Mid April Vivendi announced it had hired former Ubisoft COO Tremblay, but now it seems that this may not go into effect anytime soon. During his Ubisoft days Tremblay was a strong supporter of its one-year non-compete clause barring employees to jump ship to another developer/publisher. Now its seems Tremblay is victim of his own stance, as Ubisoft is taking him to court blocking his Vivendi appointment.

1C Company unveiled today the 5 titles to be shown at the E3 in May, 2006. 1C plans to release all of their top games for 2006 in the US for the first time. 1C’s new lineup spans multiple genres including a first-person action title, real-time strategy, simulation and role-playing games.

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

• King Of Fighters 2006 (PS2)
• Metal Slug (GBA)
• Metal Slug Anthology (PSP)
• Metal Slug Anthology (Wii)
• SNK Vs Capcom Card Fighters DS (NDS)

Square Enix and Buena Vista Games announced today that their PS2 exclusive action/rpg Kingdom Hearts II, has sold through more than one million units in North America, making it one of the top-selling new releases of 2006.

Full Auto 2: Battlelines puts high-speed vehicles outfitted with weapons and armor into fully realized and fully destructible urban street environments. Fierce combat-racing will ensue as you strategically use destruction to win races as well as leave massive devastation in your wake.

Sphere II is a new massively multiplayer online role-play game based on the opposition of two races – vampires and humans. The vast game universe includes numerous areas where players will encounter both fantasy monsters and technological golems, the heritage of ancient civilizations.

SEGA announced its new PSP exclusive Sonic Rivals, a head-to-head competition between Sonic and his top rivals. Rip through tracks in some high-spirited single player and wireless multiplayer action against friends as Sonic returns in a whole new racing-platformer with classic 2D gameplay in true 3D environments for gamers on the go.

Yakuza (known in Japan as Ryu Ga Gotoku) is a thrilling, PS2 exclusive, action-adventure game created by producer Toshihiro Nagoshi and award-winning novelist Seishu Hase, taking players deep into the world of Japan's infamous underground organization.

Grotesque is a new adventure/rpg from German developer Silent Dreams, and promises to be an original blend of traditional fantasy RPG (like Gothic, Fable, Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment) and sarcastic humor with adventure elements along the lines of Monkey Island.

Quest Online, Inc. has announced its entry into the industry with a new upcoming MMORPG title called Crusade. Created by David Allen, creator of "Mordor", "Demise", and the original design of "Horizons", Crusade promises to be a major fantasy-based playing experience in the ever-expanding online marketplace.

Check out the following new screens from Atari's Pre-E3 2006 lineup:

• Alone in the Dark: Near Death Investigation (X360/PC)
• Arthur and the Minimoys (GBA/NDS/PSP/PS2/PC)
• Dragon Ball Z Budokai: Tenkaichi 2 (PS2)
• Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics (PSP)
• Hot PXL (PSP)
• Neverwinter Nights 2 (PC)
• Super DBZ (PS2)
• Test Drive Unlimited (X360/PC)

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:

• Alone in the Dark: Near Death Investigation [X360/PC] - Trailer
• Evolution GT [PS2/PC] - Trailer #4
• Pirates of the Burning Sea - E3 2006 Trailer
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusader - Trailer
• Rush for Berlin - Trailer #5
• Titan Quest - Trailer #3
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  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

In Emergency 4 you can either play the 20 mission campaign or choose to try the randomly generated missions. Emergency 4 features realistic physics (walls collapsing, fire spreading), simplified controls, as well as a multiplayer mode. This patch will bring your French/German retail game to v1.2 and makes gameplay tweaks, fixes bugs & crashes and a few other issues...

Earlier today Xbox.com and Microsoft's online multiplayer service Xbox Live were down for maintenance and a possible upgrade. Now that the downtime is over, Microsoft introduces us to its newest features, My Xbox Message Center, which allows you to send msg's to other Xbox Live members via your PC.

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:

• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (PC)
• Seed (PC)
• Gallop Racer 2006 (PS2)
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  We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details...

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

Sony Online Entertainment today announced details on its latest plans for EverQuest II, which include a new expansion pack, Echoes of Faydwer, featuring an all new playable race and an adventure pack introducing an Asian flair to the popular massively multiplayer online game.

Oblivion is a single-player game that takes place in Tamriel's capital province, Cyrodiil. You are given the task of finding the hidden heir to a throne that sits empty, the previous emperor having been killed by an unknown assassin. This v1.1 beta patch (only for English versions of the game) addresses various bugs, crashes, quests and plugin issues.

Take Command: 2nd Manassas explores the titular 1862 battle of the American Civil War, which proved to be the pivotal engagement of the Northern Virginia Campaign. MadMinute Games has released the first patch bringing your English / German retail game to v2.40 and addresses various gameplay issues, fixes bug and game crashes and scalable resolution and more ...

Entropia Universe today announces the introduction of an ATM card system that connects directly with real-world Versatel machines internationally, for easy access to the conversion between virtual and physical currency, allowing Entropia members to conveniently access virtual PED (Project Entropia dollars) and transfer it into "real" cash.