World of Battles: Morningstar, a free-to-play fantasy RTS, now is available on Steam, Frogware announced.
Along with the Steam availability, the company also announced updates for the game (see screenshots).
A Clan System will allow players to team up to conquer their neighbors. There also will be a global map that allows players to command their armies from above.
Also new are three giants, maps, gear and game balancing.

In other news:

• Ubisoft announced development of Silent Hunter Online. It will be a browser-based multiplayer game based on the company's submarine simulation. To apply for the closed beta, visit www.silenthunteronline.com.
• A free update is available for the quirky shooter Gotham City Imposters. The update includes a new East End map and the Bounty Hunter mode. The latter is a variation of Team Deathmatch that has players collecting bounties from fallen foes.
• Valve announced the free Portal DLC called Perpetual Testing Initiative. PTI, to be available May 8 for PC and Mac, will allow players to create and share Portal 2 puzzles.
• A content expansion has been rolled out for the free-to-play PVP war title Riot Zone from Mail.RU Games. For details on what's new, visit www.riotzone.net/.
• Gravity Interactive launched a browser version of its MMORPG Requiem. Now, players can choose between downloading the traditional client or playing via the web browser. Requiem is a dark fantasy title concerning the battle between four races.
• Closed beta registration has begun for Dragon Crusade, a new free-to-play MMORTS from Aeria Games. To register, visit http://dragoncrusade.aeriagames.com.

Max Payne soon will be back in action in Max Payne 3 (see screenshot). Will your PC be up to the task of running the game?
Rockstar Games released PC system specs for the game due May 29 in North America.
Your PC will need: Windows XP through 7, an Intel Dual Core 2.4 GHz or AMD Dual Core 2.6 GHz, 2 to 16 GB of RAM, video card and DVD drive. Installation will require 35 GB on the hard drive.
For more compatibility information, visit www.rockstargames.com/support.
Max Payne 3 will support DirectX11.
The game also will be available in console versions.

In other news:

• Prototype 2 from Activision now is available for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Set 14 months after its predecessor, Prototype 2 tells the story of Sgt. James Heller, who is seeking revenge for the loss of his loved ones and the world as he knew it.
• Ubisoft announced development of Might & Magic Duel of Champions, an online free-to-play card game. Beta testing is under way and the game is expected to be available for Windows PC and Apple iPad.
• War Inc. Battle Zone, a free-to-play shooter, has launched, Online Warmongers Group Inc. announced. Developers say the game can be played either in first-person or third-person modes. With the launch, the company announced it has partnered with Alienware Arena to give away an Alienware X51 gaming computer. Visit www.alienwarearena.com/contests/war-inc/.
• Criminal Minds, based on the hit TV show, is available, announced Legacy Interactive, a developer and publisher of casual games. Criminal Minds features more than 80 puzzles and six hours of gameplay.
• A choice of three packs (one is shown below) is available for those who pre-order Steel Battalion Heavy Armor from Capcom. The game arrives June 19 in North America. It will use a combination of Microsoft's Kinect and regular Xbox 360 controls.

The official website for The Dark Eye - Demonicon (see screenshots) has launched, Kalypso Media announced.
Visit www.worldofdemonicon.com for more details on the upcoming third-person RPG for consoles and the PC.
The game's cheerful story involves "a brother and sister who become pawns of sinister forces in a world of cruelty and depravity."

An update
Leveling up slowly in the free-to-play Tribes: Ascend, a game worth booting up. Spending my precious XP points to "buy" new weapons and gear for the Pathfinder class.

