SEGA's The House of the Dead: Overkill, developed by London-based studio Headstrong Games, is an all-new pulp-horror reinvention of the light-gun shooter franchise, taking you right back to the beginning of this classic horror series.

Project Origin continues F.E.A.R.'s supernatural suspense story of an escalating paranormal crisis that threatens to destroy a major American city. Alma now has free reign, and the consequences will be unimaginable. The F.E.A.R. 2 single player demo for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will be available for the X360, PC, and PS3 beginning Jan. 22.

Pop 'Em Drop 'Em Samegame features classic puzzle gameplay in which you match two or more colored blocks to clear them. As blocks are cleared, the remaining blocks will shift. If you're skilled enough, bonus points are awarded when all blocks are cleared.

Just in time for the weekend: a weekend deal! For the next few days (until Monday at 11:59pm EDT), you can get 15% off RPGs (Fallout 1/2, Arx Fatalis, Gothic, Sacred Gold, etc.) at GOG.com, all DRM-free, of course ....

Science fiction and fantasy meld in this long-awaited continuation of the franchise from developer tri-Ace Inc. The refined gameplay features team-oriented combat, while improving upon the innovative real-time battle system that has become a trademark of the Star Ocean franchise.

Following its lower-than-expected financial result, EA said it would cut its workforce and close studios, and it keeps on doing so. After abandoning a new complex, moving Black Box into EA Vancouver's office, the Australian part of Pandemic seems to be on the block, as employees have been "set free." While there has not been any official comment from EA, rumor has it that the Brisbane studio was working on a Batman game, which had to change direction after already being a month in pre-production, which in turn made the studio miss the deadline, and consequently got complete scrubbed — together with the studio, it seems.

X-Blades, previously known as Oniblade, is a third-person, anime-style action/adventure. Your heroine wields two magical blades that can be used as swords or guns, and has magical abilities, all of which are upgradeable.

Puzzlegeddon features a clever mix of puzzle, action and strategy. Select your island of choice and puzzle for resources to defend yourself and to defeat opponents throughout the many galaxies, game modes and challenges in the world of Puzzlegeddon.

Burnout Paradise gives players license to wreak havoc in Paradise City, a seamless racing battleground, with massive traffic-heavy roads to abuse. The PC edition will be customized with expanded online features, and community driven content.

According to the NPD Group's December sales numbers, the industry grew 9%, making for an overall 19% growth in 2008 (amounting to $21.3 billion). Not surprisingly 2008's big winners are Nintendo's Wii (10.2 million units) and NDS (9.9 mill. units), followed by Microsoft's X360 (4.7 mill. units) and Sony's PS3 (3.6 mill. units). Software-wise, Wii Play took the crown with over 5 million copies sold in 2008, followed by Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, all selling more than 4 million copies. GTA IV (X360, 4.2 mill. copies), Call of Duty: World at War (X360, 2.7 mill. copies) and Gears of War 2 (X360, 2.3 mill. units) are next, with the only PS3 title in the top 10 being GTA IV with 1.8 mill. copies sold.