In Pirates! you take the leading role of a Pirate Captain in the 17th century Caribbean trying to become the most revered and feared pirate in history - exploring high seas and exotic ports, overtaking enemies in fierce naval battles, engaging in duels and attempting to seize valuable booty. In this designer diary, Sid Meier explains why he and his team at Firaxis decided to produce an Xbox version of "Sid Meier's Pirates!"

Enlight along with Executive Producer American McGee and developer Mercury Steam, announced today that Scrapland for the Xbox has shipped to stores nationwide. An engagingly humorous 3rd person action-adventure game, Scrapland has drawn comparisons to such hits as Grand Theft Auto and Descent for its open-ended gameplay and extreme, futuristic 3D flying missions.

GameSpy is reporting that LotR: Battle for Middle-earth design director Dustin Browder will be leaving EA, effective March 9, to team up with Blizzard as senior designer. The former Westwood employee worked on titles like Red Alert 2 and C&C Generals, and while Dustin did not disclose what Blizzard project he would be working on, he did confirm his new position was with the Warcraft/WoW team, and with his strategy background it could be a new Warcraft of Starcraft product. The article also states that another ex-Westwood employee, nobody less than EA's VP and Executive Producer Mark Skaggs is taken a leave of absense for personal/family reason.

In Elite Warriors: Vietnam, you will fight along side Green Beret commandoes as you conduct classified missions deep in Southeast Asia. By using patrol techniques still being used today in Iraq and Afghanistan you will rescue downed pilots, ambush convoys, seize enemy prisoners, and discover targets for air attacks.

A 3D sci-fi shooter developed by Shin’en, Nanostray boasts a wide array of weapons, un-lockable features and game modes, as well as an online ranking system that tracks the game’s top players. Nanostray’s touch screen features will allow players to track enemy movement via interactive radar and manage the various weapons and other special pick ups.

Imaginary Numbers today announced the development of Tactica Online, a fast-moving turn-based strategy RPG set in the conspiracy and intrigue of Leonardo da Vinci's world. The game is expected to be available worldwide in Fall 2005.

Activision will be enlisting gamers in an all new tour of duty this fall with its latest Call of Duty game for the consoles. The company will develop the new title using its internal studios Gray Matter, the developer of Call of Duty: United Offensive, and Treyarch, creators of the popular Spider-Man series.

Predator: Concrete Jungle is currently in development by Eurocom for the PS2 and Xbox. The new 3rd person action/adventure game weaves the past with the future, as gamers become the terrifying Predator, hunting the Earth for criminals using superhuman powers, fantastic vision modes and an impressive array of alien weaponry.

BioWare announced its plans today to continue the expansion of its development teams for its future video-game projects. The Edmonton-based company is actively recruiting for a variety of positions across numerous disciplines, and will be taking those recruitment efforts across North America in the upcoming months.

Strategy First and ZOO Digital are happy to announce the signing of Gun Metal. This action-packed title, previously available solely on console (published by Majesco), is now coming to PC gamers in North America on April 26.