds. A key contributor to the development of the PCI Express specification, NVIDIA has developed a high-speed graphics interconnect designed to evolve current PCI technology and address the increasing bandwidth demands of emerging graphic applications for multiple markets, including desktop PCs, mobile, workstations, servers and embedded communications systems.

Ubi Soft Entertainment announced today that it will be moving up the European release dates for the highly anticipated role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, by Bethesda Softworks. The PC CD-ROM version will be available in May, whilst the European release date for the Xbox version is still to be finalised.

Eidos Interactive announces that TimeSplitters 2 is currently in development for the Xbox video game system and the Nintendo GameCube. TimeSplitters 2 will improve on many of the features that made the original so awesome and fun to play. Check out 70 screens below!

BioWare Corp. and Infogrames Inc. are pleased to present the limited open Beta test for one of the most anticipated PC games of the year - Neverwinter Nights. Selected PC game fans will have an unprecedented opportunity to dig into the rich world of Neverwinter Nights before anyone else.

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.

Tiscali Games got the first video from Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, next installment of well known third-person action adventure for PC & Playstation2. It contains more than 3 minutes of gameplay scenes, character animations and sketches of locations along with interesting commentary from Core Design development team about changes from previous Lara Croft adventures, enemies, inspiration or background story. Video is available to download (4,5 MB, DivX format) here.

GAME RESEARCH has published a new report on online gaming habits covering US, Canada, UK, and the Nordic Countries. The picture emerging is not pretty. According to the report, the gamers are highly troubled by cheating and lag no matter what they play. Furthermore, they are becoming more inclined to act on these problems by leaving the online game they play.

- The World's First Grand Prix Experience Drive - Orange today launches OrangeArrows Virtual Reality Experience - a unique interactive experience that allows fans to see, feel, hear and drive the OrangeArrows AX3 around the famous Magny Cours F1 circuit.

GTA3.COM reports (thanks Fragzone) that a "reliable source" has told them that there will be no support for multiplayer in GTA3:PC. Some time ago, there was a press conference near one of the Take2 Offices, at which the decision was revealed. In compensation for this, GTA3:PC will have other features yet unseen, but no multiplayer. The scheduled release is May 2002.

Wanna drive like an IES agent? Well, Midway recently announced this kewl contest. Here is a clip from the announcement:

We can't give you the G-6155 Interceptor – it's classified! But we did the next best thing – one Grand Prize winner will be the proud new owner of a 2002 BMW Z3 roadster 2.5 base model and will be Midway's special guest for E3 2002. Additionally, five 1st prize winners will win a NintendoTM GameCubeTM AND a copy of SpyHunter. Sign up here! "The Sweepstakes is open to all legal residents of the 48 continental United States"

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!

Clem Samson-Samuel has updated his .plan file with some information about the SOF2 MP test. Here follows a clip from the .plan file:

As most of you already know, the SOF2 MP test was released yesterday. So far the response has been very positive and it is nice to see people are enjoying the hard work that has been put into it. As mentioned before, SOF2 wasn't originally designed to include MP, and now we have several different game types, 4 of which can be played on with the MP Test... Read more below to check out full story!

Yesterday we posted 30 or so screens pulled from the 'Die Hard : Nakatomi Plaza' game we are currently testing ... today we serve up an interview with "Bryan Ekman", the Art Director on the Die Hard project. Bryan seems to drop hints that we may actually expect more Die Hard games ... and plenty more ..

TOCA Race Driver brings the drama of real life touring car racing to PlayStation 2 and PC screens this summer. Gamers will really experience the aggressive close contact Touring Car races at a world class level when they become Ryan McKane, the game’s central character

In Soldier of Fortune 2 players once again assume the role of John Mullins, a military consultant working for the top-secret anti-terrorist group known as The Shop. In the game, players must tackle a wide-range of missions from hostage rescue and intelligence gathering, to search-and-destroy. Level design in Soldier of Fortune 2 is flexible enough to allow for multiple styles of play. Gamers can “hit ‘em hard” with a frontal assault or use stealth weapons for a subtle approach.

The classic mascot is back! Aero the Acrobat dazzles you with amazing feats of bravery in his mission to stop the evil Edgar Ektor. As Aero you blast out of cannons, dive through hoops of fire and hang onto speeding roller coasters to protect the circus park for the fun-loving spectators. But danger looms as you defy psycho circus performers and fairground freaks in the quest to save the show from disaster.

Ubi Soft Entertainment announced today that it will be moving up the European release dates for the highly anticipated role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, by Bethesda Softworks. The PC CD-ROM version will be available in May, whilst the European release date for the Xbox version is still to be finalised.

Radica U.K Ltd, manufacturers of the highly regarded range of Gamester accessories have announced their launch line up of GameCube peripherals. The product range has been developed by a team of key designers in the UK and US and each accessory has been designed to be ergonomic and durable, giving gamers an “Unfair Advantage” across the complete range of GameCube games.

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!

Delphine Software has now issued the final retail patches for MotoRacer 3, upgrading their motorbike racing sim to version 1.2.4.1. As before, they offer improved joystick and keyboard control, more set-up options, some graphics enhancements, and other changes and bug fixes. Read More to find a detailed fix list and links where to grab it...

Thanks to Bluesnews to inform us that Activision has just released a new update patch for their "Star Trek : Bridge Commander". This 8mb patch upgrades your currect game to v1.1 and fixes mainly multiplayer issues.

The Steam-administered beta of Half-Life 1.1.0.9 and Counter-Strike 1.4 are almost finished, and the final versions of these updates will be released to the public next week. Hurray for THAT! 'Read more' for details.

Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix is the ultra-realistic sequel to the groundbreakings hit from Raven Software. Based on the popular military-enthusiast magazine, Soldier of Fortune 2 offers the most realistic covert-operative FPS experience ever. The test gives gamers a chance to compete in one map across four different game modes including deathmatch, team deathmatch, elimination and infiltration. Gamers who choose to participate in the test will also have access to 20 skins and all the weapons available in the multiplayer portion of the full game. Click Read More for links.