Gizmondo Europe, owned by Tiger Telematics, filed for bankruptcy protection with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last week Tiger tried to give Gizmondo Europe a $5 million short term loan but that did not seem to be enough to turn the tide. In light of the filing Gizmondo Europe laid off half of its workforce to reduce expenses. The Gizmondo handheld failed miserably, despite its huge marketing rollout, in both Europe and North America.

Realscan 3D today announced the delivery of a scanned, animation-ready 3D model of Dwayne The Rock Johnson to Midway Games for its new video game Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run. The Rock is featured in the role of the game's lead character, Alex Decker.

Pursuit Force is a fast-paced arcade-action game, that fuses driving and combat mechanics to create a unique gaming experience for PSP. Pursuit Force follows the misadventures of a rookie Police Officer tracking down five criminal gangs across an entire fictional state in America.

CDV USA today announced an agreement with digital distribution outlet Trymedia Games, which will enable consumers to electronically download and purchase select CDV videogame titles. In addition, the service will allow consumers to try complete game versions before buying them.

The Sims 2: Open for Business will revolve around setting up businesses and making money. Construction company, restaurant, nightclub, or simply decide to work from home, it will all be possible. You will need to strategically place employees, or fire useless workers, in order to keep your customers happy.

Turbine and Atari announced today that legendary Dungeons & Dragons co-designers Messrs Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, have agreed to provide some of the voiceovers for D&D Online: Stormreach.

Nobilis' Da Vinci Experience is now called The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript, a major adventure and investigation game, the first game created about the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci. It offers players the opportunity to grapple with the mysteries of the codes hidden within the works of the great Italian genius.

Def Jam Fight For NY: The Takeover lets you experience the ultimate hip hop fighting game anywhere you go. Featuring new fighting moves and new venues, players can gain respect by winning fights and rising among the ranks of the crew. For the first time ever players can battle in 1-on-1 death matches using PSP's wireless functionality.

The Sims 2: Open for Business will revolve around setting up businesses and making money. Construction company, restaurant, nightclub, or simply decide to work from home, it will all be possible. You will need to strategically place employees, or fire useless workers, in order to keep your customers happy.

UK trade magazine MCV claims to have received word from an insider that Activision snagged the rights to develop a game based on DreamWorks Studios' upcoming The Transformers animated movie. Given the trackrecord of the two companies, Shrek 2, Madagascar, A Shark's Tale, and various other titles, this might not be too far fetched. The source said "Activision picked up the rights to Transformers last year and has already set a top US studio to work on the project," but Activision refuses to comment on rumors.

Falcon 4.0: Allied Force features extensive improvements in all areas including artificial intelligence, graphics, multiplayer, terrain and of course the stunning real time, fully dynamic campaign engine. This patch brings your retail game to v1.0.5and re-adds force feedback, fixes bugs & crashes, as well as avionics, weapons, campaign, cockpit/HUD etc.

Grey Dog Software announced the release of its college basketball simulation, Total College Basketball, offering sports management fans a fresh look at college hoops with its accurate simulation engine, in-depth recruiting, engaging interface and excellent balance of statistical detail and complete game immersion.

EA today announced that The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II will make its exclusive console debut when it ships in Summer 2006 on the Xbox 360, and will be the first game in the series that will be playable over Xbox LIVE. Players will be able to challenge friends online and engage in intense, action-packed real-time battles.

Commandos Strike Force takes you right into the heart of the action from a first person perspective. Take control of the three members of the 'Strike Force' unit, each with their own play style. However, it is up to you how you execute plans of attack by combining the Commandos' unique skills.

Def Jam Fight For NY: The Takeover lets you experience the ultimate hip hop fighting game anywhere you go. Featuring new fighting moves and new venues, players can gain respect by winning fights and rising among the ranks of the crew. For the first time ever players can battle in 1-on-1 death matches using PSP's wireless functionality.

In Battlefield 2: Euro Force, the European Army joins the Battlefield fray for the first time on PC. Complete with seven new weapons and four new vehicles, the European Army will be sent into battle against MEC and Chinese forces on three brand new maps.

EA and Def Jam Enterprises announced today that Def Jam Fight For NY: The Takeover will ship to retail outlets nationwide this spring on the PSP. Def Jam Fight For NY: The Takeover lets you experience the ultimate hip hop fighting game anywhere you go.

EA today announced The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II Collector's Edition. The first ever Collector's Edition DVD release will include extra DVD video content, poster, map of middle-earth, exclusive in-game content such as units and maps.

NVIDIA took its acclaimed SLI technology to a new level today by introducing support for the industry's first ever Quad SLI-certified PC. Delivering the most extreme high definition gaming experience available on the PC, Quad SLI features four of NVIDIA's flagship GeForce 7800 GTX GPUs each with two GeForce 7800 GTX graphics processing units (GPUs) on-board with an NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 motherboard.

Commandos Strike Force takes you right into the heart of the action from a first person perspective. Take control of the three members of the 'Strike Force' unit, each with their own play style. However, it is up to you how you execute plans of attack by combining the Commandos' unique skills.

Second Life creator Linden Lab announced the 3D online world's population now exceeds 100,000 residents, from no less than 95 countries and 7 continents.

Highlighting key consumer products such as Xbox 360 and offering the first broad demonstration of the consumer features of Windows Vista, Microsoft's Bill Gates showed how the company is delivering on its vision for a digital lifestyle where devices, services and applications work together seamlessly

The Sims 2: Open for Business, the new addon will revolve around setting up businesses and making money. Construction company, restaurant, nightclub, or simply decide to work from home, it will all be possible. You will need to strategically place employees, or fire useless workers, in order to keep your customers happy.

Rush for Berlin is a tactical real time strategy game, set on the European battlefields of World War II, during 1944-45. The player's goal; to capture the German capital, as either the British/US/French alliance or the Red army of the Soviet Union.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 6th annual Game Developers Choice Awards. Entries can be submitted through www.igda.org/awards up until Jan. 13, 2006, the awards ceremony will take place Wednesday, March 22, 2006 during the GDC.