Sign-ups for the European Closed Beta Test of Blizzard Entertainment’s highly anticipated MMORPG, World of Warcraft, start today, 5th July 2004. The sign-up period will run for 3 weeks and potential testers can register online via the sign-up pages on the official Blizzard European Web sites: www.blizzard.co.uk /www.blizzard.fr /www.blizzard.de.

Chessmaster 10th Edition will attract both brand-new and experienced chess players. Animated chess pieces, a simplified learning section and skill-appropriate AI-controlled opponents will entertain new and casual players. Intermediate players can take advantage of the opportunity to hone their skills by learning the best attacking moves as taught by chess champion Larry Christiansen in the Academy. Read more for details and screens

It seems that at the moment the video games industry is desperate to be accepted as mainstream. Not that all gamers want gaming to become mainstream, not at all; the industry has grown phenomenally in last two decades and is worth untold amounts of money. But that’s why the industry craves recognition. It’s run by moneymen, and the money men realise that if they can get gaming as accepted as say movies or music, then every household in the developed world becomes a potential customer.

In the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban videogame Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As teenagers back for their third year of study, they are engaged in the mystery surrounding Sirius Black, who has recently escaped from the infamous wizard prison Azkaban.

Today Buka continuous their announce streak with yet another new title, the racing game Moscow Rush. Have you ever been to Moscow? Even if you have been, but moved around in a taxi, you will certainly enjoy the experience of street racing around the real Moscow in the Moscow Rush game. Read more for details and screens ...

Novalogic has released another update for their recently released online multiplayer shooter Joint Operations. This update brings your retail game to v1.2.0.6 and adds a smaller wedge to incoming sniper shots, filters to the game list in the NovaWorld menu, optimizations to player models, and various bug fixes. Read more for a detailed fix list or download links..

UPDATE :Novalogic has released a small "optional" v1.2.0.7 patch fixing 2 glitches (2mb), which requires the v1.2.0.6 to be installed FIRST.

Activision has not released much information about Neversoft Interactive's Tony Hawk's Underground 2. THUG2 will feature 2 titles in one, a story mode part much like last year's THUG, but also the classic mode. Not much details are available, it is expect in stores somewhere in October 2004, in the meantime check these 4 screens ...

Beginning approximately five years after the events of the first Knights of the Old Republic, The Sith Lords takes players on an entirely new journey as they assume the role of what is believed to be the last Jedi in the galaxy. The game features a cast of memorable returning characters and sinister new villains.

TimeGate Studios delivers a breathtaking world of magical splendour, heroic deeds, and fearsome enemies with Kohan II: Kings of War, a fantasy-based real-time strategy game. Presented in beautifully rendered 3D, Kohan II: Kings of War allows gamers to lay siege to enemy cities, explore fantastic realms, fight strange creatures, and build a world-spanning empire.

Enlight has released a patch for their strategy game Warlords BattleCry 3. This update patch brings your retail game to v1.02 and fixes a bug in v1.01 which adversely affected unit attack speeds. Read more for download links ...

PureSim announces the immediate availability of the latest version of PureSim Baseball, the popular and critically acclaimed PC Baseball simulation. With over 70 new features including a revolutionary new ball park designer, animated in-game displays and support for features such as league expansion, PureSim Baseball 2004 provides a richly detailed, immersive Baseball experience. From drafting and building a team as the GM to making the in-game decisions on the field PureSim offers the user complete control over their Baseball Universe.

Hell Forces is a classical FPS. Stephen Geist – the main hero of HF is trying to find out, what has happened to his missing friend. During this search he is mired in a satanic conspiracy, and is trying to stop dread forces of Baphometh, the servant of Satan. Infernal legions are uncountable, but Stephen is not. Only with Your help he can find out the truth and stop the invasion...

'Down in Flames' is a game that has the feel and flavor of dogfighting in a simple to learn but hard to master card game format. Gameplay is a fast, action-packed, and centers around the unique blow-by-blow Action/Reaction game system . Because of this, you get to maneuver on enemy aircraft, shoot them down, watch as they react to your actions, and get to respond with your own maneuvers and reactions. Head on over to the 'Down in Flames' official website to see dozens of screenshots, the plane database with aircraft featured in the game, gameplay examples, designer notes and more!

A few days ago Epic Games revealed the finalists for the FPS and Gametype categories for Phase 3 of the MSU contest, today Epic announces the finalists for the Non-FPS and Mutator categories for Phase 3 of the NVIDIA $1,000,000 Make Something Unreal Contest. Read more for details ...

DreamCatcher today announced that the official Dungeon Lords website has gone live. A fantasy-themed role-playing game with action and combat elements, "Dungeon Lords" is being developed by Heuristic Park and is scheduled to ship this fall for PC.The official website is a source for the latest "Dungeon Lords" news, downloads, screenshots, community links, and in-depth game information. Fans can preorder "Dungeon Lords," download the official trailer, and in the coming weeks, the official single-player and multi-player demos.

As commander of up to four fort-dwelling worms, you direct your garrison to quickly construct defenses then build weapons of mass destruction to destroy your opponents' fortifications! With a touch of skill, catapult or canon and some crazy Worms attitude, battle your way to victory through eras and mythologies. Team 17's Worms Forts Under Siege is coming to PC, PS2 and Xbox in Q4 2004.

Blood Will Tell (Dororo) is a modern day action epic adapted from the classic manga by Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy). Like the original manga the game follows the adventures of Hyakkimaru, a samurai haunted by a shocking secret, who is on a quest to uncover his past and regain his humanity. As a newborn baby he was robbed of every limb, organ and even his flesh and had his humanity replaced with a myriad of ways to deal out death.

Blizzard has released yet another new Warcraft III map, this time called "Rolling Hills"... Map info: "Thump... Thump... War approaches. Booming drums call the troops to death and glory. The lines are drawn, and alliances are set. Nothing will hold back the bloodshed. War is here. Thump... Thump! " This is a Small map and the suggested no. of players is 2v2 or 3v3. It is based on the "Lordaeron Summer." Go download it here!

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 :

• Heart Of Eternity - Trailer

Tend to your animals' health, happiness and nutrition by hiring employees, and adopt new animals as you unlock the numerous features hidden within the game. Attend to visitors by providing facilities for them to eat, drink and buy souvenirs from as they revel in your zoo.

It’s the season of the fan. The year of people coming together to celebrate sport. And uniting everyone is ESPN NFL Football, a coupling of 'the most responsive and intense gameplay around' and the richest multi-player gaming experience possible. ESPN NFL 2K5 is filled with the most unique and high quality features. The most innovative feature has yet to be revealed, until now - The V.I.P. (Virtual Identity Profile) System. Read more for new screens & trailers ...

Epic has opened the Mod Author Support site on the Unreal Developer Network. This portal contains helpful resources and links for people creating modifications for Unreal Tournament 2004.

"The Moment of Silence" is an espionage thriller under development at German "House of Tales". Set in the near future The Moment of Silence mixes real and fictitious locations, Orwell’s 1984, Kubrick’s 2001, technological visions and typical mystery themes. These ingredients are fused to form a true-to-life, highly immersive conspiracy theory with a variety of surprising twists in the plot. Read more for screens & details ...

Today Dreamcatcher has released some information about the new v1.3 update patch for People Can Fly's FPS Painkiller. The new update will contains more netcode optimization, adds ASE support, possibility to lower various gfx settings in order to boost performance, several game tweaks and bug fixes. Read more for detailed fix list ...