Set in Somalia in 1993, Delta Force – Black Hawk Down is based upon and around the Operation Restore Hope and Task Force Ranger campaigns and follows members of the elite Delta Force and US Army Rangers as they participate in a number of daring raids against the oppressive Somali warlords in and around Mogadishu. NovaLogic has released another patch for Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, upgrading their new special forces tactical FPS to v1.2.0. This upgrade adds more cheater validation checks and a new server option, tweaks several single-player levels, and fixes an "erroneous punting problem. Read more for download links ...

Blizzard, part of Vivendi Universal Games is looking for a European PR manager to be based at its office in Velizy, near Paris. French language skills are useful but not essential. But the successful candidate will need at least three to five years experience in PR, a degree and some knowledge of organising events. Send a CV, salary history and cover letter here or to Vivendi Universal Games Intnl, Recruitment Department, 32 Avenue de L'Europe, Immeuble Energy 1, 78 457 Velizy Villcoublay cedex, France.

Donning yellow trousers and mounting a shiny red engine, Monte Cristo today announced the release of Fire Chief for PC in June 2003. Offering more red-hot action than you can shake a fire axe at, Fire Chief is a tactical mission-based game which offers spectacular action in realistic settings. Players take charge of a squad of specialized fire fighters and vehicles. Under pressure, they must make the right decisions and fight against numerous fires and obstacles in order to minimise collateral damage and save lives.

Set in the Star Trek: The Next Generation universe, Star Trek Elite Force II allows players to break out of the confines of ship bulkheads and spacestation corridors to explore all new locations including alien worlds and zero-g environments. New and more powerful weapons will be at the player’s disposal and branching levels offer a more varied gameplay experience. Check the official site, or read more for some screens ...

Codemasters today confirms that Operation Flashpoint 2, a true sequel to the million-selling military simulator, has been commissioned. The setting and theme for the game will be revealed at E3, the global games expo (Los Angeles Convention Centre, May 14-16). Operation Flashpoint 2 is in design and development at Bohemia Interactive Studio, the Prague-based creators of the original title, and will launch late in 2004 for PC.

Responding to criticism that it was trying to take advantage of the Iraq war for commercial gain, Sony Corp said on Wednesday it will not use the phrase "shock and awe" for PlayStation videogames made by a subsidiary. A U.S. unit of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc has withdrawn an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the phrase for commercial use, a Sony spokeswoman said.

Atari today announced that the much-anticipated hit Japanese game Ikaruga for the Nintendo GameCube next generation console system has shipped to retail outlets nationwide. The game comes loaded with glorious graphics, awesome action and incredible firepower.

Mark Rein, Vice President @ Epic Games posted following information on Infogrames Unreal Tournament 2003 forum:

Ryan Gordon let me know this morning that he has sent a version of the Macintosh UT2003 demo to Macsoft that is ready for large scale testing in the hands of Mac users everywhere. Macsoft will be doing some testing on this and creating an installer for it but hopefully this week the Mac demo of UT2003 will be released. Once the demo is out Macsoft will be collecting bug reports and feeding them back to us so we can promptly fix them and finish the game for retail release.

You will definitely want to update to OS 10.2.5 to take advantage of the latest Mac OpenGL code - especially if you're using an ATI graphics card as prior versions of OS 10.2 had performance issues with ATI cards when running UT2003.

Aspyr Media Inc. announced today that it has shipped a Macintosh version of the popular video game based on "Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets," J.K. Rowling's second book in the worldwide best-selling series and blockbuster movie sequel from Warner Bros. Pictures. The game will be available at retailers nationwide beginning April 16, 2003. Aspyr licensed "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" from Electronic Arts, and Macintosh conversion was done by Westlake Interactive.

Nintendo of Japan has announced that it will launch a new battery pack for the GBA SP in mid-May, which will apparently deliver 75 per cent more play time than the original pack. The new battery will go on sale on May 17, priced at 1980 Yen (just short of £10), and has a capacity of 1000mA - giving GBA SP owners 17.5 hours of backlit play time.

Microsoft wants to let people know that DVDs aren't just for viewing anymore. Users of Windows-based PCs can participate in movies in ways never before imagined by creating their own commentary or actually becoming movie characters. And everything necessary is likely included in the DVDs users probably already own.

Twilight Software is proud to announce that its adventure game The Sydney Mystery is now available for online purchase at the official website. The Sydney Mystery is an adventure game photographed and filmed on location in Sydney, Australia by a small group of enthusiasts and friends on a shoe-string budget. The Sydney Mystery contains over 240 scenes, 11 characters, 17 authentic Sydney locations and loads more puzzles, music and exploration. In the adventure, you play the niece of a retired private investigator. When your uncle is kidnapped, it's up to you to unravel the mystery. Who kidnapped your uncle? Who is behind the bombings in Sydney? Why is this happening? Only by playing the Full Game while you discover all this and more!

