Midway issued the following statement regarding the status Rise & Fall: CaW, "Due to circumstances beyond Midway's control, Stainless Steel Studios is no longer involved with the development of Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War. Despite this unfortunate situation, Midway remains focused and determined to deliver a revolutionary real-time strategy experience with Rise & Fall, and will look to stay true to the title's original development vision. Rise & Fall Civilizations at War remains scheduled for release in 2006." More details are promised soon ...

Epic has released a new patch for its sci-fi FPS Unreal Tournament 2004. This patch brings your retail game to v3369 and addresses the usual slew of bug fixes, engine & network enhancements, and gameplay tweaks. This new patch is compatible with the ECE Bonus Pack. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

Brought to you by Bohemia Interactive Studio, the creators of Operation Flashpoint, Armed Assault will reacquaint gamers with the ultimate in realistic, combat gaming. Armed Assault features a new engine with a fresh modern setting. Freedom of action and immersive complex environments, blended with a unique touch of total simulation.

Keepsake will immerse you into a journey beyond compare. Assisted by a dragon afraid of heights, Lydia takes on to explore the Dragonvale Academy's empty structures in search for her best friend Celeste. Frogster has released the first patch for Wicked Studios' adventure game Keepsake bringing your German retail game to v1.1 and adressing some puzzle and dialogue issues.

In Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 3, players will embody Captain Scott Mitchell as he commands the Ghosts and Special Forces allies equipped with the IWS in the quest to save the president of the United States, recover stolen nuclear codes and eliminate a vicious band of renegade soldiers hell-bent on unleashing catastrophe.

Enlight has released a patch for the downloadable version of its Marine Park Empire, sync'n your digital version with the earlier released v1.2 retail patch, fixing character uniform and scenario bugs, as well as improving ingame models and salary system.

SimBin and MoTeC announced they will be integrating real life racing technology into the racing game genre. MoTeC is specialising in the design and development of world class engine management and data acquisition systems for race cars.

Timothy and Titus: Saints, Martyrs, Heroes, developed by White Knight Games, is based on St Paul's disciples St Timothy and St Titus. The game follows their adventures in a fictional tale of fun, mystery, and adventure as they spread the Gospel message across the lands of early Christianity.

Akella Company and Wargaming.net announce the development of strategy game based on novel Inhabited Island by Strugatsky brothers.

THQ today announced that the fourth installment of the epic Broken Sword series of games will be entitled Broken Sword: The Angel of Death. Created by Revolution Software, this latest epic adventure is due to launch on PC and is expected to hit stores around the world in summer 2006.

Ape Escape 3 is pached with more content than any previous Ape Escape titles, a full 28 stages (136 total areas, compared with 84 for the previous installment) and tons of mini games. Family-friendly Ape Escape Academy makes its PSP debut and features feature ad hoc wireless functionality and more than 40 mini-games that are diverse and range in difficulty. Both titles will be available on January 17, 2006.

Last week Myriad Interactive announced it had formed the DJ Group which included Digital Jesters, Monte Cristo and Turtle Games. Today Monte Cristo has reacted strongly to the suggestion that it has become a label of the DJ Group and benefited from investment from Myriad Interactive.

Pursuit Force is a fast-paced arcade-action game, that fuses driving and combat mechanics to create a unique gaming experience for PSP. Pursuit Force follows the misadventures of a rookie Police Officer tracking down five criminal gangs across an entire fictional state in America.

The Interactive Entertainment Institute, announce today that Ray Kurzweil is the plenary keynote speaker for the G.A.M.E.S. Synergy Summit 2006 (GSS06) held at the Wyndham Orlando Resort on January 17-18.

Today Ubisoft, Gearbox Software, and The History Channel, announced that a Brothers In Arms­ inspired two-hour documentary special on World War II will premiere on The History Channel. Produced by Foglight Entertainment, the television special, hosted by actor Ron Livingston (Band of Brothers) will premiere on The History Channel on Sunday, December 18th at 8 pm ET/PT.

GameSpot received word from Microsoft that Digital Anvil, known for Freelancer on PC, and Xbox's Brute Force, is being shut down and assimilated. Last time anybody heard from the developer was back in 2003 when it finished Brute Force, a PC title turned Xbox when Microsoft bought DA. The employees from Digital Anvil, which was based in Texas, are given the opportunity to take up other positions in Microsoft Game Studios, but need to relocate to Washington if they choose to do so.

Valve's SteamPowered website has been updated with details regarding the latest update for its online delivery system Steam. This release updates Counter-Strike Source with the previously announced new de_nuke with High Dynamic Range (HDR) lighting, as well as a slew of enhancements and bug fixes. Just restart Steam for the effects to take place.

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 :

• Starcraft: Ghost [PS2/Xbox] - Trailer #4
• RF Online - Trailer #3
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Auto Assault combines vehicular combat with role-playing elements. Players explore a post-apocalyptic future in customizable cars, motorcycles, semis and even tanks. Players battle other players both in arenas and in epic race vs. race wars for control of the regions in a devastated Earth.

At a conference in Tokyo Square Enix revealed that Japanese gamers will have to dig deep into their wallet for the latest Final Fantasy title when it launches March 16. Standard PS2 titles normally retail for $59, but FF XII will be priced at $75. Square Enix is not new to the overpricing as DQ VIII had a $77 price tag and people bought it like hotcakes. North American gamers shouldn't panic just yet, despite its hefty price in Japan, DQ 8 was sold over here at the normal rate, and so far Final Fantasy XII pre-orders aren't any more expensive than the normal going price.