Ubi Soft Entertainment today announced the relaunch of the company's line of combat simulation games under the Strategic Simulations brand. The category will include three highly anticipated upcoming games, IL-2 Sturmovik : Forgotten Battles, Larry Bond's Harpoon 4, and Lock On : Modern Air Combat, as well as three unannounced combat simulations targeted for 2004 and 2005.

Tri Synergy announced today that Knight Rider has gone to gold master. Slated to ship at the end of March 2003 for PC, this retro title is based on the classic 80’s TV series featuring Michael Knight and Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT). Also check out our Knight Rider preview, posted earlier today!

Featuring non-linear gameplay, non-violent story, and mind-bending puzzles, the player's adventure begins when a commandeered rail car arrives in the land of RHEM. The rail car roams the land of RHEM, allowing the player to discover the mysteries of this place little by little. The player soon learns that the only hope of escaping RHEM lies in the contents of a letter, consisting of four hidden fragments which must not only be found, but also put together. Got Game has just released a demo for their upcoming Rhem, read more for download links ...

Octagon Entertainment, Inc., the video game industry’s leading agency, today announced an agreement to represent Primal Software to find a worldwide publisher for Besieger, a 3D real-time strategy game set in a medieval fantasy world. Besieger is in development for PC and is scheduled to be completed Q3 2003.

A major number one best seller for PlayStation 2, the Xbox/PC edition features more cars on track in every race and adds qualifying rounds to the cut-throat career championships. A superior graphics engine will deliver the close contact, and often dangerous, racing in dramatic detail. TOCA Race Driver delivers a racing experience packed with 42 real touring and sports cars, 13 championships and an incredible 38 internationally renowned race circuits. New to the Xbox/PC edition are the introduction of a qualifying round to championship races; in Australia's championship players will experience the 'Shoot out' qualification system. Call it Toca Race driver, Pro Race Driver or DTM Race Driver, these screens are for one and the same game, njoy!

Chaos Legion has been billed in Japan as an ‘intense gothic opera’ which (minus the singing) details the story of master swordsman Sieg Wahrheit and his oldest ally Victor Delacroix. We learn that while Wahrheit is missing for many years on a dangerous mission, Delacroix is tempted and consumed by the forces of Evil. It is Wahrheit’s mission to pursue and prevent Delacroix from bringing chaos to the world. Wahrheit must battle through many gloriously realised 3D environments (featuring stunning architectural exteriors and highly detailed cavernous interiors) against Delacroix and his fearful hoards.

THQ Inc. today unveiled Sphinx -an original interactive adventure game. Developed for the PS2 and Gamecube by game design veterans Eurocom, Sphinx takes the character-based, action-adventure genre to new heights with sophisticated gameplay mechanics, original character designs, amazing visuals and superior technology. Eurocom has created successful titles based on some of the strongest intellectual properties in the world of entertainment including Crash Bandicoot, James Bond, Hercules and Disney's Tarzan. Sphinx is an entirely original property inspired by the mythology of ancient Egypt and is Eurocom's most ambitious project to date. Sphinx is scheduled to ship in fall 2003.

Infogrames has released an updated version 2206 of the demo for Unreal Tournament 2003, Digital Extreme's UT sequel. In addition to being updated to the latest Unreal-engine codebase, the new demo also adds another level. The updated demo includes five maps, four gameplay modes, a pair of mutators, etc. (thanks Bluesnews) A Windows as well as a Linux version are now available. Read more for download links ...

Just noticed on Bluesnews that there is a new version of Netscape available for download. Go to this FTP directory where you can download Netscape 7.02 versions for Windows, Mac as well as Linux. Thanks to FileFlash for bringing this to everybody's attention!

Hot on the heels of the previous patch, Strategy First & Paradox Plaza have released yet anotherpatch for their WWII based strategy war title Hearts of Iron. Even more gameplay tweaks, AI fixes and general improvements to the game! Read more for detailed fix list and download links for all localised versions ...

Purge, delivers a compelling combination of first-person shooter gameplay and RPG character development, immersing players in a strife-torn world that blends science fiction and fantasy. This release addresses bugs in the Persistance Battle Mode, game mechanics and more, along with tweaking class balance and improving engine stability. Also, for players who still think Purge is played like typical deathmatch FPS, a new "helper" message system added assist new players to Purge's unique game style. Read more for a detailed fix list and download links (full download and patch). A little catch-up download for our FreeForm friends ;)

Thrustmaster is pleased to introduce its first cordless controller for PlayStation 2: Firestorm Wireless. With a design based on the Firestorm RF for PC, Thrustmaster's new radio frequency gamepad will be available from February 2003, providing gamers with a new level of enjoyment and unprecedented freedom of movement in games.

