Vivendi Universal Games today announced that Empire Earth II has gone gold and will hit store shelves in the US on Thursday, April 28th. Empire Earth 2 will build upon the award-winning formula of its predecessor by adding features requested both by casual game players interested in a brief spin through history and by more hard core gamers who demand a real-time strategy game that will challenge them for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours.

The first-ever Battlefield console installment will drop players into the heat of battle on the high tech frontlines, entering a new modern era of combat with more firepower and new expansive environments. Armed with the latest modern weaponry, players can take control of over 30 vehicles, including tanks, helicopters and fast attack vehicles, to engage in major conflicts in some of the largest online battles.

Tony Tough 2 acts as a prequel to 2003's Tony Tough and the Night of Roasted Moths. In this 3D point & click adventure game you get to Tony at the age of 13, and he has his first case to solve. Under development at ProGraph, and published by dtp, Tony Tough 2 is scheduled for release in April 2005. Not much info available at this point, but we do have some new screens...

Capcom Europe announced that it is pushing back Killer 7 from its original June 24th release date to July 15th. In Killer 7, players take on the role of Harman Smith an unlikely assassin who lives life at his own pace. Switching between seven different personalities, he employs each character’s abilities to terminate targets he deems "deserving to die." Read more for details ...

The latest issue of PC Gamer UK has no less than 10 pages dedicated to what now seems to be a confirmation on the next (and no doubt, one of many) Half-Life 2 expansion pack. Half Life 2: Aftermath will pick up where the original left off and, as has been rumored for a while, will feature an all-new story line with the focus on Alyx, although not necessarily alongside Gordon Freeman. While no release date has been set, strong indications are that it may only be available through Valve's online delivery system, Steam (thanks ve3d). You can read more about it over at EuroGamer, who has reprinted some of the article content.

The Adventure Company today announced it will publish ECHO: Secrets of the Lost Cavern on PC. Delve into a world of exploration and intrigue as you embark on a quest filled with puzzles and mystery. Use your wits and powers of observation to survive the vast wilderness as your journey leads you to one of mankind’s forgotten wonders.

Microsoft Corp. today unveiled its all-star lineup of award-winning publishers committed to making the leap into the HD Era on Microsoft's next-generation Xbox platform. Read more for details ...

Deep Silver and Stormregion are delighted to announce their cooperation on a real time strategy title using the latest version of the Gepard Engine. Stormregion the creators of the award winning title Codename: Panzers are developing a new AAA game that is to be published worldwide by the expanding games label Deep Silver and exclusively presented to press at E3.

For all the eager TrackManiacs out there, TrackMania Sunrise finally hits the shops today! With 3 new stunning environments, TMS keeps the spirit of the original and kicks it up a whole load of gears that'll see you flying round the crazy tracks at speeds over 700mph!! Other new additions include 2 new single player modes, the incredibly insane and addictive 'Platform' and the last man standing 'Crazy'. With well over a 100 tracks to go at you'll be kept busy for some time, and if that wasn't enough, theres even a little bonus surprise when you install the game and check for updates.

International software publisher Deep Silver are delighted to announce that Singles is back! This time packed with more characters, more locations, more lovin' and more troubles. The sequel to the charismatic 'eye-opening' romantic life-sim focuses on the lives of 3 fun-loving singles that have been brought together under unforeseen circumstances. Singles 2: Triple Trouble releases on May 27th and will be available on PC only for £19.99.