Leading European publisher 1C Company announced its plans to attend next week’s E3. The publisher’s lineup includes the US launch of a brand new FPS, a never-before-seen driving combat game, a classic fantasy title and a new build of its AAA shooter.

Our newest FPS is Necrovision, an intense shooter with both a combat system and a mystical spell system to help combat the realistic and fantasy enemies. Interactive elements, puzzles and huge boss battles will be the staples of this title. Joining Necrovision is our AAA action shooter, Cryostasis. Cryostasis puts players in the boots of a Meteorologist on an ice trapped freighter fighting off the frozen denezens of the ship and bitter cold. 1C is also bringing back two classic games in modern form. Death Track: Resurrection - the successor to the legendary Deathtrack, a game which is considered by many the founder of the modern combat racing genre will be drivable at E3. Also the beloved King’s Bounty is back in all its RPG and turn-based combat glory. However this time it’s all 3D with cutting-edge special effects, a new build will be available to play at the 1C booth. Finally the new classic XIII Century: Death or Glory where knights clash in fierce battles will be available to play as well.

Along with the playable builds above 1C will have review and preview titles available to approved journalists on site. These include review builds of Star Wolves 2, Parkan II and You Are Empty, a preview build of Death to Spies and a Fantasy Wars demo. Assets for these and all other games from the 1C 2007-08 lineup will be available on the digital press kit at the booth.

The company will be showing off its wares at booth #327 in Barkar Hanger in Santa Monica.

To celebrate the partnership between online games retailer GAME and A World of My Own (AWOMO), customers are being offered the opportunity to trial the beta version of the upcoming 3D virtual gaming community. They are also going to give away a Golden Ticket providing free access and games for life.

AWOMO will be a 3D virtual world, offering hundreds of streamed games and other features including live voice chat and high profile competitions for big prizes. A limited number of GAME customers can register now to take part in the beta testing. When the test is over, participants who took part will be entered into the final draw and a lucky winner will get a free lifetime subscription to AWOMO, granting them access to free games for as long as he lives.

Addiitonally, those who participate will receive offers of up to one month’s membership, plus an exclusive GAME ‘virtual’ item for their avatar and special advantages.

A study carried out by U.S. researchers came to a very obvious conclusion: gaming robs homework time! They concluded that boys who play video games on school days spend 30 percent less time reading and girls spend 34 percent less time doing homework than those who don’t play anything.

“Gamers did spend less time reading and doing homework. But they didn’t spend less time interacting with their parents or their friends, nor did they spend less time in sports or active leisure activities,” said Hope Cummings of the University of Michigan.

The data was gathered from a nationally representative sample of kids aged 10 to 19 in 2002; their activities were tracked on a random weekday and a random weekend day. They found that boys spent an average of 58 minutes playing on weekdays and around two hours on weekends.

Interestingly, the study found out that boys’ reading was hampered and girls’ homework time was hampered - it wasn’t the other way around. Also, gamers didn’t spend less time with their family or friends because of video games.

“These findings do not support the notion that adolescents who play video games are socially isolated,” the authors wrote.

BBC reports that Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has topped a poll of readers of Edge magazine and industry experts to list the top 100 games of all time. Originally released for Nintendo 64 ten years ago, the game has garnered critical acclaim and has achieved perfect scores from many publications. Interestingly, five of the top 10 titles were made for Nintendo consoles.

Other platforms are present in the top 10: Xbox has one representative with Halo: Combat Evolved; PC with Half-Life 2 and PS2 with Final Fantasy XII. Next-generation consoles were present, too, with titles including Pro Evolution Soccer 6, Oblivion, Virtua Fighter 5 and Crackdown.

The full list of the top 100 games is now available in a collector’s volume called Edge Presents: The 100 Best Videogames, which has been on sale since July 3.

The official Crysis website is live, offering information on the upcoming shooter, as well as newsletter signups, wallpapers, forums and other media.