Codemasters has its weapons loaded for its first major launch of 2003 - IGI 2: Covert Strike, the sequel to the award-winning stealth-based first-person shooter from developers Innerloop AS. The game will launch for PC on February 21.

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc now has the quality music to match the celebrity voices, Pixar-like graphics and engaging story -- Groove Armada's rollicking song 'Madder,' from their just-released album 'Lovebox,' provides the sonic backdrop for the official game trailer and in-game demo. In other news, Raymanzone, the worldwide community for Rayman fans, has launched and is offering a 3-level PC demo -- if you're interested, you can find that at the Rayman Zone web site. Plenty of online goings-on for everyone's favorite limbless superhero. Read more for detailed information ....

IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles will feature 20 single and 10 multiplayer missions spanning the Finnish and Hungarian theatres of conflict. Amongst the host of features will be improved flight dynamics, a full AI redesign, new ground and sea objects and over 40 new flyable and AI-controlled aircraft, including flyable, multi-crewed German and Russian bombers. Our friends over at CheckSix have snapped some purty screens from their beta build, read more to check them out....

Encore, a majority-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation today announced that its Nintendo Game Boy Advance version of Marvel's "Daredevil" has begun shipping, just in time for the February 14th premiere of the highly anticipated New Regency/20th Century Fox/Marvel Studios "Daredevil" movie starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. The "E" rated game -- which incorporates many elements of the feature film including its characters, costumes, and Hell's Kitchen, New York setting -- retails for approximately $30 and is available in major retail locations nationwide.

In a world where the Soviet Union won the Cold War, a fierce conflict is beginning to unfold in the streets of America. Red Army troops are pouring across the borders of Mexico and Canada shortly after a nuclear missile is unleashed on Washington D.C. Chaos sets in when breaking news informs Americans that their President has been killed and the Russians have invaded the country. Players take on the role of a mild-mannered blue-collar worker who evolves into a charismatic and fearless freedom fighter obsessed with finding and freeing his brother, who has been taken hostage along with other New Yorkers by the Soviets. Chekc the new batch of Xbox screens ...

Game developer, S2 Games, has opened visiting registration for beta tests of its highly anticipated first-person strategy shooter, Savage. Gamers can sign up to be among the first to battle on the side of humanity or join the ranks of the Beast Horde by visiting the Signup page HERE. An initial beta test will commence by mid-February with qualifying participants. Eventually the testing will be opened up to include additional gamers in order to test the title with various hardware configurations.

Intrinsic Graphics, developer of the innovative Intrinsic Alchemy game development platform, is announcing today that Flying Lab Software, maker of the award-winning Rails Across America, has selected Intrinsic Alchemy as their engine for game development of their next title on the PC. Recently announced, Pirates of the Burning Sea, is a Massively Muliplayer On-line Role Playing Game (MMORPG) and will be released for the PC in the Fall this year.

TDK Recording Media France has acquired the distribution rights for France of the games published by ARXEL TRIBE starting April 1st 2003. Both companies will work closely together to make sure games such as DEVASTATION, HANNIBAL or SLAYER will reach top sales when they are launched in the coming months.

Acclaim Entertainment today announced that it has signed an agreement with Disney Interactive for the rights to publish video games based on ABC Television's hit drama series, "Alias." Currently in its second season, "Alias" is one of television's most critically acclaimed series. The "Alias" video game is currently being developed by Acclaim's Cheltenham studio and is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2003 across all of the next-generation gaming platforms.

Need For Speed (NFS) is back and better than ever in Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2! Engage in the thrill of arcade racing with over 22 exclusive and exotic cars from the world's most coveted licensors including Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini… to name a few. 12 tracks (48 variations) and two career event trees, for a grand total of 66 events, provide the widest variety of driving challenges. EA has just released a new patch adressing multiplayer encryption and adding support for a bunch of steering wheels. Read more for download links...

After the triumphant return of Captain Janeway and crew to the alpha quadrant, the Hazard Team, Voyager's elite security detail, is assigned its deadliest mission yet – duty onboard the Federation's renowned flagship, the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-E. As the leader of Starfleet's latest rapid response force, players will encounter a relentless onslaught of enemies including Star Trek staples such as the Borg and Romulans as well as several never before seen alien species. Check the new batch of screens ...

BF 1942 supports up to 64 players and give them the ability to fully experience World War II combat. Playing as several infantry classes, gamers will also be able to control many weapons available to the Axis and Allies as well as command numerous land vehicles, ships and aircraft. Everyone on the Battlefield team at DICE and EA has been working late nights on another surprise for the community. We’d like to take this time to announce the Battlefield 1942 1.3 patch – it’s coming soon, maybe even sooner than you think! Read more for a sneak peek of the upcoming additions.

