The series of massive Savage Eden events in the upcoming months has brought much excitement to the player community. In addition, to share the bashing and thrashing with the rest of the gaming world, Lady GM, the Savage Eden gamemaster has granted free play for everyone. These events are a great opportunity for new players to quickly earn resources that can enhance their gameplay, boost experience levels, and strengthen involvement in the community. The iEN team will also take this time to make additional refinements to the game.

With the Black Hawk Down expansion pack Team Sabre arriving in stores this week, Novalogic has released an update patch for the original Black Hawk Down, as well as the Team Sabre expansion pack. This update brings your retail game v1.5.0.5 and adresses a few cheat glitches, adds new lobby code, and various gameplay and balancing tweaks. Read more for details list and download links ...

Ex-Senior members of critically acclaimed developers Naughty Dog and Blizzard Entertainment announced today the formation of their new console game development company, Ready At Dawn Studios. Ready At Dawn Studios has been founded by Didier Malenfant, former senior programmer at Naughty Dog, Andrea Pessino and Ru Weerasuriya, respectively former senior software engineer and senior artist at Blizzard Entertainment. Together, the management team for Ready At Dawn Studios represents over 35 years of game development experience.

Ubi Soft has released another patch for 1C Maddox's WW II flight sim IL-2 Sturmovik: the Forgotten Battles .This upgrade brings your retail game to 1.22 and has once again quite an impressive amount bug fixes, series of gameplay, AI, sound, networking and other issues, and you can upgrade from the previous v1.21 or the original game. Read more for a detailed fix list and download links ...

Team Soho director Brendan McNamara, the lead behind the PS2 hit title The Getaway, has left the UK based company to form his own development studio in Sydney, Australia under the name of 'Team Bondi'. McNamara's new studio is working on a third generation PlayStation hardware product, so thats either a PS2 or PSP title. Apparently several of his former Team Soho colelague's have jumped ship and settled into the new development house as well. To be continued ...

S2Games has released an updated version of their recently released Savage: Battle for Newerth patch. This upgrade brings your retail game to v2.0b and addresses a few minor bugs that were uncovered in the v2.0 patch as well as some extra optimization. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

Entertainment software developer and publisher NovaLogic, Inc. is delighted to announce that the expansion pack for Delta Force - Black Hawk Down has shipped and will be in stores on January 21st, 2004.

Shining Force is a strategic RPG battle game with incredible graphical detail and unique strategic battle system. Shining Force Resurrection of the Dark Dragon is the latest from the incredibly popular Shining Force franchise published on Genesis / Mega Drive in 1992. Shining Force is a strategic RPG battle game with incredible graphical detail and unique strategic battle system.

S2Games has released the anticipated patch for their online RTS/FPS game Savage: Battle for Newerth. This upgrade brings your retail game to v2.0 and adds a few new maps, updates their gfx engine and a slew of other fixes, tweaks and additions. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

In their immeasurable greed and constant thirst for power, the thirteen most powerful Mages of all time doomed the land, hurling it into an endless spiral of chaos and despair. Entire countries were wiped out in the blink of an eye when the devastating power of the Elements was unleashed – Elements summoned by dark rituals. Continents shattered like glass, the pieces strewn about like leaves in the wind. Huge armies, bound by the the power of ancient runes, brought war and destruction to the lands that survived the initial onslaught. All that was left were a few islands, connected by magic portals. Read more for some tasty new screens ...

Cash prizes have been promised for top high-scores achieved during the course of the new year 2004. And the money is coming straight out of Robert Mruczek's own pocket - nearly $3,000 dollars in bounties. Mruczek, who is most well known as Twin Galaxies' Chief Referee, says: "I want to prime the pump and get players tackling old world records that have not been beat in some time. I think its good for the hobby."

XS Games, in conjunction with Jack of all games (a subsidiary of Take 2), and Microïds have reached a distribution agreement for the publishing and distribution of three different titles from Microïds' 2004 catalogue, including the sequel to the Adventure Game of 2002, Syberia II.