• In other news:

EA is taking its free-to-play arcade cartoon shooter Battlefield Heroes to the moon. Players will be able to use the low-gravity situation to flit across the new Lunar Landing moon map. EA says the game has some 11 million registered players.
Coming this summer will be the third-person shooter Mercenary Ops from Kalends Publishing. The game was created using the Unreal Engine 3.
007 fans can look forward to 007 Legends from Activision Publishing. The company says the game, due this fall, will include elements of six classic James Bond movies.
Just A Game launched a new mission, storyline and website for War2 Glory, its browser-based strategy game. With the launch, the company also is offering new players a prize pack.
Gamania Digital Entertainment will release Soul Captor, a free-to-play MMO, this summer through its beanfun! Platform. Sign up for the closed beta at https://uk.beanfun.com/SoulCaptor.
YNK Interactive announced the start of a global war and major updates for its FPS K.O.S. - Secret Operations.
Those who have pre-purchased Guild Wars 2, from NCSoft and ArenaNet, will be able to take part in the first public beta event April 27-29.
Cross Fire, another free-to-play FPS, also is getting an update, G4Box announced. The DLC will include new weapons, maps and items.
Paradox Interactive announced the release of Mount & Blade Warband: Napoleonic Wars. The DLC to Mount & Blade Warband for the PC.

Here's a look at some concept art (above and right) for the upcoming Star Trek videogame from Namco Bandai.
The game is not expected until early in 2013.
It will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
Look for more information as the release date draws nearer.

In other news:

• Screenshots (below) have been released for the Forgotten Realms setting in Menace of the Dark, the first expansion for Dungeons & Dragons Online. Menace will be out on June 25.
• Available now is the free-to-play The Settlers Online: Castle Empire from Ubisoft. The game combines the elements of The Settlers franchise with new features suited to a persistent, web-based browser game.
• The second DLC for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning now is available, EA, 38 Studios and Big Huge Games announced. In Teeth of Naros players can explore the magically floating city of Idylla.
• New content also is available for Xotic from WXP Games. Temple Crypt adds a new location to the game's hybrid arcade/FPS/puzzle gameplay.
• DLC items are available for Ninja Gaiden 3 from Team Ninja. Included is the Eclipse Sycthe, a new weapon, and a new stage for the online multiplayer mode Clan Battle.
• Now available at retail is Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat, a compilation of Deadliest Warrior: The Game and Deadliest Warrior: Legends from 345 Games. It is for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
• Kalypso Media announced that Air Conflicts: Secret Wars now is available through the Xbox Live online entertainment network Games On Demand platform for the Xbox 360. The casual air combat game features a mix of aircraft from both world wars

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Today's world is crammed with mobile devices. Be it a cell phone, MP3 player, GPS or handheld game pad.
The thing that may be not so mobile is the thing that powers all these devices -- electricity.
That's where the PowerBar 4200 from Fatcat comes in.
This compact device packs an ultra-thin lithium polymer battery. It is rated at 4,200 mAh, which, the company says, is twice the battery capacity of most smart phones.
The PowerBar 4200 is just 4 by 2.4 by .5 inches, and weighs just 4 ounces. So, it is not a problem to take with you wherever you go.
It has a voltage range of up to 5.5V, making it suitable for most mobile devices, but not laptops nor video cameras.
The PowerBar 4200 comes fully charged and can hold a charge for months. However, the company does recommend charging the device at least every three months.
It is also versatile, coming equipped with a variety of connections for most cell phones, smart phones, PDAs, MP3s, the PSP and others.
Besides the charger, the device comes with a master cord with two female connectors and a travel case.
The PowerBar 4200 sells for $69.99 and is available in five colors.
For more information, visit www.FatCatGear.com.

The World War II game Men of War: Condemned Heroes now is available from 1C Company.
The game (see screenshots) tells the story of one of Stalin's infamous penal battalions during the war. These units often were used as cannon fodder in the Soviets' "no step back" policy.
In Condemned Heroes, players will lead one of these units in Eastern Front action from the Ukraine in 1942 through attacks at the end of the war.

In other news:

• Tribes: Ascend, a free-to-play FPS from Hi-Rez Studios, has launched. The game's highlight is the ability to ski quickly down hillsides and use jetpacks to soar above the battlefield (and your enemies). Beta testing saw more than 575,000 participants, including myself over the last few days. Tribes: Ascend is a rush to play and well worth checking out.


• Free DLC, New Battlefields, has been announced for Wargame: European Escalation, a real-time strategy game from Eugen Systems. The content includes seven new multiplayer maps.


