VU Games announced today that it will release the F.E.A.R. multiplayer demo on Thursday, September 29 at 8:00 a.m. PDT. The 550MB demo will feature two maps: Factory, which will be a deathmatch map, and support team deathmatch, slow-motion team deathmatch, and slow-motion deathmatch, while Facility, a capture the flag map will support slow-motion capture the flag. Of course you will be able to grab the multiplayer demo on our fileserver network as soon as it's released.

Valve's SteamPowered website has been updated with details regarding the latest update for its online delivery system Steam. This release includes a number of very specific CPU and memory footprint optimizations brought over from the Half-Life 2: XBOX development codebase. The release also includes all of the engine groundwork to enable the Day of Defeat: Source launch that will happen Monday, September 26 at 3:00 PDT. Just restart Steam for the effects to take place.

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 :

• The Movies [Xbox/PC] - Trailer #10
• NBA Live 06 [NGC/PS2/Xbox] - Trailer
• The Sims 2 [ALL] - Trailer #12
• Spartan: Total Warrior - Trailer #6
• SSX On Tour [NGC] - Luigi Trailer
• Star Wars Battlefront 2 - Trailers (3)
• Vivisector: Beast Inside - Trailer #4
• Diver: Deep Water Adventures - Trailer #3
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Frogwares today revealed its third title in the Sherlock Holmes series. After Mystery of the Mummy, and The Silver Earring, the French studio is actively working on Sherlock Holmes: The Awaken, scheduled for release October 2006 (thanks Sebastien). Read more for some early screens ...

SSX On Tour features all-new player customization that gives you the chance to join The Tour. SSX On Tour is packed with all-new highly detailed tracks, new stylish player customization options, new monster tricks, and multiplayer options. Check our Luigi going down the slippery slopes ..

True Crime: New York City will follow another policeman through the meticulously re-created streets of a real-life metropolitan area. However, instead of the wisecracking LAPD detective Nick Kang, gamers will now play as Marcus Reed, a former gang member turned NYPD officer.

International Karting is the sequel to the top selling Super 1 Karting. With over 5 years experience of producing the very best racing games the development team was well placed to further improve the look and feel of the original (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for download links ...

Okami depicts a stark world devoid of colour that the player must return to its natural state. In Okami colour represents the life blood of the land and sucking this life are supernatural monsters that inhabit the surrounding areas.

In Real Time Conflict: Shogun Empires, players take on the role of one of two brothers who are engaged in bloody combat in feudal Japan. Overtaking nearby territories and amassing fearsome armies, only one warrior will be able to survive the deadly feud to realize his ambitions and claim the title of Shogun.

Konami informed us that it has launched the official Castlevania website, with all the latest info on both Dawn of Sorrow for the NDS and Curse of Darkness for PS2 and Xbox. the site offers all the latest info, screens, trailers, or simply join the message boards and participate in discussions about one of the longest running video game franchises in video game history.

In Dragon Quest VIII, the first time on the PS2, old meets new, as classic gameplay is married to sumptuous graphics, delivering a sweeping adventure. Characters designed by Akira Toriyama are brought to life by "cel-shading," bringing gamers of all ages into a world straight out of Japanese anime.

Ubisoft today announced that it has reached a co-publishing and distribution agreement with Hip Interactive Europe to bring Rugby Challenge 2006, developed by Swordfish studios, on the PS2, Xbox, and PC in Europe and PAL territories, scheduled for November 2005.

The Legend of Heroes is a single-player turn-based role-playing game featuring more than 100 unique characters to interact with, over 50 hours of gameplay and a deeply involving story line that unfolds in one of the most beautifully crafted 3D environments available on the PSP.

Global Star Software will publish and distribute, Splat Magazine Renegade Paintball, a video game that brings all of the intense action of paintball into your living room. Leaping from the pages of the paintball enthusiast publication Splat Magazine and onto your Xbox and PC, Splat Magazine Renegade Paintball is scheduled to “bunker” into stores October, 2005.

Teaming up once again with the original Desert Storm Delta Force - Bradley, Foley, Connors and Jones - your four men now form part of an elite anti-terrorist unit tasked with minimising the worldwide threat from active global terrorist groups. The game takes place across the world, in a number of different and hostile locations and against a merciless and corrupt enemy; this is your squad's greatest challenge to date. This new dev diary talks about the multiplayer aspect of the game.

Groove Games announced today that Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green will be hitting store shelves the week of October 17th, just in time for Halloween. Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green sets players in the midst of a gruesome adventure where they must battle the undead and their rapidly spreading zombie plague. Players must save themselves ­ and a quickly - diminishing living population - from the brain feasting zombies! Land of the Dead will be available at an estimated retail price of $29.99 for Xbox and $19.99 for PC.

