SOCOM 3, developed by Zipper Interactive, captures the reality of modern day warfare, and features three Areas of Operation: Southern Asia, Northern Africa and Eastern Europe and is packed with over 10 missions, over 30 new weapons, larger maps, improved AI, allow you to drive/operate vehicles and you can now also go for a swim.

Game industry veterans Greg Costikyan and Johnny Wilson announced today that they are joining forces to launch Manifesto Games, a new venture to build a strong and viable independent game industry. Its site will offer independently-developed games for sale via direct download, games that the retail channel doesn't think worth carrying.

THQ has announced that tomorrow at 3PM EST (noon PST) it will release a singleplayer demo for its freshly launched Dawn of War expansion pack Winter Assault. Specific details as to its contents was not revealed. We will have it on our fileserver network at the aforementioned time, so keep an eye out.

Matrix Games is pleased to announce that the exciting new sports simulation, PureSim Baseball 2005 Gold Edition, has gone gold and is expected to be released next week. PureSim Baseball 2005 Gold Edition is the ultimate baseball fan's toy, with support for both casual and hardcore baseball fans and the ability to play out any season in baseball history.

Konami today shipped the official video game based on DreamWorks upcoming movie, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-rabbit for the PS2 & Xbox. With free-roaming environments, inventive action, clever gadgets, and humorous visuals, the game reproduces the distinctive look of the film and emulates the zany world of Wallace and Gromit.

Announced earlier today, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, developed by Black Hole Entertainment, is a revolutionary real-time strategy game set in the renowned Warhammer world, featuring epic battles within massive landscapes, while offering an astounding level of detail, from a bird's eye view down to the insignias on a warrior's armor.

CDV announced today that its historical RTS, Blitzkrieg 2, has shipped to North American retail stores. Blitzkrieg 2 will challenge gamers to lead their troops into battle through some of the major theaters of WWII warfare. Featuring a fully upgraded WWII gaming experience, Blitzkrieg 2 will have players battling through dozens of new missions with a slew of new units and battlefield commanders.

THQ has released the first update for Juice Games' urban underground racing demo Juiced. This patch brings your North American retail game to v1.01.400 and addresses various desktop crashes, sound problems, adjusted the control scehem, and fixes a collision issue when playing online, etc. Read more for download links ...

Down In Flames focuses on tactical fighter to fighter dogfight combat in World War II. The game is turn based, and the action is resolved through a unique 'action - reaction' game mechanic that allows players to experience the feel of real life aerial dogfighting with a fast paced, easy to learn system. This demo features one campaign (Dunkirk), 4 planes, online and lan (up to 4 players), and choose from four different nationalities. This demo requires you to install Microsoft .Net Framework 1.01. Read more for details and download links ...

Quazal announced today that its online multiplayer middleware technologies, Quazal Net-Z and Quazal Rendez-Vous, will fully support the Xbox 360. Quazal Net-Z for Xbox 360 is now available to interested Xbox 360 developers. Quazal Rendez-Vous will be available later this year for Live titles on Xbox 360 as hosted services with guaranteed uptime.