Valve's SteamPowered website has been updated with details regarding yet another update, this time not for HL2 but its multiplayer component, Counterstrike Source, and the Source Engine itself. Most notable is the addition of a new map for CSS, de_prodigy. Read more for details ...

JoWooD's Stargate SG-1: The Alliance is the spectacular interactive game expereince that puts players in the action packed universe of the Stargate SG-1 TV series. Jowood sent us a pre-canned Q&A, but nontheless a very interesting read with plenty of new info.

Wing Simulations has released a Building SDK for its military multiplayer shooter Soldner: Secret Wars, allowing you to create your own buildings for Soldner: Secret War’s. This package includes a detailed Tutorial, 3d Studio Max Plugins, some example files, one Testmap and the documentation. Read more for download links ...

Ubisoft has released the English demo for Blue Byte 3D RTS game 'Settlers: Heritage Of Kings.' featuring a tutorial and one single player mission. Fans will enjoy fully animated 3D technology and enhanced gameplay features, but still be able to relive the experience that makes the Settlers series such a big hit. Read more for download links ...

Midway announced today the development of Blitz: Playmakers, a new, unlicensed videogame exposing the harsh realism and troubling, behind-the-scenes stories of a fictional professional football league. Blitz: Playmakers has been in development at Midway's Chicago studio for the past year in collaboration with a writer from ESPN's controversial "Playmakers" TV series.

Put yourself in a spin with Codemasters' Christmas gift – an egg-shell-hen-t bit of retro fun: the complete Commodore 64 edition of Treasure Island Dizzy from way back in 1988!

Nevrax announced the release of the next chapter in the ever-evolving massively multiplayer online role-playing game The Saga of Ryzom.

Matrix Games and Destroyer Studios have released a new demo for its space sim Starshatter, which includes the training campaign, Operation Live Fire, and the first five days of the first dynamic campaign, Operation Highland, along with a few single missions and a few multiplayer missions that can be enjoyed entirely for free.

Due to continued demand, BattleGoat Studios is pleased to announce the re-opening of the Supreme Ruler 2010 Beta to new applicants. Supreme Ruler 2010 is a groundbreaking Economic, Political, and Military Strategy game for Windows PC's. It supports Single and Multi-Player (up to 16 players) in either “Real Time” or “Turn Based” modes. Supreme Ruler 2010 is scheduled to be released by Strategy First late Q1, 2005.

Fight and evade the powerful military force of the Conquistadors, as they seek to vanquish the seas of the pirate insurgence. Only a pirate captain who masters the power of the voodoo spells, who can outwit their foes and seize the treasure, will truly be ruler over the “Voodoo Islands”. Although Koch Media announced that their game went out of beta testing several months ago, no release date is given yet.

Players of Sacred can look forward to a game world that is 40 percent bigger than before, two new characters with distinctive and stunning abilities, 30 fearsome types of opponents and plenty of additional weapons, items and armor. In Sacred Underworld, the player will be able to re-live the excitement of the entire original Sacred adventure with two new characters, the Daemon and the Dwarf; alternatively, it will be possible to continue the thrilling story of the fantasy world of "Ancaria" with existing characters. The new adventures of "SACRED Underworld" will be available in April 2005 for €24.99.

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 :

• The Godfather - Trailer
• Bloodline - Trailer
• Metal Wolf Chaos - Trailer
• Shadow of Rome - Trailer #6
• Still Life - Teaser

Ubisoft today announced the launch of the official Splinter Cell Chaos Theory web site which features tons of images and information, but you can also access the Chaos Theory Experience, a Flash presentation that delivers an emotional punch by thrusting visitors directly into Sam Fisher’s world, illuminating selected details of the compelling storyline, and highlighting just how important Fisher’s work is to combating information warfare and maintaining global security. The Chaos Theory Experience will ultimately consist of six separate modules (and is launching with one); registered ubi.com recruits will be alerted by email when new modules appear.

Hip Interactive Corp. today announced that Hip Games signed an agreement with Living Dead Productions Limited to produce a George A. Romero series of video games on all current and upcoming platforms.

Project: Snowblind is a the first-person action shooter putting you in the role of an elite super soldier, fighting on the front lines of a near-future war using unique weapons, abilities and high-tech gadgetry that inject depth and variety to gameplay. Currently in development by Crystal Dynamics, Project: Snowblind places unique emphasis to its intensive multiplayer and online play modes and will be available for the PS2, Xbox and PC February 23rd 2004. Read more for new screens and trailer.

The international release of the racing simulation GTR – FIA GT Racing Game is scheduled for the beginning of 2005. Due to continuous advancements in development of the product within recent months, publisher 10tacle studios AG and developer Simbin can announce several enhancements as well as additional features for the upcoming version. Read more for details and screens..

JoWooD has released the english demo version of its Ice Hockey Club Manager 2005, providing 20 days of in-game playing time and full functions and options of the retail version. Read more for download links...

Catapulting the series to six new locations, Deer Hunter 2005 features terrain from the U.S. Pacific Northwest, Southeast and Northeast to Canadian, Australian and German locales. Five new species of deer found in those locations, including the Axis Deer and the European Roe Deer, add realism to the game. Sophisticated animal behavior models and an advanced animal AI add compelling gameplay and increase the depth and challenge of the missions.

Winners in 24 categories were announced tonight during the telecast of Spike TV "Video Game Awards 2004." Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" was the big winner of the second annual awards, taking home four "Vector Monkey" trophies. Read more for details and all award winners...

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.

Atari has released the first patch for Zombie Studios' FPS Shadow Ops: Red Mercury. This versionless patch addresses multiplayer compatibility between US and European editions, as well as a minor fix for VIP. There is a seperate patch for the regular Win32 and the AMD 64bit optimized versions. Read more for download links ...

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 :

• Fired Up [PSP] - Trailer
• Football [PSP] - Trailer
• Formula One [PSP] - Trailer
• MediEvil [PSP] - Trailer
• Ridge Racer [PSP] - Trailer
• The Settlers: Heritage of Kings - Trailer #5
• Super Army War [GBA] - Trailer
• Will of Steel - Trailers (2)

In Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, fans follow the Baudelaire orphans as their luck goes from awfully bad to incredibly worse. Based on the popular book series and the upcoming movie starring Jim Carrey, this treacherous tale allows players to experience the eccentric adventures of Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. Activision has released a demo allowing you to try out this recently released action/adventure game.

CDV has released the first patch for Nival's WW2 RTS Blitzkrieg expansion pack 'Rolling Thunder.' This update brings your retail game to v1.3 and adds multiplayer support through LAN and Internet (direct IP), but no multiplayer compatibility with the original Blitzkrieg game (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for details and download links ...

DreamCatcher Games has released the first patch for Golem Labs' global domination strategy 'SuperPower 2.' This patch brings your retail game to v1.3 and fixes the major problems reported by fans and also adds interesting new features like the trade system. This version of the patch is for the Canadian and US editions of the game.