Already revealed a little while ago, Namco today officially announced Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War for the PS2, which will challenge players to develop their high-flying reputations while facing off against rival pilots in white-knuckled dog fights. Read more for details and screens ...

Activision announced today that it has signed a deal with the Military Channel to produce a series of historical vignettes that will be featured in the company’s upcoming World War II-themed games Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 2: Big Red One.

Myelin Media today announced a retail pre-sale campaign for their upcoming Texas Hold ‘em poker game, STACKED with Daniel Negreanu. Reserve you copy of the game at EB Games, GameStop, GameCrazy, CompUSA Online, Toys’R Us, and Barnes & Noble Online and receive Inside STACKED, a free making-of DVD with exclusive behind the scenes footage, tips and interviews with the seven professional poker players in the game.

Rockstar Games is pleased to announce Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition for the PS2, which will include on DVD The Introduction and Rockstar's debut documentary film, Sunday Driver.

Blitzkrieg II is created with a new focus on fast-paced gameplay, a strategic layer and new tactical opportunities. A completely new engine takes WWII into full 3D where players can command famous aces and units, strategically plan battles in multiple theatres, choose their reinforcements and use a wide range of new unit types such as aircraft and ships.

Microsoft and Ensemble Studios' real-time strategy Age of Empires III is complete and poised to invade retail on October 18. Available in two versions standard and Collector's Edition, Age of Empires III will fire up gamers with groundbreaking new features like the persistent Home City and jaw-dropping graphics never before seen in an RTS.

Aspyr Media and Wideload Games today announced the addition of co-op play in the Xbox version of Stubbs the Zombie game. The player controls a wisecracking zombie named Stubbs, who takes on an ultra-modern city of the future using nothing but his own carcass and the weapons of his possessed enemies.

The fourth game in the PC strategy series that has sold over five million copies, Sid Meier's Civilization IV is a bold step forward for the franchise, with spectacular new 3D graphics and all-new single and multiplayer content. Civilization IV will also set a new standard for user-modification, allowing gamers to create their own add-ons using the standard Python and XML scripting languages. Firaxis producer Barry Caudill tells us more about the new Civilization IV civics feature.

Stranger is a real-time strategy game, with elements of role playing games set in a world, split in two parts, surface and a subterranean one, which are in a tenuous balance. 'Stranger' will also feature multiplayer although details beyond "The players may play on their own, or unite in teams" are a bit sktechy. FireGlow let us know that Stranger development is complete, and has reached beta stage.

Rockstar Games announced today that it plans to release Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas together for the first time as a complete trilogy for the Xbox. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy is set to hit shelves in North America on October 18, 2005.

Panzer Elite Action is a fast-paced WW2 action game that lets the player feel the power of 30 tons of steel armor around them and gives them the ability to command increasingly powerful tanks in a series of intense and dramatic battles.

Exciting news in time for Christmas as Nintendo today announced that it is cutting the price of its popular Nintendo DS, offering even greater value. From 7th October, Nintendo DS will be available at the estimated retail price of around £89.99. The £10 price drop will take effect on the same day as the launch of Nintendogs.

StarWraith announces the release of Evochron Alliance, the sequel to the original space combat and trading simulation Evochron. In this new game, you are placed in a recently discovered region of space where your survival depends on your ability to manage wealth and resources as well as your skills in combat.

Dead Rising is survival horror game, in which you play Frank West, a grizzled freelance photographer who has made his way to an idyllic suburban town to get his hands on the scoop. To his surprise, he soon discovers that the town has been overrun with zombies. As he fights tooth and nail against hordes of gruesome zombies, Frank must discover the cause of the disturbing outbreak. Full of mystery and thrills, this title is sure to please.

In a world of pirates, one man wants to become the greatest of them all: Monkey D. Luffy. Join Luffy as he sets out to sea in a rowboat, in search of "One Piece," the greatest treasure in the world! Capture the title of Pirate King as you outfight and outsmart all opponents in this wacky arena battle game based on the graphic novels published by Viz Media.

Operation Flashpoint: Elite retains all the depth and immense content of the original and takes you right into the heart of a gripping Cold War conflict between NATO coalition forces and a renegade Soviet Red army faction. The game's intense campaigns and solo missions deliver deeply believable military situations and gives you complete freedom to handle any flashpoint on your own initiative.

Although campus officials claim headway against illegal file-sharing, two congressmen will soon request a federal study of precisely what universities are doing to combat peer-to-peer piracy by students.

Based on Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Dynasty Warriors series of action games takes players back in time and onto the battlefields of Ancient China. In the games, players experience the thrill of fighting single-handedly against nearly endless legions of enemy soldiers in historical battles that shaped an empire.

Battlefield 2: Special Forces brings the intensity and excitement of its predecessors into the realm of covert ops with the latest, most technologically advanced vehicles and weapons systems available to man.