EA announced today that The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II has shipped to retailers nationwide and will be in stores on March 2, 2006. This real-time strategy game offers the chance to experience Middle-earth in a way you have never seen.

Battlefront announced today that Hubert Cater's grand strategy title Strategic Command 2 Blitzkrieg is now available for pre-order. Combining the ease of play, accessibility and addictive gameplay of the original, Strategic Command 2 Blitzkrieg adds tons of new features including many player submitted suggestions.

SCEA's God of War and Shadow of the Colossus lead the list of nominated games for the 6th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, receiving six and five nominations, respectively. Guitar Hero, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Psychonauts follow close behind with three nods.

EA has released a new patch for it the original 3D RTS Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth. This update brings your retail game to v1.03 and a slew of unit tweaks and a few bugs/crash fixes. Read more for detailed fix list and download links.

Cyanide announced that Winter Challenge is now available for online order/download from its website. Winter Challenge, aka Wintersport Pro 2006, is based on the upcoming Olympic Wintersports in Torino, and will feature 16 disciplines (skiing, bobsled, ski jumping etc.) and over 700 athletes from 29 countries, as well as multiplayer.

The story takes place in an abandoned island, where all humans disappeared in a mysterious way 29 years ago. This time other than the dead people from the first game, there is a new type of enemy called the dark people, they have intelligence and abilities over human, and they can see in the darkness.

SimBin secures future productions of its racing game GTR, based on the FIA GT Championship. The organisation behind the championship, SRO, and SimBin has agreed on a prolonged cooperation lasting until year 2012.

Ahead of its retail launch, EA has already released the first patch for its 3D RTS sequel The Battle for Middle-Earth 2. This update brings your retail game to v1.1 and improves stability of the game and fixes a few desyncs. Read more for download links ...

RF Online is crossing over to the West as Codemasters announces it is now shipping the much-anticipated MMO to retail outlets in the U.S. and U.K.

BFME 2 takes part in the North where a battle is raging between Sauron's forces vs. elves and dwarves. It will be possible to create/customize your own hero, apart from known figures such as Arwin, and become more powerful as you progress in the game. While BFME was all land based, the sequel will also take the action on the sea, naval battles included.

EverQuest: Prophecy of Ro will add three new features, spheres of influence, a trap system, and for the first time in EverQuest, players will be able to destroy objects in the world. SOE announced that its eleventh EQ expansion is shipping to retail stores in North America and is now available for download

Battle of Europe offers fast, arcade style gameplay with a historical theme. Players will control the best combat aircraft of the era and even some "top secret" ones! This fast paced title lets players engage their enemies over some of the most beautiful landscapes in Europe.

The latest EA community update reveals that issues introduced in the newest Battlefield 2 v1.2 patch have to be addressed first, and therefore the first Battlefield 2 booster pack, Euro Force, has been delayed until after the v1.21 patch is released. Currently, select Battlefield community members are helping EA test the new v1.21 patch to ensure a clean release.

Battle of Europe offers fast, arcade style gameplay with a historical theme. Players will control the best combat aircraft of the era and even some "top secret" ones! This fast paced title lets players engage their enemies over some of the most beautiful landscapes in Europe. This demo gives you the chance to try out a training flight and Tirpitz mission.

BFME 2 takes part in the North where a battle is raging between Sauron's forces vs. elves and dwarves. It will be possible to create/customize your own hero, apart from known figures such as Arwin, and become more powerful as you progress in the game. While BFME was all land based, the sequel will also take the action on the sea, naval battles included.

In an interview with UK trade magazine MCV, Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell reveals that the ailing publisher might sell off most, if not all, of its internal studios in order to keep the company financially secure. Atari currently has five studios who are working on some big titles, and Bonnell indicates that these may be shed once their current projects are wrapped up. The studios are: Driver 4's Reflections (UK), current-gen Test Drive's Melbourne House (Australia) Stuntman 2's Paradigm (US), Earthworm Jim's Shiny Studios (US) and next-gen Test Drive's Eden Studios (France).

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. This demo allows you to try out the game's 3 characters in 2 mission (thanks CFansite).

Tomorrow Eidos will be releasing a demo for Pyro Studios' World War II FPS Commandos: Strike Force. The 650 mb demo will offer a two levels, one allowing you to set your espionage skills with the spy character, and the other that allows you to switch between the green beret and the sniper. We will have the demo available on our fileserver network at 9AM PST (noon EST, or 6PM GMT)

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.

Battlefield 2 Special Forces takes the intensity and quality of Battlefield 2 behind the scenes of news headlines, showcasing the most elite and deadly forces in the modern military world. Using accurate special forces weapons, gadgets, and vehicles, these covert armies battle to control key military and strategic locations.

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.

Battle of Europe offers fast, arcade style gameplay with a historical theme. Players will control the best combat aircraft of the era and even some "top secret" ones! This fast paced title lets players engage their enemies over some of the most beautiful landscapes in Europe.

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.

Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 is now available for pre-load and pre-purchase via Steam. Red Orchestra is a realistic WWII online action game that features one dozen scenarios, a wide arsenal, and drivable vehicles. Pre-loading is available with no obligation to purchase. Those who pre-purchase will save 10% off of the regular price of $24.95.

EA announced that The Sims 2: Open for Business expansion pack has gone gold and will hit store shelves on March 2nd, allowing you to create virtually any kind of business from a trendy clothing boutique or hip beauty salon to a blooming floral shop or bustling restaurant chain. As a savvy entrepreneur, your Sim must keep an eye out for slacker employees and be prepared to fire them as quickly as they hired them!