Hunted by Dahaka, an immortal incarnation of Fate seeking divine retribution, the Prince embarks upon a path of both carnage and mystery to defy his preordained death. His journey leads to the infernal core of a cursed island stronghold harboring mankind's greatest fears. Only through grim resolve, bitter defiance and the mastery of deadly new combat arts can the Prince rise to a new level of warriorship - and emerge from this ultimate trial with his life.

Famed sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card revealed today that he has entered into an agreement with A Tale in The Dark developers eGenesis to create a MMORPG based on his 'Tales of Alvin Maker' work. ATITD lead designer Andy Tepper will spearhead the project which discribed as a non-combat-centered community-building game. Orson Scott Card is currently also involved in Majesco's Advent Rising trilogy.

Belgian developer Larian Studios issued a small announcement explaining that it is currently very active on its next generation titles and announced that Gamebryo will be the 3D engine powering our future titles, and that it has licensed Speedtree to power the vegetation in our upcoming games. One of the upcoming Larian titles in development is Divinity 2, sequel to its popular 2D RPG.

Developed through a collaborative effort between Pandemic Studios and Mass Media, the game's innovative design, complex artificial intelligence (A.I.) and advanced graphical prowess has been successfully transitioned to the PS2, pushing the hardware to its limits. Full Spectrum Warrior is scheduled to ship worldwide in early 2005.

Men of Valor: Vietnam is an historical action experience that portrays infantry combat during the Vietnam War. Men of Valor: Vietnam immerses the player in the humid jungles of Southeast Asia in the most controversial conflict of the modern era.

SOE's President John Smedley has put up a message in the official EQ 2 forums outlining a roadmap for continuing to evolve the world of Norrath. SOE will add content to the game in three distinct ways: Live Updates, Expansion Packs and Adventure Packs. "Live Updates" will happen 1-2 times a month and expand the game both through new zones, npcs, quests, features, spells, skills and new gameplay additions as well as fixing any bugs or issues that arise. "Expansion Packs" will happen twice a year (first one due second hald of 2005) and are going to be large, game altering additions to the game that will be sold both at retail and online via digital download. "Adventure Packs" will happen 2-4 times a year, at a minimal cost (first one at $4.99) and are a new style of content, similar to "Modules" from traditional tabletop RPGs

Atari have teamed up yet again with music team Nimrod for Act of War: Direct Action. Following Nimrod’s Driv3r soundtrack they were challenged to create a techno-thriller score suitable for Act of War that rivalled the impact of the great Hollywood film scores of the same genre. Cutscenes in Direct War are being done by a Hollywood company Beyond FX using real actors, sets and explosions. Read more for details ..

Created by Texas-based Gearbox Software, Brothers in Arms is the most realistic and authentic WWII shooter ever. While other WWII games have sugarcoated the war experience, Brothers in Arms is based on a true story and will immerse gamers into the gritty, uncensored and emotionally-charged side of war. Read more for some new screens ...

Tilted Mill has released the first patch for its city building strategy game 'Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile.' This update brings your retail game to v1.2 and resolves some pathing & stuck figure issues, allows for easier dock placement, and makes a couple of graphic additions and fixes. Read more for download links ...

Another day, another batch of game trailers were released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• Area 51 - Trailers (2)
• Star Wars Republic Commando - Trailer

Based on Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Dynasty Warriors series of action games takes players back in time and onto the battlefields of Ancient China. In the games, players experience the thrill of fighting single-handedly against nearly endless legions of enemy soldiers in historical battles that shaped an empire.

Bethesda Softworks today announced that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is currently in development for PC and future generation consoles (PS3 & Xbox 2). In development since 2002, Oblivion is another leap forward in role-playing with its combination of freeform gameplay and cutting-edge graphics.

In anticipation of the release of Freedom Force Vs The Third Reich in April, Digital Jesters & Focus Home Interactive are asking fans to devise their very own comic strips and win some amazing prizes at the same time. What do you have to do? Simply take your favourite Freedom Force character, or even your own hero, and create a comic strip. If drawing isn't your thing fear not, as comic strips can be created with photos of your friends to make a photo story. You can add speech bubbles to devise the plot.

Bet On Soldier is a first-person shooter which presents something considerably different in order to stand out from the crowd. With a corporation-takes-over-the-world-style plot, Bet On Soldier allows players to do exactly what it promises with its title - that is, bet on the outcome of encounters with specific enemies. Before entering battle, players can wager on which particular enemy soldiers they are going to kill.

Lead a four-man fireteam of US Marines through the perils of authentic, modern urban combat in a Middle-Eastern urban battleground. This is an action-oriented, first-person 3D shooter that is being developed under the direction of the US Marine Corps as a training simulation for use by the Marine Corps. Close Combat: First to Fight is as close as you can get on a computer or Xbox to being a Marine fireteam leader in modern urban combat!

Mortal Kombat : Shaolin Monks is an Action/Adventure title driven by both intense single and multi-player action. Similar to the recently released Mortal Kombat: Deception, background interactions (i.e., acid pits, living trees, spiked ceilings, etc.), multiple new fatalities, and action-based puzzles will also play an important role in the player’s quest for an “outstanding” victory.

Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict continues the Unreal franchise on the Xbox and introduces an evolutionary new gameplay style to the traditional FPS genre: acrobatic melee combat. This highly anticipated sequel also features new single-player and multiplayer gameplay, person camera mode and intense melee abilities. Unreal Championship fans can play as any one of 14 characters from the Unreal universe, each with spectacular new Adrenaline Powers that enable new offensive and defensive combos.

ArenaNet and NCsoft announced today that their second Beta Weekend Event has begun a day early in order to accommodate the European and Asian players and giving them a full weekend of Guild Wars beta testing. All future Beta Weekend Events will commence on Friday mornings of the weekend in question.

Microids and DreamCatcher have signed a publishing/distribution agreement for the North American market for two titles, Still Life and Obscure. No specific release date was announced, but both are expected around Q2 2005.

SEGA Europe today announced they would be publishing Blood Will Tell, a modern-day action epic for the PS2, adapted from the classic Manga tale by Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy). Blood Will Tell delivers the ultimate samurai fighting experience, for one or two players, with intense 3D action from one of Japan's most celebrated storytellers.

Vivisector: Beast Inside developed by Action Forms (creators of Chasm and Carnivores series) is a unique mixture of 3D Action/Horror. The game blends a thrilling interactive story with intense, high-adrenaline action and immerses players in a rich and fascinating storyline.

'Conker: Live and Reloaded' features intense deathmatch and campaign storyline modes via Xbox Live and system link, players can compete as one of six combat specialists across multi-mission campaigns covering Old War and Future War. Also included is the critically acclaimed single-player game, "Conker's Bad Fur Day," completely recreated for the Xbox with stunning graphics and unparalleled attitude.

In MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf gamers will be able to step outside the 'Mech and live the life of a human pilot in a fresh new single player game. Tanks, VTOLs and BattleArmor will offer players plenty of opportunities to rain destruction on their opposition in both single and multiplayer games.

Valve's SteamPowered website has been updated with details regarding yet another Half-Life 2 update which addresses some Steam issues, enables support for new query protocol in the HL dedicated server, and fixed a Source Engine spam issue. Restart Steam to get the latest update..