Galactic Civilizations II takes place in the distant future, when mankind has become a space-faring civilization and must contend with other extraterrestrial powers for domination of the galaxy. The sequel is a true evolution for the series, with rethought fundamentals and exciting new changes.

Sierra Entertainment has shipped Crash Tag Team Racing to retail outlets for the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube. Developed by Radical Entertainment, creators of The Simpsons: Hit & Run, the newest addition to the franchise lets gamers of all ages play as Crash Bandicoot and his friends in an over-the-top theme park filled with zany tracks and even zanier characters.

Creator of the Metal Gear video game series, Mr. Hideo Kojima, has translated five recent entries of his personal blog into English. Learn about Mr. Kojima's interest in comics, music, food, as well as the research that the Metal Gear team goes through to make their games so amazingly authentic. Lots of good food for thought to digest and very interesting day to day narration of the work that goes on behind the scenes at Kojima Productions.

In mid April, 2005, a group of game development professionals from Sony Computer Entertainment America formed a new independent game development company, MACHINE Union. Located south of downtown San Diego, Machine, will focus their efforts towards next generation console game development.

Dead or Alive 4 will redefine 3-D high definition graphics and sound, creating the most visually beautiful and realistic looking video game to date. DOA features online capabilities via Xbox Live, new interactive stages, an all star line-up of old and new favorite characters, and the most complex countering system yet.

Earth 2160 is an RTS game based on the popular and successful EARTH series. Including single and multiplayer modes, the game uses the latest Earth III engine, which allows storage of objects in a format based on the mathematical model of Bezier-curves instead of polygons. Zuxxez has released an English demo which allows you to try out two missions, with 45 minutes gametime each.

2K Sports today announced that Major League Baseball 2K5: World Series Edition, a special edition of the critically acclaimed baseball video game franchise, has shipped to retailers across North America.

East Front is a high-tech first-person 3D shooter, which takes place in an alternate universe where the fascist Germany won in the Second World War. A soldier of the German Resistance, Karl Stolz, turns out to be involved in the deadly play of mysterious powers, and at stake is control over the entire world.

Groove Games today announced the shipping of the adrenaline-packed, first-person shooter Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler’s Green, based on George A. Romero’s horror film Land of the Dead.

Empire Earth II: The Art of Supremacy will return gamers to the front lines of the greatest battles in history with new civilizations at their command, new campaigns and a host of new features that make this year's best strategy game more addicting than ever. Bold victories on far-off battlefields, from wintry Russian plains to scorching African deserts, will establish the player's undisputable reputation as the world's greatest leader – past, present and future.

Dungeons & Dragons Online will provide players with the definitive online "Dungeons & Dragons" experience, complete with dramatic dungeon crawling, terrifying monster combat and challenging puzzles, character advancement and guild-based power struggles.

Valve's SteamPowered website has been updated with details regarding the latest update for its online delivery system Steam. This release mainly involved bug fixes, gameplay & graphical tweaks, anti-cheating measures, and reduced maximum number of players on a server to 32 for DoD:Source. Just restart Steam for the effects to take place.

EA announced today that it has signed a co-publishing agreement with Namco for the PAL version of Pac-Man World 3. The latest iteration of the classic series will be available for the PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC and PSP in early 2006. Read more for details and 53 screens ...

Brothers In Arms: Earned In Blood features a new single-player narrative, new multiplayer missions, an all-new cooperative-style game mode, and new weapons and vehicles. Ubisoft has released a new patch for Gearbox's WWII based FPS bringing your retail game to v1.02 and adresses sound, spectator and multiplayer issues, as well as the usual crashes and bug fixes. Read more for download links ...

NFL Head Coach, developed by EA Tiburon, is a 3D strategy sports game that challenges gamers to build and manage every aspect of a football team from the ground up, and work with all coaches in the NFL Coaches Club.

SCEA announced today the release of its PSP exclusive The Con, an innovative 3D fighting game that combines the excitement of underground fighting with the intrigue of high- stakes gambling.

In Urban Reign, players assume the role of a gritty street brawler who has been hired by one of the city's dominant gangs to protect its leader. Sony Europe announced today it has signed Urban Riegn for European distribution early 2006.

The Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) and Entertainment Software Association (ESA) filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to overturn the recently passed California law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.

Epic Games announced today that it has licensed OC3 Entertainment's facial animation technology FaceFX for use in Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3, making it available to all Unreal Engine 3 licensees. Epic Games will use the FaceFX product in their upcoming titles Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 2007 to create emotive characters and cinematic-quality dialogue sequences.

Galactic Civilizations II takes place in the distant future, when mankind has become a space-faring civilization and must contend with other extraterrestrial powers for domination of the galaxy. The sequel is a true evolution for the series, with rethought fundamentals and exciting new changes.

Turner Broadcasting System today announced the launch of its broadband entertainment network GameTap, opening its massive vault of great video game content and original programming to gamers across the United States.

Midway today announced that it has shipped the first-ever story driven football videogame, Blitz: The League, for the PS2 and Xbox.

Meridian4 is thrilled to announce that it has signed a deal with Atari to exclusively distribute their games in North America throughout all retail channels, starting with the Sci-Fi Action/RPG, Space Hack.

EA announced today that NFL Head Coach is in development in Orlando, Fla. by EA Tiburon, makers of other NFL properties including Madden NFL Football and NFL STREET. The new exclusive deal with the NFL has allowed EA to build this franchise and work with all coaches in the NFL Coaches Club.

The latest issue of PCGamer has the first details on the yet un-announced Empire Earth II: The Art of Supremecy addon. Mad Doc Software's first addon for its 3D RTS is scheduled for release in spring 2006 and will feature 15 new civilizations, 15 missions spread over 3 campaigns, the ability to make your own civilization with the new civilization editor, and plenty of other new additions. Now that the cat is out of the bag, we can expect an official announcement soon.