NRA Varmint Hunter v1.01 upgrades your game by fixing some minor animal artificial intelligence bugs, and adds some performance upgrades to allow the game to run better on slower computers and those with less memory. Read more for download links ...

Captured, conveniently forgotten, tortured, and left for dead, MI6 agent Andrew Sterling awaits execution in a Chinese prison. The story begins when a mysterious friend from his past rescues him, setting off a chain of events that could rock the very foundations of global security and wreak chaos on a worldwide level.

EA's Mark Skaggs has sent out a note to long time Command & Conquer fans quietly announcing that the team behind C&C: Red Alert 2, Yuri's Revenge and C&C Generals is working on an all-new Command & Conquer product. Not many details are revealed but read on for the full note ..

Good parties may run late, but great parties run all night - and all day with Mario Party 6, which launches today exclusively for Nintendo GameCube. Players can keep the party going indefinitely with this rowdy new party game.

Another day, another batch of game trailers were released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• LotR: Battle For Middle Earth - Trailer (2)
• Nexus: The Jupiter Incident - Trailer #3

Midway announced today that two of its titles, NBA Ballers and Midway Arcade Treasures, have shipped more than one million units worldwide since their respective releases. NBA Ballers shipped to retail outlets in North America on April 5, 2004 and in Europe on October 14, 2004. Midway Arcade Treasures shipped in North America on November 24, 2003 and on February 6, 2004 in Europe. The compilation of classic Midway arcade titles retails for $19.99.

It has been six years since the destruction of Raccoon City and in that time, the U.S. government has been able to destroy the evil Umbrella Corporation. Fast forward to 2004 and players rejoin Leon, who is now a U.S. agent with a top-secret mission. He has been tasked to look into the abduction of the President’s daughter and his investigation has led him to a mysterious location in Europe.

Jowood has updated the official SÖLDNER: Secret Wars website with word that you can now sign up to participate in the closed beta test for Wings Simulations' upcoming SÖLDNER: Secret Wars multiplayer shooter addon. You need to meet the following requirements : Age of 18, Broadband Internet Connection, 2 GHz Processor, 512 MB RAM and a GeForce 3 equivalent video card.

For the first time, EA has moved development for NASCAR PC racing games to the Tiburon Studio in Orlando, FL to focus exclusively on building the ultimate racing simulation. For 18 months, a dedicated team of NASCAR gaming veterans from the top shops has been focused on creating the ultimate simulation for the 2005 NASCAR season. The game will feature the new Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship format and will also include the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR Busch Series.

While it was already revealed in an interview over on Gamespy, Midway announced today that it has named Harvey Smith the creative director for Midway Studios-Austin. An industry veteran with more than 10 years of experience in game design and development, Smith will report directly to Denise Fulton, head of Midway Studios-Austin.

LucasArts is pleased to announce today the release of the highly anticipated Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords for the Xbox. The PC version will release in February 2005.

Bandai and Atari have announced the launch of Bandai's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 for the GameCube in March 2005. The GameCube version has incredible new features, more characters, improved fighting action, the original Japanese voiceovers and an open-ended way to relive the DBZ story, making it an essential purchase both for fighting game fans and fans of the DBZ series.

Mega Man Anniversary Collection is an anthology of classic Mega Man games (Mega Man 1 through Mega Man 8) from the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, PlayStation game console and arcade systems. The compilation provides a comprehensive look at the blue bomber's progression to become one of the longest running videogame icons to date. This set also features two never-before-released-in-the-US Mega Man arcade games: Mega Man the Power Battle and Mega Man 2 the Power Fighters. Mega Man Anniversary Collection will be available for the Xbox v in March 2005.

IncaGold, Asylum Games and Tri Synergy Inc. today announced that development is underway on Rebirth of Honor, a World War II Combat Flight Simulator for the PC and is scheduled to ship Q1 of 2005.

Volkswagen AG and TDK Mediactive Europe have entered into a worldwide cooperation agreement. The partnership will allow the masses worldwide to experience Volkswagen vehicles virtually, as part of a computer game. This racing game will be marketed as World Racing 2 and is being developed in the studios of racing software specialist Synetic to run on current next generation game consoles and PC. Read more for details ...

