Even though the gaming hobby has advanced onward to first-person-shooters and sensational role-playing landscapes, gaming accomplishments on old-fashioned titles can still make an ardent player sit up and take notice. One such achievement has been recently verified: the eternally popular 1991 SNES game, "Legend of Zelda:A Link to the Past," has been finished in under 2-hours for the first time in the title's history. Read more for details ...

The latest installment in the award-winning series, Warlords IV: Heroes of Etheria is a unique blend of role playing and turn-based strategy gaming. Set in the troubled land of Etheria, old foes such as Dwarves, Elves, and Orcs have resumed their ancient hostilities and the Undead legions of Lord Bane have returned. The game centers on the actions of your Warlord, who plays a pivotal role in the success or failure of your military efforts. Read more to check some new screens ...

Starting with a single loyal supporter, a tiny secret HQ and a very small base of local support, you must build up a nationwide faction powerful enough to oust the President and rule the Republic of Novistrana. Up to 16 other factions (human or computer controlled) will be doing everything in their power to stop you and seize control for themselves. And of course, most formidable of all is the President - he’ll go to any lengths necessary to hold onto power. Read more for a batch of fresh screens ...

Publisher Strategy First and developer Stardock are pleased to announce the release of update version 1.02 for Galactic Civilizations, their hugely successful 4x space strategy game that was released on March 26th. This upgrade brings a few new features and playability enhancements as well as some AI fixes. The update can be downloaded through the ingame Stardock Central. Read more for detailed fix list ...

Meet Sergeant First Class Steve R. Hawkins, squad leader for the A-216 team. An exceptional soldier, and well respected by his men. Steve almost didn't become a soldier, read more about it here! (thanks Unrealik)

Mythic Entertainment, developer and publisher of Dark Age of Camelot, plans to release a free download-only expansion called Dark Age of Camelot: Foundations that adds player housing to the immensely popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The expansion enters closed beta testing this week and will be available for free via optional download to all subscribers in mid-June.

Climax today announced some recent accolades for its high-intensity motorcycle racing game, MotoGP 2. The game received the 2003 Xbox Award for Excellence in Live Implementation from Microsoft’s Advanced Technology Group, the Official Xbox Magazine’s 2002 Award for the Best Use of Xbox Controller, and was a finalist for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’ 2003 Console Racing Game of the Year. Moto GP 1 and Moto GP 2, both published by THQ, are the first and second racing games released for the Xbox Live service.

Harbinger is a single-player action / RPG set in a fantastic science fiction universe. As one of three distinct character types, players explore the world of Harbinger - journey to the far reaches of space, battle unique foes never before seen in any medium, discover powerful new weapons and alien technologies, and uncover the dark secrets buried within the massive starship's steel walls. Dreamcatcher has released the first patch for Harbinger bringing your retail game to v1.1. The upgrade adresses several quest issues, improves Culibine amp usage, configuration tools, and fixes a few other bugs. Read more for download links ...

Combining high-flying, two-wheel action with heart-pumping, adrenaline infused tunes, AKA Acclaim, a division of Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. today unveiled the in-game music soundtrack for its summer release, SX Superstar. Featuring today's top artists including The Deftones, Box Car Racer, N.E.R.D. and Fenix*TX, SX Superstar will be available across all next-generation systems.

TransGaming Technologies, a leading developer of software portability solutions for the video games industry, announced today the much-anticipated release of WineX 3.0, TransGaming's flagship Linux portability product that allows PC games and applications to seamlessly and transparently run on the Linux operating system, directly out-of-the-box.

Codemasters today confirms that Operation Flashpoint 2, a true sequel to the million-selling military simulator, has been commissioned. The setting and theme for the game will be revealed at E3, the global games expo (Los Angeles Convention Centre, May 14-16). Operation Flashpoint 2 is in design and development at Bohemia Interactive Studio, the Prague-based creators of the original title, and will launch late in 2004 for PC.

Details have emerged of Sony's plans to sell a variety of hardware bundles at existing prices through its online store in Japan - including a bundle which would feature a network adapter for free with a new console purchase. This deal would put the PlayStation 2 on an equal footing with the Xbox in terms of network functionality, as one of the key selling points of Microsoft's console has been that it requires no additional hardware for online gaming.

