Variety is reporting that Microsoft recently completed a million dollar deal to secure the services of Alex Garland, 28 Days Later and The Beach writer, who is now in the process of penning a screenplay for Halo The Movie. Once the script is complete and signed off by Microsoft, it will be sold to a studio with ex-Columbia Pictures President Peter Schlessel keeping a close eye on the proceedings (thanks VE3D).

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 :

• Pro Rugby Manager - Trailer #2
• Brothers in Arms - Trailer
• Cold Fear - Trailer #2
• Atriarch - Trailer

Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower is a hard hitting fighting game summons the return of Capcom’s greatest monster warriors to once again battle for control of the night. This fierce brawler not only encompasses all 18 menacing characters from the five critically acclaimed instalments of the franchise, it is also remastered to include additional content with Wi-Fi functionality.

The guns of the greatest of all wars roar into life in and on The Road to Berlin. This fast-moving game drops the player right in the middle of frenzied combat action, where the thrills just keep coming! Pilot, gunner, sniper, paratrooper – all these roles are played out through a simple, intuitive point-and-click interface, allowing instant and complete immersion in the game world.

Planetwide Games announced today a historic event of epic proportion, that after seven years of development, the RYL: Path of the Emperor MMORPG went into Open Beta phase for North America. Planetwide Games will operate Open Beta for a limited time only until the Golden Launch date of March 1, 2005. RYL: Path of the Emperor currently has over 8.2 million online players worldwide.

Digital Jesters has scooped another title to add to its already impressive 2005 portfolio as it announces the June release of Chaos League: Sudden Death for PC. The game, developed by Paris-based Cyanide Studios, takes up where the original Chaos League left off, bringing with it a host of improvements and enhancements which make take the real-time, role-playing strategy sports title into a whole new bloody battleground.

Aurora Watching is a third person perspective stealth game taking place in the Arctic. During the mission, Sullivan faces many opponents, not all of whom are human and each of which can be defeated in many ways, Mini-games, puzzles, and hi-tech gadgets keep players excited from the very beginning to the end.

DreamCatcher Games today announced Aerial Strike: The Yager Missions, a futuristic aerial 3D combat/action game, is now at retailers across North America.

Rising Star Games will initially publish titles for PSP, Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2, introducing new games alongside enhanced and updated iterations of interactive entertainment's most loved franchises. Harvest Moon Makes First Ever PS2 appearance alongside New DS, GBA and Game Cube Versions; Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble Updated For next generation handhelds.

RattHunter is a traditional first-person shooter set in a hi-tech environment. It does not push the envelope or bring something fresh to the genre, since we feel that there is little place for innovation in today's action games market. It is, however, solid, polished and smart. Developers lay the emphasis on original ideas in visualization and gameplay design.

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 :

• Battlefield 2 - Trailer #8
• Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - Trailer #13
• SWAT 4 - Trailer
• Fight Night Round 2 - Trailer #5
• Red Shark 2 - Trailer

Matrix Games announced today that they have signed Koios Works’ latest title in the Tin Soldiers series, Julius Caesar. Using the same general play style of Tin Soldiers: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar makes massive improvements to the graphical engine along with numerous game changes to correctly mimic the change in armies and army tactics for the time period.

S2 will significantly improve the game - important features have been added. For example, dynamic camber (improved simulation of suspension and different suspension types), highly detailed tyre physics and a damage model have been introduced. Also the additional content in S2 should be noted - where S1 mostly contains the 'medium' fast cars and tracks, S2 introduces several 'fast' classes (and 'slow').

Featuring 128 club teams, 86 international teams, nine international classic teams from the past, nine classic club teams from the past, seven league all-star teams, six international super teams and eight different stadiums, World Tour Soccer for the PSP provides gamers with the ultimate soccer experience.

Bringing its heritage of being the definitive cricket game series, Brian Lara International Cricket comes ten years after Codemasters launched the original Brian Lara game and over five years since the series appeared on any platform. Brian Lara returns to game screens this summer in Brian Lara International Cricket for PS2, Xbox and PC.

NIS America Inc. announced today its plans to release Makai Kingdom for the PS2, and is scheduled for July 2005. Makai Kingdom is an RPG on which you take on the role of Lord Zetta to command an army of determined fighters to reclaim what has righteously been his, the netherworld. Battle enemies ranging from vicious demons to determined soldiers with both modern and ancient warfare, slash your enemies with the good old broadsword or blast your way through with the deadly rocket launcher; the choices are yours.

After much secrecy and the successful dodging of various infiltration attempts, developer and publisher Paradox Interactive finally revealed today that their next title under development is Diplomacy! Hailed as one of the best board games in the world, Diplomacy is being developed on a new engine that will cater for classical board game features as well as new fresh ideas based on the approved game design.

SCEA announced today the North American launch details for its highly anticipated PSP. Available through retail outlets on March 24, the company continues its consumer-centric legacy with the release of the PSP Value Pack for a suggested retail price of $249.99 U.S./$299.99 CND. REad more for details and list of PSP launch titles

EA announced today that NASCAR SimRacing, will feature NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series star Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge. In addition to being both cover athlete and spokesperson for the franchise, Newman also worked extensively with the game development team to produce the most realistic NASCAR PC simulation to date.

The Adventure Company today announced And Then There Were None as the first title in a series of games based on the books from legendary mystery author, Agatha Christie. AWE Games has been signed to recreate the rich storyline and characters from this best-selling novel.

2K Games today announced a co-publishing agreement between Take-Two and Bethesda Softworks, granting Take-Two co-publishing, sales and distribution rights to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. 2K Games has also signed an agreement to co-publish Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, a first-person horror game that combines intense action and adventure elements.

World Snooker Championship 2005 offers gamers the ultimate simulation of the beloved game. As you might expect, this game has all the big names, but this time there's simply a lot more than any snooker game gone before. More features, options, game modes and faces to make this the ultimate must have snooker title for any serious fan. Check out 100+ screens ...

EA and Viacom are working on a videogame based on The Godfather fiction putting gamers at the center of the action in one of history's most revered masterpieces. The book by Mario Puzo and classic film by Paramount Pictures serve as inspiration for the game as gamers will join the Corleone family and earn respect through loyalty and fear as they rise through the ranks to become Don in a living 1945-1955 New York.

Last week it was revealed that EA's Tiburon studio was working on a "non sports" product, and today it was revealed through the EA job page that EA-Tiburon has taken on a 3rd Person Action Title... SUPERMAN! Best known for delivering AAA sports games such as: Madden Football, NFL STREET, NCAA Football, and NASCAR racing, Tiburon is now expanding it's suite of products to include a huge movie licensed, 3rd Person Action title.

In this new episode, you lead Team Rainbow, the world's most elite counter-terrorist unit, as they are called into action and unfamiliar territory to battle a bioterrorist threat. Stakes escalate as they are personally targeted by an evil terrorist organization. Used to protecting the lives of others, Team Rainbow must now embark on a mission to fight and save some of their own.