The Inquirer is reporting that shortly after Valve's Half-Life 2 became available in most retail outlets people bringing home their boxed copy faced a majpor disappointment as Valve's Authentication Servers came crashing down and people could therefor not authenticate their purchased product. Vivendi's technical support said that fixing the problem could easily take up to three hours or longer.

Ignition has secured North American and European rights to publish Zoo Keeper, a puzzler from developer SUCCESS Corporation that will be one of the first Japanese launch titles for Nintendo's highly-anticipated new handheld video game system - the Nintendo DS.

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 :

• Creature Conflict: The Clan Wars - Trailer #3
• God Of War - Trailer #2
• Shadow of Rome - Trailer #4

Electronic Arts announced today that All-pro New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey and hip hop artist Xzibit will share the cover of NFL STREET 2 from the EA SPORTS BIG brand.

Battlefront has released the first patch for their recently released WWII hybrid turn-based/realtime 3D simulation Combat Mission: Afrika Korps. This upgrade brings your retail game to v1.02 and addresses the usual gameplay tweaks, bug fixes and so forth. This patch works for the US as well as European edition of the game but games saved in v1.02 can't be loaded in by the older version. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within features a deep, mysterious storyline starring a darker, edgier Prince who is vigilant in his quest to unseal his mortal destiny. Read more for new screens ...

Listen up, partner. Megaman and his pals, Axl and Zero are calling for your help. The evil cyborg Sigma wants to destroy the world. He must be defeated. Megaman must prevail. Join the battle!

Namco announced today that their most breathtaking role-playing adventure yet, Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, has shipped to North American retail outlets.

Ubisoft today announced that Tom Clancy's Classic Trilogy will be available at retail outlets across the U.S. this week. The collection is a special three-DVD set and includes three platinum Xbox titles: Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, and Rainbow Six 3.

Asphalt Urban GT for the Nintendo DS screens have arrived! Drive more than 20 well-respected racing cars in the world, including Lamborghini, Jaguar, Hummer and many more. Race through streets of New York City, Miami, Paris and and other famous locations, at the same time players will have the advantage of watching their progress turn-by-turn on the bottom display of the Nintendo DS.

Capcom's quirkiest action superhero once again takes center stage in this engaging action brawler that has new moves, a playable heroine, and inventive character designs with gameplay that perpetuates more punch and style than its predecessor. Viewtiful Joe 2 is set to unleash its viewtifulness onto the real world this winter.

Shadow of Rome, an all-new action adventure game, transports players to one of the most perilous ages of man, an era when Caesar was hailed as the leader of the Roman Empire and whose sovereignty dominated all of western civilization.

Electronic Arts announced today that NCAA March Madness 2005, the authentic college hoops simulation featuring the strategic new Floor General Play Calling System, has shipped to retailers nationwide and is now available in stores under the EA SPORTS brand.

Ubisoft announced today that Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2 for the Xbox is available this week at retail outlets across the U.S. The long-anticipated sequel to the first, legendary Ghost Recon, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2 for Xbox has been completely reworked to take advantage of the latest Xbox technology and will once again establish a new standard for addictive and immersive single- and multiplayer action.

Atari and Firaxis have announced that Sid Meier's Pirates! has gone gold and is on target for a U.S. in-store date of November 22nd.

Few things say "Happy Holidays!" more charmingly than cockroaches, and this holiday season is assured loads of festive roach-infested fun as Got Game Entertainment today announced that "Bad Mojo" has gone gold. This award-winning cult classic adventure "roach game" for both PC and Mac is set to crawl onto retail shelves across North America this December.

Set before the events of the two films which starred Vin Diesel as the anti-hero Riddick, the new developer’s cut offers players exclusive content in the form of a mech for players to control, as well as a new arena where players can test their survival skills against some of the most hardened criminals in the galaxy.

Developed by Irrational Games, SWAT 4 allows players to take control of a squad of up to five police officers tasked with performing dangerous operations such as high-risk arrests, hostage rescue and counter-terrorism. Read more for details and some new screens.

In Tales Of Rebirth, Namco's latest RPG, you will play as a swordsman in a world called Callegeia. Read more to check out some new screens ...

Spike TV today announced the categories, nominees and several performances scheduled for the 2nd annual Video Game Awards. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 top this year's nominees list with five nominations each.