For the first time, EA has moved development for NASCAR PC racing games to the Tiburon Studio in Orlando, FL to focus exclusively on building the ultimate racing simulation. For 18 months, a dedicated team of NASCAR gaming veterans from the top shops has been focused on creating the ultimate simulation for the 2005 NASCAR season. The game will feature the new Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series championship format and will also include the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR Busch Series.

Valve's SteamPowered website has been updated with details regarding yet another Half-Life 2 update that addresses a Securom fix (by removing the Securom disc check routine), but also a few changes to the Source Dedicated server and HL2 Deathmatch. As usual, all you have to do is restart steam and the update will happen automagically.

Massive Entertainment has released a new multiplayer map or its sci-fi RTS Ground Control II: Operation Exodus. This ReaperMoor bonus map, created by Massive's Andreas Palmgren, needs to be installed in the standalone copy in the game's Custom_Maps folder. Massive Entertainment will be releasing new maps every Friday for the next few months. Read more for download links ...

Fireglow team is now developing a next generation game engine (codename: Sudden Strike Next7) and the first game based on this engine , which now is officially named 'Sudden Strike III: Arms For Victory'. Fireglow plans to develop several other games based on this engine in different setups related to war conflicts.

Cossacks - Napoleonic Wars returns one of the most successful strategy games of the past years to the real-time battlefield - with reinforcements: Meet Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France and probably the most ingenious strategist in European history! Enter the battle on the side of one of 10 great European nations and rewrite European history in six exciting campaigns.

Zoo Keeper is a puzzler from developer SUCCESS Corporation that will be one of the first Japanese launch titles for Nintendo's new handheld video game system. Read more for a big batch of new screens ...

Unreal Tournament: Expanded Multiplayer is a class based multiplayer team game. It relies on crucial teamwork as you attempt to gain control of four powerful artifacts and fuel the war machine through domination of critical resources. You must use the arsenal of weaponry, vehicles, and defenses at your disposal to help your team win this battle. UT XMP is a total conversion for UT2004, developed by Free Monkey Interactive, and is based upon Unreal II: Expanded Multiplayer, released in 2003 by the now-defunct Legend Entertainment.

Tecmo announced today that its Xbox exclusive multi-player online mech-action game, GunGriffon: Allied Strike, plans to swoop its way onto store shelves next week with a ship date of Tuesday, December 14, 2004. GunGriffon: Allied Strike, boasts full Xbox Live compatibility that supports up to eight players and three different online modes, Co-Op Play, Death Match, and Team Death Match.

Sony Europe today released an avalanche of information on the upcoming PSP titles they have lined up for launch. Read more to check out info & screens for :

• WRC
• WipEout Pure
• Ridge Racer
• MediEvil
• Formula One
• Football
• Fired Up
• Everybody's Golf
• Ape Academy

As we mentioned last month, Empire Interactive has now released the first patch for BugBear's adrenaline-inducing racing game 'Flat-Out.' This update patch brings your retail game to v.1 and addresses graphical issues, enables multiplayer destruction derby, fixes 5.1 sound not working on some setups, force feedback problems, and a few other fixes and tweaks. Read more for download links ...