Lead a four-man fireteam of US Marines through the perils of authentic, modern urban combat in a Middle-Eastern urban battleground. This is an action-oriented, first-person 3D shooter that is being developed under the direction of the US Marine Corps as a training simulation for use by the Marine Corps. Close Combat: First to Fight is as close as you can get on a computer or Xbox to being a Marine fireteam leader in modern urban combat!

Mortal Kombat : Shaolin Monks is an Action/Adventure title driven by both intense single and multi-player action. Similar to the recently released Mortal Kombat: Deception, background interactions (i.e., acid pits, living trees, spiked ceilings, etc.), multiple new fatalities, and action-based puzzles will also play an important role in the player’s quest for an “outstanding” victory.

Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict continues the Unreal franchise on the Xbox and introduces an evolutionary new gameplay style to the traditional FPS genre: acrobatic melee combat. This highly anticipated sequel also features new single-player and multiplayer gameplay, person camera mode and intense melee abilities. Unreal Championship fans can play as any one of 14 characters from the Unreal universe, each with spectacular new Adrenaline Powers that enable new offensive and defensive combos.

The game will provide players with extremely dynamic gameplay of fast and tough combats, where players are to oppose dangerous and wise enemies, a large set of multifarious weaponry, possibility to control various machinery, incredible detailing and game world interactivity, story-driven single player with original team gameplay, a well-balanced multiplayer with numerous modes: DeathMatch, CTF, Cooperative, various team games and much more.

ArenaNet and NCsoft announced today that their second Beta Weekend Event has begun a day early in order to accommodate the European and Asian players and giving them a full weekend of Guild Wars beta testing. All future Beta Weekend Events will commence on Friday mornings of the weekend in question.

Microids and DreamCatcher have signed a publishing/distribution agreement for the North American market for two titles, Still Life and Obscure. No specific release date was announced, but both are expected around Q2 2005.

SEGA Europe today announced they would be publishing Blood Will Tell, a modern-day action epic for the PS2, adapted from the classic Manga tale by Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy). Blood Will Tell delivers the ultimate samurai fighting experience, for one or two players, with intense 3D action from one of Japan's most celebrated storytellers.

While we already had a first trailer a few days ago, Electronic Arts today announced that EA SPORTS Rugby 2005 is under development as the newest ongoing franchise in the EA SPORTS lineup. The game, which features a host of gameplay and graphical upgrades, will deliver an authentic rugby experience and is scheduled for release in spring 2005 for the PS2, the Xbox, and the PC.

Vivisector: Beast Inside developed by Action Forms (creators of Chasm and Carnivores series) is a unique mixture of 3D Action/Horror. The game blends a thrilling interactive story with intense, high-adrenaline action and immerses players in a rich and fascinating storyline.

"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.