Driving into retail outlets nationwide with an action-packed sequel to its 700,000 unit-selling off-road racing franchise, AKA Acclaim, a division of Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. today announced that it has shipped ATV: Quad Power Racing 2 for the Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube. Developed by Climax Studios, ATV: Quad Power Racing 2 contains new features and an entirely new game engine that delivers rich graphics and incredible four-wheel arcade racing action for the first and only ATV experience available for the Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube.

Thrustmaster, well known for designing and developing the ultimate in flight simulation accessories, is thrilled to announce a three-year renewal of its close collaboration agreement with the U.S. Air Force. Under the agreement, the U.S. Air Force provides Thrustmaster with support in the development of high-end flight controllers. Thrustmaster will thus keep offering the most realistic flight simulation devices, life like in design, life like in performance as the actual controllers found in the American USAF or US Navy. USAF and Thrustmaster join forces to transport gamers to the further reaches of FlightSim technology.

Players can instantly take control of any one of four highly specialized super-commandos in "Brute Force," a new action-packed sci-fi squad-based shooter game. Whether the encounter requires stealth, tactics, sniping or just "Brute Force," the team is ready and able. Gamers experience the intensity of a shooter game with the cunning strategies of team-based tactical combat. "Brute Force" can be played solo through six worlds in the extensive single-player campaign, or gamers can have up to three friends jump in on the fly in Dynamic Co-op mode or to battle it out in a multitude of competitive death-match modes. "Brute Force" is the first Xbox title from world-renowned developer Digital Anvil.

A Tampa Bay area technology company, Infinium Labs Corporation, will develop and market a new game console that will outperform the XBOX, Sony Playstation II, and GameCube. The company plans to market a high performance gaming console and delivery system to provide consumers with options and capabilities that are not available in today’s marketplace. The console will appeal to the hard-core gamer and the high end consumer electronic purchaser. This next generation game console provides a robust, fault tolerant delivery system that supports games on demand, game rentals, game demos, seamless upgrades and patch management. The game console is an “ALWAYS ON BROADBAND DEVICE.” It is easy enough for children to use independently yet so advanced it exceeds the needs of hard-core gamers.

Exclusive "Officers Club" pack available to those who pre-order the 3D RTS.. Electronic Arts announced today that, beginning this week, it will offer an exclusive Officers Club pack to players who pre-order the highly-anticipated 3D real-time strategy game, Command & Conquer Generals from participating retailers. Command & Conquer Generals will be published by EA under the EA GAMES brand Feb. 11, 2003.

"Spellforce – The Order of Dawn", the latest game by Volker Wertich, inventor of the successful "Settlers" series, is an exquisite combination of well-known RTS elements and the best features of roleplaying and tactical games. Today JoWood released some new screens as well as a beautiful 3min trailer (in quite large divx format) showing off some in game action.

Irrational Games has just released a new patch for their tactical RPG 'Freedom Force'. Freedom Force version 1.2 contains fixes for minor bugs and game tuning issues, as well as Surround Gaming support for the Matrox Parhelia. Read more for details and download links ..

THQ Inc. today announced that Disney Princesses for Game Boy Advance is currently in development and is scheduled to release in Spring 2003. The game is based on the Disney Princess characters in Disney's animated classic films "Cinderella," "The Little Mermaid," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Sleeping Beauty," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin."

Electronic Arts today announced that The Sims for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system has shipped. Players will be able to create and control their Sims like never before with all new level-based game play, two-player modes, and dynamic 3D graphics.

Rick Johnson, Lead Programmer @ Ravensoft updated his .plan file with following information:

Based on feedback we received at the mod maker round table sessions at QuakeCon, we created a private forum for mod makers. This forum is a place for all mod makers of all engines / games (not just Raven games) to come and discuss any issues associated with mod making, such as programming, scripting, mapping, modeling, textures, sounds, etc. This forum is only open to people actively involved in making content. If you wish to join, create an account on our forums and then email me with your account name and I’ll give you access. There is also a small website associated with this whole endeavor. Again, this is for all people making mods for all games / engines.

Electronic Arts reveals details for NBA STREET Vol. 2, the follow-up to the hit title NBA STREET, to be released under the EA SPORTS BIG brand. NBA STREET Vol. 2 lets players bring their act to the street show and face off against the greatest basketball players of all-time on blacktop courts throughout North America. First team to "21" wins, but in NBA STREET Vol. 2, style and attitude are as important as putting the ball in the basket. Currently under development, NBA STREET Vol. 2 will be available this spring for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, the Nintendo GameCube and Xbox video game system from Microsoft.

These days, gamers have insatiable appetites - and Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance fill the need. By summertime Nintendo of America Inc. will accelerate its Nintendo GameCube game library past 225 titles as it continues to broaden its appeal to video game players of all ages, interests and lifestyles. This reflects an increasing amount of support from third-party publishers, adding to a strong cavalry of first- and second-party selections... Read more for a huge 2003 release list!

Sony Computer Entertainment and Sega Europe are pleased to announce that a distribution deal has been signed to bring the update of the classic Shinobi series to PlayStation2 owners across PAL markets from May 2003.