News.
Release dates, announcements, and anything else worth noting. No PR fluff, no embargoed opinions. If it matters to people who actually play the games, it's here.
Berkeley Systems is giving away over $14,000 in prizes through July 31 in a sweepstakes on its Austin Powers Operation: Trivia game site.
Maxis releases the SimCity 3000 Building Architect Tool June 16 on the official site: a 3-D modeler for building your own in-game structures.
Windows 98 Second Edition is at retail and on new Compaq, Dell, and HP PCs. Existing Windows 98 users can order an Updates CD-ROM from Microsoft.
Microsoft demoed DirectX 7.0 at Meltdown 99: hardware T&L support, new 3-D audio, and a 20 percent speed gain over 6.1, arriving late summer.
Real 3D has sued ATI Technologies for patent infringement and trade secret theft, asking an Orlando court to halt sales of ATI's 3D graphics products.
LucasArts has released PC demos for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and Episode I Racer. Both games require a 3D accelerator card.
Microsoft's U.S. Open at Pinehurst add-on for Links LS recreates the No. 2 Course in full 1999 U.S. Open trim and adds the Fazio-designed No. 8.
Black Isle has released Baldur's Gate on a single DVD, ending the five-disc swap. The AD&D RPG has sold close to 700,000 copies worldwide.
KB Toys joins Sega's US Dreamcast pre-order campaign as pre-orders pass 100,000, with more than 200,000 expected by the September 9 launch.
Alienware forms a software division, Alienware Technology, and its first project is First Contact, an in-game voice chat utility for online play.