In order to keep the members of the Brazilian National Football Team entertained between matches, Atari and the Kempinski Hotel Falkenstein have provided a games lounge for the players where they can road-test a pre-release version of Test Drive Unlimited.

Boasting a new and innovative console-specific control scheme that allows novice players to enjoy the game’s signature strategy gameplay while giving expert strategy players the flexibility needed to engage in deeply complex battles. The Battle for Middle-earth II for the X360 will hit store shelves July 7.

Iron Lore revealed that it is already working on the first patch for its just released RTS game Titan Quest. While there is no pinned down release date yet, so far the developers have addressed several issues: character corruption on saved games caused by crashes, smarter (improved) inventory placement when you pick up Items, dialog windows closing when bumping NPCs, and improved multiplayer performance on 5 & 6 player games. They are also looking into various crash bugs and working their way through the collected data.

Dungeon Siege II: Broken World picks up right where Dungeon Siege II left off with an all-new campaign mode, a new playable race, more items to discover and a brand new multi-class character development system. Dungeon Siege II: Broken World will require the full version of DS II.

Icculus has released an updated dedicated Linux server files for Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 2. This v1.3 version brings the server in sync with the previously released patch, but no further details are available at this point ...

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:

• Dark Messiah of Might & Magic - Assassin Trailer
• Beltion: Beyond Ritual - Trailer
• Dance Factory [PS2] - Trailer
• Bomberman [PSP] - Trailer
• Company of Heroes - Infantry Weapons Trailer
• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - Flying Mounts
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  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Blizzard has released a small update for its MMORPG World of Warcraft. This v1.11.1 update addresses softlock issues affecting some users at login and during battlegrounds.

German Street Racing is a street racing game, developed by Dutch studio Team6, spread out over 5 of the biggest German cities. Select your favorite German car, tune it, race against AI or take it online, but most of all, keep an eye on the condition of your ride!

Activision announced today that you can now download the Call of Duty 2: Invasion premium map pack from the Xbox Live Marketplace. This map pack features five new maps for multiplayer skirmishes (costs 800 points ) that include: Antoville, France (Crossroads), St. Louet, France (Newvillers), Amaye sur Seulles, France (Normandy), Alam Halfa, Egypt (Decoytown), and Rostov, Russia (Harbor). Just log on to Xbox Live and redeem your points ...

Today Ubisoft announced the opening of a new studio in Sofia, Bulgaria. Alexandru-Ion Radu, recently named director of recruitment and training at Ubisoft's Romania studio, has been appointed manager of the new studio, reporting directly to Sebastien Delen, managing director of Ubisoft Romania. The new studio is working on the Rayman Raving Rabbids PC version, as well as the yet unannounced CSI console port.

The Ship is a first person maritime gaming experience set aboard a fleet of 1930s steam liners. Originally a Half Life Mod, The Ship is now being crafted as a full single and multiplayer game in its own right by Edinburgh-based Outerlight.

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:

• Deep Sea Tycoon: Diver’s Paradise (PC)
• Darwinia (PC)
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  We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details ...

Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception will feature a limited amount of flyable planes such as F/A-18 Hornet, Su-27 and the MiG-29, and the same group of countries are still waging war. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception features a new multiplayer mode that allows simultaneous battle for up to four players!

A survey conducted by Macrovision revealed a common misconception about the habits of people who play casual games. People who like mainstream games, such as Diner Dash and MahJong, frequently play more than nine, two or more hour ‘sessions’ each week, usually at night as opposed to during commute hours or other ‘quick break’ times during the day.

A job listing on the Datascope recruitment page reveals that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is looking for a Senior/Lead Designer in the Liverpool studio, to have a key role in realising future iterations of Wipeout on PSP and PS3. WipeOut is one of SCE's most popular and long running arcade/action racing franchises.

With authentic simulation physics, bone-jarring damage, photo-realistic graphics, 300 of the world’s hottest cars for you to collect, and licensed tuning and customization options, Forza Motorsport 2 improves on the unprecedented features gamers enjoyed in its debut installment.

Vivendi has released a new v1.06 patch for Monolith's first person close-quarters combat experience FEAR addressing a loading issue with games saved before the 1.05 update and several other various fixes. An updated Win32/Linux server and SDK are also available.

Shadowgrounds is an adrenaline-pumping action game featuring upgradeable weapons, lighting based gameplay and an epic storyline with strong characters. With the Level Editor, modders are able to create totally new missions, even story-based campaigns.

As promised Valve has released its Day of Defeat: Source Summer 2006 update featuring a free map pack, a new gameplay style, Detonation, two brand new missions (Jagd, Colmar). On top of that, it will also add new gameplay enhancements such as spawn clip adjustments, improved hit location detection, and weapon balancing.