Pre-order campaigns for MMO games offer, as a rule, bonus in-game goodies to reward early adopters with something special. NCsoft Europe has today announced that it plans to go one better with Auto Assault as European players will be able to vote for which in-game weapon will be included in the pre-order campaign.

Matrix Games and Slitherine Strategies are pleased to announce that Spartan, the classic empire-building and ancient battles game, is now available for purchase as a digital download from the Matrix Games website.

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge is an action-adventure game that continues the story of Jack Skellington and his arch-nemesis, Oogie Boogie. Players take on the role of Jack, who must battle bizarre and vicious enemies in order to stop the diabolical Oogie Boogie from kidnapping the leaders of all the holidays.

Deep Silver announced details of their sci-fi FPS, Chrome Specforce. Launching in August 2005, Chrome Specforce is definitely one for every shooter fan, packed with unlimited action and a diverse range of vehicles and weapons, appealing for both lone and online gaming. Get ready for the special force operatives of the future.

Need for Speed Most Wanted delivers a unique, fast-paced and gripping ride in the racing genre as players build up their Rap Sheet and street cred to move their way up the Black List to become the most wanted racer on the streets. Players will go head-to-head with the top drivers on the scene as well as strategically evade more than half dozen cops at any one time. Add in a dynamic open world, new gameplay and customization as well as tuners, supercars, muscles and sports cars and Need for Speed Most Wanted will be on every gamer's "must-have" list.

Ubisoft announced today that it has signed an agreement with UK glamour model Thekla Roth to appear in its upcoming action game. 187 Ride or Die tells the story of a reluctant urban hero named Buck, a young man living a thug's life seething with money, fast cars and beautiful women -- with danger lurking around every corner.

S2 will significantly improve the game - important features have been added, dynamic camber (improved simulation of suspension and different suspension types), highly detailed tyre physics and a damage model have been introduced. The LFS team has released an updated alpha demo for Live for Speed S2 offering you a training area, and the Blackwood track, driveable in 3 cars. This updated demo contains the full game which you can unlock once you purchase a key. Read more for download links ...

Vivendi has updated its F.E.A.R. product page reflecting a change in release date for Monolith's upcoming FPS. Originally scheduled for fall 2005, it has now been moved forward and is tentatively planned for summer 2005. An unidentified paramilitary force infiltrates a multi-billion dollar aerospace compound, the government responds by sending in Special Forces, but loses contact as an eerie signal interrupts radio communications. When the interference subsides moments later, the team has been literally torn apart. Your mission is simple: Eliminate the intruders at any cost. Determine the origin of the signal. And contain this crisis before it spirals out of control.

In SpellForce 2, the player takes over the role of the avatar, solving quests and overcoming obstacles as in classical RPGs, but also experiences strategic challenges while leading armies as in an RTS - therefore offering a complete synthesis of both genres in a perfect blend.

AT&T today announced it will will host Turbine's multiplayer games, including Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach, The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, and the critically acclaimed franchise titles Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2, from its local Internet Data Center.

By now everybody knows Microsoft's next gen console will use an ATI GPU instead of the current NVIDIA powered Xbox. The question on a lot of people's minds was, will there be backwards compatibility? While Sony and Nintendo already announced that its new consoles will be able to play previously released titles, Microsoft was quiet on the matter and only at E3 did we get a vague "best-selling Xbox titles would work on the Xbox 360." 1UP finally got some more information as it seems that Microsoft has bought a technology license from NVIDIA to allow the X360 to emulate using the IBM PowerPC CPU's. Several "patches" will ship on the X360's HD at launch, while and others will be made available through Xbox Live at a later date.

RedOctane today announced its Be A Guitar Hero Competition. Bands nationwide are invited to submit original music for potential inclusion in Guitar Hero the innovative new video game scheduled for release on the PlayStation2 in the fall of 2005.

Microsoft has sued four online retailers in California and Virginia for selling pirated software after having received complaints from consumers and businesses who had purchased software from those outlets.

Joint Task Force is a state-of-the-art military RTS with a contemporary setting. The game will consist of 20 missions that will take us to 5 different parts of the world such as the Middle East, Central Asia and the Balkans.

Actor and self proclaimed gamer Vin Diesel is said to have signed on to star as Agent 47 in the upcoming Hitman movie, in the works over at 20th Century Fox. No director has been assgined yet but the movie will be produced by Charles Gordon (Daybreak Productions, Die Hard) and Adrian Askarieh (Prime Universe Productions, Spy Hunter), with a helping hand from Eidos' Paul Baldwin. It is also rumored that Vin Diesel's game production company Tigon Studios is in talks with Eidos and IO Interactive regarding the Hitman license and might lend his voice to a future Hitman title, its release coinciding with the aforementioned movie.

Inon Zur is writing the musical score for NCsoft's new online action game Exteel. Zur has composed music for titles such as PoP: Warrior Within, Men Of Valor, Socom II and Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest, and his orchestral scores are featured in the promotional trailers for movies such as Kingdom Of Heaven, The Pacifier and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Mythic Entertainment today announced that Steve Perkins has joined the company as Director of Marketing. A seven-year veteran of the computer and videogame industry, Perkins recently served in the same capacity at EA leading the marketing for numerous titles, including the "Battlefield" franchise. In his new role, Perkins will oversee all aspects of strategic marketing including advertising, promotions, PR and the management of Mythic's relationships with key marketing partners.

20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures are teaming up to make a feature film adaptation of the Microsoft video game Halo. Negotiations still were under way late Thursday, but under the deal, Universal will take domestic rights and Fox will handle international.

World Forces: War on Terror is a tactical, arcade style RTS, which is set in the very near future, utilizing the modern weaponry of tomorrow.

The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, relating to the proposed GameStop-EB Games merger, has ended. The merger transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2005, although it remains subject to approval by stockholders of both companies and other customary closing conditions.

Paradox Interactive today announced that it will be publishing the sequel to Galactic Civilizations, Galactic Civilizations II, in Europe. The title is scheduled for release around Feb 2006.

Techland announced today that the english version of Chrome SpecForce has gone gold. The game has been sent for replication now. Official date of english version premiere will be revealed soon. Chrome SpecForce is a Sci-Fi shooter set in a far future. You become Bolt Logan, a member of the elite SpecForce military unit. Your mission - to battle terrorist factions on the desolate planet of Estrella.

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge is an action-adventure game that continues the story of Jack Skellington and his arch-nemesis, Oogie Boogie. Players take on the role of Jack, who must battle bizarre and vicious enemies in order to stop the diabolical Oogie Boogie from kidnapping the leaders of all the holidays.

Matrix Games and Mark H. Walker are very pleased to announce that Lock 'n Load: Band of Heroes is now available for a special pre-order price of $64.99 via the Matrix Games online store.

A bill before the California Assembly to ban the sale of violent video games has been shelved because of a lack of support and therefor Assemblyman Leland Yee has deactivated his bill, for the time being, after failing to muster enough votes for it to pass the full Assembly.