Conspiracy Entertainment today announced that they have been approved as a Nintendo DS platform publisher for the North America territory. The company is already a publisher on the Nintendo Gameboy Advance and Nintendo Game Cube platforms.

K2Network announces today the official launch of Knight Online with completely revamped website, new server expansion, and the revolutionary "Free2Play" for all players with unlimited playing time. Both existing and new players will have complete access to all the current features of the game as well as all future updates and expansion packages.

Electronic Arts announces the release of the eagerly-awaited PC game, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth. Based on the Academy Award-winning film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings fans will command the heroes and armies from all three movies as they find themselves immersed in the quest for domination of Middle-earth. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth is a real-time strategy game that will capture the imagination of both gamers and The Lord of the Rings fans, alike.

Cold Fear is the first action-horror title to be published under the Ubisoft brand and combines the popular elements of both action and horror releases, delivering an action-packed, tension-filled gaming experience.

Metal Slug fans worth their salt will rejoice at the news that Metal Slug Advance has a confirmed release date for the Nintendo GBA, as Ignition Entertainment confirm that it will be available in stores from December 17th, and have a S.R.P. of £29.99

The player takes the role of the leader and has to build up a team – whatever action it may take. With the help of this team he has to take control of the world of Ground Zero. To achieve this he must conquer 20 different locations and protect them from his enemies. The leader can choose between 250 different equipments like weapons, armour, building materials and food. There are 3 different professions: mercenary, technician, and doctor.

iGames will host its largest games premier to-date with a special, one-day-only party to celebrate the release of Electronic Arts’ The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth on Saturday, December 11. This exclusive event, in honor of the latest installment in EA’s The Lord of the Rings video game series, will be held at 50 iGames game centers throughout the US and Canada

Multiple Video Game Awards 2004 nominee (Need for Speed: Underground 2), actress, covergirl and host Brooke Burke will telecast LIVE from the red carpet at Spike TV Video Game Awards 2004 pre-show festivities on Tuesday, December 14 (8:30 – 9:00 PM, ET). The pre-show immediately precedes the LIVE presentation of Spike TV’s Video Game Awards 2004 hosted by Snoop Dogg from 9:00-11:00 PM, ET.

THQ today announced Big Mutha Truckers 2, the sequel to the million-unit selling Big Mutha Truckers. Developed by Eutechnyx out of the United Kingdom, Big Mutha Truckers 2 is scheduled to release in Summer 2005 and will be available on the PlayStation2 system and Xbox.

Battle Mages: Sign of Darkness is an enthralling journey to the world of the original game. It offers four new campaigns, covering dramatic events that took place in Daenmor long before the Shadow of Warlock spread over the land.

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes will be the premier third generation massively multiplayer RPG. A vast, seamless, immersive virtual world filled with elements of familiar High Fantasy, including traditional themes and more, all depicted using cutting-edge graphics technology. Sigil’s expertise and experience in the field will bring groundbreaking static and dynamic content to the genre.

Nicely Crafted Entertainment has today shipped a new game client release for their campaign-based MMO RTS, Time of Defiance. The new client features 2 new units suggested by players as part of a research and development competition that ran this summer. Read more for details ...

The story of Baten Kaitos takes place at a time when lands exist in the sky. It is an era in which the once-vast oceans have become mere legend among men. This is the world in which Kalas and Xelha meet: A world in crisis, where a conspiracy for power may lead to its destruction.

Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.

This past March, LucasArts canned Sam & Max: Freelance Police, much to the dismay of many fans. Now those same people can have a little bit ofg hope again as Bad Brains CEO Wolfgang Kierdorf revealed in a Q&A on Adventure Gamers that they are talking with LucasArts about taking over one of their previously cancelled titles. Here's a snip : "No comment (I signed an NDA). All I can say is: yes, we are talking to LucasArts about a game that might involve animals, but that's all folks! I guess we will see what´s happening in March 2005 at the latest."

With the Source SDK now available, information on the upcoming Sven Co-op mod for Half-Life 2 has been released. Details of major features planned for the initial release, including cooperative support for Half-Life 2's original single-player campaign, are available. There is also news of a significant change to the mod's fundamental gameplay system.