Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of Game With Fame, a new program that allows fans to play against some of today's hottest stars on the Xbox Live service. The launch event, taking place Feb. 4, will give Xbox Live fans a chance to play "ESPN NFL Football" against today's hottest hip-hop duo and six-time Grammy nominees, OutKast. Read more for details ...

Numerous German-language sites have reported that Far Cry development studio Crytek have been raided by police and authorities after an ex-employee informed them of widespread software piracy at the studio. Reports indicate that the software has been used to create the game and that the value of the software, if purchased legally, would be over 1 million Euros. The home of Faruk Yerli, one of the three brothers who set up Crytek, has also been searched for illegal software.

UPDATE: Read more for Ubisoft's official statement...

During a press conference held today, Blizzard Entertainment announced plans to build a local World of Warcraft team in Europe. The team will be responsible for community relations, customer service, and technical support for the game. Additionally, they will manage the distribution and hosting of World of Warcraft on local European servers. With a regional team in place, Blizzard intends to affirm its commitment to the European game community by delivering a massively-multiplayer experience of unparalleled quality.

Already revealed in yesterday's financial results, Ubisoft is excited to announce that the Xbox, PC and GBA versions of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, the new adventure from the world of Tom Clancy, is on track to ship for the end of March. Due to development issues, and the groups' commitment to making these versions the same high quality as the Xbox version, the PS2 and GameCube will launch at a later date. This date is still to be confirmed. There's a single player mode and an "incredibly addictive" online version.

Gathering announced today that Mafia for the PlayStation 2 is in retail stores in North America and the English language PAL version of the title is available in Europe.

Trauma Studios developed the popular mod* to Battlefield 1942, DesertCombat. The new collaboration is for one of Digital Illusions' previously announced projects. The Company estimates the costs for the collaboration to approximately 550 000 USD during a period of 12 months. "We understood the impact DesertCombat had quite early. This mod kept Battlefield's popularity in place during the last year, as well as helped us sell a considerable amount of games", says Patrick Söderlund, CEO, Digital Illusions.

Built from the ground up to deliver the bone-crushing action of championship boxing, EA SPORTS Fight Night 2004 is an all-new boxing game that features revolutionary new gameplay mechanics and a dramatic new-school attitude to immerse players like never before. Innovative new analog Total Punch Control allows gamers to throw punches, block, bob, and weave with unprecedented fluidity and precision. The game also includes a deep create-a-player option, career mode, and online play* for the PlayStation 2 console via EA SPORTS Nation.

Electronic Arts today announced plans to publish BREAKDOWN from Namco Limited for the Xbox. Breakdown is the hotly anticipated first-person action adventure title that combines Namco's legendary fighting game experience with the best elements of traditional shooters. A thrilling science fiction storyline is revealed through its high-end, real-time rendered graphics, bringing an unprecedented level of realism to the gameplay experience. The game features intense hand-to-hand and weapons-based combat, challenging puzzles, surreal dream sequences, advanced A.I and massive, detailed environments for exploration.

There are strange happenings in Springfield. People are missing, very mysterious crop circles are appearing, and hidden cameras are being exposed. When Homer notices a black van with a satellite dish parked outside the Simpsons house, he decides to investigate further into these odd events. What he reveals could be the biggest mystery to rock Springfield since Who Shot Mr. Burns?

Drake is the ultimate Anti-hero. Drake is Feel-good, action-packed gaming with instant gratification. Grim but colorful. Cool and violent without being controversial. Real-time 3D action shooter of furious and brutal revenge, supernatural Hong Kong action style. Read more for the full review ...

Anito is a Single-Player Isometric Adventure RPG game set in 16th century Asia, in the land of Maroka. Filipino developer Anino has released the first patch for the English version of 'Anito: Defend A Land Enraged'. This patch brings your retail game to v1.02 and adresses a few crashes, bugs and tweaks. Read more for details and download links ...

Zuxxez has released a new patch for their 2000/2002 strategy games 'Earth 2150: Moon Project' & 'Earth 2150: Lost Souls' (at the time developed under the name TopWare). This v2.0 update (available for the German & English editions) was developed in cooperation with Playerliga.de and is completely rebalanced. This update adds tons of game tweaks/fixes and makes Moon Project & Lost Souls multiplayer compatible which will allow you to play both games on the Earthnet Server irrespective of which title you have. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

ESPN Major League Baseball raises the bar with Power Pitching, Online Gameplay and a stellar ESPN presentation featuring Jon Miller and Karl Ravech. A new name, a new season, a new way to play! ESPN Major League Baseball will include voice-chat support for the PlayStation2 and the Xbox, as well as the only complete online league experience for PlayStation2 owners. Read more for some new screens ...

'Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow' will bring back more of the single-player intrigue that made the original game a bestseller. With exciting new action scenes and a strong cinematic feel, the player will experience new and even more realistic surroundings. Building on Ubi Soft's strong commitment to online gaming, Pandora Tomorrow will the be the first stealth game ever to feature multiplayer online missions allowing several players to simultaneously share Sam Fisher's shadowy world of espionage. Read more for some new screens...

Expanding upon the distinctive features that were the hallmark of its predecessor - fast-paced acrobatic combat and supernatural powers - BloodRayne 2 includes new in-game dynamics such as pole combat, rail sliding and advanced melee fighting with fatality moves. Built upon a modified version of the Infernal Engine, BloodRayne 2 introduces threatening new bosses, all new environments set within a huge modern day city, a range of new supernatural powers and new motion-captured movements complete with soft-body physics. Check these 8 screens ...

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 :

• Wrath Unleashed - Trailer
• Firefighter FD 18 - Trailer
• Seven Samurai 20XX - Trailer
• Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm - Trailer
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

NovaLogic has released the Delta Force: Black Hawk Down editing tools, giving you everything you need to create exciting new content, yourt own custom sp/mp maps. Includes: Text Tool, Object Editor, Terrain Generator, .def files, Pack.exe, Samples and Tutorials! Read more for details and download links ...

Russian 1C has released some new screens of their yet unannounced TBS/RPG title "Ascension To The Throne" (developer by DVS). Your father's kingdom was raided by your enemies, everything plundered and killed, except for you. You, as the Prince Of Eden, were saved by the King's magician and sent far away, on your own, in a foreign world. In Ascension To The Throne the player has to fight his way back to the throne by making friends, waging war and defeating enemies along the way. Ascension To The Throne is expected in Q4 2004, read more for some screens ...

TDK revealed today that Goth-Metal band 'Within Temptation' has signed on to deliver the soundtrack for Starbreeze's 3rd Person Fantasy Action-Adventure 'Knights Of The Temple'. Within Temptation will release a new single "Running Up The Hill", the music video, inspired by the game, was shot in a medieval church. Additionally they will also release an updated music video for their hit single "Mother Earth" featuring gameplay footage as promo material for the upcoming PC/Xbox game, which is due Q4 2003.

"Psychonauts" is a wildly surreal action-adventure game in which players use paranormal powers to plunge into the minds of bizarre characters. Players journey deep into crazy worlds of infinite possibility to thwart the secret plan of an evil madman and realize the ultimate dream of joining an elite force of psychic superheroes, the Psychonauts. Read more for some new screens ...

Ubisoft today announced third quarter sales for the fiscal year 2003/04 in which they reveal that their sales increased about 30% over last year, mainly due to a 50% growth in Europe. Sales for titles such as XIII and Beyond Good & Evil were lower than expected, and their financial statement also revealed a sequel for the hit title Prince Of Persia is already in the works. Read more for financial details if thats your thing ...

Whiptail Interactive today announced that the highly anticipated action game Gangland will ship to retail stores nationwide on March 3rd. The game was originally scheduled to hit stores in mid February.

With the launching of Profiteer, a new era opened up in Browser-Based Massive Multiplayer On-line Gaming. Profiteer has added an innovative level of player interactivity with its Quest Design Interface (QDI). The QDI allows players to direct the future of Profiteer, by writing and designing quests that set others off into a universe of adventure. Incorporated into all quests is the name of the creator thus allowing the best designers to quickly build a reputation within Profiteer.

High-tension Battle : The graphic concept of Lineage II is made up assuming that there is a tremendous siege by dozens of charaters which has the most advanced 3D details like those in fighting games. Rampart standing high in the way of surging forces, Plains overlooked by one riding on dragon high in the sky, Archers on the rampart sniping at the coming enemy from far place. These powerful scene will be produced with the latest 3D technology. Read more for some nifty screens & a very high res in game footage trailer ...