EA has announced that they will hold art exhibitions based on its popular The Sims franchise. Dubbed In the Hands of Artists, the exhibition will be open to students from Parsons The New School of Design in New York, Academy of Art University in San Fransisco and Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles; students from these institutions will be able to submit pieces of Sims-based artwork in various categories. A total of $12,000 prize money will be awarded at each school’s showing.

The categories for submissions include machinima, animated films of 1-5 minutes created by the movie-making tools included in the game; paintings, illustrations, sculptural work, cinematography, art designs, and many other art forms. Those who enter in the machinima category will be provided complimentary copies of the game.

Art submissions will be judged by representatives from the schools and EA on the basis of narrative or expressive content, technical ability, originality and other factors. Two prizes will be given out to each school: a $2500 first prize and $1500 second prize. The machinima category will be judged on the pre-mentioned factors; there will be three prizes per school: a $5000 first prize, $2000 second prize and a $1000 third prize.

Entries from the Parsons The New School for Design will be on display at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York on April 19 through May 12. Submissions from the Academy of Art University will be shown at 79 Gallery in San Fransisco starting June 26 through July 19; works from the students of Otis College of Art and Design will be shown at Ben Matlz in Los Angeles from July 14 to August 11.

Registration for the closed multiplayer beta for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 is near. Ubi sent word that sign-ups will begin next month for the PC version of the game, which is scheduled for release this June. Here’s the scoop:

In the closed multiplayer beta gamers can get their first taste of the map CALAVERA, a map created exclusively for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 PC.

The new Recon vs. Assault mode will have players fight their way through this Mexican village near the US border. As a member of the elite Ghost squad, gamers will need to use all of their know-how and expertise to stay hidden and sneak through small winding roads to locate and engage the enemy. As a Mexican rebel, players must be prepared to engage the Ghosts, using high calibre fire power, and must stop them at all cost.

The return of Team Deathmatch will challenge players and their friends to fight in battles where everything is possible; explore, engage and terminate.

Broadband game-delivery service GameTap has announced that it has added several top-rated strategy franchises to its lineup, including Myth II, Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri and X-Com: UFO Defense.

Myth II: Soulblighter: Two of the Myth series’ epic sword & sorcery sequels debut today on GameTap. Myth 2 was born from the creative minds at Bungie Studios, who brought the gaming world one the biggest franchises of all time - Halo. Mixing strategy with fantasy, this medieval masterpiece will win over gamers who like a good evening of dungeon crawling and undead skewering. When Soulblighter originally launched, GameSpot said “Myth 2 is about as good as a computer game can possibly be.”

Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri: Alpha Centauri reflects one of the greatest contributions to evolving the strategy genre. As you explore an alien planet, it is up to you to uncover its mysteries, build your empire, and conquer your enemies with the ultimate war machine. This title received a score of 98 from PC Gamer, their highest game score rating to date.

X-Com: UFO Defense: Scoring a 94% on GameRankings.com, this legendary turn-based game is one of the defining titles of the genre. Players lead a top-secret paramilitary group tasked with protecting Earth from hostile aliens, while relying on both combat and management simulation gameplay to save the day.

The service is also home to Civilization, Command & Conquer, Homeworld, Empire Earth and various other top strategy series.

Originally scheduled to be released this month, the Opera web browser for the Wii has been pushed back to April. Nintendo has announced that the software will not be complete until next month because Opera and Nintendo developers are incorporating additional features based on consumer feedback. New features and tweaks will include being able to hide the huge toolbar, a new zoomed font, improved zooming, scrolling and loading, among other things.

Once released next month, the Opera browser will be free through June, after which it will be available for 500 Wii points ($5).