American Civil War: Gettysburg brings this legendary and epic battle to life on your PC. Lead the Confederate army as they fight their way into the heart of the northern aggressor or take command of the Union forces as they hold fast against the rebel invaders. Try the game for 60 minutes, and purchase a key to unlock to full game if you want to continue (thanks GameSpot).

French developer Lexis Numérique, known for titles such as Missing, and Dracula: Resurrection, is working on, Incrazyball, a sort of Marble Madness in 3D, where you guide a ball through crazy tracks, much like Super Monkey Ball. Multiplayer is also present in various race modes such as Battle Race, Rally, Find & Retrieve, but also more action based CTF, or Arcade Football. An editor will be included in the game so you can design your own tracks and share them with the rest of the community. Read more for the first screens ...

Speaking at a meeting of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, Microsoft's Bill Gates said that the newest version of the Xbox, code-named Xenon, would have an array of features that will make the device a more versatile tool for games, music, video and pictures in the living room. Gates also said that the new Xbox will give Microsoft a chance to overtake the leader in the gaming business, Sony Corp.

Tribal Trouble is a fast paced realtime strategy game where you will find yourself pitted against your computer or online players. Your job is to lead your somewhat clueless kinsmen (be it vikings or natives) to new discoveries and victories as the tribal clashes rage across a group of tropical islands. Oddlabs has released a demo, allowing you to try out 6 tutorials and single- and multiplayer modes on computer generated maps (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for screens & download links

Two years after the dramatic conclusion of Final Fantasy VII, the ruins of Midgar stand as a testament to the sacrifices that helped bring peace. However, the world will soon face a new menace. A mysterious illness is spreading fast. Old enemies are astir. And Cloud, who walked away from the life of a hero to live in solitude, must step forward yet again ... Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is scheduled to ship in 2005.

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 v1.4 (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 ...

Limelight Networks today announced it has been selected by Microsoft as the Content Delivery Network for Microsoft's Xbox Live, the online gaming service for the Xbox. With full implementation of Xbox Live on Limelight Networks' powerful delivery network, the synergy of Xbox Live and the Limelight Networks platform will provide millions of gamers unprecedented online access to games, content and downloads from Microsoft and leading game developers directly via Xbox Live.

At New York's Central Park Zoo, a lion, a zebra, a giraffe, and a hippo are best friends and stars of the show. But when one of the animals goes missing from their cage, the other three break free to look for him, only to find themselves reunited ... on a ship en route to the island of Madagascar. When their vessel capsizes off the coast, however, the friends, who have all been raised in captivity, learn first-hand what life can be like in the wild.

Eidos announced today that that its new PSP title, Smart Bomb, has just gone gold, and will ship May 10, 2005. Smart Bomb is an intense, adrenaline pumping, explosive experience for the PSP handheld! As a member of the Bomb Disposal Unit (B.D.U.), you are tasked with diffusing a highly intricate series of bombs which have been planted in various locations around the world. With over 150 different 3D puzzles, Smart Bomb will test your concentration, wit, and problem solving skills.

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.

Tomb Raider: Legend revives the athletic, intelligent and entertaining adventurer who won the hearts and minds of gamers worldwide. Lara comes alive with intricately animated expressions, moves and abilities. An arsenal of modern equipment, such as a magnetic grappling device, binoculars, frag grenades, personal lighting device and communications equipment, allows gamers to experience tomb raiding as never before.

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 :

• Asheron's Call 2: Legions - Trailer (2)

Spir.Ops presents a new middleware for Artificial Intelligence: SPIROPS. This graphical toolkit lets your teams design artificial behaviors, including emotions, personalities with memory and adaptability abilities.

THQ has launched the official Evil Dead Regeneration website, although currently it is pretty bare. Voiced by Bruce Campbell, the game explores a "what if..." continuation from Evil Dead 2, where you control Ash, wrongfully arrested & convicted for killing his companions, and sentenced to Sunny Meadows, an institute for the criminally insane, but not for long. Ash's peaceful stay is about to end -- thanks to the perverted experiments of his very own psychiatrist, Dr. Reinhard. Hell-bent on using science to harness the Necronomicon's powers, the mad doctor unleashes the book's all-powerful Evil on the world -- releasing a new slew of Deadites, monsters and spirits, twisting reality into a hellish strudel and leaving mankind with that not-so-fresh apocalyptic feeling.

Remnants of the Stars is an open ended space simulation that features unparalleled space combat integrated tightly with an engaging story. It takes place in a massive universe which the player is free to explore and exploit. Read more for new screens ...

Mythic Blades is a visually breath-taking entertainment title which places the player in the role of Legendary Hero or Terrifying Monster during combat to determine the fate of the Olympus. Ares has challenged his father; if Ares wins, he will take over Zeus' place and rule over the Olympus - but the battle does not take place there. Instead it will be fought between Man and Monster.

2K Games and FIRAXIS Games announced today the acquisition of publishing rights to Sid Meier's Pirates!. Pirates! for the Xbox will be released by 2K Games this summer. Also included in this expanded partnership between 2K Games and FIRAXIS Games are publishing rights to the previously released PC version of Sid Meier's Pirates!.

Power Rangers creator Bandai Co. agreed to buy Pac-Man designer Namco Ltd. for about $1.7 billion (175.3 billion yen) in cash and stock to create Japan's second-biggest toy and video-game software maker. Both companies will merge Sept. 29 and be henceforth known as Namco Bandai Holdings Inc., and be led by Bandai President Takeo Takasu and Namco Vice Chairman Kyushiro Takagi.

The Bard's Tale combines the development team's collective knowledge of compelling RPG gameplay with brilliant graphics and major motion picture quality story and dialogue. The Bard's Tale eschews genre cliches in favor of intelligent humor for an original and truly entertaining experience. Having been released on consoles several months ago, the PC version is finally near...

Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition is the quintessential racing game for any true aficionado of the automotive and racing lifestyle, and is the only game to offer a full range of street vehicle culture including over 50 fully customizable licensed vehicles. The full spectrum includes import tuners, motorcycles and luxury rides all of which are fully customizable in both style and performance.