Metro3D, Inc., announced today the nationwide release of Stake: Fortune Fighters, its premier title made exclusively for the Xbox. Stake: Fortune Fighters features a "T" (Teen) ESRB Rating and will be available at major retailers on Monday, May 5th with a MSRP of $29.99.

Enter the adrenaline-filled world of high performance street racers in the latest game from the award-winning Need for Speed franchise, Need for Speed Underground from Electronic Arts. The new EA GAMES title is under development by the award winning Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 team. The game features a breakthrough sensation of speed, developed by an OSCAR nominated special effects expert, and a spectacular graphic presentation showcasing an exciting lineup of licensed cars and aftermarket performance parts (mods) from top manufacturers.

UPDATE : The US press announcement mentions there is a PC version in the works as well.

Ca-ching! Are you a serious computer gaming fan who dreams of using your fine-tuned playing skills to cash in big time? If so, the moment you've been waiting for has finally arrived. Today, YouPlayGames launched its highly-anticipated online skill-based gaming service, where gamers compete against one another in a quest for real-world cash and prizes. id Software's widely popular Return to Castle Wolfenstein is the first title to be featured on YouPlayGames' gaming service. As a special promotion, participants who sign up for a limited time will receive a one-time only five dollar credit in their YouPlayGames account for use in game competitions.

Following the astounding success of the Logic3 Dance Mat, SpectraVideo are pleased to launch a brand new and incredibly exciting Metal Dancing Platform for the many dance games enthusiasts. The Dance Platform is almost identical to those found in the arcade, comprising of heavy-duty pressure pads under each directional arrow, that illuminate whenever a pad is depressed which really allows the user to enjoy the most incredible arcade experience in the comfort of their own home.

Uncommon Valour (UV) is a highly detailed wargame recreating the military campaigns in the South Pacific theatre of Operations from May 1942-Late 1943. The game accounts for individual ships and planes as well as the skills and abilities of the individual pilots and ships captains! The depth of game play and minute attention to detail is thanks to the efforts of its lead designer, Gary Grigsby, who is renowned within the computer war game community as one of its pre-eminent designers, having been responsible for many classic war games such as War In Russia, and Steel Panthers. The design team, 2by3 Games, was founded by Joel Billings who was the founder of one of the first and best-known computer war game publishers: Strategic Simulations Inc (SSI).

H.A.R.M. is back with only one obstacle to thwart their quest for domination: Cate Archer, the beautiful but deadly UNITY operative who foiled their last nefarious plot. The world’s most deadly assassins are summoned with one simple objective: kill Cate Archer. Meanwhile, the United States has uncovered a top secret Soviet project that, if successful, could bring about a third World War. Can Cate Archer avert a nuclear holocaust and simultaneously stay out of H.A.R.M.’s way? Sierra has just released a multiplayer demo offering three maps from the full game. Available modes are : Co-Operative, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Doomsday modes. The package includes a dedicated demo server so you can host your own game. Read more for download links ...

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. is mulling a bid for the videogames business of Vivendi Universal SA, which the French media conglomerate has put up for sale to reduce its borrowings. Take-Two Interactive, based in New York, would make a bid for VU Games with financial partners, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE) announced today that its latest title for Pocket PC, EverQuest: War on Faydwer, will be available for download on April 28 for $19.99. This title marks the third installment of the on-going EverQuest saga on Pocket PC.

Illustrating its power as an independent content publisher, SEGA today announced its fall and winter lineup of nearly 20 entertainment and sports games to be featured at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2003. SEGA's E3 2003 lineup features a bold and diverse array of titles for the PlayStation2, Xbox, GameCube and the GBA.

Update: We just added screens for about every game in the list, so enjoy!

Warthog plc Monday announced that it has been commissioned by Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) to create a multi-platform video game based around the classic science fiction TV series, Battlestar Galactica. This is the first time that the franchise has appeared on a games console. The interactive game, for PS2 and Xbox, is a story-driven space action- adventure. The game will be released in Q3 2003.. More info about this game and screens here!

Set in Somalia in 1993, DF: 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 DF: Black Hawk Down, upgrading their new special forces tactical FPS to v1.2.1. This upgrade is merely a "General Maintenance Update". Read more for download links ...

Empire Interactive plc. is pleased to announce a key distribution deal with Canadian company Digital Leisure Inc. to launch the eJay music software range for PC in North America. The deal, which covers the USA and Canada, consists of 24 SKUs scheduled to debut from mid May 2003.

Titans of Steel Soundtrack to be Preformed by Alternative Rock Band Crownd.. Matrix Games is proud to announce signing Alternative rock band Crownd to play on their upcoming Titans of Steel Warring Suns game. Read more for details!

SEGA Europe Ltd today announced the development of Headhunter: Redemption, a cinematic third-person action epic for the PlayStation2 and the Xbox . The title is in development by Amuze and is slated for release in North America and Europe in late 2003. The title will debut at the E3.

Activision, Inc. and Raven Software are giving gamers and Marvel fans the world over the chance to build their X-Men dream team with the announcement of X-Men: Legends for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, Xbox video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo GameCube. In this real-time RPG, players get the chance to assemble, train and lead their own X-Men fighting force in a battle against some of the deadliest foes in the Marvel Universe including the Morlocks, the Brotherhood of Mutants and robotic Sentinels. To be successful, players will have to draw on the powers of a diverse pool of X-Men and use teamwork to unleash the full power of their squad. X-Men: Legends is expected to ship in 2004 and has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

Resident Evil No Serenity is a Half-Life single player mod based on Resident Evil. It includes two main characters. The first one is the african american, Logan Walker. And the white female, Kim Forester.. Read more about this new mod and check out some ingame pics from Resident Evil No Serenity here!

After a nationwide search for a PR firm to take Mythic Entertainment, developer of one of the fastest-growing online games, Dark Age of Camelot, to the next level, the company has settled on The Bohle Company, Los Angeles, as its new agency. The company's Dark Age of Camelot, a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), has become the fastest growing titles in its category and one of the most acclaimed online games of all time.

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.