S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is the official prequel to its survival FPS S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, bringing the players one year prior to the events of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game in 2011.

Team Fortress 2 is a class-based, multiplayer team warfare game, delivering new game types, a signature art style powered by Valve’s next-gen animation technology, persistent player statistics, etc... All gamers in Germany may experience the Team Fortress 2 Free Weekend via Steam January 4th through 6th.

Gears of War blends tactical action with survival horror, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde. Gears of War Pendulum Wars the Battle of Aspho Fields builds upon the characters backstories and gives an in-depth look at some of the past events that shaped the games world.

Former Hitman programmers launch their first casual game from their new game studio, The Game Equation. Deep Blue Sea is an engaging and challenging match-3 puzzle gameplay, unique features and power-ups, and a 100% original soundtrack.

Empire Earth III allows players to build and rule an empire from the ancient world to the distant future, battling it out across the globe through the eons in a bid for worldwide control, offering continuous free-form gameplay that will allow players to keep units from one battle to the next.

Rock Band allows you to perform famous rock music with your friends as a virtual band using drum, bass/lead guitar and vocals, as well as online. Harmonix has released three new songs for Rock Band, downloadable through Xbox Live (next week on PlayStation Network). Lynyrd Skynyrd's Three Steps, a cover of Black Crowes' Hard to Handle and Rush's Limelight, also covered, for 160 Microsoft Points each.

The entire Worthplaying team wishes everybody a Happy New Year! We hope everybody had a safe transition from old into new and may 2008 be even better than last year. We here at Worthplaying have some exciting new stuff lined up to better serve you all. Behind the scenes, we are working very hard to expand the website in various ways which will hopefully start showing in the months ahead. Until then, party on & stay safe!

In SimCity DS 2, based on Sim City 3000, you will be in charge of evolving your city through 8 periods of time, from the stone ages, until modern times, visiting locations like Paris, or ancient Japan.

Hudson Entertainment announced the Bomberman Live New Year’s Bash Tournament & Sweepstakes, in which U.S. players will compete both for bragging rights and for prizes, including a 1st-place prize of 100,000 Microsoft Points. Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. PST on Dec. 31, 2007 and ends at 8:59 a.m. PST on Jan. 13, 2008.

Earlier this year SCi/Eidos' CEO Jane Cavanagh confirmed a Battlestations: Midway sequel was in development, and while there are still no details available, Eidos seems to have filed to protect the Battlestations Pacific trademark. Battlestations: Midway’s blends action with RTS in epic, large-scale massive air, sea, and undersea battles from Pearl Harbor to Midway

Square Enix is bringing the Kingdom Hearts franchise to handhelds. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for the PSP is set in "the distant past," and will be similar to the PS2 titles, focused on single-player. Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, for the NDS, is set during the KH II events, and has Roxas as the main character.

In No More Heroes you play the role of Travis Touchdown, a hardcore anime fan who takes it upon himself to murder the top assassin's in the world, using the Wiimote to wield Travis' beam sword and kill off enemies in gruesome ways. Originally scheduled for Feb. 5, Amazon.com, GameCrazy, and BestBuy now have a Jan. 22 release date, while GameStop's remains the same.

The History Channel: Great Battles of Rome allows players to fully immerse themselves into history as never before by combining cutting-edge gameplay, historical footage and battle simulation, allowing players to take control of a series of campaigns against Barbarian hordes, while carving out the Roman Empire.

Harvest Moon meets SimCity in John Deere: Harvest in the Heartland, a “hands-on” real-time farming game for the Nintendo DS. The core play mechanic is “Sculpt the Heartland” – Craft virgin soil into a profitable, prize winning, and picturesque farm.

Deforestation, pollution, global warming and industrialization are just some of the many important themes in Majesco's new NDS exclusive real-time strategy Eco Creatures: Save the Forest.

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is the long awaited sequel to the NiGHTS franchise that gave gamers the freedom to fly in a world of dreams and imagination. With the innovative Wii Remote, gamers will experience a heightened sense of gliding, spiraling, and looping through seven mystical dream worlds packed with high-flying adventure.

Enlight has released a new update patch for EgoSoft's sci-fi flight sim X²: The Threat. This update brings your retail game to v1.5 and adds the new UPLINK facility to export your game statistics to a file which can then be uplinked to the Egosoft servers for display and comparison.

Bleach: Heat the Soul 5 is the latest installment in the anime fighting franchise. The PSP version features 3D cell shading graphics, new characters such as Battle Characters' Senna and Ulquiorra, as well as the ability to select multiple characters as allies, and use the Tag feature to have them participate, and not just be strikers.

At Jump Festa 2008 in Japan, Namco Bandai unveiled its newest title in the Tales Of franchise, scheduled for release in 2008. Apart from the apparent cel shaded graphics, no details were revealed, not even the platform(s) it will appear on, although it is known that Kôsuke Fujishima, credited for Tales of Phantasia, Symphonia and The Abyss, will be in charge of the character design.

Sega's Universe at War: Earth Assault, developed by Petroglyph, is a combat-intensive RTS game enlisting players in an epic struggle to prevent total alien domination of planet Earth.

Savage 2: A Tortured Soul mixes RTS with FPS, allowing players to to opt for either the fast-paced action of a shooter game, or the more tactical planning of a RTS game, with squad-based features and enhanced RPG elements. Delayed several times over, Savage 2 will be available January 16, 2008, when a demo will be made available. Until then, you can still sign up to join the beta...

Bleach: Shattered Blade for the Wii enables players to wield the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as their weapons – slashing, jabbing, and lunging in furious battles like a real Soul Reaper. Bleach: Shattered Blade offers an exclusive storyline created specifically for the Wii with 32 characters to choose from.

Valve announces the first-ever Steam storewide sale is happening now! Save 10-50% on every game in every genre from every developer and publisher on Steam. Stock up on games you may've missed in 2007 or pick up a post-holiday gift for a friend or family member. The sale ends January 1st, so start shopping now!

Soul Nomad is a strategy RPG that combines the infamous grid-based strategy engine of Disgaea with the deep game play of a traditional style RPG for a new and unique experience. Crime apparently pays well as players are encouraged to steal, abduct, and kick villagers in the butt to get what you want.

While other FPS titles claim to feature action-packed, highly realistic gameplay, BlackSite: Area 51 takes next-gen gaming to an all-new level integrating cutting edge technology, game design and story writing to create the ultimate entertainment experience.