Matrix Games and Playnet are pleased to announce that Battleground Europe is now available to North America for the first time via the Matrix Games Online Store as a digital download, with boxed copies to follow next week. Take control of a soldier fighting in World War II in a persistent massive multiplayer world of first-person combat with infantry, tanks, planes and ships.

As the only game that offers an open, fast-paced driving action-movie experience, Driver: Parallel Lines features an unfolding storyline of double crossing and revenge. Set in a photorealistic interpretation of New York City, players take on the role of a notorious 18 year old who, free from conscience and rules, is the most sought after driver-for-hire in town.

Frogwares has released another version of the patch for its Jules Verne based adventure game 80 Days. This update brings your English retail game to v1.1, and like the previous French/German patch, improves performance, stability, and adds a tutorial to the game. Read more for download links ...

This Call of Duty 2 update is recommended for Win2K/XP users with Intel Hyper-Threading Technology enabled processors, multiple processors, or systems with a dual core processor. This update will bring any supported version of Call of Duty 2 up to v1.01, and will not affect pure server, nor your ability to join or host multiplayer games with v1.0 players.

The Battlefield 2 expansion pack planned to be launched during spring 2006 is now replaced by two booster packs. The change means slightly lower project revenues during the fourth quarter 2005 than during the third, due to a lower development budget. The anticipation though is that this will be compensated by higher royalty revenues during the first six month 2006.

Valve unveiled a 64-bit version of its Source game engine technology today. The first 64-bit Valve games released will be native 64-bit versions of Half-Life 2 and Lost Coast, and have been developed to take advantage of AMD Athlon 64 FX processor-based systems - the ultimate 64-bit gaming platform for PC enthusiasts.

EA today announced that the French postal service, La Poste, has honored The Sims franchise with an official postage stamp. Published in limited edition of 3 million units, Les Sims is one of 10 stamps in the "Heroes of Videogames" collection featuring the industry's most beloved icons. The set will retail for 2.65 euros (approximately $3.09 USD) and is available now in French post offices and through La Poste's website at http://timbres.laposte.fr/eng/

Empire has released a new patch for Strangelite's FPS Starship Troopers, bringing any Euro/US retail game to v5.24 and adds 4 new deathmatch maps (Bait, Duel, Hill, Offensive), three new coop maps (Bait, Psiops, Stronghold), the usual crash and bug fixes, but also new shader option and several new features. Read more for detailed fixlist and download links ...

The Chronicles of Spellborn is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in the Enclave of the Five Sacrifices. Developed by Dutch studio Khaeon Games, previously known for Alpha Black Zero, Spellborn uses the Unreal 2.5 Engine. The closed beta test is currently underway, more people will be allowed to join in the coming months.

KOCH Media has released a new patch for EgoSoft's space-combat exploration game X³: REUNION. This update brings your retail game to v1.3 and adds important features to the game as well as fixing a number of problems that players experienced. It also improves the game-balance in key areas such as combat and the economy. Read more for detailed fixlist and download links ...

When the paparazzi in Lionhead Studios' The Movies game shout, "Who are you wearing?" virtual stars will now respond, "John Malkovich, Uncle Kimono!" Activision, has signed a deal with the popular actor's clothing company to have clothing from his "Uncle Kimono" Collection featured as downloadable costumes for outfitting the stars in The Movies, currently available in retail stores nationwide.

Strategy First and Russian publisher 1C Company announced today that “Cuban Missile Crisis: The Aftermath” has shipped to North American retailers nationwide.

UFO: Aftershock follows directly from one of the endings of UFO: Aftermath, where the player agrees to hand over the Earth to the Alien scientists, who are trying to change the planet into a giant living organism. Cenega has released the first patch bringing your retail game to v1.2 addresses some v1.1 issues, tactical mode problems, several stats displays and Polish localization.

Frame City Killer is a next-generation action game for the Xbox 360. Featuring astoundingly detailed graphics powered by the Unreal Engine 3 and immersive, non-linear gameplay, Frame City Killer is set to deliver an intense gaming experience this holiday season in North America and Europe.

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War will challenge players to develop their high-flying reputations while facing off against rival pilots in white-knuckled dog fights. Read more for details and screens ...

Yuke's, known for THQ's SmackDown!, has just released its Xbox 360 pro-wrestling game based on Japanese wrestlers, Wrestle Kingdom. Unfortunately it is being pulled off the Japanese stores shelves due to a bug that prevents the title from recognizing the correct hard drive space, thus making it impossible for gamers to save their progress. People using a memory unit for saving game data will not be affected by this problem.

Mastiff wants to make the international numbers puzzle phenomenon, Sudoku, more popular than Santa Claus. The company will be releasing the first video game version of Sudoku, "Dr. Sudoku" for the Game Boy Advance in February 2006.

In keeping with Blizzard's aggressive stance against cheating in World of Warcraft, it have permanently closed more than 18,000 accounts over the past three months for participating in activities that violate the game's Terms of Use. A majority of these accounts were found to be using third-party programs to farm gold and items. Such actions can severely impact the economy of a realm and the overall game enjoyment for all players. Read more about it on the official WoW website.

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 :

• Resident Evil: Deadly Silence [NDS] - Gameplay Trailer
• Grandia III [PS2] - Trailer #4
• Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII [PS2] - Trailer #2
• Kingdom Hearts II [PS2] - Intro Movie
• Crashday - Trailer #4
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

After a life of small-time jobs and petty thefts you've been accepted into America's most famous criminal organization, the Corleone family. Now it's up to you to carry out orders, earn respect, rise through the ranks, and make New York City your own. Play your cards right and you could even be running everything as the next, and most powerful, Don.