Midway announces today that Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War has gone gold and is scheduled to ship to U.S. stores on June 12. Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War is a detailed RTS game that lets players completely command one of the four mightiest empires of the ancient world: Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Persia.

It has been much talked about, especially over the past few days, and it finally seems to be taking shape. A new Xbox 360 update is scheduled to take effect in the next week and will include the highly anticipated background downloading, boot to the dash option, a much-improved Marketplace, DVD playback tweaks, as well as various other new features and enhancements.

As society succumbs to a worldwide energy crisis, a new global depression takes hold. Amidst this desperate backdrop, two superpower alliances emerge. Join the battle on the frontlines of tomorrow as the Western Coalition or the Red Star Alliance.

Matrix Games has released a PureSim Baseball 2007 demo covering a limited number of seasons compared to the 105 (1900-2005) that can be played in the full version. A v1.1 update for the retail game has also been released, resolving a number of minor issues in the original release, this update adds full expansion support for player leagues as a free new feature.

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:

• Battlefield 2142 - E3 Demo Trailer
• Half-Life 2 Episode One - Trailer #3
• Pacific Storm - E3 2006 Trailer (2)
• Stoked Rider - E3 2006 Trailer
• WarRock - Trailer #2
• Hitman: Blood Money [PS2/Xbox/X360/PC] - Trailer #11
• Company of Heroes - Trailer #4
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  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Ubisoft announced that its AND 1 Streetball Soundtrack will feature all original and exclusive tracks from hip hop's hottest rap artists from across the nation, ranging from New York's veteran Kool G Rap to Oakland's up-and-comer Turf Talk, and comes free when you buy the game.

Ultimate Duck Hunting finds you, your dog, your companion hunters and their dogs competing for wild ducks in noted North American hunting preserves. Your choice of hunting accessories, dog-training ability, and aim accuracy determines your ultimate duck hunting success.

Eidos has released a small patch for the recently released Hitman: Blood Money demo, addressing the constant low framerate bug that some users have been experiencing on certain hardware configurations.

Nintendo of America today announced three key promotions at the executive level. Current President Tatsumi Kimishima becomes chairman of the board and CEO, while Reggie Fils-Aime steps up to president and COO from his current role as executive VP of Sales & Marketing. Former senior VP of Business Development Mike Fukuda is now executive VP of Business Development.

Ubisoft today revealed the first details and screenshots on the multiplayer modes of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. The multiplayer modes are developed by Kuju Entertainment, and the game is scheduled for release on PC in September 2006. Read more for screenshots and details ...

American McGee Presents: Bad Day L.A., a third-person action/adventure game with a tongue-in-cheek comedic twist. Set in modern day Los Angeles, Bad Day L.A. combines a fantastical art style, groundbreaking collaborative gameplay elements and a heavy dose of dark satire to create a truly unforgettable experience.

Valve's SteamPowered website has been updated with details regarding a rather large update to its Source engine. This update addresses various graphical issues with HDR, Nvidia cards, UI fixes, and a few sound issues. Read more for details, or just restart Steam for the effects to take place.

K2 Network announced today that Global MU Online is the first subscription model MMORPG to be converted to the hybrid K2 Network Free2Play and Pay2Play pricing model.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is a brand-new action-adventure featuring slime, one of the most popular monsters from the Dragon Quest series. The kingdom of Slimenia is invaded, all slimes kidnapped and so you embark on a journey throughout Slimenia to save your friends and uncover the Plob’s nefarious plot!

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:

• Dino Master (PSP)
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  We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details...

Race Driver 2006 for the PSP features a cavalcade of real cars, world-famous circuits and incredible closely fought competition races. In addition to an extensive career mode, the North American edition of Race Driver 2006 comes loaded with an additional and all-new championship, the Trans World Cup.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is Nintendo's latest incarnation in the popular Super Smash Bros. series of titles. Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii will feature all new characters ranging from Kirby and Wario to Samus, and even Metal Gear Solid's Snake.

Vivendi has released a new v1.05 patch for Monolith's first person close-quarters combat experience FEAR, adding two new multiplayer modes, Control and Capture All, and two new maps. An updated Win32/Linux server and SDK are also available.

Check out the following new screens from Buka's E3 2006 lineup:

• Hard Truck Apocalypse: Rise of Clans - Features, Screens & Trailer
• Aggression: Europe 1914 - Features, Screens & Trailer
• The Stalin Subway: Red Veil - Features, Screens & Trailer
• Pacific Storm: Allies - Features, Screens & Trailer
• Dusk-12 - Features, Screens & Trailer

Newly founded Supersonic Group announced today it has signed Enlight's Bad Day in LA, a third-person action/adventure game with a tongue-in-cheek comedic twist. Set in modern day Los Angeles, Bad Day L.A. combines a fantastical art style, groundbreaking collaborative gameplay elements and a heavy dose of dark satire to create a truly unforgettable experience.