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Publisher: 1CDeveloper: SkyFallen Entertainment
Platform: PC
Official Site: 1cpublishing.eu/game/death-track-resurrection
In the near, dystopian future, much of the world is in wreckage. Conventional, organized sports have fallen by the roadside as a single death-sport has grabbed the popular consciousness: "The Survival Race." This global event pits the drivers of well-armed vehicles against one another as they race and battle through the ruins of ten cities around the globe.
Publisher: 1C / AtariDeveloper: Katauri Interactive
Platform: PC
Official Site kings-bounty.com
As a young hero (a warrior, paladin or recent graduate of the mage's academy), players venture out into a fantasy kingdom in search of wealth, glory and vast armies to lead. Starting with petty tasks performed for the local king, players encounter bandits and an undead local miller before choosing their own paths to lead armies of fantastic creatures in turn-based combat on behalf of allies of the players' choosing.
Publisher: 1CDeveloper: Action Forms
Platform: PC
Official Site: 1cpublishing.eu/game/cryostasis-sleep-of-reason/
In the year 1968, Alexander Nesterov was to be stationed at "Pole 21," a Russian facility in the deep, northern Arctic. Trained as a meteorologist, Nesterov hardly expected to fall off a transport and awaken near a ship trapped in the ice. The North Wind, a nuclear-powered Russian ice-breaker might be frozen in deep polar ice, but it's still Nesterov's only hope to live longer than the few brief minutes exposure to the harsh Arctic winds and open ice will allow. Unfortunately, the crew of the North Wind is dead. Even worse, they're trying to get Nesterov to join them.
Publisher: 1CDeveloper: The Farm 51
Platform: PC
Official Site: 1cpublishing.eu/game/necrovision
The War to End All Wars is raging, and a young, American soldier has joined the British army to get a taste of the trenches. But the front lines of 1916 are hardly the place for a young man to find himself. They are, however, an excellent place to find enemy Germans, insane allies, vampires and demons. Only by absorbing some of those demonic powers can this young man defeat the evil that lurks beneath the senseless waste of life that sprawls across Europe.
Publisher: 1CDeveloper: SeaWolf
Platforms: Xbox 360 and PC
Official Site 1cpublishing.eu/game/captain-blood
Dr. Peter Blood was a doctor who made the treasonous mistake of treating wounded men who had rebelled against King James in the late seventeenth century. Despite wanting no traffic with the quarrels of kings, Blood was sentenced to death. But his sentence was commuted – instead of a short drop at the gallows, Blood received a long trip across the Atlantic and was made a slave on the island of Barbados. During Blood's unfortunate servitude, Barbados is attacked by Spaniards, leaving Blood and his fellow slaves the remarkable opportunity to steal a Spanish ship and maraud the Caribbean as pirates.
Publisher: 1CDeveloper: Best Way
Platform: PC
Official Site: 1cpublishing.eu/game/men-of-war
Two students, Smirnov and Kuznetov, have found themselves wrenched from the pleasantries of academic life to fight against the invading troops of Hitler's Germany. As they are bloodied and promoted in Men of War, they follow the Soviet campaign resisting the German invasion in a tale that ultimately turns to include German and Allied missions that take players through Russia, North Africa, Europe and the Pacific.
The development team at EA Mythic provided a brief update this evening on the status of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. While the game certainly continues to look exciting, it has been delayed several times, with some of those launch dates long gone by. That means that the game has been virtually previewed to death, and nearly anything you could want to know has been presented in excruciating detail on the Warhammer Online official site. But here are a few highlights of the call that might intrigue readers.
Company: EmotivPlatform: PC
Official Site emotiv.com
Total immersion is the Holy Grail of gaming. The ability to simulate a fully interactive and engaging environment would be the ultimate form of entertainment, and has served as the fodder for many television shows, films, novels and even games, ranging from Star Trek's holodeck to Arnold Schwarzenegger's adventures in Total Recall to Red Dwarf's "Better Than Life" game. It's even a common theme for dystopian futures in which humanity has become disconnected from reality (The Matrix, among many others). Unfortunately, total immersion requires far better technology than we have at present.
Emotiv Systems hopes to change that. Emotiv's Epoc Neuroheadset isn't going to make full immersion possible, but it should go a long way toward turning thoughts into reality. The company's tag line is, "It's the thought that counts." It looks like Emotiv will turn that phrase into something more than just an apology.
Publisher: FrogsterDeveloper: Spellborn NV
Platform: PC
Official Site: tcos.com
Five Centuries ago, the world was ruled by the Empire of the Eight Demons. A desperate effort by unknown heroes destroyed the Altar of the Undying, shattering the Empire, but also shattering the very world itself. That magical cataclysm left the remnants of the world as shards floating in a magical maelstrom called the Deadspell Storm that preserves life in the handful of remaining shards.
The few remaining humans, alongside the Daevi, the bastard offspring of demonkind, struggle to survive and rebuild in what is literally the wreckage of a world.
