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Developer Medaverse Studios has announced on its forums that it is creating a game called Gravitronix for the Wii Software initiative.

Fallout 3 is a game that many, many people have been praying for since the nineties. In Leipzig last week, we were given another chance to see the very first demo of Bethesda's interpretation of this beloved universe (for details, see John Walker's preview), and it was no less impressive the second time around - gorgeous, violent and extremely faithful to the series' legacy, it was a personal game of the show by a long, long way. At the end, people clapped, and we're talking Europeans here, not our considerably more effervescent American counterparts. Pete Hines, Bethesda's VP of Public Relations, was kind enough to sit down for a chat afterwards about the difficulties of working with such a revered franchise, and Bethesda's approach to the challenge.

Dragon Quest and Rogue Galaxy developer Level 5 has revealed its new football role-playing game for DS.

We've allied with THQ this morning to give away 300 beta keys for upcoming Company of Heroes expansion, Opposing Fronts.

The Nintendo Wii has become the UK's fastest-selling home console in history, with 1 million units sold in 38 weeks.

The US Department of Stand Behind The Yellow Line, Sir [surely "Homeland Security"? - Ed] has spent the last year ploughing USD 600,000 into a videogame that helps train people to respond effectively to terrorism and natural disasters.

Last week, we published an exclusive preview of Crytek's forthcoming PC shooter, Crysis. And some screenshots. And some videos, come to think of it.

Bungie has finished making Halo 3 and packed it off to manufacturing, which is good news for those of you who plan to buy it on 26th September.

Sony Japan has quietly let slip that LocoRoco for PS3 will be available over there on 21st September.

Developer Turbine has sneakily revealed the first details of its upcoming Book 11 content patch for Lord of the Rings Online.

If you missed out at the beginning of August when we threw keys at several thousand people to unlock the door to the closed beta test of Tabula Rasa then don't panic - we've got thousands more.

Those of you hiding in the Live undergrowth will have noticed a new demo for Wild West shooter Call of Juarez.

EA has released the new Kingdom Reborn update that will completely revamp the ageing graphics of Ultima Online.

Something spicy for you this morning - Richard Garriott is leaving Origin! For those of you with your heads in the sand, Richard Garriott (better known as Lord British) was a co-founder of Origin way back in the 1980s, and is the brains behind the long-running Ultima series.

When Richard Garriott left Origin following the release of the hideously bugged Ultima Ascension, Electronic Arts had him sign a one year non-competition agreement to stop him from luring away his former colleagues at Origin to develop similar games at other companies. As it turns out this was all rather pointless, as just a week before his year-long sabbatical was up Electronic Arts decided to sack most of Origin's staff and stop work on their sequel to Ultima Online. The end result is that many of the people who used to work at Origin are now back with Richard Garriott at his new company. You can't help but think that EA have scored a massive own-goal, and the reasons behind the virtual closure of Origin are also rather ironic.

Ultima Worlds Online : Origin, as well as being an obvious nominee for the stupidest game title of the year award, was also shaping up to be one of the biggest of the next generation of massively multiplayer role-playing games. It was the sequel to the insanely popular Ultima Online, featured characters designed by Todd McFarlane and friends, and was based around a rather impressive looking new 3D engine, replacing the creaky low resolution sprites of the original. We say "was", because work on the sequel has apparently now been cancelled.

MMORPG fan Julian Dibbell is carving a new life for himself out of the online market for cash, weapons, armour, homes and other artefacts found in Ultima Online, BBC News Online reports this week. Apparently Julian set himself a goal of earning $1000 in three weeks, and having scraped it by a hair's breadth, he's now planning to support his wife and child by playing UO and flogging its wares.

The company formerly known as Origin Systems sent word that they will be showing off the long-awaited sequel to their massively multiplayer RPG Ultima Online at the Ultima Online World Faire, taking place in Austin, Texas in November. Additionally, anybody attending the event will be signed up for one of the earliest rounds of public beta testing for the new game, which is now rather clumsily titled "Ultima Worlds Online : Origin". All you have to do is go to the faire's website and sign-up, and the only catch is that you have to be an Ultima Online subscriber "in good standing at the time of the test" for a slot in the UWO beta program.

For a man who has just specced out a multi-million dollar castle for his next home, Ultima Ascension's designer Richard Garriot must be feeling a bit sore from the press backlash. For some reason Europe received what was described as a "patched" version, but that just makes me shudder to think what the original was like...

Electronic Arts has ceased development of MMORPG Ultima X: Odyssey. In a note on the game's official website, producer David Yee cited the need to refocus resources on Ultima Online - including a forthcoming expansion and another, as-yet unannounced project - and said it was "the right move for the future of all things Ultima, including the community and the team."

