EA and DICE have today revealed that the demo of their upcoming console shooter Battlefield: Bad Company is due on June 5th, pretty much exactly 3 weeks before the game ships to retail. The demo will apparently include both single and multi-player modes and be available for both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Codemasters have today announced that they have secured the exclusive licence to create Formula 1 video games across multiple platforms, I wonder how much that cost!

The first game using this licence is expect to ship in 2009 and will be based on the EGO Engine that's currently being used in Race Driver: GRID.

"FORMULA 1 is ambitious in expanding its reach with more circuits planned beyond recent additions in the Middle East and China. It is also ambitious in expanding its reach via technology. The digital communities that computer and video gaming creates will play a key role in further growing the FORMULA 1 audience and connecting them globally," said Rod Cousens, chief executive officer, Codemasters.


"As a world-leading creator of driving games, this alliance with FORMULA 1 is the jewel in Codemasters’ racing crown and creates an undisputed segment champion. FORMULA 1 has gone with the best, the segment leader. It has gone to the home of the EGO Engine for quality; it has gone to the company that can host FORMULA 1 Online, to the company that is streaking away from the pack."

"Codemasters’ success and recent innovations in the racing game space makes the company more than appropriately tuned for the challenge," said Chris Deering, chairman, Codemasters. "The combination of FORMULA 1’s new momentum of expansion and Codemasters’ contemporary technology and past experience is the breaking of a new dawn for the sport, on the track and on the HD game screen."

Here's the first few The Lord of the Rings: Conquest screenshots. I'm not too sure what to expect really, RTS or multi-player action title? Maybe a mix of both but it is coming in the autumn from Pandemic Studios on PC, 360, PS3 and also on DS.

"Our Pandemic Studios creative teams have years of expertise bringing giant battlefields to life," says Andrew Goldman, Pandemic Studios co-founder and general manager. "We’ve always wanted to harness our experience in a fantasy universe with warriors, archers, mages and castle sieges. Of course, there is truly no better fantasy world to recreate than the enormity of Tolkien’s 'The Lord of the Rings’ realm."

"We’ll freely admit that we’re rabid fans of The Lord of the Rings fantasy," says Josh Resnick, co-founder and general manager at Pandemic Studios. "Our experience creating massive, rich, action-packed games means that The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will give fans exactly what they want: full control of the blade, bow and magic to fight its epic battles any way they want – even if they choose to play from the evil side."

"We are thrilled to be working with Pandemic Studios on this game," commented David Imhoff, Senior EVP of Worldwide Licensing & Merchandising for New Line Cinema. "They bring not only their incredible technical and creative abilities but also a great passion for The Lord of the Rings."

Here's four more Warhammer: Battle March screenshots, these go with the character profiles listed below, all your standard green skin stuff really, exploding Orc Shaman heads aside.

Here's the first batch of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor screenshots from the just announced movie tie in action title from Sierra. The third Mummy title is due in August featuring Brendan Fraser and Jet Li which was news to me. The game will be released at roughly the same time on Wii and PS2 with a DS version also planned.

"Sierra Entertainment is pleased to partner with Universal to deliver an exciting extension to this popular film franchise," said Al Simone, senior vice president, Global Marketing, Sierra Entertainment. "Developed in collaboration with the film’s creative talent, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor video game will add another opportunity for players to experience the thrill and excitement of this adventure favourite."

"The Mummy is one of the most distinctive and expansive franchises in Universal’s portfolio, and there is inherent gameplay in the property," said Bill Kispert, Vice President and General Manager, Interactive, Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group. "The new film amps up the action, introduces a ruthless new villain and takes our heroes to incredible new locations. We are thrilled to bring all these attributes to life in this game."

Here's another dozen The Incredible Hulk screenshots, these are from the Xbox 360 version but it shouldn't look too dissimilar on the PC or PS3 when it ships in June. PS2, Wii and DS versions are also planned.

Here's a first bath of MotorStorm Pacific Rift screenshots, the second MotorStorm game is this time set on a Pacific island as the name suggests. Evolution Studios' Playstation 3 racer doesn't yet have a public release date.

The playable demo for the console versions of Codemasters' racer Race Driver: GRID is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace and will be shortly on the Playstation Network. Interestingly, the fastest lap achieved in the demo stands a good chance of winning a BMW 3 Series car!

For the game that's all about the race, the Race Driver: GRID playable demo delivers intense competition right from the off as gamers compete in single-player GRID World events, 12-player online races and then prove their worth in the white-knuckle Time Trial competition, which is home to the fastest lap challenge. Pitting all console players against each other, it's the Time Trial results that will see one race driver getting the keys to the BMW.

To participate, players submit their fastest final lap time online. Once authenticated, the lap time is then ranked against every other registered time on the online leaderboards. The challenge will end on Friday, 23rd May at midnight, and the top five ranked players will then go on to compete at the European live playoffs to be held on Race Driver: GRID's European launch day – Friday, 30th May – at the zavvi store, Oxford Street, London, where they will compete head-to-head to win the BMW 3-Series – for real. Further details and full terms and conditions are also available from the website.

Here's three Race Driver: GRID screenshots that are taken in the demo.

A Men of War developer chat log is now available on the DigitalMindsoft site, it covers the whole of last night's live IRC chat on Quakenet.

Here's eight more Men of War screenshots too. Men of War is now expected in September.

EA Sports have overnight announced Fight Night Round 4 (Will they get to round 12?). Expected in 2009 for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 it apparently has a re-written engine and is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver.

"The EA SPORTS Fight Night franchise has always been synonymous with quality and innovation that raised the bar for the sports videogame genre", said Kevin Wilkinson, Executive Producer, EA SPORTS. "EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 was a platform defining game as the industry transitioned to next generation consoles. EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 4 will change how boxing games are played and measured in the future."