Square Enix offered to pay as much as $610 million to buy arcade game maker Taito Corp. Square Enix, known for the Final Fantasy series and various other RPG franchises, is seeking ways to increase market share and cut development costs in the $20 billion video games software market. Read more financial gibberish over at Bloomberg.

Pursuit Force is a fast-paced arcade-action game, that fuses driving and combat mechanics to create a unique gaming experience for PSP. Developed by Bigbig Studios, a new development team that pulls together some of the leading creative talent in the gaming industry, Pursuit Force follows the misadventures of a rookie Police Officer tracking down five criminal gangs across an entire fictional state in America.

Microsoft Game Studios announced today that Fable: The Lost Chapters for Windows has gone gold and will materialize in stores on September 20. Role-playing fans yearning for a rich adventure will find much to engage them in Fable: The Lost Chapters which builds upon Fable's gameplay with spectacular new spells, devastating new weapons and stout new armor, all of which will be needed to contend with new monsters and other threats in the treacherous Northern Wastes.

Diabolique: License to Sin is a brand new third person game from Metropolis Team. Unique atmosphere, excellent gameplay, spectacular shaders, Renderware Physics. Tailored suits, expensive cars, dynamic action, and business class graphics. Hell has pretty much to offer.

Dive into an immersive adventure as you experience a living comic-book illustrated with 3D Comic Inking Technology. The game's expanded, free-roaming environments deliver a deep adventure with a variety of challenging missions, diverse game play and an improved combat system that allows players to face off against the largest number of characters from the Spider-Man universe ever assembled in one video game.

The Saga of Ryzom developer Nevrax announced today that, in celebration of Ryzom's first anniversary in September, current players will be awarded a free month of game play.

Namco announced today Payout Poker and Casino, an arcade gambling game for the PS2, Xbox, PSP and the PC. Developed by Bits Gaming Ltd, Payout Poker and Casino allows players to try their luck in four exclusive gambling destinations, with 12 challenging gaming favorites including Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha Hold 'Em, Blackjack, Craps and many more.

Title Bout 2005 is a complete boxing simulation that places over 4000 fighters from John L. Sullivan to Wladimir Klitschko under your control. All aspects of the sport, from knockdowns to knockouts, from cuts to disqualifications, from trial horses to champions, make Title Bout 2005 the most complete and realistic boxing simulation on the market.

EA announced today that NASCAR 06: Total Team Control, will feature NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. The two avid "gamers" personify the focus of this year's game -- Team Racing.

Atari today announced that its upcoming groundbreaking action game TimeShift will ship next spring for the Xbox 360. Currently in development by Saber Interactive, TimeShift is an original first-person shooter offering unprecedented time-control elements that allow players to completely manipulate the flow of time throughout the duration of the game.

Namco announced today that Urban Reign has gone gold for the PS2. A hard-hitting street brawler, the game allows players to duke it out against tough street gangs with or against their friends in a wide array of multiplayer modes featuring more than 60 playable characters, including guest fighters from the legendary "TEKKEN series.

StarCraft: Ghost is a tactical-action console game that refines the epic experience of StarCraft to the level of the individual soldier. Engage the StarCraft universe face-to-face as a deadly Ghost operative in the employ of the Dominion. With the help of determined allies, follow story-driven missions that take you from massive planetary battles through dangerous solo operations to an unexpected turn of events that leaves the fate of the universe in your hands.

Arena Wars developer ExDream revealed its new project at the Leipzig Game Convention. Armies of Steel is a traditional real time strategy game in a near future scenario (only 30-40 years in the future) and consists - additionally to a great multiplayer - of a big singleplayer story and 4 fractions. The game will go "back to the roots" of RTS games and will not feature heros and RPG or fantasy elements unlike most current RTS games. ExDream is still looking for a publisher ...

Most studies done on violence and video games support the conclusion that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior in children and adolescents, especially boys, researchers said on Friday. An analysis of 20 years of research shows the effects can be both immediate and long-lasting.

The top teams from across the world have come to compete in The Great Juju Challenge. Representing the Pupanunu tribe are Tak and Lok who will face great adversity in the form of Jujus, wild animals and some menacing new tribes.

Wizard of Funk is a light RPG (without endless fiddling with statistics, but with the fun of character growth). The player takes on the role of a young wizard and has to physically cast spells in front of the EyeToy Camera to defeat monsters in this first RPG game for EyeToy.

In FF3 you take on the role of Rei, a cursed young woman whose overwhelming guilt and tormented dreams lead her into a formidable world where the lines between reality and nightmares are blurred and the only way out is to solve the mystery of the tattoo. What the player will see in Rei’s dreams is only the beginning of the nightmare, making Fatal Frame III: The Tormented the most terrifying virtual experience to date.

Unreal Tournament 2007 is being developed by North Carolina-based Epic Games. The game promises to blow fans away with the gameplay, modifiability and visuals that Epic's Unreal Engine 3 technology will deliver.

Joint Task Force, under development at Mithis Interactive by former Panzers creators, is a state-of-the-art military RTS with a contemporary setting. Read more for new screens ...