The State of Michigan must pay the video game industry $182,349 in attorney's fees and costs as a result of successful litigation challenging an unconstitutional effort to enact a law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors, Judge George Caram Steeh, US District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, ruled yesterday.

In a surprising turn of event, Sony Japan released an announcement that Gran Turismo HD will launch in retail stores, but instead as a free downloadable demo through the PlayStation Store. Shifting development focus to GT 5 instead, the demo, only confirmed for Japan, will be released on December 24th and include ten cars, two layouts of a single track, Time Attack and Drift Trial modes, with an online Network Ranking feature.

Seven Lights today introduces itself to all gamers hungry for an online experience that unites strategic gameplay with RPG character development, collectibility, customization, and virtual economies into a series of PC and console game products. Seven Lights are currently developing its first game, The Continuum.

LucasArts and SOE announced that Star Wars Galaxies Chapter 4: Armed and Ready for Action is now available for all SWG subscribers who will automatically receive updates throughout the remainder of 2006 and into 2007, as part of their regular subscription to the game.

id Software announced the hiring of long-time industry veteran and former Ritual CEO Steve Nix as id Software's new Director of Business Development. Marty Stratton, id’s director of business development since 2000, is moving into a production role within the company as an executive producer.

EA announced that the development team at Utah-based developer Headgate Studios, known for Tiger Woods PGA TOUR and Madden NFL titles, has joined EA. The development team will remain in Bountiful, Utah and will continue to work in partnership with the EA development teams in California and Florida.

Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle is an adventure game with 3D characters with a cartoon look and high-impact visual features that include 2D and 3D in an unmatchable style. This German demo features the beginning of chapter 4, but with dialogue and a solution specifically written for this demo.

After the demise of the Triton digital distribution system, Take 2/3D Realms announced it would be looking into alternatives, and they seem to has found one. Valve announced today that Prey will be available Thursday, November 30 on Steam for $49.95. Previous purchasers of the retail or downloaded editions of Prey can activate a copy on Steam at no cost by using their existing product key.

While Europe will finally see the first Nintendo Wii units appear in stores on December 8, gamers might have fewer games to choose from as anticipated. Ubisoft is delaying 3 titles, Splinter Cell Double Agent (Dec. 14), Far Cry: Vengeance (Dec. 21) and Blazing Angels : Squadrons of WWII (Dec. 31), while one of the strongest North American launch titles, Atlus' Trauma Center: The Second Opinion, is getting pushed back to Spring 2007, due to localization issues.

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops for the PSP features an original storyline that follows the events of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and includes online play that lets gamers recruit their own comrades to form a unique fighting force.

While Runaway 2 has yet to be released in most countries except Germany, developer Pendulo Studios is already working on the third installment in the franchise. During the Adventure Developers Online Conference the developers confirmed Runaway 3 is in the works, and although they refused to set any sort of date or reveal any other details, they did promise the wait wouldn't be as long as between the first two titles.

A clever mix of strategy and action, Great Invasions plunges you back into Europe of the Dark Ages, a time in history where hundreds of nations and barbarian tribes rush to assault the civilized world, from AD 375 (arrival of the Huns) to AD 1066 (conquest of England by the Normans).

Pirates of the Burning Sea is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game set in the Caribbean islands of the 18th Century. You play a bold sea captain, master of your own ship and crew, as you seek glory and adventure across the trackless deep.

Cake Mania combines a new Touch Screen element with the same fast-paced cake-baking fun that has captivated millions of online players worldwide. As an added bonus, Cake Mania for the NDS includes the full online game plus the Back to the Bakery expansion pack.

Before Hitler attacked Russia, he unleashed the bestiary of his German blitzkrieg on Allied forces in the Aegean peninsula. This patch fixes minor issues and bugs reported since Patch 1, including the bug in the resupply code that prevented supplies from being transferred from air delivered SEPs to on-map Bases.

If you're in pursuit of adrenaline, powder snow and pure freedom then look no further; that's what you’ll get delivered, with Freak Out! the ultimate freeride skiing experience.

Post-Time is a 3D horse racing simulation game in development at Florida based Syntasoft. Featuring over 200 horses, each with their own unique attributes and running styles. Some are faster out of the gate, while others are long distance runners. Some show heart and determination to finish races, while some simply do not have what it takes.

Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle is an adventure game with 3D characters with a cartoon look and high-impact visual features that include 2D and 3D in an unmatchable style. This French demo features the beginning of chapter 4, but with dialogue and a solution specifically written for this demo.

Good news for gamers without credit cards: Steam now offers support for PayPal as an alternate payment method. Every title available via Steam, including the recently released Medieval II and Dark Messiah, may be purchased with PayPal or any of the existing payment methods.

An article in the latest PC Gamer issue showed a photo of a promo kiosk featuring a Gears of War Games for Windows retail box, indicating a port might be in the works. Now Microsoft, usually not commenting on rumors, issued a short statement that this is not confirmed, but merely a mistake by the artist as one of the MGS titles used as examples to show what their retail setup would look like. Still, no confirmation does not mean it is not true ...

Gamers will think Christmas has come early as Microsoft announced a special Gears of War retail offer available from Friday 24th Nov. (while stocks last). Gamers can get a copy of Epics action game Gears of War and an Xbox 360 to play it on, all for £299.99 (434.99 Euro).

FBI Agents working in conjunction with officials from NCsoft’s North American business successfully closed down a computer game operation alleged to be reaping profits by providing a fraudulent service to its players. The operation was closed down after multiple raids and interviews were conducted in various cities from California to Virginia.

Silverfall is a fantasy-style RPG using advanced 3D graphics and fascinating storyline, featuring large free-roaming environments, 4 customizable and playable races, 150 monsters, single- and multiplayer (co-op and PvP), ragdoll effects, day/night cycle, particle effects and the latest shaders. Atari let us know that Silverfall will get released in North America on March 6, 2007.

Gathering of independent developers IDEA Games announce the launching of its own online distribution system, Sprocket. The first titles available from launch are the first two games of ALTAR Games' sci-fi trilogy - UFO: Aftermath and UFO: Aftershock, and Black Element Software's fantasy action game Shade: Wrath of Angels.

Sony has released a new v3.00 update for its PSP firmware, removing the UMD game auto-loading, but most importantly adding the ability to play PSOne games on your PSP, but only downloadable through the PS3s PlayStation Store. Nine titles will be available later today, including Resident Evil: Director's Cut, Hot Shots Golf 2 and Tekken 2. You will also be able to use the PSP to control the Blu-Ray and remote access media on your PS3 (music and photos).