EA's Origin studio has announced that development is underway on yet another expansion pack for their long running massively multiplayer role-playing game Ultima Online. Despite being over five years old and featuring graphics that are politely described as antiquated, the game has a strong online following, with 225,000 subscribers still playing it. And those fans can now look forward to the emergence next year of the Age Of Shadows, which is being touted by EA as the most ambitious expansion to the game so far. Heading up the list of changes is a new realm for players to explore, dozens of new monsters to slay, and two conflicting new professions to master - the paladin (a holy warrior with "awesome new powers") and the necromancer (dedicated to the dark arts). Meanwhile changes are being planned for the combat and magic systems, adding a host of new spells and items for those of you with an unhealthy fascination with pointy hats, and new combat techniques and weapons for the more gung ho amongst us. But the biggest addition (or at least the one that EA is giving the most column inches to) is the addition of .. drum roll please .. a house design tool. Yes, in true Sims fashion, Ultima Online players can now design and build their own homes, customising rooms, textures and overall structure to create your own dream house. "Housing has been one of the key features of UO since its launch in 1997, [and] we are continuously looking for ways to improve and expand the fun factor of owning a home in Britannia", according to Origin bigwig Ben Noel. "Not only will Age of Shadows create more housing availability, but the new custom-design feature will allow all our players much more creativity when building a house." Hoorah. Ultima Online fans wanting to build their own home will have to wait until early 2003, but no doubt you can sit down and choose some colour schemes and fabrics in the meantime... Related Feature - Blackthorn gets revenge on Ultima Online

Electronic Arts and its underlings Origin Systems have finally revealed what they've been concocting under the sheets at a press and fan conference in San Franciso yesterday. The big announcement was the long-awaited and - according to just about everybody - much needed new title to advance the Ultima franchise, Ultima X: Odyssey.

Ultima Online was the first big success in the massively multiplayer genre, launching way back in 1997 and going steadily ever since. Four years on there is still life in the old horse, and Electronic Arts seem determined to carry on flogging it as long as there's flesh on its bones. Enter the latest in a long line of add-on packs for the game, Lord Blackthorn's Revenge, which will add 30 exotic new creatures led by the hideously transformed Lord himself, who is now "half human and all evil". The new creatures are designed by Todd McFarlane, who was working on characters for Ultima Online 2 until the sequel was unexpectedly cancelled earlier this year. Whether this new add-on pack for the original game is a way of salvaging that work or features entirely new McFarlane characters isn't clear at this stage, but either way the result should be interesting. McFarlane Productions will also be creating a pair of limited edition Ultima Online comic books and a series of six action figures based on the new characters. The pack will also add a new land called Ilshenar, home to Blackthorn's castle, along with 30 new items to craft and a new storyline to take part in involving the evil Lord's attempts to destroy Britannia. Another big addition is a Virtue System which will reward players "based on their choices and behavior during the game". Origin COO Ben Noel promises that Blackthorn's revenge "is going to be extremely exciting for the thousands of players who are always seeking new content and challenging adventures". Certainly with 225,000 subscribers still taking part in the game, despite the arrival of Everquest, Asheron's Call, Anarchy Online and Dark Age of Camelot since its initial release, it looks like Ultima Online still has a lengthy future ahead of it. Look for the new pack emerging in February.

It seems crazy, but Ultima Online was originally released ten years ago. Can the MMO really be so old? Can an MMO so old really still be around today? Well, it appears yes. While the developers were extremely cagey when we asked how many players are still on the servers, it’s certainly enough for EA to still take it seriously.

The Ultima Online 2 homepage posted a few interesting comments from the Ulitma Online 2 dev team. Its goes right to the core of RPG's, "Did you ever play "Cowboys and Indians?" Or maybe it was "Cops and Robbers?" What made that experience fun and enjoyable? At its foundation, those basic play pat-terns are the underpinnings for simple interactive role-playing".

Ultima Online's rulers have taken steps to sort out a large number of users who were using the MMORPG's cheque system to store enormous amounts of gold created by manipulating game-exploits.

The sequel to that taker of many peoples personal lives, Ultima Online, was shown at E3, and impressed more than a few people. Now named "Ultima Online Worlds : Origin", it promises more features such as motion captured combat and all new and improved top quality sound.  The developers have updated their official website with details of their beta testing stages, and a long report on the goings on around E3 .. which makes for interesting reading.

Just weeks after EA announced its acquisition of MMO developer Mythic, it's been revealed that the studio will be helping out with Ultima Online.

Ubisoft has decided to reward you with a second and free Throwback content pack for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2.

EA has revealed that the latest instalment in the Need For Speed series will be available across nearly every format in the world ever on 1st November.