The chess game Fritz teaches players the basics of the world's most famous board game in an entertaining way. It's a fun game that is exciting to play, easy to learn, and not at all easy to master.

Mana Khemia: Student Alliance is a port of the PS2 game but with an all new multi‐player mode so players can now team up and hunt down monsters to get rare items. Also new to the PSP version is a data installment feature which installs part of the game onto the memory stick to make the game load quicker.

Rockstar's open-ended crime series returns to New York situated around the Eastern European protagonist Nikolai. The PC edition features a replay editor with Rockstar Social Club integration, expanded multiplayer, higher resolution, and match filtering.

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:

• Star Wars: The Old Republic - Video Documentary #1
• The Lord of the Rings: Conquest [PS3/X360/PC] - Evil Campaign Dev. Diary
• The Godfather II [ALL] - Robert Duvall Trailer
• Skate 2 [PS3/X360] - Graphics Creator Trailer
• MadWorld [Wii] - Holiday 08 Trailer
• 
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

We Ski and Snowboard, known in Europe as Family Ski and Snowboard, adds high-performance snowboarding, as well as developed skiing functionality, two new mountains, and a complete snow park replete with fun boxes, rails and a half-pipe, where both skiers and snowboarders alike can grab huge air and over-the-top aerial tricks.

Earlier this year the Founders of IO Interactive, creators of the Hitman franchise, formed a development company Reto-Moto, with focus on online multi-player titles. While its first titles have yet to be announced, the Swedish outfit has just added six experienced industry professionals to its team.

Dynasty Warriors: GUNDAM 2 combines the devastating power of the Mobile Suit, the rich legacy of the GUNDAM universe and the furious Tactical Action game play of the Dynasty Warriors series. The game will thrust players into incredible battles against legions of enemy Mobile Suits on distant planetary surfaces and in the far reaches of outer space.

CoD 4: Modern Warfare is an action-thriller arming gamers with the most advanced and powerful arsenal of modern day firepower to fight a new war in the world’s most treacherous hotspots. The Variety map pack will most likely be the last DLC for CoD 4: MW as community manager Robert Bowling revealed Infinity Ward has no more plans for any downloadable content and is instead working on its next project.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II will take players to the brutal frontlines of war where they’ll experience intense action and visceral combat through a non-linear single player experience and a fully co-operative multiplayer campaign.

When we reported on the EA financial situation earlier this week, it was revealed there would be layoffs, title cancellations, mergers and various other cutbacks. According to the The Globe and Mail, one of those seems to be EA's planned new 20,000-square-foot facility in Vancouver, Canada, where it planned to house a new studio. The Vancouver location, nearby its EA Canada and EA Black Box offices, has already been abandoned and leased to a third party.

Midnight Club: Los Angeles provides a seamless environment for everyone who loves to compete, with no load times, no tracks, and no rules, allowing players to race who they want, when they want, and where they want in a recreation of LA. Coming early 2009, the free map will expand the city's map by 1/3rd, while the premium DLC will include new character competitions, new vehicles, races, and music.

Feeling the holiday spirit already? Then head on over to Xbox Live, where you can now download a free "holiday theme" to put you in the right mood, or check out the Holiday Snow Globe in the Spotlight channel (no need to download it). When you launch the snow globe, it will automatically populate with your friends' avatars. You can shake the globe with A or press X to stir in another random set of friends.

Ar tonelico 2 is an RPG that seamlessly combines simulation with role-playing, allowing gamers to not only customize weapons and items, but now design their character’s personalities, skills, and appearance through virtual interaction.

Empire: Total War will maintain the Total War series' 3D battles, grand turn based campaign map and rich historical flavor while for the first time introducing 3D naval combat into the franchise. The delay revealed yesterday will apparently allow The Creative Assembly to implement a one-vs.-one multiplayer campaign mode, which will be released after the game launches.

As Nippon Ichi Software’s first pure action game, Prinny will be the most heartpounding and challenging sidescrolling action game ever. Players will control an unlucky penguin dude called a Prinny and slash their way through various Netherworlds.

Spark Unlimited's FPS Legendary: The Box presents a world suddenly thrust into chaos and turmoil when ancient creatures of myth are unleashed into modern day society, and it is up to you, as the cause of it all, to stop it all.

Square Enix's Dragon Quest IX: Defender of the Stars, developed by Level 5, is the first title on any Nintendo system since Dragon Quest VI, 10 years ago, now featuring WiFi support for four players in co-op.

The fifth annual Child's Play Charity dinner auction held on Tuesday night netted over $200k in contributions, as a sold-out crowd of over 400 video game industry leaders and community enthusiasts crowded into the Washington State Convention and Trade Center's sky bridge to bid on more than 100 gaming memorabilia to support sick children in more than 60 hospitals worldwide.

Gears of War 2 picks up six months after the events of the original, thrusting players back into humankind's epic battle for survival against a nightmarish force of underground creatures known as the Locust Horde. While Epic released a patch addressing the matchmaking issues, it has further reconfigured its servers to allow more players per server, further improving matchmaking times.

Arc Rise Fantasia is an epic RPG product of old and new, combining gorgeous graphics with modern gameplay while bringing classic Japanese high fantasy role-playing action involving airships and dragons.