Bigben Interactive today announces it has become the publisher for the JoWood range in both the UK and Scandinavian territories with immediate effect. The deal is part of an agreement that sees the Bigben Interactive Group publishing the JoWood range across Europe. Bigben Interactive UK will be responsible for all forthcoming titles such as, Chaser, Silent Storm, Söldner: Secret Wars and Spellforce: The Order of the Dawn in addition to the entire back catalogue, budget range and OEM opportunities.

Activision has announced that id Software's RtCW: Operation Resurrection for the PlayStation2 is now available at retail outlets nationwide. The epic World War II adventure fuses heart-stopping action and frightening gameplay with the pursuit to topple the Third Reich's fiendish army of elite soldiers, zombies and genetically engineered super-soldiers. Developed by Raster Productions, RtCW: Operation Resurrection carries a suggested retail price of $49.99 and is rated "M" for mature by the ESRB.

Slow news day as it seems so an opportune time to catch up on some more E3 screens galleries. Next at bat is Empire Interactive with some of their upcoming titles, such as :

• Starsky & Hutch (PC/Xbox/PS2)
• Ghost Master (PC)
• Vega$: Make It Big
  
  Hit this link for the screens!

Can you save the world from the ICEWorm microchip? You are special agent Ethan Hunt — back to battle international espionage as the fate of the free world hangs in the balance! A microchip nicknamed ICEWorm is disabling the security systems of the world’s largest organizations, and providing free access to the highest bidder. Your mission – should you choose to accept it – is to destroy the chip and prevent its creators from bringing the free world to its knees. Serving up today are some new screens, an in game trailer as well as a cinematics movie. Read more for download links ...

Mindscape today delivered a double volley with the announcement of Agassi: Tennis Generation for PS2 and Game Boy Advance, due to be released in July for only £19.99, around the time of the Wimbledon 2003 Tennis Championships.

Empire Interactive plc, a leading AIM listed computer games developer and publisher, announces that it has signed a distribution deal with leading Japanese games company, SEGA for the release of Warrior Kings: Battles and Ghost Master in Japan. Under the terms of the agreement, SEGA will distribute the titles on the PC Platform.

SEGA today announced that it will deliver its top-selling franchise of all time -- Sonic The Hedgehog -- to the largest audience of gamers worldwide, launching four new Sonic The Hedgehog games on all next-generation console and handheld platforms this fiscal year. The highly-anticipated "Sonic Heroes," an all-new title in the Sonic The Hedgehog series, will debut on the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo GameCube and the Xbox video game system from Microsoft. Additionally, building off the success of the Sonic franchise on Nintendo GameCube, SEGA will release "Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut" exclusively for Nintendo GameCube. Finally, Sonic will return to the Game Boy Advance with the release of "Sonic Pinball Party" and "Sonic Battle."

Codemasters today reveals that Operation Flashpoint 2, the sequel to the internationally acclaimed military action simulator, will feature three different theatres of combat set in environments across Southeast Asia, Central Europe and Africa. The game's mission-based campaigns will take gamers through fictional conflicts based upon authentic events during the years around 1970.

DreamCatcher Games is proud to announce that its new website, dedicated to Battlecruiser Generations, has gone live today! The much anticipated title from legendary-producer, Derek Smart, is due to ship in the fall, and this dynamic site gives a great snapshot of what to expect! The site includes a great forum to get an insight from Derek himself and legions of other fans. There’s also a ton of exclusive screenshots, detailed information about the game, some great downloads and a chance to pre-order the game right now. So pull up a mouse, and head to the official 'Battlecruiser Generations' website where it’s all about to kick-off!! Read more for some new screens as well as details about the online engine.

Already revealed yesterday, but today the official announcement rolled in. Activision, Inc. will plunge players into the dark and gritty vampire underworld of modern Los Angeles with the announcement of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines for the PC. Seamlessly combining role playing with intense first-person action combat, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines allows players to become a dangerous creature of the night as they assume the role of a recently embraced fledgling vampire in the service of the city's dark prince. Vampire: The Masquerade- Bloodlines is being developed by Troika Games, whose founding members' credits include the award-winning Fallout, and is based on White Wolf's renowned pen-and-paper Vampire: The Masquerade RPG series. Built using Valve's Source Technology - the same game technology used to power Half-Life 2, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines has not yet received an age rating and is expected to ship in 2004.

