On the forsaken remains that were once the proud planet called Astara, the villagers of Rockhaven lead difficult but peaceful lives, until the day the Shadowraith, "Dark Yabu," and his minions sweep down from the sky. With terrible ferocity and ruthless efficiency they descend upon the townsfolk, enslaving them to work deep in the caves that surround their village. The Dark Yabu kills the grandfather of the young Vexx, who manages to slip quietly aboard the enemy's windship. There, locked deep within Yabu's sanctum, lie the last pair of Astani Battlegauntlets. The gloves leap from their chest onto Vexx's outstretched hands, bonding to his arms and giving him special powers. Check a batch of new vexxilicious screens ...

You are Lieutenant Kitty Hawk, a Navy SEAL and pilot whose helicopter has crash-landed on a remote island, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Kitty soon realises that escape from the island may be difficult. With the enemy defences ruling out any kind of rescue operation, Kitty must eliminate the island defences through any means possible. However, this is a stealth game, one move in the wrong direction and Kitty's history. Going out all guns blazing is not an option. Is this a real stealth game? Or should the game remain under the radar? Read more and find out ...

The UT2003 Troopers team has decided to release a public beta of Troopers: Rise of the Rebellion in the coming weeks. This beta will contain at least two Rebel Alliance player models, two Imperial player models, four weapons, and one or two original game types alongside CTF and Team DM, all played on four to five brand-new maps... They also announcing the development of Troopers: The Clone Wars, that will have, at its core, the character models, weapons, and battlefields of this often-discussed great war of the galaxy.

SteamLand from Buka, developed by Gromada, is the unique real-time strategy game with fast and rich gameplay. This game has some railroad puzzle elements so all action happens in the fantastic world, where the life presents in the form of steam-powered mechanisms, like robots and big armored trains that used as most common transportation vehicle. The game presented in perspective view of 2D. Game art is very uncommon and nice-looking. Maximally real physics is implemented for in game world. Check out some new ingame screens!

Handling dirt is not a rewarding career, but you don't have to follow orders your whole life - think for yourself and Antz Extreme Racing can put you in the fast lane! You may be part of an endless extended family, but that doesn't stop you from wanting to be the best. Race to victory and help make your colony proud! Read more to find out if its worth the race...

In 2002, Spyro will make his much-anticipated debut on the Playstation 2 Computer Entertainment System. In this all-new adventure Spyro will face his toughest adventure yet. Step in and foil Ripto's evil plan to capture all of the dragonflies in the land and defeat the helpless dragons before it is too late!!

It is 1588 A.D., a critical year of an alternate history hauntingly familiar yet fantastically alien to our own. Because of one fateful event during the Third Crusade, the history of this world diverged. This event, the Disjunction, ripped open a long-sealed breach to other worlds. Magic energy and powerful spirits flowed into the world, changing the lands and the people forever. We sat down with Black Isle producer Chris Parker and had a few words about their upcoming RPG, Lionheart!

Microsoft Game Studios has released an updated version of the demo for Dungeon Siege, Gas Powered Games' action/RPG. The new version 1.02d is a 197 MB download, which is 9 MB larger than the version 1.01d demo, and offers the following minor changes: "The duration for blood has been shortened and the flying debris of monsters in combat has been reduced, and in some cases eliminated." (thanks Blue's). There are also a few mirrors up on 3DGamers.

Got what it takes to become a hero? In Fire Department, experience what life is really like for fire-fighters. Choose your team, vehicles and equipment! Keep your cool when faced with high-pressure situations… Your reactions, your strategy as well as your capacity to manage a team of firemen are the keys to success. Check out this new batch of burning hot screens ...

EA let us know that they currently working on a patch for James Bond 007: NightFire that will fix some issues to better enhance your gaming experience. While they currently don't have an ETA on when the patch will be available, they are working feverously to deliver it.. (thanks Blues)

A few days ago the Managing Director of Techland signed an official contract under which the company was granted a license by Benfield Sport International, a sole owner of the Speedway Grand Prix competitions, for the production of a speedway game. Owing to that contract, for the first time in the history of the black sport, you will have a possibility to play an extremely realistic and original speedway game - FIM Speedway Grand Prix. You will become one of the real Grand Prix riders and participate in speedway competitions on the original stadiums of this year’s Grand Prix series. FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX is coming out soon. Now the officiall English site has gone live, loaded with screens, gameinfo and much more...

Battlefront.com and developer Fury Software are proud to announce the release of the eagerly awaited final patch (v1.06) for “Strategic Command – European Theater”, a turn-based Grand Strategy wargame featuring the Second World War in Europe. The patch 2.95MB offers dozens of gameplay enhancements, new features, tweaks and bug fixes and for those with the original game version it also adds full TCP/IP network and LAN support. Read more for download links and changes in v1.06..

