Competition entrants use the Auran Jet engine to build the game of their dreams, with the best game demo or prototype winning fabulous prizes. Up for grabs are the latest Intel P4 machines, NVIDIA graphics cards, software from discreet, as well as publicity for the entrants from Develop Magazine and GameDev.net. Auran supplies a free non-commercial license to each entrant and also provides the major prize of a full commercial Auran jet license worth $30,000.

"Judging all the entries will certainly be hard, but we are gamers and we, along with our valued sponsors, know what makes a good game. We will look at the level of innovation, graphics, visual effects, sound and music, game design and gameplay. We are really excited about what people are going to create," said Greg Lane, CEO of Auran.

Bill Rehbock, NVIDIA's Director of Developer Relations immediately saw the potential of Next Year's Game. "This competition is a great way for experienced and aspiring game developers to show off their talents. When Auran came to us with the idea, we knew it was something that NVIDIA wanted to be a part of" he said.

"At GameDev.net, we support the industry as a whole and see Next Year's Game
as a great way of encouraging the small, innovative teams to make their games. With such a great collection of prizes, developers would be crazy to miss this!" said Kevin Hawkins, CEO of GameDev.net.

Previews

Interviews

Redmond, WA, U.S.A, December 10, 2002 - Emurasoft, Inc. announced ShadowFlare: Episode Two is now available for $14.99. ShadowFlare consists of four episodes that will be released worldwide for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP.
ShadowFlare: Episode Two can be downloaded from the official ShadowFlare website at http://www.shadowflare.us/download.htm .

ShadowFlare is an action/role-playing shareware game that was released by Denyusha Co., Ltd. in Japan last October. Following its release, ShadowFlare became a craze among Japanese gamers. In ShadowFlare, players take on the roles of mercenaries that help survivors in turmoil and battle a multitude of creatures bent on stamping out humankind. As players adventure through dungeons and remote cities, their fighting skills grow, and eventually they choose their own destiny as a warrior, wizard, or hunter.

Project Entropia is a three-dimensional virtual universe on the Internet accessible from any computer with an Internet connection, anywhere in the world.

Project Entropia is an entertainment product aimed for global usage across culture, age and sex barriers. The main focus in the development has been to cater to the features desired by online gamers as well as for users engaged in society and community building - those with an interest in meeting other people for social interaction and adventure. Millions of users will be able to interact in the Project Entropia universe.

Project Entropia introduces unique features like a real economy where its currency, PED, is exchangeable with any major currency in the world. The software needed to enjoy Project Entropia is free to download, and this virtual universe is free to enter and spend time in.

"It is even possible to make a living in Project Entropia," says Chairman Benny Iggland. "This is being demonstrated by several of our commercial trial users. A market economy is rapidly evolving, with our users defining prices on various commodities and items available in the virtual universe. Project Entropia will also incorporate real world commodity trading in a three dimensional environment."

"Some 15 million USD have been invested in the development of Project Entropia to date and we expect to continue developing Project Entropia in the years to come for a sum of at least 5 million USD annually," says Managing Director Jan Welter Timkrans.

Underlight is a role-playing game that revolves upon living, breathing people. Unlike most role-playing games, advancement in Underlight is a social effort and the only true way to power is through the support of others. In this unique role-playing environment characters play out their political intrigues, alliances, victories, defeats and deceptions to create the fascinating, evolving story of Underlight.

Those who pre-order a copy of the game at these select retailers will receive an Impossible Creatures special edition trial version which includes five bonus animals: the Garfish, Horse, Raven, Walrus and Warthog. The animals can then be transferred into the retail version of Impossible Creatures, thus allowing for more than 16,000 additional creature combinations.

The retail version of Impossible Creatures will be released on January 7, 2003 for an estimated price of $44.95 (U.S.)

“We strive to bring quality games to the PC market that will bring something new to the table and Supreme Ruler 2010 does just that,” says Steve Milburn, Director of Marketing for Strategy First Inc.

The year is 2010 and the Major Powers of the world as we currently know them have disintegrated into bickering economic and military regions. The United Nations has disappeared, and in its place an organization with far sharper teeth referred to simply as "The World Market" has taken its place. Individual Regions are left to fight for power to dominate their neighbors, their countries, their continents, and then the world. Experience all the excitement for yourself when Supreme Ruler 2010 ships in Q3 2003.

“We are thrilled to be a part of Strategy First's Lineup. They are not afraid to challenge players with intelligent games, making them the ideal fit for Supreme Ruler 2010," says David Thompson, CEO of BattleGoat Studios.

SUPREME RULER 2010 FEATURES

SATELLITE IMAGERY – Supreme Ruler’s Maps are all done using actual licensed “Real World” satellite imagery (Over 1 Gigabyte of raw data).

EXPERT ASSISTANCE – Active US Military Personnel and Consultants to Foreign Militaries are providing us with detailed information on Military Units.

MULTIMEDIA CONTENT – Graphic and Video content from the archives of NATO and other military sources from around the world.

MULTI-PLAYER SUPPORT FOR UP TO 16 PLAYERS

SIMULTANEOUS TURN RESOLUTION – Provides increased realism and opportunities for strategy.

CAMPAIGN – Extensive revolutionary game campaign system, featuring over 60 game scenarios and over 200 possible starting regions.

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL MODEL – Extensively detailed and realistic but manageable with AI Advisors that have selectable personalities.

MAP AND SCENARIO EDITOR – Supports Real or User Created Backgrounds.