"Forza Motorsport" gives Xbox gamers who are passionate about cars and racing the opportunity to own, customize, and race their favorite cars in a realistic driving simulation. From sport compacts to LeMans prototypes, players use earnings from hundreds of races to buy upgrades and aftermarket parts so they can transform real production cars into high-performance race cars.

CDV has released more info for Stormregion's Codename Panzers: Phase Two, which is expected spring 2005. 'Codename Panzers: Phase Two' sees the return of the Italian brothers Dario and Sergio, a deeper storyline (an unnamed 'world-famous author' has been hired to flesh it out), most of the Axis campaign will take place in Africa, with the Allies residing in Italy. Whoever finishes both campaigns gets to enjoy a bonus campaign in Yugoslavia. Read more for some new screens ...

Namco announced today that the epic space battle RPG Sigma Star Saga is coming exclusively to Game Boy Advance in June 2005. Sigma Star Saga combines the rich storyline and exploration of an RPG with an action-packed shooter battle system, delivering gamers with the biggest adventure this side of the galaxy. Read more for details and screens ...

In 'Playboy: the Mansion' you step into the virtual slippers of world-famous Playboy Founder Hugh Hefner, building Playboy Magazine and the Playboy Mansion into dynamic cultural icons. Gamers also will live the lifestyle, rubbing elbows with stunning women and popular celebrities, and share the mystique of the Mansion by hosting extravagant, exciting parties.

EA announced today that Bernard Hopkins, the Middleweight Champion of the World, will serve as the official spokesman and cover athlete for EA Sports Fight Night Round 2. The sequel to this year's hit boxing video game will be released in March 2005 under the EA Sports brand for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube.

UEFA Champions League will offer soccer fans the opportunity to guide their chosen club from qualification anxiety through to big night glory, adding an element of the unexpected allowing lower league teams into the glamour world of European football. EA has released a playable demo allowing you to play as Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich (thanks Blues). Read more for download links ...

Legacy Interactive announced today that the company's upcoming PC strategy/role-playing game, ER, will be distributed in the UK by Mindscape in spring 2005. Read more for details and screens ...

Offering over 40 fully-licensed and faithfully replicated club and national teams, players can tinker with tactics, formation, line-up and training before each match. During the game, Pro Rugby Manager 2 displays each bone-crunching tackle, each heart-in-mouth drop kick and every maddening pass and dash to the try-line in such glorious, motion-captured detail, it rivals anything TV coverage can offer.

Back in November, Vivendi's community liaison Guy Welch revealed that a new v1.2 update patch for Irrationals multiplayer shooter Tribes: Vengeance was being tested, and would be released in December 2004. Meanwhile, it's more than a month later, and still no T:V patch. Today, Welch has responded to the community giving a rather cryptic reason as to why, "The patch has been delayed from our initial December release date due to an outstanding agreement between two third parties. They need to come to terms before we can proceed." Speculation has it that there is an argument between Punkbuster and Irrational Games.

TrackMania Sunrise, the legitimate heir to the throne, is shifting up a gear. Sunrise moves faster, handles better and features improved air-control – vital for making the massive jumps – to ensure that gameplay never moves at anything less than fast. And it's all about the gameplay.

SCEA and 989 Sports announced today that it has signed the Major League Baseball 2004 American League MVP, Vladimir Guerrero, to grace the cover of its MLB 2006 videogame, due to hit stores in Spring 2005, exclusively for the PS2. A top defensive playmaker and premier offensive threat, the Angels outfielder will team up with a host of other top MLB stars to promote the popular 989 Sports baseball title.

Area 51 is set in the U.S. government's most top-secret and secure facility located in the Nevada desert. Players take on the role of Lt. Nick Cross, a hazardous biological waste specialist sent to investigate. Read more for details, and a few screens..

Jowood has released a new patch for its RTS/RPG game SpellForce bringing your retail game to v1.52a (for all language versions) and fixes a problem encountered with the Gold Edition of Spellforce and the latest Patch 1.52, players were asked for a cd-key although the GE doesn`t require one. Read more for download links ...

Kicking off the new year with some noise, Electronic Arts today announced that Beastie Boys' song "An Open Letter To NYC" headlines the in-game soundtrack for the hottest street hoops experience on the market -- NBA Street Vol.3. The game features 13 explosive tracks including new music from some of the coolest names in hip-hop and rap. The street courts of NBA Street Vol.3 will never sound the same.

Activision today announced that it has acquired game developer Vicarious Visions, most recently known for Spider-Man 2 on NDS. Vicarious Visions' proven proprietary Alchemy middleware technology and tools will be combined with Activision's next-generation tools and libraries to further enhance the company's overall development efforts.

Bringing a new dimension to stealth action games, Second Sight gives players control of a character endowed with incredible psychic abilities. The game offers multiple approaches to completing levels either via stealth, dramatic gunplay, psychic powers or a combination of all three. The ability to psychically influence characters and remotely manipulate objects and individuals provides for a totally fresh gameplay dynamic.

A few days ago Ubisoft announced that it was working on a plan to defend itself against what it considers "a hostile takeover" from Electronic Arts. Today French financial newspaper La Tribune may have revealed more on the matter as it ran an article in which it claims that Ubisoft is having positive talks with Take Two and Activision to form a front against EA. Ubisoft President Yves Guillemot is also quoted as saying that he is working with the shareholders to ensure they act in the best interest of the company and stay on the same page as the Guillemot family.

1C Company and KDLab revealed today that they are working on an addon for last year's innovative RTS Perimeter. Scheduled for release in Russia Q1 2005, Perimeter: Emperor's Testament will feature all new & updated graphics, tons of new units and structures, a new soundtrack by the St. Petersburg Orchestra, and a total of 25 new missions. Until we get more details, enjoy the first 20 screens ...

'FIFA Street' is a combination of arcade action blended with the culture of freestyle street football. By removing the rules from the simulation football experience, 'FIFA Street' exposes the heart of the world's beautiful game, on-the-ball flare and individual style.

In Killer 7, players take on the role of Harman Smith an unlikely assassin who lives life at his own pace. Switching between seven different personalities, he employs each character’s abilities to terminate targets he deems deserving to die. Capcom has updated the official Killer 7 website indicating that it has pushed its action game, which was originally slated for Feb 2005 release date, back to early June 2005.