Blizzard announced that recent hardware upgrades and retrofits might allow them to begin testing the ability to go longer than a week between maintenance periods. Instead regular maintenance tasks will run during off-peak with realms live, starting Dec. 26. Off-peak rolling restarts might be needed if necessary; however the downtime for each realm would be less than 10 minutes if it was required.

Fearless Mafia hitman Jackie Estacado is part of the Franchetti crime family helmed by vicious cousin Paulie. On the eve of his 21st birthday, Jackie is suddenly possessed by the terrifying and spectacular powers of the Darkness.

In Final Fantasy XI, players embark on numerous adventures through vast environments in Vana'diel: a persistent world with over a hundred areas to explore, including mountains, forests, glaciers, deserts, oceans, rivers, castles, and dungeons. Square Enix has terminated over 7,450 accounts held by players involved in the usage of 3rd party tools or cheats, or engaged in RMT (Real Money Trading) activities.

Making History: The Calm & the Storm puts players in control of global conflict, combining a highly sophisticated AI with rich historical detail. This updated demo has been pulled due to an installation bug, a proper version is expected shortly...

The entire Worthplaying staff would like to say "MERRY CHRISTMAS" to our readers all around the world. We hope everybody has a wonderful holiday, loads of good food, and a joyful time with friends & family. May Santa bring you all the games you wished for, but above all, stay safe! Our news coverage will not slow down, but the news itself might be lacking. If there is anything worthy of your attention, you can be sure to read it here ...

Infernal is a third-person action adventure that is set in a present-day scenario, with stunning environments and strong characters. The story relates to the eternal conflict between good and evil, confronted in supernatural intelligence agencies.

Pirates of the Burning Sea is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game set in the Caribbean islands of the 18th Century. You play a bold sea captain, master of your own ship and crew, as you seek glory and adventure across the trackless deep.

Total Extreme Wrestling 2007 allows you to take on the role of a wrestling promoter and steer your company to the top. Grey Dog Software released a limited-time demo allowing you to try out the entire game and be permitted to continuously repeat one month of game time.

SCEA announced the North American release of Gran Turismo HD Concept, available for free download on the PS3's PlayStation Store. Polyphony Digital Inc's driving game features an all-new course for players to be the first to drive a Ferrari on a PS3, as well as the option to select a car from nine other manufacturers including Infiniti, Lotus, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Suzuki.

Two Worlds is an RPG featuring thrilling fight choreographies, gripping characters and realistic worlds, linking the cinematic story with maximum gaming freedom in a medieval fantasy world.

Back in 2004 Hannover developer Team exDream entertainment surprised gamers with Arena Wars, which won the German Jury Innovative Award, and dtp announced that 2007 will bring a sequel, Arena Wars Reloaded. Sporting various new features, and a new graphics engine, this action strategy game will focus once again on multiplayer mayhem.

Space Empires V completely updates the user interface, and takes the player into a real-time rendered 3D universe. Watch space battles play out in glorious detail with realistic effects. Expand, Explore, Exploit, and Exterminate in a huge, living, breathing galaxy.

Legend of the Dragon is a 3rd person action game with RPG components, featuring fantastic martial arts movements from the TV series. As in the series, players will find Twelve Signs of the Ancient Chinese Zodiac, each with its own temple, and each temple with its own guardian.

Step up as the lead blocker to create a hole, and then take control of the tailback and smash through, overpower, or slash away from would-be tacklers as you fight for every yard. Innovative rushing controls give you a game-breaking ground attack featuring all-new jukes, cutbacks, and the distinct running styles of your favorite backs.

In Crysis, shooter fans will face a new kind of gameplay challenge requiring adaptive tactics and customization of weapons and armor in dynamic, hostile environments as mankind struggles to survive in the face of a horrific alien invasion.

Diver: Deep Water Adventures is a mix of 3D tactical strategies and first-person adventure action. Biart has released a new patch, bringing the French retail version to v1.06 and fixes mission 14, video playback, BCD control, mailbox log and various other bugs.

G-Stars will publish Flyboys Squadron, a single player game combined with an MMOG that puts the player in the pilot seat of a Nieuport 17 biplane to participate in exciting World War I era missions inspired by the Flyboys movie.

Weigh anchor, sail the seven seas, explore new continents and foreign cultures. Demonstrate your strategic skills, business acumen and diplomatic finesse. Revel in the jubilant cheers of your people – but don't disappoint them. This v1.01 patch is for the UK/French versions and updates gfx on the G80, improves unit balancing, multiplayer, and fixes a slew of other issues.

Ever wonder how Santa Claus manages to work his way down chimneys way too small for him? Or how he seems to stop time in order to visit all of the world's good boys and girls every Christmas morning? LucasArts and TT Games know the answer: Santa Claus is a Jedi Knight whose amazing Force powers allow him to pull off such spectacular feats.

While details are as good as non-existant, Dark Messiah of Might & Magic developer Arkane Studios and the art Director of Half-Life 2 are working on an all new project, The Crossing, powered by Valve's Source engine. According to 1UP this game, if pulled off successfully, could create a new genre of gaming, as it merges singleplayer with multiplayer in what is being called crossplayer-FPS. The Crossing will be cover story on the next Games for Windows issue.

The Shield, based on the TV series, is a 3rd person action game in which you take on the role of Mackey, the tough, street-savvy leader of the Elite Strike Team, a special police unit located deep within the crime-riddled trenches of Los Angeles. Executive Producer Rob Sandberg tells us more about the game ...

Hellgate: London is an RPG set in the immersive first-person perspective. With a completely randomized world that offers a unique experience every time you play, Hellgate: London introduces a demon-ridden place where the last survivors of the human race must meld science and magic to survive.

With LFS S2 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 a new update for the LfS S2 alpha demo adding stability, several fixes, and an in-game autoupdate function.

BioWare is bringing an enhanced version, high-resolution graphics and new visual effects, of Jade Empire to the PC. The original, story of Jade Empire is injected with new monsters, weapons, combat styles, new challenges, and special items to discover.

Sacred 2 is a deep fantasy RPG where players are immersed in an epic journey through the medieval-like kingdom of Ancaria. Highly action-oriented, Ascaron's Sacred 2 features pitched battles and a wide range of enticing quests.