You don't like fantasy role playing games like World Of Warcraft and the graphical impression Second Life (say hello to 1992 vector graphics) gives is not to your taste? Then maybe you should get a picture of Outback Online which is not possible at the very moment because of missing screenshots or even a playable version. But the fuss it's creators at Yoick.com low down at Australia are generating at the written and online press is immense.

"We believe what Second Life did was great, but it's time for 'virtual worlds 2.0' . . . unlimited, open, scalable worlds."

The Age

Anyway, if you like to you can sign up for a beta account over here.

Many of us know the Wing Commander series, which included real actors and spawned a, not very successful, movie. Electronic Arts is bringing the classic space game, which pitted humans versus the cat-like Kilrathi, to the Xbox Live Arcade. The game will feature up to 16-player deathmatches and the best players can compete and climb up a ladder board ranking system. It will be quite different than the original games, "Wing Commander Arena" is purely focused on shoot-em-up combat rather than extensive exploring and missions. The game should be available this summer. There has been no word if Mark Hamil will return to the series.

Bethesda's Elder Scrolls IV is one of the most taxing RPG games in the market so far, and is one of the best RPG's ever. Fans of the Elder Scrolls series will be pleased to know that Elder Scrolls V is more than just a rumor. They are experimenting with it as you read this, and will begin full development as soon as Fallout 3 is finished.

"Crackdown" On Havok Physics Engine

Developed using Havok's renowned physics engine, Crackdown hits the stores today. Created exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the Realtime Worlds team has pushed the hybrid action-driving genre firmly into the next generation, creating a free-roaming, interactive world where anything can be used as a weapon as you rid the streets of crime.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force, that crazy "Adult Swim" show on Cartoon Network featuring a milkshake, a meatball, and a box of fries as main characters, is coming to consoles as a game. This as-of-yet unnamed game will be developed by Midway with the help of some of the creators of the actual show. 1Up hopes this game will be a lot better than other adult-themed television shows that have been turned into video games, such as the Family Guy and the Futurama game.

Gas Powered games, who made Supreme Commander, has decided to take a small break from making legendary PC/Console RTS', and will make a console game with comedic value being it's sole purpose. Gas Powered will not unveil any details as of now, but they will tell us that it's going to be hilarious once they do release it. It will be available on consoles, and possibly PC's. A game like this has almost unlimited possibilities, we should start to see something in as soon as a year.

Xbox Live Arcade is a very complex piece of software. And what's more complicated are the games that go in the arcade. Of course, Microsoft knows that when they sell over 10 million consoles a year, they need more than just a bunch of simple shoot-em-ups you can find at any bowling alley/bar. And so, they have set requirements for the games that get on their arcade.

• Games must be non-combatant and multi-player.
• There need to be more board games
• There needs to be a lot more original or "experimental" games.

Microsoft has often been criticizing for hosting a lot of old classics that have either been left alone or redone, essentially lacking new content. Microsoft is fixing this as fast as they can, which unfortunately is six to nine months per game.

1up got an exclusive look at Tekken 6, the sequel to Tekken 5. This version of Tekken had a brilliant trailer, however according to 1Up, it doesn't quite live up to expectations. It certainly is no "slouch" though. It is very obvious throughout the game demo that Namco really worked on making the next version of Tekken shine on the PS3. Good thing too, because that's the only console this next Tekken will work on.

Travellers Tales, the same studio that gave us a Lego Star Wars game and a Transformers movie, have announced that they are developing the Transformers game. The Transformers game will be available on just about every modern console, which translates into the Xbox360, PS3, PS2, DS, Wii, PSP, and PC. It will also allow gamers to choose between Autobots or Decepticons, for extra fun. There are no rumors as to how many Transformers will be included in this game.

For a while, there have been rumors of a Battlestar Galactica game. Sierra Online confirmed this yesterday morning. The Battlestar Galactica video game will be a first-person shooter, and will be for the PC and Xbox360 in Autumn 2007.

NBC Universal is working closely with us so that players will be able immerse themselves in the Battlestar Galactica universe and re-live their favorite missions from the TV series.

