DICE has announced a multiplayer beta for the Xbox 360 version of Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, Xbox 360). The beta will start on March 17, while the game will be available come June. Check the full article for details on where to get a beta key.

An entry to Voodoo Extreme's stories at IGN suggested that Crytek's Crysis "Countdown" trailer may have ripped off from Disney Interactive's Turok (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) E3 2007 trailer which debuted earlier. The big news is that it definitely had similarities, especially in the introduction.

Unfortunately, the whole issue carved out a big battlefield for PC advocates and next-gen console fanboys, each one defending the game that would respectively release for their game platform of choice. It would have been an epic battle, too, if it weren't for the occasional Sony-Microsoft fit flaring up at the next-gen console side.

But common sense came a-knockin' at our noggins lately and pointed out one thing - a definite brow-raiser: the whole concept of "It was supposed to be simple, but..." is a worn-out cliche, anyways. If anyone ripped off the idea from anything at all, it would be the many action, horror, survival movies that came after the absolute first (which escapes our mental grasp), and this claim holds no solid ground.

But we all may agree to one thing: snack of NeoGAF Forums said, "They are different. In Turok something went wrong, but in Crysis something went terribly wrong. I don't understand how you can confuse the two." That said, this blogger rests his case.

If you've always wanted the raw, unadulterated power of a hardcore gaming PC on the go but can't stand the thought of dragging along your clunky tower cased computer, Voodoo has something for you. Introducing the Voodoo Envy H:171 gaming laptop. It packs almost the same punch and features that you'll need to run the most high-requirement apps out there.

The cornerstone of the unit is its Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme X6800 processor that powers up the gaming experience as efficiently as most desktops can. The CPU is partnered with the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 and 200GB of hard drive space to accommodate the content that you want in the laptop.

The Envy is also armed with a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and a 17-inch screen. The only downside would be the default RAM which comes in at 512MB. That's not a number you'd want if you expect to run games like Call of Duty 4. The RAM can be upgraded to 1GB but you'll have to pay extra.

At the suggested retail price of US$ 2,600 this is not the machine for the PC gamer on a tight budget. If you have the hots for it and the cash to spare, then go right ahead and get one now.

We've got a bit of bad news for all the fans eagerly waiting for the release of EA Mythic's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. According to Voodoo Extreme, EA Mythic's Mark Jacobs revealed in the latest Warhammer Online newsletter that the upcoming MMORPG has been delayed. Here's a quote from Jacobs:

We have made the decision to move our ship date for the US and Europe to the first quarter of 2008. (Release dates for Asia will be announced at a later date.) Since our acquisition by EA, we have been afforded many wonderful development opportunities and we plan to take full advantage of everything that is available. This includes taking several additional months to make the best MMORPG possible.

Apparently, the delay is due to some additional work being done on the Dwarf and Greenskin pairing in the game. "While these areas were good, they were not great and glorious," said Jacobs. "We have always said that WAR was going to be great and we will not settle for anything less. So the team has gone back to our initial pairing and conducted an intense review of their work."

The additional work has apparently payed off, though, as Jacob says that "there is now more war, more Warhammer, and more of what makes WAR great" in the Dwarf and Greenskin zones.

Namco Bandai's latest Tycoon sim, Space Station Tycoon, takes gamers far above the clouds and deep into the final frontier, where anthropomorphic pigs and ninja starfish apparently dwell. Well, if you're going to be a mogul, you do meet quite a few "unconventional" characters, so perhaps a pig wearing a matching tie and floral-printed blazer ain't too surprising. Anyway, check out the new screenshots of the game below.

Space Station Tycoon allows gamers to become moguls in their own galactic empire as they customize stations all over the galaxy while maximizing their income. Throughout the game, players will encounter over 30 kooky characters, including the aforementioned pig (whose name is Marv, by the way). While some of them are decent enough folk, beware of the starfish ninjas and mysterious voodoo-practicing chickens because they can disrupt your stations at anytime, bringing your tycoon empire to the ground.

Space Station Tycoon for the Nintendo Wii video game console is slated for an August 21 release in the U.S.

Ninja starfish headed your way after the jump!

Everything makes sense now as to why HP was intent in acquiring Voodoo PCs in the last quarter of 2006. It's on its way to embarking on a big quest to eat a portion of the online gaming pie.

Boldly, the company most recognized for its work with printers and laptops announced that its "Game On" project will go head to head with the console giants - Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

Analysts are skeptical as to how HP will pull it off, pointing to the fact that the console market grew by a third last year as compared to only 1 percent in growth for PC gaming.

HP's gameplan is to invest on Voodoo and use next-gen PC gaming software and hardware resources to gain a competitive edge. HP says that in the era of the broadband connections, people can easily jump online and enjoy the games there.