NVIDIA Corporation today announced that it has formed a strategic relationship with Electronic Arts. The two companies will work together to produce and market next-generation 3D content under the EA GAMES and EA SPORTS brands, which include such top-selling games and franchises as Madden Football, Command & Conquer, James Bond 007, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Golf and Battlefield 1942. By supporting NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) for desktop and notebook PCs, including the new NVIDIA GeForce FX family of GPUs, EA is able to deliver innovative and rock-solid gaming experiences to PC consumers worldwide.

In Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix players 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. Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix will support multiplayer modes through Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service, including deathmatch, team deathmatch, elimination and infiltration... Read more for a bunch of new screens!

It is the kid version of the American dream and after a month-long nationwide casting call search Activision, Inc. has cast the "Extreme Skate Crew" - 10 lucky kids who will become a part of the company's upcoming Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure skateboarding game. The next phase of this unique casting search begins today through April 30 as consumers nationwide can log on to the official Extreme Skate Adventure website to view the "Extreme Skate Crew" and choose one boy and one girl from the group who will become Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure's "Super Stars" with starring roles and special prizes.

Artifact Entertainment has signed an exclusive agreement with Digital Bros, a digital entertainment group from Milan, Italy, to acquire the European online hosting rights for Horizons: Empire of Istaria, the next-generation 3D online epic adventure; the most anticipated online game among European players. Scheduled for North American release in Fall 2003, Horizons will also be distributed by Atari in Europe.

ValuSoft today announced the release of Codename Nina: Global Terrorism Strike Force. This first-person action game is rated "M" for Mature and will be available at retailers nationwide for $19.99 SRP. Enter the World of Specialized Warfare with Codename Nina: Global Terrorism Strike Force from ValuSoft. Read more for details ...

Riding the crest of three hit product launches, Nintendo of America Inc. currently claims the best selling console game, the best selling portable games, and the best selling hardware system in America. Since coming to market within a week of each other in late March, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for Nintendo GameCube, Pokemon Ruby Version and Pokemon Sapphire Version for Game Boy Advance, and the new flip-top, front-lit Game Boy Advance SP portable system have leaped to the top of their respective sales charts. The new Zelda game set a Nintendo record with more than 600,000 copies pre-sold to consumers before its March 24 launch date, and retailers now are quickly burning through the entire initial North American shipment of 1.1 million games. In the same period, sales rates for Nintendo GameCube hardware have jumped 20 percent.

GameSpyDaily got word from Aspyr Media that it will publish Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 for both the PC and Mac. Full details will be released tomorrow, but we do know that the game will offer just about all the great features of the PS2 version along with support for up to eight players online or via LAN. No word yet on the official release date, but Aspyr says that a demo and a trailer are in the works, though didn't specify when they would be made available. Read more for details & screens or check out the mini website.

Media Inc. announced today that they will co-publish NASCAR Racing 2003 Season for the Macintosh. The Macintosh conversion of NASCAR Racing 2003 Season is being completed by Westlake Interactive and will feature teams, drivers, sponsors, and every track of the 2003 NASCAR Cup Series. NASCAR Racing 2003 Season features new 3D graphics, an enhanced physics model developed with the input of official NASCAR team engineers, and informative driving aids for both seasoned and novice drivers.

Set in Somalia in 1993, Delta Force – Black Hawk Down is based upon and around the Operation Restore Hope and Task Force Ranger campaigns and follows members of the elite Delta Force and US Army Rangers as they participate in a number of daring raids against the oppressive Somali warlords in and around Mogadishu. NovaLogic has released the first patch for Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, upgrading their new special forces tactical FPS to version 1.1.0. This release provides fixes for three single-player and three multi-player bugs, including some issues with claymore mines (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for download links ...

Matrix Games and Panther Games are pleased to announce a new partnership aimed at producing outstanding new wargames based on the critically acclaimed Airborne Assault engine. In development currently is Airborne Assault: Highway to the Reich covering all three battles from operation Market Garden. This will include the battles for Arnhem (with the British 1st Abn Division, as covered in their first game Airborne Assault: Red Devils over Arnhem), Nijmegen (with the US 82nd Airborne Division) and Eindhoven (with the US 101st Abn Div). This will be the first in this series to be published through Matrix Games.

NovaLogic Ltd. today announced that they are teaming up with Europe's largest and most popular independent online gaming service provider Jolt.co.uk for the Official Delta Force - Black Hawk Down European Online Tournaments.

Nintendo is celebrating the anniversary of the European launch of the NINTENDO GAMECUBE with the release of a very special Limited Edition Pak on May 3rd 2003. The celebratory pak will feature an exclusive platinum NINTENDO GAMECUBE and controller coupled with one of the most anticipated video games in history, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, also launched on this date. The Limited Edition Pak also contains a bonus disc featuring the original NINTENDO 64 title, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: The Master Quest, updated exclusively for NINTENDO GAMECUBE.

GarageGames celebrated the successful launch of Marble Blast as the premiere download from Lindows.com's Click-N-Buy Warehouse. Marble Blast was first available on Linux in February, and now Lindows.com is the first site to distribute directly a GarageGames game.