Two years after the dramatic conclusion of Final Fantasy VII, the ruins of Midgar stand as a testament to the sacrifices that helped bring peace. However, the world will soon face a new menace. A mysterious illness is spreading fast. Old enemies are astir. And Cloud, who walked away from the life of a hero to live in solitude, must step forward yet again ... Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is scheduled to ship in 2005.

Since Troika is no longer amongst the living this patch is not official, so use at your own discretion. This update brings Activision's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines retail game to v1.4 (requires v1.2 patch installed) and addresses a number of known issues, gameplay tweaks, bug fixes and so forth. Read more for details and download links ...

Limelight Networks today announced it has been selected by Microsoft as the Content Delivery Network for Microsoft's Xbox Live, the online gaming service for the Xbox. With full implementation of Xbox Live on Limelight Networks' powerful delivery network, the synergy of Xbox Live and the Limelight Networks platform will provide millions of gamers unprecedented online access to games, content and downloads from Microsoft and leading game developers directly via Xbox Live.

At New York's Central Park Zoo, a lion, a zebra, a giraffe, and a hippo are best friends and stars of the show. But when one of the animals goes missing from their cage, the other three break free to look for him, only to find themselves reunited ... on a ship en route to the island of Madagascar. When their vessel capsizes off the coast, however, the friends, who have all been raised in captivity, learn first-hand what life can be like in the wild.

Eidos announced today that that its new PSP title, Smart Bomb, has just gone gold, and will ship May 10, 2005. Smart Bomb is an intense, adrenaline pumping, explosive experience for the PSP handheld! As a member of the Bomb Disposal Unit (B.D.U.), you are tasked with diffusing a highly intricate series of bombs which have been planted in various locations around the world. With over 150 different 3D puzzles, Smart Bomb will test your concentration, wit, and problem solving skills.

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.

Tomb Raider: Legend revives the athletic, intelligent and entertaining adventurer who won the hearts and minds of gamers worldwide. Lara comes alive with intricately animated expressions, moves and abilities. An arsenal of modern equipment, such as a magnetic grappling device, binoculars, frag grenades, personal lighting device and communications equipment, allows gamers to experience tomb raiding as never before.

Another day, another batch of game trailers were released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• Asheron's Call 2: Legions - Trailer (2)

Spir.Ops presents a new middleware for Artificial Intelligence: SPIROPS. This graphical toolkit lets your teams design artificial behaviors, including emotions, personalities with memory and adaptability abilities.

THQ has launched the official Evil Dead Regeneration website, although currently it is pretty bare. Voiced by Bruce Campbell, the game explores a "what if..." continuation from Evil Dead 2, where you control Ash, wrongfully arrested & convicted for killing his companions, and sentenced to Sunny Meadows, an institute for the criminally insane, but not for long. Ash's peaceful stay is about to end -- thanks to the perverted experiments of his very own psychiatrist, Dr. Reinhard. Hell-bent on using science to harness the Necronomicon's powers, the mad doctor unleashes the book's all-powerful Evil on the world -- releasing a new slew of Deadites, monsters and spirits, twisting reality into a hellish strudel and leaving mankind with that not-so-fresh apocalyptic feeling.

Remnants of the Stars is an open ended space simulation that features unparalleled space combat integrated tightly with an engaging story. It takes place in a massive universe which the player is free to explore and exploit. Read more for new screens ...

Mythic Blades is a visually breath-taking entertainment title which places the player in the role of Legendary Hero or Terrifying Monster during combat to determine the fate of the Olympus. Ares has challenged his father; if Ares wins, he will take over Zeus' place and rule over the Olympus - but the battle does not take place there. Instead it will be fought between Man and Monster.

2K Games and FIRAXIS Games announced today the acquisition of publishing rights to Sid Meier's Pirates!. Pirates! for the Xbox will be released by 2K Games this summer. Also included in this expanded partnership between 2K Games and FIRAXIS Games are publishing rights to the previously released PC version of Sid Meier's Pirates!.

Power Rangers creator Bandai Co. agreed to buy Pac-Man designer Namco Ltd. for about $1.7 billion (175.3 billion yen) in cash and stock to create Japan's second-biggest toy and video-game software maker. Both companies will merge Sept. 29 and be henceforth known as Namco Bandai Holdings Inc., and be led by Bandai President Takeo Takasu and Namco Vice Chairman Kyushiro Takagi.

Irth Online is a virtual world in which players role play characters in a free form, fantasy-based storyline. Players join Irth’s history at a period when a fragile truce exists among the far flung civilizations of the snowy Arcadians in the north, the southeastern swamps and marshes of Morbus, and the southwestern tropical region of Mezoteks – and determine the course of history for each civilization. Magic Hat Software's MMORPG Irth Online, scheduled for release this July, will have its first and only pre-launch public showing at E3 in Booth 6400 in Kentia Hall.

Simbin has released a new patch for the German edition of their racing game GTR: FIA GT Racing Game. This update brings your retail game to 1.4.0.0 and adds the new RaceMore feature, improves the in-game lobby, adds voting to boot people off, some memory leaks and the usual gameplay tweaks and big fixes. Read more for details ...

S2 will significantly improve the game - important features have been added, dynamic camber (improved simulation of suspension and different suspension types), highly detailed tyre physics and a damage model have been introduced. The LFS team has released an updated alpha demo for Live for Speed S2 offering you a training area, and the Blackwood track, driveable in 3 cars. This update adds various fixes and improvements including a new kind of differential which helps you to get the power down to the ground more effectively. Read more for download links ...

Blizzard has released yet another new Warcraft III map, this time called "Shrine of the Ancients"... Map info: "There once existed a shrine to the ancient gods of yore, but all that remains is a ruin of rubble, sand, and ore. Though legends persist of creatures from the sea, that have surfaced to guard the treasures of an era long before." This is a small sized map and the suggested no. of players is 1v1. It is based on the "Sunken Ruins" tileset. Go download it here!

Bold Games has released a new patch for Gabriel Entertainment's sim John Deere American Farmer, in which you create, build and manage a successful farm. This update brings your retail game to v1.02 and addresses a crash when loading save games, menu issue on certain gfx cards and a few game tweaks. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...