Earlier this morning we reported that the popular CS franchise has moved developers once again, now Randy Pitchford "programmer" at Gearbox Software updated his .plan file with some more information regarding the development of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. Here is the full update:

Gearbox Software suspended development of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero in July of 2002. Counter-Strike: Condition Zero introduces single player gaming to the world's #1 online action game. Valve Software has overseen development since July. Gearbox is aware of and endorses Ritual Entertainment's involvement. After developing several Half-Life games, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 and James Bond 007: Nightfire, Gearbox Software is refocusing its efforts on future technology and more interesting and innovative game play. Gearbox Software will be discussing Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC and our vision for the future of interactive entertainment at The CPL's December 2002 event in Dallas, Texas.

Any inquiries may directed to press@gearboxsoftware.com

-Randy Pitchford

100 years in the future Red Rock, mankind's first colony on Mars, is besieged by a brutal alien force and military leaders on faraway Earth are stymied – so they call on Radical Tactics Expert (RTX) Eugene Zeno "E.Z." Wheeler as their best hope in RTX Red Rock from LucasArts. RTX Red Rock is an epic third-person action-adventure expected to release spring 2003 on PS2 and GameCube. Check out some new screens!

Jimbo from Termite Games posted up some information on P3INT forum about a new patch v1.3 they currently working on for New World Order. Here is a clip:

1.3's main fix is memory usage and performance. Our main goal with 1.3 is that we will give the players on the minimum specs of 256 megs of ram (a 3Ghz p4 w/ GF4 doesn't really help if ram is on minimum specs) a smooth gameplay experience, just like the 512 meg users. The memory compression that we've done now also boosts performance for all that have used 512 megs of ram so far.

The 2nd goal of 1.3 is to improve networking.

The 3rd goal is to improve stability in multiplayer games. We have located and fixed several issues in the spectator-mode code.

Object Software and Strategy First have released an multiplayer demo for their action-RPG Prince of Qin. The demo is multiplayer only based on the persistent world of the POQ Battle.Net version and is played for free. Read more for links where to grab the goods ...

Ubi Soft Entertainment announced today plans for the publication of Gunfighter II : The Revenge Of Jesse James for PlayStation2. Gunfighter II is an First Person/Arcade Shooter and is scheduled for release in Spring 2003. The action takes place in a Spaghetti Western scenario featuring an outstanding animated 3D environment.

As was rumored earlier today (due to CPL's schedule mentioned Ritual giving a CS Condition 0 workshop) it has now been confirmed that the singleplayer version of the ever popular CS franchise has moved developers once again, the 3rd to be exact. Designated to finish the product is Ritual Ent, who are also working on Elite Force2). Valve has finally confirmed this : "The primary development of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (CS:CZ) has moved to Ritual Entertainment. Counter-Strike: Condition Zero introduces single player gaming to the world's #1 online action game. Representatives from Ritual and Valve will be presenting the latest on CS:CZ during a seminar at the The CPL's upcoming Counter-Strike Championships in Dallas, Texas". Will we ever see this product or will it go the same route as Duke Nuke'm? Delayed, delayed and delayed!

GMX Media today announced that it is to publish the blockbuster PC title – Runaway: A Road Adventure. The game follows Brian, a student on the verge of graduating from college, is suddenly and mysteriously attacked by Mafia gangsters. During his desperate flight, in the company of a mysterious striptease dancer, he ends up meeting a wide range of unusual characters. But he has to figure out who's trying to help him or kill him. The player will have to be very ingenious to figure it out who's his friend or foe in this explosive mixture of murder, money, ambition, rituals and deception...a whole lot of deception. Also available are 2 new trailers showing off some in game action and cinematics...

Though the full game has been out for several months, BioWare has now finally released a playable demo of their latest role playing game Neverwinter Nights. The demo offers the Prelude from the Neverwinter Nights single-player campaign. Modem users can stay away as the demo requires a 390mb download. Read more for links where to grab the goods ...

Acclaim Entertainment and Austin Studios create a home run with All-Star Baseball 2004, the next installment to the #1 baseball franchise. The product will launch on PS2, GC, Xbox and GBA February '03 and on PC May '03. Check out the new batch of screens...

EA has just released the first patch for their WWII first-person shooter expansion, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead. This upgrade brings your retail game to v2.11. No specific details on what this patch actually fixes is available (we will add when more info comes available), read more for links where to grab the goods ..

From the publishers of Sudden Strike, Blitzkrieg is the fine art of strategy, but with more finesse! Dissect your enemy with surgical precision, halt the enemy's advance and maintain your offensive momentum. Prove your tactical skills in the various historical campaigns during WWII commanding German, Soviet or Allied troops. "Attack is the best form of defence".. Three screenshots featuring heavily armoured trains - in case they have to venture onto the UK rail network, presumably.