French studio Asobo announced that it is halting, not cancelling, development of its Grand Raid Offroad racing game in favor of a new adventure/platform title for a well known US publisher. Since Grand Raid Offroad is their internal title, it was put on ice in favor of the new product which will allow them to secure finances to complete the project, according to Asobo's production director David Dedeine. No details on the new game were disclosed but David said it shouldn't be much longer.

Swashbucklers: Blue vs. Grey is a thrilling naval action RPG set in the time of last pirate renaissance on the Caribbean. Smuggle, trade, fight, choose your side and become the region's most notorious captain!

Petroglyph, in conjunction with NVIDIA and Creative, are sponsoring the first Star Wars Empire at War map making contest! Now YOU have the power to decide where WE will fight next! So what are you waiting for? Check out the official contest page and get on those Map Editors! Prizes include a NVIDIA Video Card 7800GTX 512MB graphics card and Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card.

Ubisoft announced that it will soon release the very first Multiplayer Pack for GRIN's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter on PC. To support the influx of people flocking to the new maps, Ubisoft will launch no less than 20 new dedicated servers at the same time, so you'll have even more places for you and your friends to play.

Lost Planet is a sci-fi action shooter set within the merciless frozen tundra of a hostile planet, humans struggle for survival as conflicts arise between man, the surrounding indigenous creatures and the monstrous beings that have invaded.

Another day, another batch of game trailers was released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for:

• GUN Showdown [PSP] - Trailer
• Disciples III: Renaissance - Trailer #2
• Armed Assault - TrackIR Trailer
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online - Trailer
• Bet on Soldier: Blood of Sahara - Trailer #2
• The Witcher - Making of Combat Part 2
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

After skipping a week, 3D Realms is back on track with their latest installment in the weekly Prey update in which, Human Head Studios' Chris Rhinehart basically gives a little recap of the past 4-5 years since they signed the game and got started working wit hthe DOOM 3 engine. Also a reminder that next week is the demo launch, and also another press tour, probably showing off a near final version of the game. We're so there!

Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco has signed bill HB1381, drafted with help from anti-video game activist Jack Thompson, into law, prohibiting the sale or rental of games with violent content to minor by retailers. Not skipping a beat the ESA filed suit in the Federal District Court of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to overturn the state's new video game law.

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.

The scheduled Xbox STACKED Masters Showdown tournaments for STACKED with Daniel Negreanu scheduled for Sunday, June 18th, through Wednesday June 21st, have been cancelled until the release of a pending patch. The first Xbox Showdown tournament to be played will now be “MTV Showdown #5” scheduled for Thursday, June 22 at 7:00pm EDT.