GarageGames has announced the session highlights and speakers for the fourth annual Independent Games Conference. IndieGamesCon '05 (IGC) runs November 7-9, 2005. This year's conference is a fun, informal and informative gathering of independent game developers featuring a keynote address, "The State of the Revolution", by Mark Frohnmayer.

Fox and Universal have closed their deal to make a movie based on Microsoft's videogame "Halo," with plans for a tentpole in two years, paying the tech giant $5 million against 10% of the gross. Get ready people, Master Chief is gunning for the big screen in summer '07.

Picking up immediately where the original Myst ended, players are presented the privilege, challenge and responsibility of restoring the lost empire of the D'ni - an ancient civilization of people who thrived for thousands of years but later met with a great catastrophe. Ubisoft has released a playable demo, allowing you to try out part of the game (thanks GameShadow). Read more for download links ...

Today's Nintendo revealed their release scheduled for GBA, NDS and gamecube through the end of the year. Today's launch of Nintendogs marks the end of the summer doldrums and the beginning of the "dog days" of summer with no less than 170 titles for the next few months. Read more for details ...

CustomPlay Golf is the first game to focus on creating and playing your own golf course. Fusion Labs has released an updated demo featuring 3 of the best looking holes from the complete version of CustomPlay Golf, which also includes 50% of the editor enabled, presenting you with a unique opportunity to experience the CustomPlay 'Create, Communicate and Play' first hand. Read more for download links ...

A unique mix of turn-based and role-play, Hammer & Sickle is a brand-new gaming experience. The dizzying array of tactical solutions for each situation is greatly deepened by the fully destructible environments - while an open mission structure and the non-linear story put you in complete control of the game world.

Soul Calibur III offers the series' hallmarks of exhilarating sword-fighting action and profound martial arts while also delivering highly improved graphics and sound effects to create a unique gaming experience. It also features a Character Creation Mode, which allows players to create original warriors.

The countdown has begun to the release of '24: The Game' on PS2. Set to become the biggest action adventure game of the year, '24: The Game' lets gamers take control and live a 'brand new day' in the life of Jack Bauer and the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU).

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland gives you - for the first time ever in a Hawk game - the freedom to skate, or bike, throughout a rich, expansive open environment. Once you arrive in Los Angeles, the vast city that gave birth to skate culture, the sky's the limit as you progress through the Wasteland story and choose missions that will have you immersed in the action without ever skating the same line twice.

Square Enix offered to pay as much as $610 million to buy arcade game maker Taito Corp. Square Enix, known for the Final Fantasy series and various other RPG franchises, is seeking ways to increase market share and cut development costs in the $20 billion video games software market. Read more financial gibberish over at Bloomberg.