Epic Games today announced that its Unreal Engine 3 technology and tools will be used in games developed by and published by Microsoft Game Studios.

AGEIA Technologies announced today that its NovodeX Physics SDK will enable unmatched performance for game developers targeting the next generation Xbox platform. As a result, users of the Xbox video game system from Microsoft will be able to enjoy some of the most exciting, lifelike game experiences available on any platform.

GarageGames announced today at the Game Developers Conference a new engine and multiple programs that make it easier for people to build their games. The Torque Game Development Platform recently added the Torque 2D engine, which joins the proven Torque Game Engine and the next-generation Torque Shader Engine to make the complete game development platform.

APM film and television composer Gregor Narholz, The Rookie, Saturday Night Life, Star Trek, Spongebob, will compose and arrange the music for Activision's X-Men Legends II, under development at Raven, based on Marvel's legendary Super Hero team.

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, three members of a global computer piracy ring admitted Thursday they shuttled millions of dollars in computer games, movies and software around the world through a coded system of Web sites and chat rooms. One of the three people in question is Seth Kleinberg, Executive Editor of Game-Over.net, who apparently was arrested last April as part of Operation Fastlink. Read more for details ...

Earlier today Epic and Ubisoft announced support for AGEIA's new PPU, SEGA Corporation now also announced a license agreement with AGEIA Technologies Inc. that entitles it to use the NovodeX Physics SDK NovodeX in games developed for the PC and next generation game consoles.

Forza Motorsport gives Xbox gamers who are passionate about cars and racing the opportunity to own, customize, and race their favorite cars in a realistic driving simulation. From sport compacts to LeMans prototypes, players use earnings from hundreds of races to buy upgrades and aftermarket parts so they can transform real production cars into high-performance race cars.

Ascaron have today announced that they have acquired the exclusive UK & Ireland co publishing rights for 4 new products from the Czech Publisher Cenega Publishing. Creature Conflict: The Clan Wars, The Roots, UFO Aftershock and El Matador are scheduled for 2005 release.

Not yet available in stores, EA has already released the first patch for Black Box's tuner racing game Need for Speed Underground 2. This update brings your retail gme to v1.2 and addresses some issues with the Geforce 6800 gfx card. Read more for download links ...

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.

Epiphany Games is a new Australian game company that is currently working on a MMORPG game for the PC. They are now inviting Xbox gamers from around the world to participate in a survey to determine the viability of bringing a MMORPG to the next-generation of consoles, especially for the Xbox. For the month of March Epiphany Games has teamed up with AussieXbox homepage, Australia's very own Xbox community website to bring the survey to Xbox gamers across the world to try and get as much feedback as possible to determine the financial viability of an Xbox MMORPG.

Machinima is animated film making utilizing real-time Virtual 3D Environments. This style of art uses pre-rendered graphic engines to streamline the production process. Machinima can be divided into two sub-genres based off of the methodology of production, scripting and puppeteering. In this week's editorial we look at how it all started...

Atari today announced that Hollywood actor Arnold Vosloo will lend his likeness to Saul Meyer, the hero of the forthcoming PC title Boiling Point: Road to Hell due for European release in May 2005. Players will come face to face with Vosloo’s well known features during the game’s many cut scenes, as well as on the front of pack and in advertising for the game.

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.

BioWare announced its plans today to continue the expansion of its development teams for its future video-game projects. The Edmonton-based company is actively recruiting for a variety of positions across numerous disciplines, and will be taking those recruitment efforts across North America in the upcoming months.

In DF: BHD players will take on the role of an elite Delta Force Operative as they participate in a number of daring raids against the oppressive Somali warlords in and around Mogadishu. Black Hawk Down brings the intensity of Modern Warfare to Xbox with a range of intense single player and multiplayer missions. Yesterday we announced that the Xbox version would support 50 players on Xbox Live, today we have some new screens ...

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.

Forever pushing the boundaries of online gameplay, NovaLogic today confirmed that the forthcoming title Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, for the Xbox, will feature mammoth 50 Player battles over Xbox Live! Read more for details ...

In Popeye: Rush for Spinach, the Sea Hag witch has stolen the world's supply of spinach to feed her ghosts. Now Popeye and three other playable characters, Olive Oyl, Bluto and Wimpy, must race to defeat her. Players can choose to compete in a series of races within the storyline, compete in 1-on-1 races against each character on each level, race one level or compete against a human opponent.

In another creative coup for its next generation Xbox platform, Microsoft today announced that developers Yoshiki Okamoto, President & CEO of Game Republic (formerly known for Capcom titles like Onimusha, Final Fight et Street Fighter), and Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Creator and Co-founder, Q Entertainment (known for Sega titles like Rez and Space Channel) have aligned with Microsoft Game Studios to develop exclusive next-generation Xbox games.

The team formally known as The Red Orchestra team is ready for the next step. The first major project will of course be Red Orchestra. We will have more information on our further plans on Red Orchestra in the coming weeks. Next up we are also just as proud to announce that Tripwire will be at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next week as guests of the Nvidia booth (booth 410). We will be running the latest version of Red Orchestra (3.2) and will be more then happy to talk with anybody who wants to see us. So feel free to drop by if you can attend.

SCEA today confirmed its plan to increase the initial launch shipment of the highly anticipated PSP to one million units. Extraordinary consumer response to PSP on a global scale has led to the company making an upward revision in preparation for its North American launch on March 24. This figure is part of the company's overall three million-unit worldwide shipment estimate by the close of its fiscal year ending March 31.

Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone is an action adventure game set in the popular D&D world created by Wizards of the Coast. Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone will place players in the middle of a heated battle between two demonic armies set to overrun the world of Faerun. Atari has released the first patch fixing a game save issue, audio problems, and various other minor game issues. Read more for download links ...

Today Ubisoft announces that it will be developing a series of sports titles, making its debut as a publisher of sports videogames. Its entrance will be propelled by several worldwide licensing agreements and acquisitions. Ubisoft has signed an exclusive license with Vijay Singh, the No.1 ranked golf player in the world, to produce a Vijay Singh-titled golf game. The company has also acquired the team sports assets from Microsoft Game Studios.

Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich is a comic book-inspired tactical role-playing game features a brand new league of heroes and villains, overhauled combat system, and spectacular graphic enhancements. Here's yet another five screens ...