Capcom informed us that they have shipped "Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter" to stores. The latest iteration of this popular role-playing series follows the adventures of an underground dweller named Ryu who has an “awakening” about his mysterious past and finds himself leading his underground civilization to the surface after a world shaking catastrophe turns his world upside down. His quest is to lead the way for the people of Shelter to escape to the surface, but doing the journey is fraught with peril and woe. Enemies are at every turn impeding his safe passage to the surface. Using a variety of attacks including combinations, magic and tactics, Ryo and friends will break into the sunlight after generations of darkness- or die trying.

PC game fans everywhere are excited to learn that Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, one of the hottest games of the year, has shipped and will soon be available on store shelves. Expected to blow PC game fans away, the game is already a critical success earning Editor's Choice awards from both Computer Gaming World and PC Gamer. Read more for details and a few new screens ...

Last week Western Canada based Two Guys Software released the retail version of Eternal War: Shadows of Light for online ordering. Hailed as the “Best Christian Game to date” (CCGR.org) the highly anticipated fast-paced action game is set in a spiritual conflict situation. Read more for some screens, and links where to download the demo.

Bureau of Film and Games (BFG), a company that develops content and produces projects in multiple media with an emphasis on feature films and video games, today announced a deal in which the movie rights to the video game concept titled “Backwater” were sold to Dimension Films, a division of Miramax Films.

Codemasters is attending this year's Game Developers Conference [GDC], March 4 – 8 in San Jose, California, with a clear mandate to acquire five A to triple-A game titles. As part of Codemasters' aggressive product acquisition programme, its team is ready to meet game developers with exceptional projects to discuss global publishing opportunities. Codemasters recently won the highly-contested publishing rights to 1C's "WWII:RTS" (to be published as Battlefield Command). With a particular interest in US-centric games, Codemasters is prioritising titles for PC, PC online, PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube formats.

In the 23rd century, after having stimulated a subspatial breach and opened our solar system to an unknown system, a scientific expedition is attacked under appalling conditions by a quarrelsome species : a terrible war engaged between these two worlds. Men, in their will to maintain peace and discover new civilisations engaged into a military campaign in order to explore new planets and understand the major motivations of this species. You, Captain Demetrio, you lead a troop of elites and will discover during a perilous adventure the mysteries and dangers of areas filled of history and past and maybe reveal the secrets of ancestors who will lead you to the victory. Read more for features, screens and trailer...

Here is a news story on a growing gaming culture seen growing mostly in the bigger cities... As the editorial deadline draws nearer for the forthcoming edition of Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records, more and more champions are surfacing to represent the many distinct genres of gaming. And, most interesting among the new genre are the dancing games... More about it below!

Thousands of gamers flooded the world of ancient Egypt on February 15, as eGenesis unveiled A Tale In The Desert, marking the birth of the intelligent MMORPG. A Tale In The Desert diverts from the shallow, violent gameplay that is typical of the genre, focusing instead on non-violent conflict that encourages creative thinking and ingenuity. The game is available now as a free, downloadable demo featuring 24 hours of game-time, or 30 days of service, whichever comes first. Following the trial period, the game is $13.95 per month.

SEGA of America, Inc. today announced it has entered into an affiliation with McDonald's Corporation, the world's largest quick service restaurant to create a new line of McDonald's Happy Meal premiums. Based on two top-selling SEGA franchises - Sonic The Hedgehog and Super Monkey Ball, the premiums will come alive this summer at participating McDonald's restaurants throughout North America.

4D Rulers has just released the promised demo release of the AMP II showcasing their new engine. The tech demo offers the chance to check out the next generation version of the engine that powered Gore, which is going to be available for license for commercial games, as well as smaller projects. The initial version of the engine requires the use of either an NVIDIA GeForce 3 or GeForce 4 ti accelerator. Read more for download links ...

Nintendo today announce the eagerly anticipated news that a limited edition bonus disk will be included with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker at launch on 3rd May. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, will include a bonus disk containing two additional Gamecube games: The N64 Classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and previously unreleased title The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest, which was originally designed for the N64DD. Also on the bonus disk will be additional gameplay footage including the all-new F-Zero, 1080° Avalanche, Time Splitters 2, Phantasy Star Online, Rayman 3 & Super Monkey Ball 2, all for Gamecube

Hercules is pleased to announce today the release of SmartTV on Screen, an external unit which connects to a PC for full screen viewing of television and other video sources on a computer's monitor via composite and S-Video inputs.

Mirage Interactive has official announced that Mortyr II, a sequel to their World War II first-person shooter, is in production. A demo is expected soon and they have released a list of new "features" that we can expect to see in their new Mortyr II WIP version. Read more for details ...