SoulCalibur III offers the series' hallmarks of exhilarating sword-fighting action and profound martial arts while also delivering highly improved graphics and sound effects to create a unique gaming experience. It also features a Character Creation Mode, which allows players to create original warriors.

Valve announced today it finally plans to release Half-Life 2: Lost Coast next week. Lost Coast is a free level for everyone who owns Half-Life 2, and serves as an HDR technology demo based in an unreleased section of the "Highway 17" chapter of Half-Life 2. After Lost Coast is released, Valve says it will be working on getting some new content for both Counter-Strike: Source and Day of Defeat: Source, along with an update to the SDK, out the door.

Music distributor Handleman today announced that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire multiplatform video game distributor Crave Entertainment Group. The transaction, which is expected to close in the next 45 days, is subject to regulatory approvals, the obtaining of adequate financing and other customary closing conditions.

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

• Gears of War [X360] - X05 Trailer
• Aeon Flux [PS2/Xbox] - Trailer #2
• Vietcong 2 - Trailer
• NFL Head Coach [PS2/Xbox/PC] - Trailer
• Shadowgrounds - Trailer #2
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

In Law & Order: Criminal Intent, players scour the crime scenes for evidence, interview witnesses and interrogate suspects in hopes of tracking down the elusive killers. Legacy Interactive has released a playable demo allowing you to check out an intro sequence and solve one of the full game's four murder cases, playable as detective Robert Goren (thanks DemoNews). Read more for download links ...

This patch will upgrade the Nadeo's TrackMania: Power Up! edition to the new TrackMania Original version, allowing you to experience the game with a new graphics engine, new modes, multiplayer and plenty more. Read more for download links ...

Resident Evil: Deadly Silence will be a remake of the first RE title, released in 1996, but unlike the original, the DS version will not use pre-rendered graphics, but be in full 3D. One of the features will require you to wipe the blood covered screen in order to proceed, and the dual screen will most likely be used for inventory and map. RE:DS will also support coop and other multiplayer modes.

SEGA revealed that original Sonic creator Yuji Naka, and character designer Naoto Ohshima, are bringing Sonic back to its roots to create the most intense sensation of speed ever experienced in videogames with an innovative combination of art, physics and game design. Not many details are available at this point, but we do have some new screens...

Galactic Civilizations II takes place in the distant future, when mankind has become a space-faring civilization and must contend with other extraterrestrial powers for domination of the galaxy. The sequel is a true evolution for the series, with rethought fundamentals and exciting new changes.

Sierra Entertainment has shipped Crash Tag Team Racing to retail outlets for the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube. Developed by Radical Entertainment, creators of The Simpsons: Hit & Run, the newest addition to the franchise lets gamers of all ages play as Crash Bandicoot and his friends in an over-the-top theme park filled with zany tracks and even zanier characters.

Sony Computer Entertainment announced today that the cumulative production shipment of its PSP player had reached 10 million units worldwide, as of October 21st, 2005, the fastest penetration speed in the PlayStation platforms introduced in the past.

Frogwares is working on a game based on Jules Verne's novel Around The World In 80 Days. Journey on every existing means of transport, making you to use all inventiveness ingenuity, full of discoveries of unseen and unheard beauties. New gentleman, new bet, but it is up to you to choose itinerary. Would you do it in 80 days? Maybe you would rather make a stop at Bahamas, and give up the race for good?

Creator of the Metal Gear video game series, Mr. Hideo Kojima, has translated five recent entries of his personal blog into English. Learn about Mr. Kojima's interest in comics, music, food, as well as the research that the Metal Gear team goes through to make their games so amazingly authentic. Lots of good food for thought to digest and very interesting day to day narration of the work that goes on behind the scenes at Kojima Productions.

Bethesda Game Studios announced today that Jeremy Soule, the award-winning composer who has been called “gaming’s greatest musician,” will create the soundtrack for its role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Curse of Darkness introduces players to an entirely new storyline and main character – Hector, one of two Devil Forgemasters, who had once refined his skills under Dracula. Told in true Castlevania style, this action-packed tale of betrayal and revenge takes players on a journey through an expansive world filled with formidable foes and beautifully rendered environments to the ruins of Dracula’s castle.

Dangerous Waters allows the player total control over multiple air, surface and subsurface platforms in a modern-day naval environment. This demo features two playable platforms, the MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and the Kilo class Diesel submarine, each with its own exciting demo mission. This v1.2 update includes both technical and graphical enhancements.

LucasArts announced today that SW Battlefront II has gone gold for all platforms, and ships November 1st. Star Wars Battlefront II features all-new space combat, playable Jedi, and never-before-played environments straight out of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Fans of the original Star Wars Battlefront will also enjoy an all-new single-player experience that takes players through an epic, story-based saga centered around Darth Vader's personal stormtroopers, the 501st Legion.

Untold Legends: The Warrior's Code is the next game in the Untold Legends series following the top- selling Brotherhood of the Blade. The Warrior's Code is an entirely new RPG, as compared to its predecessor, with an evolutionary interactive combat engine, new 3D enhanced graphics, special effects and lighting.