Publisher: cdv Software Entertainment USADeveloper: Ascaron
Platform: PC, Xbox 360
Official Site sacred2.com
Many worlds have been forged by a near-omnipotent Creator, but Ancaria is unique in that it was brought into existence without the Creator's knowledge or effort. The Creator was aided in his efforts by legions of seraphim until the seraphim stole a portion of the Creator's energy and used it to forge a world of their own – Ancaria. To punish the affront, the Creator banished all the seraphim to Ancaria. They were ordered to protect their own creation, with the Creator promising only to return when the seraphim managed to unite all of Ancaria's races in peace.
This was not to be, and the seraphim suffered their comeuppance. The High Elves, themselves a creation of the seraphim, seized upon the creative energy embedded in Ancaria and became the unquestioned rulers of the land. This led to a horrific civil war in which the high elves opposed seraphim. That war may have been resolved, splitting the elves and Ancaria's residents into many factions, but now a new war is on the horizon, and the tide of battle will depend upon the action of a few heroes. Or perhaps, individuals with darker intentions.
Company: TN GamesPlatform: PC
Official Site tngames.com
Late last year, TN Games launched the 3rd Space Vest for PC gamers. Previously known as the "ForceWear" vest, the TN Games 3rd Space Vest connects to the PC using a USB port and transforms gunshots and physical blows within games into actual, location-sensitive, real-life impacts. In time for the 2008 holiday season, TN Games plans to launch a similar peripheral, called the HXT Helmet, this time to provide tactile feedback for headshots.
Publisher: TBDDeveloper: ZeitGuyz
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC
Official Site: zeitguyz.com
Retrograd is a dystopian steampunk city, mixing futuristic and Victorian technology to create a dark world dominated by an organization called Gloria Mundi. The road to Retrograd was literally paved with good intentions. Set in the year 2052, Retrograd is located in Newropa and the product of a bizarre timeline. During the 21st century, the world suffered apocalyptic wars and pandemics that left humanity struggling to survive. Then the Cardinals emerged...
The Cardinals were powerful psychics who discovered that they had the power to travel through time. The Cardinals united under one such psychic who called himself Rex Mundi. As Gloria Mundi (and the Chronology Protection Agency), these Cardinals altered history to prevent disease and nuclear Armageddon from annihilating the planet. Then they got greedy. Even the Cardinals could not resist the temptation to continue to tweak history to serve their own ends, ultimately turning themselves into the ruthless dictatorship that rules Retrograd, with Rex Mundi as their leader.
It is into this world that Davi Atman emerges. As an employee of Gloria Mundi, Atman worked as a "cleaner" on their behalf until he was caught in an explosion while trying to dismantle a bomb. That near-fatal explosion unlocked Atman's own power to glimpse the past and travel to change history. Gloria Mundi tried to commit Atman to an asylum, but after his escape, Atman sets out to put the world to rights, even if he has to travel in time to do so.
Publisher: D3Publisher of AmericaDeveloper: Infinite Interactive
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, DS
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a remarkable game. As developer Infinite Interactive said in a talk at the Game Developers Conference, it was difficult to find a publisher for Puzzle Quest's clever cross between a traditional "match-three" casual puzzle game and the extensive quest structure and character development of a role-playing game. Fortunately, D3Publisher of America stepped up, and we got to enjoy an incredible game. Now, Infinite Interactive is hard at work on another game in the Puzzle Quest universe: Puzzle Quest: Galactrix.
Company: LogitechPlatform: PlayStation 3 (most functions will work with PlayStation 2 and other devices with a USB port)
Official Site logitech.com
Logitech makes damn fine gaming peripherals. Whether you are looking for a PC keyboard, a mouse or console controllers, Logitech has the goods. The Logitech Driving Force GT Racing Wheel will not disappoint. Based on the prototype that Logitech showed off at the Game Developers Conference, the Driving Force GT Racing Wheel promises to be Logitech's best wheel yet.
Publisher: D3Publisher of AmericaDeveloper: Treasure
Platform: DS
Bangai-O is an arcade-style shooter that anyone with a Dreamcast remembers fondly. Within the next few months, DS gamers will get to relive that classic shooting experience in a new version of the game, from the same developer (Treasure), that is best thought of as a re-imagining of the classic shooter than a sequel.
Publisher: 2K Games (Take-Two Interactive)Developer: Firaxis Games
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and DS
Official Site civilizationrevolution.com
Projected Release: Spring 2008
Developer: Blizzard
Platform: PC and Mac
Official Site: worldofwarcraft.com
Projected Release: Late 2007
Developer: SkyFallen Entertainment
Platform: PC
Official Site: int.games.1c.ru/death_track
Projected Release: 2008
Publisher: NCsoftDeveloper: NCsoft
Platform: PC
Official Site: aiononline.com
Projected Release: 2008
Publisher: GamecockDeveloper: Wideload Games
Platforms: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
Official Site chimplove.com
Projected Release: Spring 2008
Developer: Action Forms
Platform: PC
Official Site: int.games.1c.ru/cryostasis
Projected Release: The first quarter of 2008
Publisher: The Lego GroupDeveloper: NetDevil
Platform: PC
Official Site legouniverse.com
There is no single toy line with a richer history and more individual pieces than Legos. Next year, The Lego Group and NetDevil plan to release a massively multiplayer online game called Lego Universe that will bring Legos to life in a child-friendly persistent world with activities for Lego fans of all ages.
