Today at a press conference in Paris, Nintendo announced that this innovative new console will be available to buy in the UK on 11 March at the estimated retail price of around £99 and will be supported by a strong software line up. The Nintendo DS has been received exceptionally well in the US and Japan, having sold 2.8 million units by the end of 2004, and is expected to have the same response when it launches in the UK.

Knuckle up, gamers: Overload Entertainment and Iridon Interactive today announced that Heavyweight Thunder, the first boxing simulation to celebrate the championship lifestyle, will be released on PC in March 2005.

DRIV3R is an action-packed driving adventure game that stays true to its roots, incorporating the cinematic gameplay and gritty street crime of its predecessors with ground-breaking graphics and three mammoth, wide-open city environments: Miami, Florida; Nice, France; and Istanbul, Turkey. The PC version of Driv3r will feature a new level and additional footage, release date is set for March 2005. Read more for details ..

A product listing at online retailer Gamestop revealed that Activision is planning to release an addon for Creative Assembly's 3D RTS title Rome Total War. No specific name, or details of any other kind, were included, but the Rome Total War Expansion Pack has a tentative release date set for October 17th, 2005. More details should follow soon ...

In 'MX vs. ATV Unleashed,' players will power through all-new environments and event types, choosing from a variety of new vehicles. A redesigned monster truck, powerful sand-rail and raised 4x4 golf karts will meet ATVs, dirt bikes and bi-planes to compete in massive free-world environments featuring hill climbs, machine challenges and short track races. The game's career mode will allow gamers to choose from the top professional ATV and Motocross riders.

Square Enix has revealed a new MMORPG called Fantasy Earth: Ring of Domination which will try to combine RTS, RPG and Action, allowing you to forge alliances, build fortresses and citadels and duke it out with your allies against huge armies. It's still a ways off, as it is only vaguely scheduled for 2005, but in the meantime, read more for 34 new screens...

The game places the player in the leading role of an over-the-top, John Woo inspired, Hollywood action movie, playing an undercover DEA agent infiltrating the Mexican drug cartels. The leading character has all the characteristics of a modern action film hero like Nicholas Cage or John Travolta, with a popular, vividly colourful and varied backdrop provided by the Mexican setting. Overdose is scheduled to be released on PS2/Xbox and PC in Q2 2005, at which point development for a sequel will be started (thanks HomeLAN).

Making good money apparently isn't enough for EA as various online outlets have started reporting that former Maxis manager Neil Young, now spearheading the EALA campus, handed out roughly 60-70 pink slips, sending people home unemployed. While said firings were across the board, the Goldeneye: Rogue Agent and MoH: Dogs of War developers were amongst the biggest casualties. According to Young the layoffs, reducing the head count to 320, were neccesary as part of a restructuring and streamlining of EALA for the future. Read more about on GameSpot.

Computer and video game software sales set a new record in 2004, reaching $7.3 billion, according to final data compiled by the NPD Group. Halo 2, one of the best-selling titles of 2004, took in more revenue in its first day of sales than any movie has ever taken in its opening day. In addition, Nintendo sold over 1 million units of its new handheld game system, Nintendo DS, in North America by the end of 2004, a mark that took Apple's iPod 19 months to achieve.

Live fastballs, suicide squeezes, grass-staining dives, seventh-inning stretches, walk-off homeruns, peanuts and hotdogs… these are just some of the things that make the sport of baseball America’s favorite pastime. The victory of a baseball game can depend on the walk-off homerun in the ninth inning or a simple second base steal.

Vista Engine is an integrated system for the creation of modern high-quality RTS & RPG games. The system unites the latest technological innovations, multi-purpose tools for creation and assembling of game content and the most important part - full visual control over general structure, content and game logic without additional programming or scripting. Read more for details and screens...

THQ and Climax today announced that MotoGP: Ultimate Racing Technology 3 for the Xbox and PC will ship with a host of new and original features, designed to reward gamers with the most complete racing experience ever! Read more for details ...

