Adventure game developer Private Moon Studios is to release Agon, the first adventure game series ever. Agon is a pure adventure game that comes in fourteen episodes over a period of two years. Each episode is self-contained and can be fully enjoyed in itself, but also contributes to the story of Professor Samuel Hunt's adventures. Read more for some more info and a few screens ...

The official IL-2 Sturmovik website has been updated and has mention of an upcoming patch for UbiSoft's WWII Flight Simulator game. The first patch for IL-2 Forgotten Battles is currently being finished and is planned to be released during the week commencing 4 August 2003 (thanks Bluesnews). Read more for a detailed list of fixes, but there could be additions in the final/complete patch.

iGames Publishing and developer S2 Games today announced that the upcoming real-time-strategy-shooter, Savage: The Battle for Newerth will ship with full Linux support. The Linux version of the game will be identical to the Windows version and will install from the same retail CD-ROM when it ships on August 25th. Read more for additional details ...

Gotham Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. announced today that The Great Escape, based on the classic 1963 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Film, has shipped to retail outlets nationwide for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, Xbox video game system from Microsoft and PC.

Today Buka Entertainment is pleased to announce a double deal with PointSoft Interactive, a well-known publisher and distributor of leisure software in France, Germany and Spain, for Fair Strike - a helicopter action/simulation. Fair Strike will be localized and distributed in France and Germany by French and German divisions of the company. Read more for details and some new screens ...

Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color is a innovative 3D adventure game that offers a revolutionary graphics tool allowing players the ability to draw and animate their own cast of characters. These characters are interactive within the game and become integral parts of the player's success in completing the adventure. The game is as weird as it's name, but does weird neccesarly mean bad? Read more and find out!

Live for Speed, developed by Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey and Victor van Vlaardingen, is a realistic racing simulator for the PC platform. Live for Speed has proved to be doing what they have focussed on: Bringing realistic, intense and fun driving on the PC for everyone. 'Live for Speed' is now ready for commercial release and so they released a new demo (contains one track and can be played in single and multiplayer mode), a full downloadable version (you need to purchase an unlock key), as well as a dedicated server for hosting online games. Read more for download links ...

Atari today announced plans to bring Hasbro Inc.'s Transformers Armada, the enormously popular male action property to PlayStation2 with 'Transformers Armada: Prelude To Energon' . All the rage in the '80's, the Transformers brand is as popular as ever with the top-selling Transformers Armada toy line and comic book series, and Cartoon Network television series. Read more for details & screens...

Atari is bringing Unreal II: The Awakening to the Xbox this Holiday season. Unreal II: The Awakening is the follow-up to Epic Games’ 1998 smash PC hit, Unreal. The Xbox version of the game will include console specific enhancements and exclusive multiplayer modes playable on Xbox Live. Read more for details ...

Electronic Arts will release Need for Speed Underground, the next chapter in its landmark Need for Speed™ franchise, this fall under the EA GAMES brand. Originally slated for release in early 2004, Need for Speed Underground thrusts gamers into the adrenaline-filled world of urban street racing, challenging gamers to win cash, cars and respect as they put their driving skills to the test in their own fully-customizable urban exotic supercar.

Korea: Forgotten Conflict is a 3D Real Time Strategy game based on the war that no-one, save for those involved, wants to remember. In game film sequences will reinforce the atmosphere and realism within this fully interactive environment. Although there were 450,000 Allies lost in conflict (and, to date, there are still more than 8,000 servicemen unaccounted for), Communist casualties amounted to nearly 2 million. Maybe you can lessen these numbers.

Mutable Realms today announced the signing of a contract with Themis Group, an international provider of outsourcing and consulting solutions and services to the interactive entertainment industry. Under the terms of the agreement, Themis Group will provide critical and quantifiable beta phase services for Mutable Realms upcoming game Wish, aimed at ensuring that Wish emerges from the closed beta phase ready to successfully scale up to open beta and commercial launch

NovaLogic Ltd. today also announced that the first expansion pack for the number one selling PC title Delta Force - Black Hawk Down is now scheduled for release during Spring 2004. Delta Force - Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre features two new single player campaigns that take Delta Force deep into the jungles of Colombia in search of drug lords, then on to battle terrorist factions in and around Iran's island oilfields. Team Sabre will also contain a number of new multiplayer features, including over 30 new multiplayer maps. Delta Force – Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre will ship during Spring 2004 on PC CD ROM.

