The latest GameInformer has new info on Epic's Gears of War 2. From the GDC 08 trailer we saw the UE3 engine moved from a handful of Locust on screen to hundreds, and the elusive Brumak from the original will be present, but so will even larger creatures making the "Brumak look like a baby panda bear." The fight is being taken to the Locust so expect expansive, multi path, and prettier underground locales, where you will be assisted by 4 new characters (Tai Kaliso, leader of the COG forces Chairman Prescott, Dizzy, the driver of a new vehicle; and Dom's wife Maria Santiago, narrator of the story.) Singleplayer co-op will allow people to play at different difficulty settings when paths split. The cover system has been tweaked to offer better protection, new chainsaw duels have been added, new weapons, achievements, and a War Journal with background story.

Drone Tactics is a game of mechanized strategy RPG warfare that has you command a squad of insect Drones, choosing from over 100 weapons, upgrades, and power-ups to optimize your forces as you confront the oppressive Black Swarm.

Toshiba may have conceded in the HD war, that doesn't mean Microsoft will throw in the towel, even if its only with a new firmware update for the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. Log into Xbox Live and put in a HD DVD disc, you will automatically be prompted to update (adds support for network features and improves compatibility).

On life support for a few years, Interplay announced 2007 earnings increased 520% ($6 million) compared to 2006, mainly due to selling the Fallout license to Bethesda. CEO Herve Caen reiterated that it is securing funds for the Fallout MMO, and sequels to some of its most successful games, including Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent, and MDK, are being considered. Interplay plans to launch its new website shortly (thanks NMA ).

Hail to the Chimp is a politically charged party game where players battle one another to become the new leader of the Animal Kingdom. Players use the game's unique team-up mechanic, balancing cooperation with competition, to claw their way to victory.

Last year Computer Gaming World made the somewhat controversial move of renaming itself into Games for Windows, with strong Microsoft support no doubt, but with troubled parent company Ziff Davis looking for ways to boost its revenue it was decided to discontinue, after 27 years, the print magazine and move the staff over to the 1UP website instead.

Next week, April 15, Microsoft and Bungie will once more continue the fight as they will release the next wave of Halo 3 downloadable content on Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points. The Legendary Map Pack will introduce three new maps to the title’s multiplayer experience, Ghost Town, Avalanche, and Blackout!

According to various outlets, SEGA has shut down its Solihull, UK based Racing Studio, known for last year's multiplatform Sega Rally Revo game, effective immediately. SEGA America could not confirm, as they were trying to get confirmation on the rumor as well, which supposedly came from a former employee. If true, SEGA's Racing Studio joins other recent closure victims CastAway, Iron Lore, Pseudo Interactive and Stormfront.

In addition to a new campaign that ties up the Dread Lords saga, GalCiv II: Twilight of the Arnor adds civilization-specific technology trees and planetary improvements that add even more flavor to each alien race, while greatly expanding the strategic depth of the game.

The Witcher: DuelMail, based on its role-playing game The Witcher, is a completely free-of-charge next-gen web-browser game that centers around battles between two players digitally incarnated as one of three completely different character classes. If you want to participate in the open beta, you need to create an account here.

Prototype tells the story of Alex Mercer - a man haunted by his past, fighting a secret war in New York City. As the action spirals out of control, a conspiracy tied to his origins threatens the future of mankind itself.

Re-designed for the PC, Mass Effect invites players to take the role of Commander Shepard as they set out on an adventure to save the galaxy from imminent destruction. Wrought with treachery, heroism, difficult decisions and a universe filled with unique and colorful species, Mass Effect delivers a truly compelling storyline. Originally scheduled for May 6, it has been pushed back a few weeks until May 28 in North America and June 6 in Europe.

Summer Sports: Paradise Island will turn your Wii into a luxurious island resort! Check into the Paradise Island Resort and explore the vast array of recreational activities in this lush tropical environment, such as Basketball, Croquet, Lawn Darts, Badminton, Volleyball, Horse Shoes, and Mini-Golf.

WorldShift is a next-generation, cyber-fantasy RTS game set in a dark future of Earth, where today's civilization is only a fading mysterious legend. Gone gold last month, Black Sea Studios has pushed back the April 17 release date until May 8, in order to smooth out its a distribution plan.

Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties is AoE 3's the second expansion pack, engaging gamers of all ages and types n epic warfare in the Eastern world, and leading Japanese, Chinese and Indian civilizations to expand their empires. Last week's patch revealed a small bug, which has now been addressed.

On an island continent shrouded in darkness and bounded on every shore by an impassable veil, war rages among desperate inhabitants fighting for survival. A mysterious famine has ravaged the land, leaving its denizens to struggle over what little fertile land remains.

Another day, another batch of games shipped to stores. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are announcements for:

• Assassin's Creed Director's Cut (PC)
• Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis (PC)
• Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Vol. 2 (PS2)
• MiniCopter: Adventure Flight (Wii)
• 
  We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details ...

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 v5.1 (requires v1.2 patch installed) and addresses a number of known issues, gameplay tweaks, bug fixes and so forth.

Announced yesterday, Gauntlet is a modern reworking of the classic fantasy hack and slash arcade game. Choose from the four heroes (Elf, Warrior, Wizard, and Valkyrie) each with their own strengths, weaknesses and special abilities. Slash your way through demonic foes and gain up to four power move abilities to aid you in your battle with evil.

THQ's Elements of Destruction, developed by Frozen Codebase using the Vicious Engine, is an engaging, frenetic game where players use the spectacularly destructive powers of nature to raze and blaze as they desire.