AlienPants Ltd has been contracted by Nicely Crafted Entertainment, creators of the Massively Multiplayer Real Time Strategy Game Time of Defiance to provide Public Relations for the company and the game. AlienPants will bring their expertise in large online communities to assist Nicely Crafted in raising the profile of Time of Defiance in the UK and Europe, as well as managing the release of information regarding the monthly updates.

Multiplay, the UK's leading "LAN Party" organisers today announced the sponsorship of their upcoming i15 event by the game publisher Codemasters. This sponsorship will bring prize-winning tournaments to the event for two of the latest games from Codemasters, the first-person shooter Project IGI2 and long awaited sequel to Toca Touring Cars 2, Toca Race Driver. A prize fund of £1,500 is up for grabs in the IGI2 tournament, which will be played on the retail version of the game due for release on the 21st February. The tournament will see up to 48 clans (teams) battling it out for a share in the prize money. To make things interesting, the i15 tournament play will include a completely new map, pre-released exclusively to i15 attendees.

(Reuters) - Video game publisher Nintendo said on Tuesday that three January raids in south China netted 300,000 counterfeit games, spotlighting the ongoing war by western firms against piracy in China. The games were seized at three factories in Guangdong province -- a hotbed of pirating activity in China for high- and low-tech products alike, experts said. Nintendo spokeswoman Jodi Daugherty could not give a value for the products seized. She said Nintendo, maker of Game Boy hand-held consoles, seized one million counterfeit products in 2002, and backed 135 raids on Chinese factories that year. Nintendo estimates counterfeiting cost the company and its licencees about US$649 million in lost sales in 2002. Daugherty said a main focus of the company's efforts to combat the problem has been on China.

Software giant Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday said it would cut the price on some best-selling titles for its Xbox video game console, a week after rival Nintendo cut some game and hardware prices in a bid to spur sales.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said the "Platinum Hits" program would start with more than a dozen titles at a price of about $19.99 each. Top titles for the Xbox, which holds the No. 2 position in the U.S. market, usually retail for $49 or in some cases $39. Among the titles to be offered at the discounted price are Xbox hits like Microsoft's "Amped Freestyle Snowboarding" and "Project Gotham Racing" and third-party titles like Electronic Arts Inc.'s "Bond: Agent Under Fire" and Activision Inc.'s "Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions."

Today the Dutch-based company TRC Development b.v. launches SimKits. This is a unique product line of kits with simulator parts, that allows cockpit self-builders to build gauges for twelve different airplane cockpits. The new website with the SimKits shop features the complete line of kits.

Mindscape, a leading software publisher is proud to announce the release of GI Combat - Episode 1: Battle of Normandy for PC CD-ROM on 7 March 2003. GI Combat is a real-time tactical combat game that engulfs players in the battles of Normandy, from the beaches to St. Lo, during the Second World War.

Mindscape is pleased to announce the release of O.R.B (Off World Resource Base), licensed from Strategy First. O.R.B will be released in March 2003 for PC CD-ROM, priced at £19.99... More about Off World Resource Base below!

UPDATE: Six screenshots added to celebrate the imminent UK release.

In Dual Blades it’s a duel to the death as all-mighty immortality is at stake. Alperen, the World’s Greatest Warrior summons all combatants past and present to release the immortal curse or face death. Alperen possesses the ultimate prize, Dual Blades, a mysterious sword that gives powers beyond belief and bestows the coveted immortality. It’s a battle for challengers to gain the Dual Blades or die.

As an all-powerful Pirate King, players must manage a seventeenth century band of buccaneers in "Tropico 2: Pirate Cove." To attract the most frightening of history's sea-faring bad boys, Pirate Kings must keep their charges brave and well-supplied between voyages. The island's "yo-ho-ho's" must stay at a feverish pitch in order to keep the King and his buccaneers satisfied with drinking, wenching, gambling, feasting, and the best in pirate accommodations. Chekc out these 6 new screens ...

Ancient grudge and new mutiny bring an end to the four hundred year reign of the Han dynasty. The once noble empire of China crumbles into three warring states. In this latest installment of the Dynasty Warriors saga, honor and loyalty in the face of adversity serve as game’s theme. Obligations to lords and allies guide these ancient warriors across the battlefields of Ancient China. Dynasty Warriors 4 uses the most advanced melee-fighting engine to deliver the next evolution of tactical action. Experience the thrill of taking on multiple opponents at once and fighting against impossible odds. New features not only add more depth to the legend of the Three Kingdoms but also to the individual characters and the dramatic events surrounding

After the update patch there is now a new v1.3 of the dedicated Linux server for Battlefield 1942 available. The new version adds a couple of query functions, squashes some bugs, and incorporates new optimizations to make for a "smaller and faster" binary. Read more for details and download links ...

Battlecruiser Generations is the fourth title in the acclaimed Battlecruiser series. Previously positioned as add-ons (XP) to Battlecruiser Millennium, the substantial enhancements to the game and its engines coupled with the need for a worldwide release, brought about the product change and with a renewed focus. Taking off where Battlecruiser Millennium left off, the game features a dramatic new graphic engine, advanced A.I.., and numerous gameplay enhancements. The game ships in August 2003. For BC gamers, its all good. The nice folks at 3000AD send us a fresh batch of new screens!

Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick allows players to assume the role of Ash, the chainsaw-armed hero from the Evil Dead trilogy. Players will fend off hordes of Deadites with several weapons including the shovel, gatling gun, shotgun and chainsaw. Massive game environments include all new Evil Dead locations as players attempt to save the town of Dearborn from the influence of the Necromonicon ex Mortis – the Book of the Dead. Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick mixes the comedy and fun of a campy horror movie with intense combat missions for the most complete Evil Dead game yet. Another batch of screens for you to enjoy!

Sammy Europe Ltd. today announced the release of two upcoming action-packed titles in PAL region for Sony PlayStation 2. Guilty Gear X2, the newest sequel in the exceptional 2D anime fighter series, and Galerians: ASH, a third-person 3D action game that continues the sci-fi horror saga that began on the PlayStation, will be available in Spring 2003.

All-Star Baseball 2004 is more than a video game; it's the complete baseball experience. Acclaim brings this to you in a package infused with a wealth of baseball history. For the first time ever, baseball fans of all generations will get the opportunity to meet and compete as or against some of the past phenoms from the Negro Leagues. These players include greats such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Buck O'Neil, who commanded the baseball diamond long before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today we have a batch of new screens from the Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox, as well as a some in game movies.

Developed by Ubi Soft's Montreal studio in close collaboration with Red Storm Entertainment, Raven Shield features a brand new Tom Clancy storyline in which Team RAINBOW is led all over the world in a series of dramatic operations. The game will utilize graphics technology provided by the next-generation Unreal engine to power 15 new single-player missions that include the discovery of a cache of biological weapons and stopping an armed gang from terrorizing a London bank. Today we got some brand new screens as well as a new treailer showing off some in-game footage that highlights a few basic commands from the Quick Order Interface. Read more to check out the goodies!

Galactic Civilizations is a strategy game set in space at the dawn of the 23rd century, where you become the leader of the human civilization. The galaxy has 6 major civilizations and the race is on to colonize, conquer, and dominate the galaxy using whatever means necessary. Gal Civ has recently gone to Beta5 and now we have some new screens from that Beta5 stage .. Read more to check them out!

ARUSH Entertainment to publish real-time strategy game based on fire, police, ambulance, rescue and other emergency services; Due in stores this March... Terrorists attempt a poison gas attack on a visiting foreign dignitary, and he and his bodyguards are severely injured. You must decontaminate the area and stop the criminals from reaching their next target--the life of the President is in your hands. This is just one of the 25 exciting missions in Emergency 2.

This patch turns the censored graphics of the US version of Neocron into the uncensored European version of the game. This basically means that after installing the patch, you will be confronted with tons of explicit nudity (e.g. no more bikinis or neglegees on strip dancers that were originally meant to be nude) in the red-light district of Neocron (Pepper Park).. Head over to the official Neocron site for more info and download links!

Square Electronic Arts L.L.C. the exclusive publisher of all SQUARESOFT products in North America announced today that FINAL FANTASY ORIGINS for the PlayStation game console will begin shipping to North American retailers on April 8, 2003. FINAL FANTASY ORIGINS combines Square's groundbreaking FINAL FANTASY and FINAL FANTASY II role-playing game titles into one disc and will carry a suggested retail price of U.S. $30. Remakes of the two titles feature new cinematic movies, opening theme songs, event scenes including updates of the original event sequences, enhanced graphics, improved sound quality as well as new game play modes making the game accessible to beginners and veterans alike. Together, these two titles laid the foundation for the series and spawned many hit sequels that have now sold over 42 million units worldwide.

The new version of the IGI 2: Covert Strike Multiplayer Beta Test embraces a lot of feedback received from Beta Test players from the earlier version. The new code includes many game balancing tweaks, such as changes to damage levels and rate of fire, as well as changes to the mission itself... Read more for download links!

SpectraVideo plc has started to ship a new updated version of the immensely popular P99 Light Blaster. The P99D2 utilises the USB technology on the PS2, and is fully compatible with all PS2 and PSone Light Gun games. The P99D2 has all the features that made its predecessor such an amazing success, a real recoil action, auto reload and machine gun (which has been clocked at 400 shots per minute) modes as well as a foot-pedal for genuine arcade action. The new version also incorporates a D-pad to allow the movement of the character in-game* or the options in the start up screens.

JoWooD Productions AG today proudly announced that its in-house developer, Massive Development, the team behind the eagerly anticipated underwater shooter AquaNox 2: Revelation, will join NVIDIA's European Developer Gathering, 'Dawn to Dusk' appearing as guest speakers.

Prepare yourself for the most emotionally involving and realistic football management game in history. Championship Manager 4 is the new version of the record-breaking Championship Manager series. Published by Eidos Interactive and developed by Sports Interactive, Championship Manager 4 will be released in March 2003 on PC.