Stardock announced today that it had reached an agreement with P.M. Studios to bring the fast-paced action-RPG ETROM: The Astral Essence to its TotalGaming.net game-distribution service in Feb. 2006 for only $29.95. ETROM: The Astral Essence takes players on a thrilling open-ended adventure to a bleak, futuristic world, where survival is earned, rather than expected.

Stoked Rider featuring Tommy Brunner' is an unique action-freesports game for PC, the first freeride snowboarding game inspired by Alaska's impressive peaks, presented in a unique 3D cellshaded graphical style. Tommy Brunner is one of the most experienced backcountry and big mountain snowboard riders in Europe, and has a string of horrifically impressive injuries to go with it, including a broken back!

An adventure on a grand scale , with isometric graphics , over 12 scenarios with a total of 101 game maps , 18 backdrops for fighting , with various senerios that bring forth the history of the three principal characters , each with different 21 techniques of fighting that are learned through experience , or the finding of hidden objects within the game.

Auto Assault combines vehicular combat with role-playing elements. Players explore a post-apocalyptic future in customizable cars, motorcycles, semis and even tanks. Players battle other players both in arenas and in epic race vs. race wars for control of the regions in a devastated Earth.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a new California state law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors, saying a lawsuit challenging the measure was likely to prevail on grounds of free speech.

Shortly after previous update Firaxis has released another, large, patch for Sid Meier's Civilization IV. This update brings your retail game to v1.52 and includes numerous optimizations for memory usage that should help performance on all machines but are tailored to especially improve performance on machines at or near the minimum specification. Read more for download links ...

ZUXXEZ today announced its new RPG Two Worlds, under development at Reality Pump, creator of the RTS game Earth 2160. Thrilling fight choreographies, gripping characters and realistic worlds create new dimensions in the genre. The title also introduces new benchmarks in content. Experienced script editors link the cinematic story with maximum gaming freedom in a medieval fantasy world.

Several weeks ago we revealed that EA would start its BFME II multiplayer beta test mid December, and EA just announced it has now gone live. People who pre-order the game can join in and check out the sequel before anybody else, until the game ships somewhere early 2006. This online multiplayer beta includes two out of the six factions (Dwarves and Goblins), playable on two brand new maps (Harlindon and Withered Heath.) If you haven't done so yet, you can pre-order at EBGames or Gamestop.

When assassins from Agent 47's contract agency, The ICA, are systematically eliminated in a series of hits, it seems a larger, more powerful agency has entered the fray. For Agent 47 it's business as usual, until suddenly he loses contact with The ICA. Sensing that he may be the next target, he travels to America, where he prepares to make a killing.

Battlegoat has released a new patch for its strategy game Supreme Ruler 2010. This update brings your retail game to v4.4.1 and 30-player North America map, an extra mission (East to DC), new scenario (United States), 50 new units, and many small tweaks to the game to improve its performance and its playability.