Ensuring that the fun never ends even if it’s cold, rainy, or dark outside, THQ's Neighborhood Games features 24 twists on popular neighborhood games that are fun for all ages and encourage both competitive and cooperative play.

A new survey released by national video game retailer Game Crazy finds that nearly 80 percent of Americans would enjoy playing video games with their significant other. Relationship expert Dr. Diana Kirschner states that in her experience the couples that play together stay together!

SOE has signed a publishing agreement with PopCap Games that will bring five hit titles to the PlayStation Network, starting with Bejeweled 2. Fan favorites, Zuma, Heavy Weapon, Peggle and Feeding Frenzy will become available shortly thereafter.

Nolan Bushnell, creator of Pong and founder of Atari, will receive the Fellowship at this year's GAME British Academy Video Games Awards. Nolan is credited by many for kick-starting the video games revolution; and was named one of Newsweek's '50 Men That Changed America'.

Fun for kids of all ages, Family Party: 30 Great Games offers a wide variety of fun and addictive party games for up to 4 players featuring everything from track n’ field, to playground games, to brain games and more.

Vir2L Studios' Wii exclusive Medieval Games allows you to experience the excitement of days of old with up to three of your friends, from battling dragons and storming the castle, to catapulting and archery contests.

In a recent interview, Neversoft president Joel Jewett revealed that it was no longer developing Tony Hawk titles, but instead speculation is that newly founded Robomodo is on the case. Last year, market-research firm Intellisponse leaked a bunch of info on upcoming Activision Blizzard games, including the fact that the next Tony Hawk would use a new controller, "shift your weight to turn and balance grinds, kick back on the tail of the board to ollie, and lean into airs to pull off huge spins." Activision didn't quite confirm any of the rumors but did say that you wouldn't use your hands, while Tony Hawk himself revealed the next game would include accelerometer technology.

Digital distribution site Good Old Games is now offering Revolution Software's classic point & click adventure games Beneath a Steel Sky and Lure of the Temptress free to its members.

505 Games has signed a partnership with Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, to develop next generation console videogames. The first title is scheduled to release in spring 2010 and will be developed by its new Los Angeles studio.

Good Old Games announced an agreement with Adventure Soft that will bring several adventure titles to GOG.com, DRM-free of course, starting with the Simon the Sorcerer series.

A survey released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project reveals that 53% of American adults play video games and 20% play just about every day. In all, 81% of people between 18 and 29 play games, compared with 23% of people 65 and older, while 50% of all women get their game on, slightly less than males, at 55%. While video games don't make you smarter, the higher your education, the more likely you are to play (57% of gamers went to college, against 40% had less than a high-school education).

Carnival Games MiniGolf features over 25 larger-than-life holes spanning nine theme park style courses. Gamers should expect to be walking the plank in Pirate’s Delight, having a showdown in the Wild West, riding a pterodactyl in Prehistoria, shooting ghostly ghouls in Spook-O-Rama, jiving to jungle beats in the Amazeon or playing with wizard golf balls in Fairytella.

All Points Bulletin is an MMO freeform combat and driving-based game, designed by the creator of the original GTA franchise, bringing players into a living, breathing city where cash is king and territory equals respect. Realtime Worlds' APB has added a variety inventory items (explosives, grenades, non-lethal weapons), not all of which will be available from the starts. Mini-games and leisure activities are being considered, but are most likely to arrive post-launch as part of a more generalized social expansion.

D3Publisher announced a worldwide publishing agreement with Imagi Studios for videogames based on the new animated adventure film, Astro Boy, scheduled to coincide the worldwide release of the movie in Oct. 2009.

When the New Xbox Experience launches on Nov. 19, four existing Xbox Live Arcade games will be updated to include Avatar functionality to make your gaming even more personal. Join your friends and play UNO!, Bomberman Live, Hardwood Hearts and Hardwood Spades and watch your Avatar come to life with custom animations throughout game menus and lobbies. On top of that, a new Xbox Live Arcade title will also launch with the first fully playable in-game Avatars, while the recently released Scene It? Box Office Smash will get a title update that will allow you to use your new Avatar.

Guitar Hero: World Tour will feature guitar, vocals, drums, the ability to create your own songs (and upload them on GHTunes), four-player on/offline co-op, and an eight-player battle of the bands multiplayer mode (4vs4). GameStop will host midnight launch events at 1,800 of its stores on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008.

America’s Video Game Expo is expanding the scope of its exhibit include a new game industry conference, the ‘East Coast Games Summit’. Designed to serve the professional colleagues in the game industry, as well as those interested in starting a career in games, the Summit offers programming for all VGXPO attendees.

300 movie director Zack Snyder, currently working on Watchmen, has signed an agreement with EA to develop three original games with EA’s Los Angeles studio in Playa Vista. While the IPs will be owned by EA, Snyder’s Cruel & Unusual Films will have the option to produce film adaptations based on those properties.

A recent video game habits survey fielded by PoshMama, a women exclusive online community, revealed that many women would rather play video games than catch up on sleep.

Rockstar is bringing its open-ended crime series to the PC with GTA IV, returning the franchise to New York situated around the Eastern European protagonist Nikolai. The PC edition comes with a replay editor with Rockstar Social Club integration, expanded multiplayer, higher resolution, and match filtering.

Driftwood Ventures announced that on Sept. 12, 2008 it completed the previously announced merger with Zoo Games (formerly Greenscreen Interactive Software, Inc.), which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary and the sole operations of Driftwood.

Fable II will offer even more choices and features, while building on the core gameplay theme of Fable where every choice continually defines who you become, allowing you to truly live the life you choose. Available exclusively on Xbox Live Arcade, fans can transfer the gold earned in these casino-style mini-games to the world of Fable II.

Activision has acquired music-based games developer FreeStyleGames, currently developing localized downloadable content for the Guitar Hero franchise, as well as a yet to be announced new, intellectual property in the music genre.

Red Mile signed the license to Frank Miller's Sin City graphic novels and comic books; signed Flint Dille, known for The Chronicles of Riddick, as designer/scriptwriting; and revealed Sin City: The Game will be powered by Epic's Unreal Engine 3. Red Mile revealed that Transmission Games is no longer developing the game, instead focusing on Heroes Over Europe. The studio switch happened a while ago, although Red Mile did not reveal who the new developer is.

Check out the following new screens and trailers from Deep Silver's Games Convention 2008 lineup:

• 'Baby Life' (NDS) - 5 New Screens
• 'Bangai-O Spirits' (NDS) - 9 New Screens & Trailer
• 'Blood Bowl' (NDS/PSP/X360/PC) - 5 New Screens
• 'Dark Horizon' - 5 New Screens
• 'Exit' (NDS) - 19 New Screens
• 'Hotel Giant 2' - 7 New Screens
• 'Igor The Game' (NDS/Wii/PC) - 20 Screens & Trailer
• 'Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim' - 4 New Screens & Trailer
• 'Mytran Wars' (PSP) - 6 New Screens
• 'Ride to Hell' (PS3/X360/PC) - First Screens
• 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky' - Screens
• 'TrackMania DS' (NDS) - 6 New Screens
• 'X3: Terran Conflict' - 15 New Screens