Barely out in stores, premiere's in the UK today, Eidos has already released the first patch updating Championship Manager 5 with all the latest player stats and addressing various interface issues, fixing match engine problems, and another ton of fixes and gameplay adjustments. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

After Dustin Browder left EA for Blizzard and Skaggs stepped away for personal reasons, a third former Westwood employee has left Electronic Arts. Adam Isgreen, lead designer on Red Alert, Tiberian Sun and Firestorm, and most recently Multiplayer Design Director for Goldeneye Rogue Agent, has announced he will be leaving EALA and is moving over to Petroglyph, a studio comprised of several other ex-Westwood employees, who is currently working on Star Wars Empire at War for LucasArts. "After spending 2 years out at EA after Westwood was consolidated, with several abortive attempts to get a new C&C off the ground, EA and I have parted ways." Read more details over at PlanetCNC.

MCV is reporting that UK development studio Blue 52 has closed its doors after failing to secure enough cash to pay for company overheads, MCV can reveal. The forthcoming release of Stolen, Blue 52’s highly-regarded stealth sim, to be published by Hip Interactive at the beginning of April, has not been affected. Sources close to the London-based developer indicate that a small team has relocated to alternative premises to complete work on Stolen, and that the company is set to rise from the ashes as a new business initiative, Curve Games Studios, with the same core staff later this year.

Drawing on the heart-racing intensity and widespread appeal of tournament poker and off-road racing, Majesco today announced Texas Hold 'Em Poker and ATV: Quad Frenzy, two new titles for the Nintendo DS scheduled for later this year.

Auto Assault combines vehicular combat with role-playing elements. Players explore a post-apocalyptic future in customizable cars, motorcycles, semis and even tanks. Players battle other players both in arenas and in epic race vs. race wars for control of the regions in a devastated Earth.

Perimeter: Emperor's Testament will feature all new & updated graphics, tons of new units and structures, a new soundtrack by the St. Petersburg Orchestra, and a total of 25 new missions. Perimeter: Emperor's Testament is scheduled for release in Russia Q1 2005. Read more for new screens ...

Vietcong Red Dawn is a new official add-on for Vietcong. The add-on was released throughout the UK with the cover DVD of the latest PC Gamer issue, and will furthermore be released with gaming magazines in other countries. The addon contains a new Vietcong cooperative campaign, new multiplayer maps, one new single player mission, AI bots for the multiplayer mode, and completely new theme music. Vietcong Red Dawn will be available for free download from the 25th of March 2005. Read more for some new screens and trailer showing off the new addon ...

Midway Games today announced that its highly acclaimed, NBA lifestyle basketball title, NBA Ballers, has been added to Sony Computer Entertainment America's (SCEA) "Greatest Hits" collection, just eleven months after its release. NBA Ballers, developed by Midway studios in Chicago, is now available for the suggested retail price of $19.99 at U.S. retail outlets nationwide.

As Spider-Man, players must master new combo moves as they protect the city of Manhattan from the nefarious Doc Ock and other classic Marvel villains by swinging, jumping and wall-crawling through 19 new levels that extend beyond the film. Featuring an unprecedented depth of gameplay, players experience original storylines and battle through graphically rich 3D environments.

Another day, another batch of game trailers were released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• Cold Winter - Trailer #4
• Pariah - Trailer #3
• Soldner: Marine Corps - Intro Movie
• Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Aliens Trailer
• Taxi 3: Extreme Rush - Trailer Pack

Vivendi today announced that Nexus: The Jupiter Incident is now available. Developed by Mithis Entertainment and published by HD Interactive, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident is a real-time mission-based tactical space game featuring spectacular real-time battles with breathtaking motion picture quality. Players will focus on tactics and action as they control up to 10 battleships encountering aliens, unknown solar systems and other phenomena in the struggle to save Earth.

TimeSplitters Future Perfect has gone gold for the PS2, Xbox and GameCube, and will be in stores beginning March 22nd. In TimeSplitters Future Perfect, Cortez - the hero from previous installments - returns with humanity on the brink of destruction. With the help of some familiar faces (some very familiar!) he must chase a mystery foe across different time periods to trace the origins of the TimeSplitters and save the day.

Fans who pre-order their copies will receive a Bonus DVD loaded with extras including the Empire Earth II Single-Player Demo, 20 minutes of exclusive behind-the-scenes video, exclusive multiplayer maps, the Empire Earth II Soundtrack, concept artwork, and more. Pre-orders are now being accepted at participating retailers. The pre-order period will last through the April 26th ship date or until supplies last. Please contact your local store to confirm availability of the Pre-Order item in your area.

North American publisher Atlus releases new screens for its upcoming PS2 exclusive strategy role-playing game from Japan, Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity.

Today Ubisoft and Gearbox Software announced that Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is now available in retail stores for the PlayStation 2 and PC at the MSRP of $49.99.

Samurai Western is an action-packed adventure game developed by Spike, the creators of the original Tenchu and The Way of the Samurai series. Featuring improved graphics and a multitude of gameplay additions such as a First Person Mode, an Insane difficulty level, and Bushido Sense, Samurai Western will tar and feather all but the most experienced gamers!

Blizzard Entertainment today announced that World of Warcraft, its massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has surpassed the 1.5 million subscriber mark.

Sony Online Entertainment today announced that Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade has gone gold. Developed and published by SOE, Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade will be available exclusively for the PSP for an MSRP of $39.99 and is scheduled to ship to North American retail stores on March 22, 2005.

Fresh out in stores, Ubisoft releases the first patch for its submarine sim Silent Hunter 3. This update brings your retail game to v1.1 and addresses various graphical problems, multiplayer issues, and the usual bugs fixes and gameplay tweaks. Read more for details and download links ...

TT Superbikes will feature on the channel around the launch along with a strong presence at this year's TT event in June. There will be several promotions including prize give-away copies of the game to Men and Motors viewers. The game will also feature the Men and Motors Suzuki superbike, which will race at this year's event. Read more for details and screens ...

The acclaimed TOCA series will return with every element of motorsport for real in TOCA Race Driver 3, Codemasters announced today. Coming this winter for PS2, Xbox and PC, race drivers will be competing in a massive variety of the world's most aggressive motorsports, complete with explosive damage effects, head-to-head online multiplayer racing and a game engine rebuilt for a greater degree of simulation.

Codemasters is quietly working on the TOCA Race Driver 2006, and while it has not yet been officially announced, today they lift the veil a little bit and give us the first glimpse of whats to come in the newest edition of the popular racing franchise. Codemasters sends out an interview with Codemasters studio head Gavin Raeburn (thanks Gamer.nl), and includes 4 brand spanking new screens...

Planetwide Games announced today that RYL: Path of the Emperor will be the first Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game to offer a $1,000,000 Grand Prize to the winner of a Player vs. Player Skill-Based Tournament.

Interactive Data Visualization (IDV) today announced that SpeedTree, its hardware independent foliage solution, has been integrated with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3. Unreal Engine licensees will now have access to SpeedTree’s advanced content creation options, enabling them to quickly and efficiently populate game environments with highly detailed trees and foliage.

Back in February we reported that Rare's Conker: Live and Reloaded was delayed from its March shipdate, and new listings on EBGames and GameStop had it scheduled for June 21st. As online retailer are more wrong than they are right, it was to be taken with a grain of salt, but this time it turns out they hit the jackpot as the official website has been updated and its ambiguous TBA release date has now been changed to .... June 21st. Conker: Live and Reloaded features intense deathmatch and campaign storyline modes via Xbox Live and system link, players can compete as one of six combat specialists across multi-mission campaigns covering Old War and Future War.