Monday News Roundup

UK publisher Play It has revealed that it will publish Red Entertainment and SEGA's PS2 shooter Gungrave Overdose in Europe this April. The sequel to arcade shooter Gungrave, surprisingly, it's set to retail for just £19.99 - which, if it's anything like its predecessor, is a sensible reflection of the size of the game.

Play It is also lined up to release its first online title, World Championship Poker, which not only works over PS2 Online but also makes use of EyeToy so that players can keep an eye on each other's poker face. We're not normally sold on the idea of poker games for consoles, but the online element actually sounds pretty clever.

Meanwhile you've no need for an EyeToy to imagine the retro-loving Kristan's reaction to this one: Ironstone Partners' new exclusive global deal to develop 80s 8-bit titles for mobile phones will see the likes of Uridium, Nebulus and Paradroid relaunched in short order.

In another distribution-y announcement last week, Ubisoft also finally confirmed that it would be publishing Q Entertainment's PlayStation Portable puzzler Lumines whenever the PSP bothers to show up in Europe. The French publisher had previously announced that it would publish the game, which mixes music and block-switching with much success, in the USA.

Elsewhere, in a galaxy some distance away, Sony Online Entertainment has revealed that it will release a new Star Wars Galaxies expansion called Episode III: Rage of the Wookiees on 5th May via digital distribution - two weeks before the concluding part of George Lucas's Star Wars prequel trilogy appears on the silver screen. The expansion will add content taken from the film including the Wookiee's home "adventure planet" of Kashyyyk where players can either defend the furry fellas' freedom or back their Imperially minded Trandoshan enslavers. More details are available on the game's official website and we have some screenshots here.