Auran Games, an Austrian developer, is developing the Battlestar Galactica game, and will distribute it exclusively online through Sierra Online. Auran Games is working hard to try and get the voice talent from the actual show into the game.

Bethesda studios announced that as much as they'd love to see Elder Scrolls IV- Oblivion, it will never find itself there. The Nintendo Wii simply doesn't have enough power to run the very demanding game. Of course, this doesn't explain how they managed to stick Oblivion on the PSP, which is essentially a much smaller version of the PS2.

Electronic Arts and Valve, today announced final information about Half-Life: Episode Two and Team Fortress 2, two of the most anticipated action games this year. Representing multiple platforms, the Black Box will ship for the PC and include Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2. The Orange Box will ship for the PC, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, and Xbox 360 videogame. It will include all the content of The Black Box, plus the original Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One. The Black Box and The Orange Box are targeted for release in Fall 2007. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com.

For a while Saints Row for PS3 was considered nothing but a listing on EB Games and Gamestop. However, THQ has issued an official press release announcing Saints row for PS3. They will release it sometime this Spring, with no mention of whether or not there will be extra features. However, the PS3 version will have all the online features of the Xbox360 version (minus Xbox Live, of course), as well as some "minor transactions".

The Unreal 3 engine by Epic has been getting a ton of good press, seeing as it has been included in very successful games such as Gears of War. Epic Games has confirmed two things about it's own use of Unreal 3. The first is that Unreal Tournament 2007 will be renamed Unreal Tournament 3. It is unclear as to why, considering that Unreal Tournament 2004 was technically the fourth release in the Unreal Tournament series. The second thing that Epic confirmed was that Xbox360 will also see a version of Unreal Tournament 2007.

Company of Heroes, one of the best RTS games of 2006, may be the first game to be patched to use DirectX10. The patch, which can be expected sometime in March, will redo a lot of the textures. It will also add several new features, streamline the graphics engine, and generally make things look prettier. The DX10 version of Company of Heroes will actually run faster than the DX9 version, however once you add in all the additional gameplay features THQ plans on adding, the two versions of Company of Heroes will perform about the same.

The first details about EA's next expansion to the Battlefield series are beginning to leak, with the booster pack expected to be named Battlefield 2142 - Northern Strike. The most notable changes are three new European maps, two new vehicles, ten new rewards, ten new unlocks, the new Epic Titan mode for two maps and improved use of pods. The new content is generally intended to focus on infantry battles instead of using vehicles for extreme force, with the new maps tweaked to create choke-points. There isn't any word on pricing yet, although rumours that the in-game advertising could lead to free add-on packs haven't been mentioned by EA.

The people who designed Half Life must have figured that they should not call the version of Half Life going onto consoles just "Half Life: Episode Two", especially when it ccomes with so much more than that. And so, Valve will release a bundle of Half-Life 2, Episodes One and Two, Team Fortress, and Portal as one big "Half Life: Orange". It should come to at least the Xbox360 and PC, but may also come to the PS3.

The German ratings board has refused to issue a rating for "Crackdown", the Xbox360 game that will come with a free Halo 3 beta invitation. Crackdown was probably banned in Germany for being too violent. A game without a rating in Germany isn't "illegal", however it cannot be sold to a minor, advertised, or displayed in a public store. All sales of the game have to be person-to-person. Two other Xbos360 games that have been deemed unrated in Germany are Gears of War and Dead Rising.

When Bioshock was announced at X06 as the successor to the "System Shock" series, it was originally planned as an Xbox360 exclusive. Irrational games has decided that it would release it for both the PC and Xbox360. Hopefully, it will not be ported onto the PC like Rainbow Six: Vegas was.

Daniel Pohl, an aspiring programmer in Germany, is doing some things that are simply stunning the gaming community. Daniel has taken the Quake 4 engine and effectively modified it with ray tracing effects.

Ray-tracing is a method of modeling and rendering the path of the light as it interacts with the models in a 3D scene. Overall, results in Daniel's projects show extremly good levels of shadows, enabling life-like immersion into the 3D scene.

Daniel is looking for a sponsor so he can become a game developer. If he helps design games, and ray tracing becomes mass implemented, we could see a new age of realism in games. You can see a sample of his work below, and his project website here.