Gamespot dug up some info on a, so far unannounced, Activision game from Trokia Games (currently also working on Infogrames' Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil). Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, a first person action-RPG, will be using Valve's Source engine which also powers Half-Life2 and is expected somewhere in 2004. In Vampire you will play as a fledgling vampire who will belong to one of seven vampire clans, each of which has its own distinctive strengths and abilities, including superhuman strength and speed, invisibility, and mind control, to name a few. As players progress through the game, they'll earn experience points that they can spend on improving their powers. These abilities and the game's major vampire factions will be drawn from White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade pen-and-paper game. Check out the Gamespot article for more details ...

Ground Control 2 : Operation Exodus takes place during the year 2741 AD, roughly 300 years after the events in the original game. The democratic and freedom caring Northern Star Alliance (NSA) is being hard pressed by the warmongering Terran Empire. The war has recently entered a new stage; a brutal and deadly ground war, as the Empire has managed to land their first troopships on the last NSA controlled planet – Morningstar Prime... Read more for a few new screens!

Command & Conquer Generals, from Electronic Arts has taken the market by storm claiming victory at retail outlets nationwide for two consecutive months. The modern warfare-based game has been ranked the No. 1 selling PC game for February and March, according to NPD Group/NPD TechWorld.

Factornews seems to have gotten their hands on some information regarding various Unreal titles. According to some E3 booth schedule Unreal Tournament 2004 will indeed be shown at E3, as well as an Unreal 2 Xbox version and Unreal Assault (formerly known as Reloaded) for the PS2. The Unreal 2004 title is scheduled for the second half of this year (thanks VE3D). I guess we'll find out more at E3...

The 2003 version of this game includes many innovations: exclusive new animations with no more latency in controls, super realistic courtside details like ball boys, showtime match presentations, experience points to increase your player's skills, bonus courts and players etc. And of course, for even more realism, you will find the official courts of Roland Garros and US Open as well as real life tennis stars. NGT: the true ace of tennis games.

Austrian publisher JoWooD has signed a deal with Bigben Interactive which will see Bigben taking over publishing duties on 21 new titles for the PC, PSone and PS2 platforms in Germany, France, Benelux and Switzerland. Among the titles covered by the deal are Spellforce and Soldner: Secret Wars on the PC, while the "Giant" series of simulation games is also covered in the back catalogue of titles signed to Bigben.

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.

Empire Interactive plc. is pleased to announce a key distribution deal with Canadian company Digital Leisure Inc. to launch the eJay music software range for PC in North America. The deal, which covers the USA and Canada, consists of 24 SKUs scheduled to debut from mid May 2003.

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.

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.

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.

Made for the PlayStation 2 - For the first time ever, B.J. is introduced to Agent One in a brand new campaign and expanded storyline that takes both characters throughout Egypt and eventually to Castle Wolfenstein. Players are also rewarded with new items, exclusive secrets and special bonuses for finding all of the secrets or silently eliminating the enemy. While every combat situation has been specifically crafted to reward a strategic approach. Developers: Executive produced by id Software, Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Operation Resurrection is developed by Raster Productions.

EA and Westwood Studios have released another patch for Command & Conquer Generals, bringing their brand-new 3D real-time strategy game first to v1.05. This upgrade addresses stats recording inaccuracies, some exploits and gameplay bugs, general balancing issues, and more (thanks Bluesnews). Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

CITY interactive announces that their development team has already started working on new title called Aces WW I - working title. Development has started last year and CITY is planning to have the title ready for sale at Q3 2003. Aces of WWI - working title creates a new genre: the flying sim action adventure. People responsiple for that project are working with great enthusiasm in order to achieve very detailed reconstruction of original models and the ground, like in the best simulation games and provide high feel of reality. City wants to interest not only flying sim fans but to target all action game fans and hopes to receive enthusiastic response from special interest press all around the world. (thanks Blues)

WarBirds, PTO, Pacific Theater of Operations is launched in Beta! Come fly the Battles of the Pacific in the Philippine Islands! The new product launched in Beta today and is expected to go live on 20 March 2003. WarBirds, PTO, Pacific Theater of Operations is a major new product from the award winning WarBirds III Family of products. New Terrains, new airplanes, new flight models, new strategy, new graphic features, and new fun all will be had with this exciting new product! This is the first new product since the release of the original WarBirds III was launched in 2000!