That's not to say HP has no prior experience with game development. HP Labs has shown a bit of what it can do by bundling demos of small games with HP and Compaq laptops in the recent years.

So, will the masters of printing ever dominate the PC gaming online community? That we don't know, but the more the merrier, right?

Since a picture speaks a thousand words, it's time THQ's announcement of Moto GP 2007 got its dialogue beefed up. First up are four screenshots of the game from the Voodoo Extreme VE3D site at IGN.

And now for something more than a thousand words (can you sing that song, by the way?), the trailer to Moto GP '07, as uploaded on GameTrailers. Coming September 2007 (well, a certainly more precise date than "fall 2007," right?).

The folks of Voodoo Extreme were able to sit down with Richard Garriott at the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences DICE Summit in Las Vegas. Garriott was able to give out some good info on how Tabula Rasa has been developing so far, and he adds in some of his reflections on Ultima Online, and what MMOs in the next generation are going to need to do to succeed. Below are some of the more interesting parts of the interview.

When asked about which features of the TRhave they been working on in the recent months, Garriott had this to say:

I'd say missions and combat are the two areas we've been focusing on most.... Instead of like with most MMOs in combat, you highlight a target, then you ignore the target, because he's just going to stand there and whack you... Tabula Rasa is a game where you're really shooting through the reticule. You're constantly observing what's happening on the screen where you're aiming. It's still a role-playing game in the sense of when you shoot at something, it's based on your equipment and attributes as to who will be injured…but they're not just sitting there hitting you. Your opponent is moving and is aware of, say, if you're behind sand bags, he has a lower probability of hitting you, so he may instead run around to the side, kick you to the ground and start rifle-butting you as required, or however they can find their best position to engage you.

So it's no longer what I consider plodding-MMO-historical-type. This is an action-based role-playing game where you're having to pay more attention to what's going on on the battlefield.

When asked if things like flanking, and looking for cover have been added into the AI, Garriot explains that this is one of the aspects that the development team is most pleased with. He says that they worked hard to make sure that "each creature has an AI associated with it that will change the way you need to engage it."

They go on to discuss things like PvP functionality and things like end-game options - you know, when you're all decked out already and are at level 70 plus plus or something. But we'll let you folks get to those details yourselves via our "read" link below. Anyway we'll leave you folks with a rather amusing bit from the interview:

VE3D: What's your character's name?
Richard Garriott: What would you guess it would be?
VE3D: Umm...Commander British?

Corelane's a relatively new game developer for mobiles and consoles, created by the peeps from Lankhor. They've just busted out five of their mobile titles and are currently looking for publishers so we'll probably see these games on our mobiles soon. First one is Bloody Moon, a mobile adventure RPG game. It's pretty much like Corelane's other RPG title, Opal's Quest. There aren't any screens yet but we'll keep you posted.

Here's something for mobile race lovers, Voodoo Kart. No, we don't think there are any pin cushion dolls in this game. No voodoo shamans either - Well, except maybe for that weird-looking green driver on one of the screens. Scenery's nice, too. From totems and giant skulls to pirate ships and giant rib bones.

Elemental is a bit of a puzzle game where you guide a ball through four elemental worlds: water, earth, wind, and fire (no, not the group). Players will gather green and red pills to unlock the other worlds.

See the rest of the games after the jump!

"It is my intention to commandeer one of these ships; pick up a crew in Tortuga; raid, pillage, plunder, and otherwise pilfer my weaselly black guts out," said Captain Jack Sparrow in the movie "Pirates of the Carribean". Good ol' Captain Jack. We saw the island of Tortuga a number of times in the movie and what a sight it was. Yup, Tortuga was once a pirate haven, neutral hideout for pirates and their loot.

So we have fuzzy idea of what to expect from Tortuga - Two Treasures. In the game, you play as the pirate Thomas "Hawk" Blythe, captain of the frigate "Hawkwind". Hawk, together with his girlfriend Sangua (a voodoo priestess), works under the command of the infamous "Blackbeard".

The pirate Henry Morgan was Governor of Jamaica and was rumored to have amassed a vast treasure from his exploits. It was said that Morgan hid his treasures and killed those who knew about his treasure. Fifty years later, Hawk and Sangua go in search of Henry Morgan's fabled treasure. It wasn't all smooth sailing for Hawk as voodoo magic, a deadly curse, Blackbeard's wrath, and betrayal all stand between him and the treasure.

You, as Hawk, can take a host of alternatives to achieve his goals, but a level head and some strategic planning should always be within reach. You'll have a chance to fight close combat with sailors or sneak past enemies using stealth. Be ready for sword fights and cannon battles.

Tortuga - Two Treasures by CDV Software Entertainment is set for release in March of next year. Savvy?