Projected Release: Fourth Quarter of 2008
Publisher: N/ADeveloper: NetDevil
Platform: PC
Official Site: netdevil.com/games/warmonger.php
Every Miss America contender may want world peace, but when oil stands between major military conglomerates, global war is all that can result. Competition between the largest military contractors, PolyChem Oil and General Energy finally came to a head when both companies sought to secure access to a cache of Iranian oil fields in the late 2020's. When negotiations failed, covert operatives destroyed the PolyChem Oil headquarters in New York. Armed retaliation was inevitable.
By 2029, the Global Corporate Wars have subsumed society, and the biggest battlegrounds are major cities on US soil. Groups of mercenaries battle for control over the few tactically significant sites that still stand among the rubble. And by doing so, reduce the remaining rubble to mere dust.
Projected Release: Third Quarter, 2007
Publisher: NetDevilDeveloper: NetDevil
Platform: PC
Official Site jumpgate-evolution.com
Jumpgate first appeared on the massively multiplayer online game scene in 2001, offering the opportunity to battle and trade in space to online gamers previously engaged largely in exterminating the online rodent population for experience and glory. With the emergence of Jumpgate, joystick jockeys could pilot starfighters, run interstellar trade routes or manage their own space stations. Jumpgate has maintained a small, dedicated following, but has aged well past the point when new players could easily join the long-running game.
Jumpgate: Evolution is an update and overhaul of the original Jumpgate that brings this flavor of futuristic space combat, trade and exploration back into the modern era of computing.
Projected Release: "When It's Done"
Publisher: CDV Software EntertainmentDeveloper: Digital Reality
Platform: PC
The globe-spanning war of War Front: Turning Point is not quite the World War II we read of in the histories of today. Certainly, Hitler rose to power in a Germany still nursing the scars of World War I. True, the Nazi power began its blitzkrieg Westward, sending Europe into a massive conflict. But in the early days of the war, Hitler was assassinated and cooler heads prevailed. Sensing opportunity in the German turmoil, Stalin invaded Eastern Europe, seeking to seize territory from the distracted German forces.
As Europe's Western front found a tentative peace, the combined forces of the United States and the United Kingdom found themselves fighting alongside the Germans to combat the mounting Russian threat. Now, with the Russian army poised to roll through Europe, the war has indeed reached its...turning point.
Projected Release: September 29, 2006
Publisher: AtariDeveloper: Dimps
Platform: PlayStation 2
In Atari's words, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 is "The greatest warriors. A tournament of champions. Only one can prevail"
Publisher: BlizzardDeveloper: Nihilistic Software and Blizzard Entertainment
Platforms: Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube
Official site: www.blizzard.com/ghost/
"You are a Ghost, an evolutionarily advanced human with enhanced physical and psionic abilities."
Trained from infancy, Ghosts are those humans with mental capabilities far beyond the ordinary and used by the Terran Confederate Government as espionage and counter-intelligence officers. Lethally effective both in armed and melee encounters, Ghosts use a combination of their training, superior equipment and mental powers to cloak themselves (becoming effectively invisible), lockdown mechanical devices (rendering them temporarily unable to function), and even serve as spotters for devastating nuclear assaults. Now, you serve as a Ghost, at the Vanguard of the Terran military's operations, advancing the cause of humanity throughout the galaxy.
Publisher: LucasArtsDeveloper: Sony Online Entertainment
Platform: PC
Official site: starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/expansions.jsp
When Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (SWG) launched on June 26 of last year, fans bemoaned the lack of spacefaring vehicles. Come this fall, with the release of Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed (Lightspeed), players will be able to hop into an X-wing or TIE fighter and leave the confines of planetary gravity for the open reaches of space.
Publisher: Sammy StudiosDeveloper: InterServ International
Platform: Xbox
Official site: www.ironphoenix.com
Ancient legend has it that a 
meteor once crashed to the ground in the full view of a talented blacksmith. In its descent, the heavenly visitor left a trail of fire in the sky shaped like a phoenix. When the blacksmith tracked the meteor to its impact crater, he discovered a heavenly rock with a solid iron core, from which he crafted a set of nine legendary weapons. Legend says that any one warrior who can possess all nine weapons is invincible – a tale that has caused countless battles and shed blood that has only further increased the power of the Iron Phoenix arsenal. Once again, talented fighters have come together to battle for control of the Iron Phoenix weapons.
Publisher: Groove GamesDeveloper: Digital Extremes (PC, Xbox), Pseudo Interactive (PlayStation 2)
Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2
Official site: www.pariahgame.com/
Dr. Jack Mason is a military doctor whose career has truly reached an all-time low. Between his attitude problem and alcohol addiction, Jack has been relegated to the dregs of the assignment pool – transporting biological cargo from a prison sector. When the transport is struck by fire from unruly prisoners and crashes, not only is the cargo released from its container, but so is the contagion that infected it. Now biohazard containment protocols have begun, and in sixteen hours, an orbital weapons platform will launch a 50-megaton nuclear air-strike to eliminate the biological threat.