Jeremy Heath-Smith and Adrian Smith, the creators of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series of games, today announced the formation of their new game development company, Circle Studio. Bucking the trend of numerous studio closures, Heath-Smith and Smith are confident that they can produce more world beating titles. Commenting on the new studio, managing director Heath-Smith said, 'Adrian and I are still passionate about games and have the experience and skills in-house to continue producing original and successful titles.' He continued, 'We've enjoyed working with Lara these past seven years but are looking forward to creating something or someone new.'

Sony announced today the upcoming 2004 release of Hot Shots Golf Fore!, available exclusively for the PlayStation2. Developed by Clap Hanz, Hot Shots Golf Fore! returns as the fourth installment in the extremely popular franchise that has sold more than 7.5 million units worldwide.

In a move that proves once and for all that European games players are more ferocious than their American counterparts, Digital Jesters has announced an exclusive retail pack, which contains substantially more 'Savage' than ever before. The game will be available for PC CD-ROM throughout Europe on February 20th 2004, with a SRP of £29.99.

Mutable Realms, Inc. today announced the launch of a climactic two-week Story Arc to close out the first phase of Beta of their acclaimed title Wish. The Story Arc has been written by Mutable Realms and will be implemented in cooperation with the Themis Group, and will offer a myriad of live events to the Beta participants.

Hell Forces is a classical FPS (First Person Shooter). Stephen Geist – the main hero of HF is trying to find out, what has happened to his missing friend. During this search he is mired in a satanic conspiracy, and is trying to stop dread forces of Baphometh, the servant of Satan. Infernal legions are uncountable, but Stephen is not. Only with Your help he can find out the truth and stop the invasion...

Nokia, together with Electronic Arts, today announced that The Sims Bustin' Out is in development for the N-Gage game deck. The Sims fans will be able to create their own characters and take them anywhere, while on the move and interacting with the mobile community. The Sims Bustin' Out on the N-Gage platform will have exclusive objects, as well as unique "mini games" where players can earn extra Simoleons.

Infinium Labs today announced the launch of www.phantom.net, a new web site for its next-generation Phantom Gaming Service. The feature-rich site offers consumers a preview of what lies in store when the Phantom is unleashed in 2004. The new web site provides visitors with the opportunity to learn more about Phantom's products and services, specifications and developer program. The site also provides Investor Relations information about Infinium Labs, the management team, news releases, the stock symbol and links to trading quotes and SEC filings.

Interplay Entertainment Corp. announced today that the company has inked deals to include numerous metal bands for the upcoming Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel videogame, including the tremendously popular Slipknot. The much anticipated, gritty and darkly humorous third person action-adventure game is due in stores on January 13 for the PlayStation2 and the Xbox. Read more for details ...

NDL announced today that Gamebryo is being used in Irrational Games' award-winning Freedom Force sequel titled Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich. Scheduled to ship in spring 2004, the comic book-inspired tactical role-playing game features a new league of heroes and villains, streamlined combat system and spectacular graphic enhancements using NDL's Gamebryo engine and tools.

Shining Force is a strategic RPG battle game with incredible graphical detail and unique strategic battle system. Shining Force Resurrection of the Dark Dragon is the latest from the incredibly popular Shining Force franchise published on Genesis / Mega Drive in 1992. Shining Force is a strategic RPG battle game with incredible graphical detail and unique strategic battle system.

Logitech is introducing its latest controller for the PlayStation2 - the Logitech Flight Force joystick - during this week’s 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. With a suggested retail price of $49.99 in the U.S., this force feedback joystick lets gamers experience the sensations of flight combat, including weapon recoil, explosions and other effects, in compatible games for PlayStation 2.

Nyko blew away gamers last year with the introduction of the Air Flo controller, the world's first air-cooled video game accessory. This year the award-winning Air Flo goes wireless at the International Consumer Electronics Show. Nyko Technologies, manufacturer of innovative peripherals, introduces the Wireless Air Flo controller for Sony PlayStation 2, a cable-free unit that utilizes Nyko's patented Air Flo technology to provide gamers with a consistent flow of fresh air through the controller handgrips. Gamers can prevent problematic sweaty hands as well as employ increased mobility during competitive video games such as SOCOM 2 or Madden 2004.

Smart Watches for MSN® Direct are now shipping for broad retail availability, as announced by Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates during his keynote address at the 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).