Capcom has updated the PN03, in development by its internal studio, Production Studio 4, Japanese website. P.N. 03, directed by Shinji Mikami, is described as an action game starring a female soldier named Vanessa Z. Schneider. She's a mercenary armed with a high-powered laser--and she's a robot killer. Robots at a colonial settlement have gone wild on a nearby planet, and it's up to Vanessa--whose parents were killed by the same system overrunning the settlement--to stop them. Not much is known about the game's action, but it is described as containing dodging capabilities and transforming mechs. The game is due to hit Japan in spring of 2003.

Noticed on HomeLAN that Namco has licensed the popular Half-Life modification Counter-Strike for use in its new chain of Ledzone entertainment centers, Impress Game Watch reports today. Namco's original version of the game will be called "Counter-Strike Neo," and the company plans to release a test version this month. CS Neo is substantially similar to the latest version of the game for American PC gamers, but it incorporates a more simplified interface and a detailed tutorial mode to acclimate inexperienced players to the game. Namco's setup is built around two-on-two games, but its facilities are able to accomodate larger games, and the company hopes to host competitive events sanctioned by the Cyberathlete Professional League in the future.

Sequel to the notorious original, this iteration of the envelope-pushing franchise puts players once again in the well-worn shoes of the hair-trigger Postal Dude. POSTAL 2 operates on Epic's Unreal Warfare Engine and benefits from a host of new features including: fully-explorable open-ended 3D environments, innovative first person shooter action and interaction with well over a hundred unique non-playable characters (NPC's) including Gary Coleman (Arnold from 80's TV show 'Different Strokes').

In Dino Crisis 3, a team of intergalactic Marines discovers a Colony Spaceship infested with cold-blooded beasts. Fighting a constant battle for survival, the team must fight together to survive the ensuing chaos. Equipped with jet propulsion packs, the main characters can maneuver quickly through the environment. This new type of control is a break from anything ever seen and will offer players new challenges and more freedom of movement. Read more to check out the batch of 20+ new screens ...

The proposed demo for Breed, an epic first person shooter for the PC, has been delayed yet again. The release date of the Breed demo has been postponed until the middle of April. This has been due to problems in two areas: with the localization of the demo (the demo is published in German and English language) & with various smaller technical problems. This has resulted in unforeseeable delays in the production process and ultimately a delay in releasing the demo. CDV prefers therefore to give to the Breed demo some more time so that gamers expectations can be fulfilled. An exact demo release date will be communicated in the course of the coming week.

Secret Weapons lets gamers control and use new weapons and new vehicles in eight fresh WWII combat battlefields including, Telemark, Peenemüende (V2 research facility), Essen and The Eagle's Nest (Hitler's hideaway). All new battlefields offer unique settings from nightfall during the summer in Prague to a winter battle in Norway. Check out these 6 brand new screens!

Chrome, a Tactical First Person Shooter, is a dramatic story of heroism, friendship and betrayal; a story full of sudden twists and turns mixed into tons of Sci-Fi action. Players assume the role of Logan; a veteran mercenary turned bounty hunter who is out to make it rich. A batch of 30+ new screens for you to enjoy!

Eidos Interactive has joined forces with the Government of Novistrana to offer people the chance to be included in the forthcoming PC strategy-simulation game Republic: The Revolution. An exclusive competition has been set up on the just-launched Novistrana website. Twenty lucky winners will be featured as 'Novistranian' characters and will receive a home address for their character. This will enable them to identify themselves among the thousands of inhabitants of Novistrana. 100 runners-up will also have their surnames assigned to characters in the game. All that's needed to enter the competition is simply to register on the site. The closing date for the competition is April 15th 2003. Winners and runners-up will be notified by 30th April 2003.

Gathering and internal development studio Pop Top Software Inc. along with developer Frog City Software, Inc., today announced that "Tropico 2: Pirate Cove" for the PC has gone gold. The sequel to the top-selling Caribbean simulation, Tropico, Pirate Cove allows players to manage a plunder-based economy on a seventeenth-century pirate island. The game is set to ship April 8th, 2003.

Media Inc. announced today that they will co-publish NASCAR Racing 2003 Season for the Macintosh. The Macintosh conversion of NASCAR Racing 2003 Season is being completed by Westlake Interactive and will feature teams, drivers, sponsors, and every track of the 2003 NASCAR Cup Series. NASCAR Racing 2003 Season features new 3D graphics, an enhanced physics model developed with the input of official NASCAR team engineers, and informative driving aids for both seasoned and novice drivers.

NDL, a leading developer of 3D graphics technology for the computer and video game industry, announced today that it has issued a publishing license of its Gamebryo 3D graphics engine and toolkit to DreamCatcher Interactive. The agreement, which covers multiple game platforms, will allow DreamCatcher's development teams around the world to create unique and compelling computer games for the PC, Xbox, PlayStation2, and GameCube.

PowerVR - a division of Imagination Technologies - is pleased to announce that it will support Crytek's Polybump technology with the PowerVR MBX embedded core. The combination of PowerVR MBX and Polybump can enable the high-end techniques found in the latest games titles, like real per-pixel lighting, even on embedded and mobile devices. Support for Polybump is featured in the PowerVR MBX SDK (Software Development Kit) available to PowerVR MBX licensees and third-party software developers.

Game Ops, the interactive industry's first troubleshooting agency, today announced the launch of a unique new freelancer service designed to address the critical issue of outsourcing in the games development sector. Game Ops retains a number of highly experienced staff across a broad range of disciplines including coding, art & animation, game design, localisation, testing, audio and massively multiplayer gaming.

Requesting reinforcements! There are new battles to be fought and won. Electronic Arts Inc. and Digital Illusions today announced that development is underway on the latest expansion pack for the award-winning Battlefield 1942 PC game series. Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII, scheduled for release in fall 2003, will significantly enhance the multiplayer combat experience by bringing the most unique and deadly weapons from the German and Allied laboratories to life on the battlefields of World War II.

The German site GameCaptain let us know that JoWood has just announced "Railroad Giant" an upcoming railroad sim for PC to be released in Germany in September 2003. You find the first two screens here and use Bablefish to translate the announcement from German to English!

CM4 was released on March 28th 2003 by Eidos Interactive. The game, developed by Sports Interactive, is the latest in the best-selling series of football management games which has sold more than 3,000,000 copies worldwide since its initial launch in 1992.

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!

Time of Defiance is a massively multiplayer real time strategy game, with astonishing graphics, based upon many thousands of small floating islands on the remains of the planet of Nespanona. The Cog Tribes are locked into a battle of supremacy with each other. The player takes on the role of one of the Cog tribes and plays against hundreds or thousands of other players to gain control of the Northern Continent. Players expand their empires through exploration, negotiation, war or peace - using the strategies and tactics of their choice. Nicely Crafted Entertainment have now released version 4.427C of Time of Defiance. Read more for download links & detailed fix list ...

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 :

• Anarchy Online: Shadowlands (FunCom)
• Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance II (Interplay)
• 
  
  Read more for download links ...

Mad Catz Inc. will showcase a full range of innovative video game peripherals at the upcoming SCoRE exhibition, April 13th and 14th, held at the Business Design Centre in Islington. Mad Catz will be situated on stand B44 and will highlight their recently launched Game Boy Advance SP product line, comprising of ten new accessories to enhance the GBA SP gaming experience. Further featured products will include the recently launched Mad Catz Blaster, the first light gun for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft and Mad Catz' popular MicroCON range of control pads and wheels.