The Atari Forums are now accepting signups to participate in the Act of War expansion pack beta test. The highlight Act of War: High Treason is a major new feature – it’s the first RTS game ever to feature modern naval combat! In addition, several major and minor additions and adjustments have been made to improve and simplify the experience of the original game, such as new units, upgrades, and streamlined interface mechanics.

Cat Daddy has released a demo for its mall sim game Mall Tycoon 3. In the latest installment of the popular Mall Tycoon franchise gamers have the opportunity to design and manage a mega mall that “rules.” This demo features the full content of the game, but is only playable for 60 minutes after which you can purchase a key to unlock the full content.

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 :

• Grandia III [PS2] - Trailer #2
• HistWar: Les Grognards - Trailer #5
• Sword of the Stars - Trailer #5
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

ALFA: Antiterror is a turn based tactical combat simulator that lets the player control this special operations force through a four episode campaign based on the real life experiences of former ALFA members from 1984 to 2001. This huge demo allows you to try out The Officer's Story mission, 5 single-player operations, and also includes 7 multiplayer maps with 2 modes, hotseat and LAN (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for download links ...

Commandos Strike Force takes you right into the heart of the action from a first person perspective. Take control of the three members of the 'Strike Force' unit, each with their own play style. However, it is up to you how you execute plans of attack by combining the Commandos' unique skills (thanks TAFN). Read more for some new screens ...

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII is an Xbox exclusive action-filled flight combat game internally developed by Ubisoft. From Western Europe to the Pacific, players test their air-combat skills as they experience the most famous battles of World War II. As a squadron leader, the player can fly up to 40 WWII aircraft in both single-player and multiplayer missions. Check the freshly launched official website, or read more for new screens ...

Mutant is third person 3D shooter. The main hero is able to use several special abilities where most significant one is presence of two more hands that are placed in two hollows in his jacket directly under the arms. Mutant can hold different guns in different hands and he can fire to different targets at once.

Smarties: Meltdown is a third person action adventure, based on the world famous Smarties confection. Smarties: Meltdown is set on a giant Smarties shaped 'factory ship' orbiting the Earth. Everything is working smoothly when suddenly the factory ship is attacked by a small armada of craft from the fleet of the evil DR Soursweet.

Robert Byers, a Chicago resident who bought a new Xbox 360 has sued Microsoft saying the new video game console has a design flaw in the he power supply and central processing unit that causes it to overheat and freeze up.

EA today announced that it as opened a new development studio in the heart of Singapore city, which will focus on localizing and customizing popular EA games into at least five different languages for distribution throughout the Asia region, and eventually evolve into an online game development facility. A development team is already in place and the first localized projects have already started to be shipped.

Sumthing Else Music Works is pleased to announce their latest release: Age of Empires III Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack album from the third episode of the king of real-time strategy games, developed by Ensemble Studios and Microsoft Games Studios, is now available at US retail outlets through Nile Rodgers' Sumthing Else Music Works label.

Capcom today announced that it's favorite celluloid hero will make its debut on the PSP in Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble. Bringing intense versus-style action, new features and enhancements to the PSP system, Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble has Joe and his friends battling it out with their VFX powers to determine who will star in Captain Blue's latest production.

As part of Blizzard's continuing commitment to keep World of Warcraft free from abuse, it has permanently banned more than 2500 accounts during the last several weeks which were involved in the use of cheats and/or hacks using third-party software or were otherwise violating our Terms of Use. Blizzard will continue to take an aggressive stance to ensure that the gaming environment remains an enjoyable place for its customers by actively pursuing those who would seek to violate the principle of fair-play, as well as breach the Terms of Use and policies in this way.

Icculus has now also released a new Win64 patch for Epic's sci-fi FPS Unreal Tournament 2004. This Windows 64 bit patch requires the previously released v3369 and addresses the usual slew of bug fixes, engine & network enhancements, and gameplay tweaks. This new patch is compatible with the ECE Bonus Pack (thanks Blues). Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

Kuma Reality Games' latest installment takes gamers through the frenzied search through the town of Adwar, and the capture of Saddam Hussein by U.S. troops in the infamous "spider hole." Kuma's previous episode was a recreation of the events that led to Saddam's war crimes trial, currently in progress in Iraq.

EA announced today that EA SPORTS Rugby 06 is currently under development at EA Canada and HB Studios for the PS2, Xbox and PC. Rugby 06 will challenge gamers to compete in a host of the World's most prestigious rugby competitions including the Six Nations, Lions Tour, Tri Nations, Guinness Premiership and the Super 14.

CDV USA has secured the exclusive rights to distribute and promote GSC World Publishing's upcoming fantasy title, Heroes of Annihilated Empires, set to ship in 2006. The games will offer an extraordinary blend of RTS and RPG gameplay, challenging gamers to create a powerful leader and a dominant military force through battle, diplomacy and treachery in a rich fantasy world.

Activision and Nielsen Entertainment today released the results of a pioneering study on the effectiveness of in-game advertising that incorporates different levels of product integration. The research is the fourth component of an ongoing joint initiative between the two companies to establish standardized tools to measure the value of in-game ads.

SEGA announced it has licensed the next big international sporting event, The Olympic Games 2008. Titled Beijing 2008, SEGA has partnered with the Olympic Committee to bring the game not only to PC & consoles but also arcades, handhelds and mobile phones, and will feature more than 20 disciplines ...

Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble takes you back to the movies in a bid to become the greatest action hero of all time! Do you have what it takes to help Joe make it onto the big screen? The movie industry is a cut-throat business and Joe has to battle his way to the top by any means necessary. Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble launches across Europe on 24th February 2006.

Trackmania Nations ESWC edition is a fast-paced racing game involving precision and agility specially built for competition and will be free for download in Januari 2006. Trackmania Nations will feature new environment (Stadium), new car, new blocks and new gameplay. 54 countries will determine the outcome over 6 months with the finals to be played from 27th June to 2nd July 2006 in Paris - Bercy, for a grand total of $40,000.

Japanese studio Red Entertainment, known for titles such as Blood Will Tell and Gungrave Overdose, has once again become independent after a successful management buyout. The reason, according to producer Hiroi Ouji, is that the former SEGA development studio wanted to develop Xbox 360 titles, but since SEGA predominantly publishes PS2 titles, this was the only logical option. Hiroi also said that due to the lower development cost for Xbox 360 titles compared to PS3, there was not really a need to be part of a big establishment.

World Championship Poker 2 features a much more detailed one player game, where you now have to work your way up the ranks, starting in your mom's basement. Once you start winning and accumulating money, you can spend your winnings on increasingly better pads, and furnishings. Hit a losing streak, and you may have to hock your stuff to stay in the game.

Paradise, developed by Benoit Sokal's White Birds Productions, is an adventure game which immerses the player in the heart of Africa, at once eternal and terribly contemporary. A young woman, the daughter of a fierce dictator, crosses the continent in the company of a leopard, to take him to the place of his birth, the peaks of Kilimanjaro. Check the freshly launched official website, or read more for some new screens ...

Star Wars Battlefront II takes one Imperial-walker step forward with all-new space combat, playable Jedi, and never-before-seen environments straight out of the Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith film. Enjoy an all-new single-player experience that takes players through an epic, story-based saga where every action the player takes impacts the battlefront and, ultimately, the fate of the Star Wars galaxy.

Age of Empires III is set in 1500 A.D. and chronicles the Age of Discovery that started around the time that Columbus "discovered" the new world. The single player campaign follows American history up through 1850, and in multiplayer mode, you'll be able to choose from among eight different civilizations, and there will include free-for-all and team-vs-team matches for up to eight players.