Over 2000 years ago there was a city called Sparta. The city had only two purposes – to train for war and to fight the wars she trained for. Over time Sparta became renowned for having the strongest, fastest, bravest and most deadly fighters in the known world. They were the Spartaites and were feared by all. With these warriors Sparta carved out an Empire for itself –‘Lakedaimon’. However, it was soon to find that its reign was not to be unopposed and other great cities were rising to the fore; Athens, Thebes, Corinth, Macedonia and not to forget the threat from the east – the massive Persian Empire. Can you unite Greece in time to defy the Great King and his mighty Persian Empire?

"ESPN NHL Hockey" introduces the all-new Skills Competition, an exhilarating new mode that'll help you show off your skills while you hone your techniques like never before. Based off the real-life Skills Competition that happens every year at the NHL All-Star Game, you'll compete in several contests: light up the puck with your best slapshot in Hardest Shot, test your puck handling ability through the vicarious cone course in Puck Control and much more. Read more for some skillful screens ...

DreamCatcher Games today announced that it has shipped Emergency Fire Response, developed by Monte Cristo Games, on PC-CD. This ‘hot’ new strategy title puts gamers in charge of a squad of firefighters. But before sending their team out to battle blazing infernos, they must train them in every aspect of firefighting.

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 4 tasty new screens ...

Get your groove on with Ulala in her Game Boy Advance debut! When the Morolians invade, ace reporter Ulala scoops the story for Space Channel 5. The hip-hopping aliens zap citizens into a hypnotic dance trance, but beat girl Ulala is their ultimate match. So they challenge her to a dance battle, and she busts out her grooviest moves to free the captives. Get down with Sega’s supernova star as she struts through the space station in style!

4Gamers, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bigben Interactive UK Ltd, is pleased to announce the release of the SPC777 Playfree vibrating wireless controller for the Microsoft Xbox... Operating over a 2.4GHz radio frequency, the Playfree vibrating wireless controller allows you to break free of control pad wires. Now you can play your games from up to ten meters away and without the worry of ever losing a signal because of obstacles in the room. The Playfree controller also includes a switchable frequency selector that allows four pads to be used simultaneously.

Every kid grew up wanting to be a firefighter, and every one of us would still love a taste of what it’s like to be a real hero. Forget panty-hose wearing superheroes and men in uniform…Firefighters are the true modern-day heroes, and only Emergency Fire Response (aka as Fire Chief or Fire Department in Europe) gets to the core of their existence. Read more for some blazing screens ...

Conspiracy Entertainment Corp today sued Eminem’s Management Company, Cousins Entertainment, Inc. and Eminem’s Licensing Agent, Bravado International Group, Inc. for fraud and breach of contract arising out of a video game Conspiracy was set to release featuring Eminem music videos.

Spawn is a 3-D action/adventure game, where Spawn is caught between factions in the battle of Good vs. Evil. Players will encounter a variety of enemies through more than 30 interactive and destructible environments, as Spawn struggles to break free of the controlling forces of Heaven and Hell. The game will feature all of Spawn’s distinctive abilities including superhuman strength, hand-to-hand combat techniques, an arsenal of weaponry, Hell Powers, and his living symbiotic costume Read more for details and some fresh Spawn screens ...

Exclusively in "ESPN NFL Football" this fall, gamers will be given a place to flaunt their rewards and bragging rights with an innovative new feature called "The Crib." Deck out an empty pad with more than 300 unlockable items and "score big" for making great plays, scoring points or just getting lucky. The more you play, the faster you can move in that air hockey table and chill in your overstuffed recliner. Read more for details and screens ...

"Due to the popularity of the Mummy and his importance to the story of Sphinx, we decided to add his name to the title of the game," said Peter Dille, senior vice president, worldwide marketing, THQ. "The new title, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, focuses the attention on the stars of the upcoming Eurocom-developed title, and is an example of THQ understanding its audience and honing its marketing/creative efforts in order to 'hit the mark' with consumers."

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 ...

German developer Spellbound (known for Robin Hood & the Airline Tycoon series, as well as the original Desperados) has let us know that they are working on a sequel for their Real-Time Team-Based Adventure Strategy released in 2002. Not many details, at all, are available on 'Desperados 2: Coopers Revenge' (working title) apart from the fact that it is in the works, will be more complex, in a 3D environment and is scheduled for release in November 2004. To be continued...