Take command in this dynamic turn-based game and test strategies that long-past generals and world leaders could only dream of: make it happen in Gary Grigsby’s World at War. The entire saga of World War II is yours to re-enact or to re-make in your own vision. This demo offers two tutorial scenarios covering movement, combat, production and research, as well as a complete scenario on the whole year of 1941, and also features online multiplayer and engine enhancements.

Dynasty Warriors 4 Hyper is a first for the series and will see the spectacular massed battles that the Dynasty Warriors games are famed for brought to a whole new audience. Striking visual, twice as many characters on screen, double the draw distance of previous versions, anti aliasing, texture filtering, dynamic shadows and much improved enemy AI.

Pro Evolution Soccer 5 will feature the utter realism, intuitive play and fast-paced action of the ever-popular series. The PSP version will also be almost identical in terms of available clubs and international sides, with 57 national sides lining up alongside 136 club teams.

Auto Assault combines vehicular combat with role-playing elements. Players explore a post-apocalyptic future in customizable cars, motorcycles, semis and even tanks. Players battle other players both in arenas and in epic race vs. race wars for control of the regions in a devastated Earth.

Since Troika is no longer amongst the living this patch is not official, so use at your own discretion. This update brings Activision's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines retail game to v1.8 (requires v1.2 patch installed) and addresses a number of known issues, gameplay tweaks, bug fixes and so forth. Read more for details and download links ...

The fourth title in the series of turn based strategy games, Sid Meier's Civilization IV expands on the beloved gameplay of its predecessors with countless new gameplay changes and improvements, including religion, great people and for the first time in the Civilization series, a full 3D engine.

In the game, players enter the world of Narnia, a land frozen in a 100 year winter by the evil powers of the malevolent White Witch. In order to end this frigid captivity and free his people, the mighty lion Aslan invokes an ancient prophecy. It will become the destiny of four siblings from our world: Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie to work together and use their unique combat skills, weaponry and abilities to defeat the Witch and her armies to save Narnia.

Konami of Europe announced today that it will release Karaoke Stage 2 for PlayStation 2 in March 2006, with the original game's singing elements expanded via a number of innovative gameplay additions, such as Duets, and Sing and Dance mode.

The non-linear plot of Officers preserves the established facts of the origins of WWII and allows gamers to lead any of three sides to victory: USSR, Germany and Allies (GB and USA). The game recreates the real structures of all participants' armies, using the real arsenal, equipment and military techniques.

Fox has tapped Skip Woods, known for Swordfish, to adapt its feature version of Hitman videogame, with Vin Diesel toplining and exec producer. The story centers on an international assassin, known as Agent 47, who works for a mysterious org dubbed the Agency. Fox picked up the Eidos videogame franchise in June from producers Chuck Gordon and Adrian Askarieh, and recently also signed a deal with Universal, Peter Jackson for Microsoft's Halo adaptation.

Ubisoft today announced that it has signed a deal with Digital Jesters to distribute Crazy Frog Racer in UK, Benelux, Australia, New Zealand and the export territories. Crazy Frog Racer is a high-speed, high-octane Wacky Races style game.

NinjaBee announced that their space station tycoon style game, Outpost Kaloki X, will be among the very first Xbox 360 Live Arcade products to be released. Outpost Kaloki X features a family oriented design with all the challenge of managing your own space station. Keep visiting aliens happy, keep your attractions in working condition, and money (and maybe love with a beautiful princess) will follow.

Gun will be a GTA-style game, set in the West in the 1880s, in cities such as Dodge City and New Mexico's Las Vegas. The murderous 'Dodge City Gang' has been on a rampage and you seek revenge, hunting them down between Indians and Mexican pistoleros. Main mode of transportation is any horse you can find or steal, and of course, Gun will include high speed "horse" pursuits.

In mid April, 2005, a group of game development professionals from Sony Computer Entertainment America formed a new independent game development company, MACHINE Union. Located south of downtown San Diego, Machine, will focus their efforts towards next generation console game development.

Interactive events that affect game play: Unpredictability is the name of the game as you race across the world's most challenging terrains without knowing what's around the corner...a crash, a flood, a forest fire, tumbling mountain rocks...who knows? The 'events' change every time you play so get prepared to expect the unexpected just like the professionals...

Dead or Alive 4 will redefine 3-D high definition graphics and sound, creating the most visually beautiful and realistic looking video game to date. DOA features online capabilities via Xbox Live, new interactive stages, an all star line-up of old and new favorite characters, and the most complex countering system yet.

X-Men Legends II introduces the epic storyline of an uneasy alliance between the X-Men and the hated Brotherhood in a fight to reclaim Earth from Apocalypse's grasp. Impressive gameplay enhancements include more than double the superpowers and customization capabilities, the debut of several new playable characters, over 100 diverse types of enemies, and a breathtaking range of exotic and real-world environments—from the Madri Temple to Egypt.