Director of PlayStation Network Operations Eric Lempel revealed that, at the request of the PS3 community, Sony is working on issueing PlayStation Network Cards, and should start appearing at retailers in early ‘08. The cards will be redeemable via the PlayStation Store for PC, and on the PS3 to supply the wallet with funds to spend on games, add-ons, and other paid content.

Aksys Games announced it is bringing Castle of Shikigami III, a vertical scrolling shoot’em-up known for its lively characters and challenging difficulty, to North America.

Consumer analysts at Turner Investment Partners concluded that casual games are catching the eyes (and fingers) of women, baby boomers and even seniors, giving video games the potential to be "one of the few retailing success stories in what may be a lackluster holiday shopping season." The company fails to mention the real casual games from companies like PopCap and Bigfish Games, and instead touts several high-profile companies of which it just happens to own shares.

Namco Bandai revealed six new plane variants for Ace Combat 6 that will be available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace, Dec. 19. A new Team Battle map will be downloadable in the coming weeks, allowing online squadrons to battle in an all-new locale.

The latest NPD numbers confirm that the Wii is still one of the hottest items on the market, with nearly 1 million units sold last month alone. During a conference call earlier today, NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that large Wii shipments (20+ units) will be coming in this weekend at several retail stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Target and Wal-Mart. People who still can't find a Wii will be able to get a raincheck at GameStop, redeemable in Jan. 2008.

WH 40K: Dawn of War - Soulstorm features an extensive interplanetary campaign spanning an entire star system in the WK40K universe, as well as introducing two all-new factions for an unprecedented total of nine playable races.

GRIN, known for developing the PC versions of Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, announced that it is opening a new studio in Gothenburg, Sweden early 2008, to work on a yet un-announced triple A sci-fi title. Currently working on Bionic Commando for Capcom, GRIN has satellite offices in Spain, Jakarta, and Japan.

Advances in gameplay and the addition of new elements will make Disciples III richer and more interesting. The visual design follows the original ominous and gloomy style of the Disciples world, but now the entire game environment and every individual unit is in full 3D.

Another day, another batch of games shipped to stores. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are announcements for:

• The Orange Box (PS3)
• Ballerium (PC)
• 
  We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details ...

Fading Shadows is a PSP exclusive puzzle-platformer game offering an entirely unique style of action-packed puzzle gameplay, stunning graphics and visual effects, a riveting and immersive storyline, plus a competitive wireless multiplayer game mode.

Gothic 3 is the third part of the RPG legend presenting an intense, living world and a non-linear, varied gaming experience. This v1.5.2 community patch is not supported by Jowood, but addresses a lot of issues with the game ...

The Witcher is an action RPG, combining features of such games as Dungeon Siege, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, Gothic and Neverwinter Nights, incorporating a simple-yet-interesting game system, along with a complex plot and attractive 3D graphics.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning will bring Games Workshop's fantasy world to life in a way that will allow players to create characters destined for great deeds and glory on the field of battle.

CoD 4: Modern Warfare is a new action-thriller that will arm gamers with the most advanced and powerful arsenal of modern day firepower to fight a new war in the world’s most treacherous hot spots. Infinity Ward revealed that it is currently working on a title update and playlist changes for the X360 edition, expected sometime this month ....

Xider Games' Ankh is a point and click adventure game where you play as Assil, a young Egyptian man in trouble, making his way through treacherous Cairo, avoiding evil Pharaohs, crocodiles and assassins, to lift his own death curse.

EA Playground captures the exuberance and nostalgia of your neighborhood playground, turning your gaming space into an arena of interactive fun with immersive activities designed for kids, and the kid inside all of us.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 will feature changing climate, improved AI, an advanced Cross-Com system, air strikes from jet fighters, new weapons and a new soldier class, the Medic.

In Underwater Wars you and your squad are members of US Navy elite division. Your mission, to protect freedom and to provide peace and the law and order on all planet. The game is set approximately 5 years from now, and develops over the course of an additional 2 years.

Earlier this week, Harmonix accused Activision of blocking its software patch to make the PS3 version of Rock Band compatible with the GH3 peripherals. Today, Activision responded by issuing a statement blaming Harmonix for not accepting an "agreement" that would have allowed the use of Guitar Hero guitar controllers with Rock Band.

Medal of Honor Airborne introduces players to an entirely new way of experiencing a WWII FPS – namely the fully interactive Airborne experience. As promised, EA has released the v1.2 patch for MoH Airborne, which raises the player count, gives players more options for names, makes balance changes on the weapons and adds two new maps.

NIS America announced the spiritual sequel to the Atelier Iris RPG series, Mana Khemia. Different from the previous Atelier Iris games, Mana Khemia is a campus sim style RPG, where you can interact with classmates and professors to complete academic quests.

Nival Interactive announces the signing of an agreement between the technology holding company Ener1 Group, which had bought Nival in 2005, and the founder of Nival Interactive, Sergey Orlovskiy, that returns full control of Nival Interactive to Orlovskiy. As a result, the U.S. office in Los Angeles, which was opened in 2006, will be closed, and the company's headquarters will return to Moscow.

Dark Sector is a new and original next-gen action-thriller, developed by Digital Extreme. A dark, gritty experience packed with fast action, incredible superpowers and an engaging story.

After being lauded by Time Magazine yesterday, MCV's annual independent retailer survey reveals that UK stores pick Halo 3 as the best single moment in 2007, while Microsoft was voted the best in terms of overall quality and attitude throughout the year. To complete the hat trick, 49% of the UK retailers think Xbox 360 will win the next-gen battle.

Swords will be honed and weapons optimized in Namco Bandai's Soulcalibur IV. Delivering new gameplay modes, characters and enhanced features with unprecedented 3D modeling and animation, Soulcalibur IV will be the definitive fighting game experience.