Bigben Interactive is sad to announce the imminent destruction of the Earth. Well, not exactly... Twenty-five years since they first appeared, Space Invaders are back! Space Invaders: Invasion Day is an out-and-out, old-school, shoot'em-up that sees our extraterrestrial enemies back doing what they do best. This time, however, the action takes place on Earth in locations spread across a major city. Players will have fifty stages to complete and ten bosses to battle against if they are to repel the Invaders.

Originally slated for a summer release, with a pre-release order phase through mid-July, Shrapnel Games regretfully announces that the eagerly awaited next chapter in the Space Empires saga, Space Empires: Starfury, will be delayed until early autumn. Gold status is currently projected as September 1st , and the five-dollar pre-release discount will now extend until July 31st.

Activision/Grey Matter have released a new patch for US edition of their action adventure game Spider-Man: the Movie. This upgrade brings your retail game to v1.3 and fixes an issue that resulted in the Training missions not working properly with certain Pentium 4 processor, as well as an issue that prevented digital controllers with less than 8 buttons from working properly (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for download links ...

Earlier today we attended EA Camp 2003 and got to see loads of upcoming goodies from the EA stable o' plenty. In the next few days we will have several impressions of their scheduled titles but for now you can enjoy a massive load of screens ...

• Rugby 2004
• FIFA Soccer 2004
• Madden NFL 2004
• NASCAR Thunder 2004
• NBA LIVE 2004
• NCAA® Football 2004
• NCAA March Madness 2004
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2004
• NHL 2004

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.

Armchair quarterbacks, beware! SEGA's sports studio, Visual Concepts Entertainment, maker of the acclaimed '2K' sports game series, and ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, today announced First Person Football, a revolutionary style of gameplay that allows gamers to immerse themselves completely in a sports videogame- from the first person perspective. First Person Football will make its debut this fall in "ESPN NFL Football," giving the definition of virtual football a whole new meaning. For the first time ever, a sports video game will be played through the perspective of the players themselves as every sight and sound is experienced from behind the helmet.

Sphinx is an enchanting adventure filled with mystery, action and a deep, compelling storyline. The game is set in an entirely original universe that is styled upon ancient Egypt where players will embark on an epic quest exploring new worlds, uncovering dark secrets, interacting with hundreds of fantastic creatures and discovering new abilities. Travelling the world via magic portals to foil the evil plans of Set, players will guide Sphinx on a journey requiring all his wits, agility and special powers in an attempt to find the stolen mystical crowns of Egypt. Read more to find out how our preview adventure went ...

Full Spectrum Warrior is based on a light infantry-training simulator designed by Pandemic Studios for the U.S. Army as a tool to reinforce Army doctrine and squad tactics amongst troops. Full Spectrum Warrior is a squad-based, tactical-action game that delivers the experience of squad level command in the heat of battle. This is the full E3 demo, all 14+ minutes of it so it's HUGE!

Already revealed last week in the latest issue of Famitsu magazine, new publisher Access Games has released new screens for their PS2 game Spy Fiction. The game, which took three years to plan and has been in development for two years, is an action game that allows players to experience numerous Hollywood-style spy scenes. The character designer for the game is Range Murata (Groove on Fight, Submarine No. 6). Read more to check out some new screens ...

'Sphinx And The Shadow Of Set' is an enchanting adventure filled with mystery, action and a deep, compelling storyline. The game is set in an entirely original universe that is styled upon ancient Egypt where players will embark on an epic quest exploring new worlds, uncovering dark secrets, interacting with hundreds of fantastic creatures and discovering new abilities. Traveling the world via magic portals to foil the evil plans of Set, players will guide Sphinx on a journey requiring all his wits, agility and special powers in an attempt to find the stolen mystical crowns of Egypt. Read more to check out the new screens ...

LeBron James officially became a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers when he was the top pick at last evening’s NBA Draft. LeBron will officially be "in the game" when NBA LIVE 2004 ships this fall under the EA SPORTS brand. For the first look at LeBron in his new Cavs uniform, check out easports.com. There you will find screenshots of LeBron as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the EA SPORTS ads that appeared last night on ESPN, featuring lottery picks Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Kirk Hinrich.

Following their recent success with the million-selling Stronghold series on PC, London-based developer, Firefly Studios, have catapulted their creativity into the not-so-distant future announcing Space Colony, due for release this Fall on PC. Space Colony is best described as a space-based People Sim crossed with a City Building game. The player manages and nurtures a group of dysfunctional space dwellers colonising the most unearthly corners of the galaxy. Read more for a few new screens ...