• D.W. Bradley, the man behind three Wizardry titles, will join forces with Nordic Games to rework his epic game Dungeon Lords. The remake will be called Dungeon Lords MMXII.


• After one year in operation, Wargaming.net reports that its free-to-play game of armored combat in World War II, World of Tanks, has more than 24 million registered players worldwide. Those players have taken part in some 350 million battles, firing more than 75 billion shells and scoring 48 billion direct hits.

An open beta is under way for Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes.
The free-to-play game from BioWare and Electronic Arts is a player-vs.-player title based on the MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.
Heroes (see screenshots) will offer three-sided, 6v6v6 PvP arena gameplay. Players will choose their characters from those found in the Warhammer world.
Sign up for the open beta and download the client at www.wrathofheroes.com.

In other news:

• Free multiplayer DLC is available for owners of Mass Effect 3 from BioWare and EA. The "Resurgence Pack" features two new maps, new characters and weapons. Look for it on XBLA, Origin and PSN.
• A PC version of Legends of Atlantis: Exodus is available through Legacy Games. In the strategic time management game, players help evacuate Atlanteans before the mystical city sinks beneath the cold, dark waves.
• Coming April 16 to Steam will be AZMD! Scorepocalypse, a spinoff of All Zombies Must Die! In the title from Doublesix Games, a soldier attempts to score as many point as possible by putting down andy, and all, zombies.
• Meridian4 expects to release its online strategy game Stellar Impact on April 12. In the game, the war between Axis and Allies powers has moved into outer space.
• 2K Games reports that the Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings expansion will be available June 19. Besides returning religion and espionage, the expansion will feature new civilizations, leaders, units and technologies

Ubisoft announced the Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (above) multiplayer beta will run April 19 to May 2 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
To have access to the beta, you must:

• Own Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction


• 360 owners of Conviction can access the beta directly through the game.


• Pe-order Future Soldier on the 360 and receive an Xbox 360 beta key.


• Look for key giveaways online

In other news:

Free downloadable content, Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut, will be available for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, BioWare and Electronic Arts announced. The offer ends April 12, 2014, and requires an Internet connection.
A second expansion for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was announced by EA, 38 Studios and Big Huge Games. Teeth of Naros will introduce a new race, city and adventure. It will be available April 17.
The free-to-play FPS Blacklight: Retribution from Perfect World Entertainment is now available after completing its beta testing.
Coming this summer will be another free-to-play game, Dark Blood by Outspark. The game is a player vs. player fighting game.
The tower defense game Anomaly Warzone Earth has come to Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft points. The game from 11 Bit Studios debuted as an IOS version.

"Funny, funny." At least that is what one character gleefully chortled after sending me to my doom while playing Gotham City Imposters.
This downloadable game from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment serves up a surprisingly robust first-person shooter experience set in a bizarre world of wanna-be Batmen and would-be Jokers.
Gotham City Imposters, developed by Monolith Productions, takes place in the Gotham City of Batman/Joker fame. However, it is an amusingly quirky Gotham.
Teams of six Jokers and six Batmen do battle on the game's five maps. There are three game modes: Team Deathmatch, Fumigation and Psychological Warfare. The latter two are variations on capture the flag.
The action in GCI proves to be fast and furious.
Among the more interesting elements is the ability to quickly get around the map. There are small trampolines to launch your character into the air. There are air vents with updrafts to ride. There is a grappling hook and winch you can use to get your character to what would normally be an unreachable location. There are ramps. And, there is even a glider customization players can use to turn their character into one that deals death from above.
Gotham City Imposters comes packed with customization options that are unlocked as your character levels up.
Change your character's physique; give your costume its own special look; build your weapon loadout to suit your gaming tastes.
The options here are almost endless.
Another enjoyable element of the game is its over-the-top sense of humor.
The crazy looking characters and their offbeat comments will bring a smile even as they are besting you in Team Deathmatch.
The only drawback I found in GCI were what seemed at times to be long waits for teams to be selected and a game to launch. It also appears impossible to join a match that already has started.
Gotham City Imposters is a downloadable title available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. The 360 version is reviewed here.