Interactive Multimedia Solutions, Inc. is pleased to announce that Amaze Entertainment has licensed IMS LIPGen for its KnowWonder Studio. KnowWonder is best known for creating popular PC games such as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Finding Nemo." KnowWonder will use the IMS LIPGenTM application to create facial animations for a number of high-profile games currently under development.

Climax today celebrated its fifteenth year as one of the nation's leading development studios with five nominations in the inaugural Develop Industry Excellence Awards. One of only two companies up for five awards, Climax has been nominated in the coveted categories of Technology, Innovation, Business Development, Best Online Development Studio and Best Independent Development Studio.

Forever Worlds is a 1st person 'pure' adventure game that transports the player into a series of surreal and immersive worlds. As an archaeological detective, gamers embark on an amazing journey through a chain of non-parallel dimensions, where magic and fantasies merge. Intuitive interfaces and navigation combine with fully integrated puzzles for a great adventure. Read more for a batch of new screens ...

S2 Games and iGames Publishing today announced an official release date of August 25, 2003 for the highly anticipated PC game Savage: The Battle for Newerth. The game received unanimous praise from attendees at the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo for its innovative gameplay and seamless melding of first-person action with real-time-strategy. Savage is currently in the second phase of beta testing and is expected to move to an open beta towards the end of July.

Yahoo! Games, the leading online games destination, today announced the first unlimited subscription packages for their popular Games on Demand program. Now games fans will be able to enjoy as many subscription games as they want, for as long as they want, at any time. Along with the original Three Games Package for $9.95 per month, players can now choose the Unlimited Package, which gives gamers access to all subscription games with no time limit.

A new European player is about to enter the games publishing market, as 4AM Entertainment (4AM) prepares to unveil its debut range of PC game titles in August and September of this year. 4AM is based in the UK (games division) and Germany (music division), with development partners in Taiwan and Korea. Read more for details, or check the previousy posted material on one of their upcoming games, "The Fate."

It has been rumoured for a few months now that there would possibly be a NOLF3 and although not much has been said and done (nolf3.com IS registered to Fox Int, involved in the previous NOLF games). Today we contacted one of our Vivendi contact to ask wether they could shed some light on "Contract Jack", and all they had to say is "No comment, we will announce soon". No specifics are known, wether this is merely an addon or a full fledged game but it does imply the introduction of a male character Jack, whilst our favorite female spy Archer will also be in on things ... Now that the cat is out of the bag, we can probably expect a formal announcement soon ...

This much-anticipated first add-on for the Star Wars Galaxies series, scheduled for release in 2004, will introduce personal starships and starfighters, which can be used for interplanetary travel or space combat. The expansion also promises additional worlds, playable species, non-player characters, new creatures and more! "The staggered release schedule of the space component of the Star Wars Galaxies series will benefit players because they will have time to establish their characters and explore different elements of the core game before we add the space layer," says Rich Vogel, director of development at Sony Online Entertainment's Austin studio. "Once the space component becomes available, players who have been with us since the beginning will be ready to buy their own starships and launch into this new arena."

Activision has released the, unsupported, beta update for Ritual's newly available sci-fi FPS "Star Trek Elite Force II", bringing the dedicated Win32 server to v1.01. This update is for server administrators ONLY (useless for multiplayer clients or other game owners) and removes the requirement of needing the game CD in the CD-ROM drive. Read more for details & download links ...

Noticed on HomeLAN that Activision's Doug Pearson has posted up a note on the Ritualistic forums with an update on their plans for the Star Trek: Elite Force II (already available in Europe, coming later this week in North America). Specifically a beta fix will soon be tested and later released for dedicated servers to no longer require the game to be in the CD-Rom drive, as well as mod tools for the community.

TechRanch USA, a resource founded and funded by BizDev, Inc. announced today that TechRanch Roundup, a monthly column dedicated to delivering relevant, timely information and business strategies to independent game developers worldwide, is now available.

Gamers can suit up for top-secret covert operations with the release of Activision's highly anticipated first-person action game, Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, for the Xbox. Based on the critically acclaimed PC title from Raven Software, the game features all of the intense, gritty action found in the original, plus full Xbox Live support for mayhem-packed, all-out multi-player combat. Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix for the Xbox is currently available at North American retail outlets for a suggested retail price of $49.99 and carries an "M" (Mature -- Blood, Violence -- content suitable for persons ages 17 and older) rating by the ESRB.