Vivendi Universal Games announced today that hard rock front man (Black Flag, Rollins Band), actor (“The Chase,” “Johnny Mnemonic”) and spoken word artist Henry Rollins has signed on to voice the role of Mace Griffin in the upcoming video game “Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter.” The sci-fi action game will be available second quarter 2003 for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft, the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system and Nintendo GameCube.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. today announced that Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, the continuation of the popular Arc the Lad series, will launch in June 2003 exclusively for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, a true, traditional role-playing game (RPG), takes place thousands of years after the last installment in the series with an all-new captivating storyline, an innovative battle system and a variety of playable characters with unique abilities. Set in a visually stunning world of life-like graphics and using motion-captured cut scenes to enhance an intriguing storyline, Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits delivers an epic role-playing adventure perfect for fans of strategy, adventure and RPG games.

Age of Mythology: The Titans is an expansion pack for Age of Mythology. Using familiar elements of classical mythology, Age of Mythology casts players as one of nine unique civilizations from ancient Greek, Norse and Egyptian mythologies. Players can reinforce their armies with mythological creatures like Cyclopes and Medusas or call upon the mighty powers of gods such as Zeus to rain down lightning bolts on unsuspecting enemies. Age of Mythology also incorporates Ensemble Studios' trademark features from previous Age of Empires games, including a compelling economic model, a massive army and battle system, unequaled artificial intelligence, random maps, intuitive gameplay and extreme attention to detail. The expansion will be available in stores this fall.

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

• Sacred (Ascaron)
• Brute Force (Microsoft)
• 
  
  Read more for download links ...

This world-builder title is inspired by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment's Jurassic Park franchise-the studio's most successful film franchise. Jurassic Park allows you to fulfill Dr. John Hammond's dream by successfully designing and managing your very own Jurassic Park. Create the most amazing dinosaur theme park the world has ever seen, OR battle your way through 12 intense missions that will truly test your skills against the awesome powers of nature and its most dominant creatures.

Gamespot reports that LucasArts has opened up its E3 site, giving the public a glimpse of the games the company will be showing at the event this May. The strategy RPG Gladius is expected to be at the show, as are Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and Star Wars Galaxies.

Responding to criticism that it was trying to take advantage of the Iraq war for commercial gain, Sony Corp said on Wednesday it will not use the phrase "shock and awe" for PlayStation videogames made by a subsidiary. A U.S. unit of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc has withdrawn an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the phrase for commercial use, a Sony spokeswoman said.

In 'Gremlins', the two protagonists of one of the most celebrated battles in the cinema meet again in a platform game that promises hours of fun and laughs. Gizmo, the Mogwai attempts to find the Gremlins and capture them all to keep them from doing any more harm. The game recreates the most famous scenes of the movie on more than 10 different levels (Billy’s house, the school laboratory, the department store, the movie theater, etc.). With the option of playing either one of two radically different characters, the game is sure to offer hours of lasting enjoyment. Check these new screens ...

The cover story for the newest print issue of Game Informer magazine has some details about the upcoming Xbox version of Counter-Strike that is being developed by Ritual Entertainment and Valve Software. According to the article, the Xbox version of the popular PC multiplayer shooter will contain all the current content of the PC version plus all of the content of the upcoming Counter-Strike: Condition Zero single player game. There will be some Xbox exclusive content as well, including at least five new multiplayer levels, two new weapons (the Syringe and Machete) and some graphical improvements including 24 bit textures and better lighting and particle effects. There are also hints in the article that there might be support for user created gameplay modes in the Xbox Counter-Strike, although there were no specifics mentioned (thanks HomeLAN).

Konami of America, Inc. announced today that Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel for Nintendo Game Boy Advance has shipped to retail outlets nationwide. The latest installment in the best-selling Yu-Gi-Oh! video game series, Worldwide Edition brings to life the enormously popular Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game with stunning accuracy. Worldwide Edition features more than 1,000 game cards and updated Trading Card Game rules. As an added bonus Worldwide Edition comes with three powerful limited-edition Trading Game Cards only available with the game: Harpie's Feather Duster, Sinister Serpent and Valkyrion The Magna Warrior.

Codemasters, a global video game publishing company, announced today that the latest installment of its critically acclaimed racing series, Colin McRae Rally 3, has shipped to North American retail outlets. To date the Colin McRae Rally game franchise has sold an impressive 6 million units worldwide. The newest version for the PlayStation©2 computer entertainment system version will be available for a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. announced that it has reached open beta for its highly-anticipated massively multiplayer online first-person action game, PlanetSide. The company has added 30,000 additional beta players to help test the game which will allow hundreds and thousands of players to fight online in an all-hours-of-the-day massive conflict. PlanetSide will ship to U.S. and Canadian retail stores in mid-May.