Not that it was a secret anymore but Activision today finally announced the development of Rome: Total War for the PC, the next game to be released in the Total War series and the follow-up title to The Creative Assembly's multi-award winning Medieval: Total War. In the game players return to the golden age of antiquity to take command of the most fearsome armies in a bid to rewrite the annals of history and be proclaimed Imperator.

The game is developed on original high-tech engine The Firestarter Engine, which uses the possibilities of the latest accelerator generation GeForce 3, 4. Among the engine possibilities are work with outdoor and indoor areas, coloured dynamic lighting, dynamic shadows, vertex and pixel shaders, T&L, procedure textures, various classes of particle system-based effects, interactive and destructible level objects, realistic physics, high-polygonal character and monster models (up to 5000 of polygons), skeleton animation. It wouldn't be Friday if the official site hadn't been updated (thanks Unrealik) with 3 new screens, read more to check them out...

Noticed on Shacknews that Yahoo.biz reports Investment bank Investec believes Microsoft Corp. was in talks with French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal about buying Vivendi's video game business for as much as $2 billion. A spokeswoman for Vivendi Universal's game unit declined to comment. A Microsoft spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment. This can only amount to the recent rumours and speculations ..

The Star Wars Galaxies online game series is designed to immerse literally thousands of players into the rich Star Wars universe. The series will feature dynamic role-playing adventures across multiple planets during the classic Star Wars timeframe. Game play will offer a unique combination of combat, exploration, social interaction, specialized missions, and daring quests. Check out these delicious looking new screens ...

Featuring an original storyline written exclusively for Activision by comics' industry legend Larry Hama, and featuring the voices of Mark Hamill and Patrick Stewart, X-Men: Wolverine's Revenge allows players to assume the role of Wolverine, everyone's favorite X-Men tough guy. In the game, Wolverine faces a race against time to find an antidote to the viral time bomb that's just been discovered in his system. With only 48 hours to live, Wolverine returns to the clandestine Department H facility deep in the Canadian wilderness, to uncover the terrible secrets behind the Weapon X laboratory and the experiments that turned the mutant hero into a precision killing machine. Check out the new screens for each platform...

Celtic Kings is an RTS which combines strategy and role-playing elements in single mode, and which also includes online multi-player functions. Players must take control of the destiny of the heroic Larax and try and lead him to victory by developing a personal strategy and showing a mastery of military tactics. After a little hiccup a few days ago (due to bugs in the patch) Haemimont has released a proper patch, read more for details and download links.

Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced is the sequel to the smash hit Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure. The story takes place directly after the events of the first, but takes gameplay to a whole other dimension. The nefarious N. Tropy is back and up to no good again. This time, he has teamed up with an all new partner-in-crime, the hypnotically evil N. Trance, to brainwash Crash's friends and turn them into bad guys! Now Crash must face off against his friends and bring them back to the side of good... or lose them to the villainous duo forever! We now have a trailer showing off some in game singleplayer as well as multiplayer action...

The newest installation in the acclaimed stealth ninja series, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven delivers the most realistic, stealth-based, ninja-action/adventure game ever. Coming to the PlayStation 2, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven features impressive new stealth attacks, an enhanced fighting engine, new weapons and tools, larger levels, improved character animations, new multiplayer options and hidden characters. One of those hidden characters, Tesshu, has been revealed now...

Radical Tactics Experts, who evolved out of the military's special forces, are the smartest and toughest members of the armed services, uniquely known for their strategic thinking, adaptability, and pure military muscle. Individuals from this elite unit are trained for insertion into undefined combat situations where even a small team is too large and unwieldy. In RTX Red Rock players immerse themselves into the role of Wheeler, who engages in fierce tactical combat, investigates mysterious, foreboding environments, and solves challenging puzzles to reclaim the Red Rock colony on Mars. We now have the intro of the game ready for you to download and find out why Wheeler was chosen to save the Red Rock colony, all 6 minutes worth of it!