Developed by Mad Doc Software and due for release in the first half of 2005, Empire Earth 2 will build upon the award-winning formula of its predecessor by adding features requested both by casual game players interested in a brief spin through history and by more hard core gamers who demand a real-time strategy game that will challenge them for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours.

Alawar Entertainment has released Sea Wolves, a 3D action game in which you explore the ocean in search of enemies, treasure and uncharted territory. Featuring simple controls, intense combat and the latest visual effects, Sea Wolves is designed to appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers.

MX Media are today announcing the release of Deep Sea Tycoon 2 for PC on May 27th 2005. Sequel to the underwater title Deep Sea Tycoon – a game that submerged a generation of PC gamers in a world of underwater exploration, strategy and humor.

EA today announced financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2004. Net revenue was slightly down, while titles such as NFSU2, NBA Live 2005, Battle For Middle Earth, and Third Age sold more than 1 million copies apiece. EA commented that they were also in the running for the MLBPA license but did not think the economics made sense, so did not fully pursue it. The ESPN license will open the door to new franchises such as Poker, Fishing and possible X-Games based titles. In regards to Ubisoft, EA says it wants to be a good shareholder and and will keep options open, which could mean acquiring additional shares (but it stressed it would not overpay), or simply selling the current stock. Most importantly, it was revealed that Battlefield 2 and MoH: Dogs of War have been delayed until Q1 2006 (April through June). Read more for the detailed financial information..

Following other successful movies based on computer games like Mortal Kombat and Double Dragon, Sony Pictures Entertainment will produce Counter-Strike: Movie. Based on the popular Counter-Strike multiplayer mod from Valve, the movie is guaranteed to be "a rollercoaster ride of thrilling action and witty banter." German director Uwe Boll (Alone in the Dark, Bloodrayne) has picked up the rights, and both Ben Affleck and Colin Farrell have expressed interested in starring in the movie (thanks Gamers.nl/bbspot.com).
UPDATE: A bit early for April Fools Day, thank god no Uwe Boll, turns out to be a joke!

Dead to Rights II marks the return of action-hero Jack Slate and his K-9 companion, Shadow. In this super-charged sequel, Jack and Shadow find themselves once again in the squalid, mean streets of Grant City, ensnared in a labyrinth of crime, corruption and betrayal. The official Dead to Rights II website shows a new release date, now pushed back until March 2005.

Groove Games today announced the official ship date for the highly touted first-person action game, Pariah. The game, being developed by First-Person Shooter (FPS) aficionados, Digital Extremes will hit retail worldwide on May 3, 2005 for the Xbox and the PC.

Dreamfall continues the story of one of the most critically acclaimed adventure games ever made, and will bring adventure gaming into a new era. Focusing on story and characters, Dreamfall features unparalleled 3D visuals, advanced character animations, stunning audio, and innovative gameplay - wrapped in a unique and magical ambience.

Last week word leaked out, through Atari's own betatest site, that a new addon for RollerCoaster Tycoon III was in the works, with a beta test coming up soon, but no specific name was revealed. Today the official name came to light through a listing on Gamestop, offering RollerCoaster Tycoon III Cape Typhoon for pre-order, with a shipdate of June 21st, 2005. While no additional details were included, there should be official news soon ...

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is an eagerly anticipated first-person horror adventure based on the award winning RPG from Chaosium that in turn is based on the writings of the acclaimed American horror author H. P. Lovecraft... Some new screens showing just how dark some of those corners are.

Fan site Seriously has the first word of an all new 3rd person shooter, in the word at independent Dutch developer CrazyFoot, using Croteam's Serious Engine. We'll have more details soon, in the meantime, read more for some screens...

Epic Games today announced the grand prize winners of the $1,000,000 NVIDIA Make Something Unreal mod-making contest. The grand prize for Best Mod is awarded to Red Orchestra, an immersive combined arms infantry and armored vehicle combat simulation set on the eastern front of World War II. The development team behind the winning entry receives $50,000 in cash and a coveted Unreal Engine commercial license worth approximately $350,000.