While SEGA's Yakuza featured various Hollywood celebrities doing voiceovers, it seems a full blown movie feature is also in the works. According to sources the Yakuza movie is filmed in South Korea by Artport and CJ Entertainment, directed by Takashi Miike. Currently scheduled for release in Japan March 2007, it will debut in North America somewhere during the summer, and be 1hr50min long.

Zen Studios' Flipper Critters is a fully 3 dimensional, original new gameplay experience based on classic pinball. Unlike most games, which take place on small, closed tables, Flipper Critters pinball takes place on a much bigger scale. Originally scheduled for July, then delayed until Sept. 2006, Conspiracy now moved it back until Feb. 2007.

JoWooD launches a new casual line, G-Stars, stands for quality at affordable prices, easy handling and instant feelings of achievements during gaming, combined with moderate system requirements. "G-Stars" will release about 9 to 12 games each year with a strong focus on PC, PS2 and NDS in a unique distribution network.

Not only has Left Behind Games announced a Left Behind: Eternal Forces sequel, it's also getting an add-on. The expansion will pick up the storyline where Eternal Forces left off. The Tribulation Force has been successful in recruiting neutrals and the antichrist, Nicolae Carpathia, is out to take over the world with greater vengeance.

EA announced today that SSX Blur, developed exclusively for Nintendo Wii, is the newest version of the critically acclaimed snowboarding franchise. The huge air, blurring speed and insane tricks that SSX is known for return and the fun-factor is amplified by the unique capability of the Nintendo Wii controller.

RTL Enterprises and 49 Games are working on yet another winter sports title, RTL Biathlon 2007, in cooperation with German Olympic medalists Kati William and Sven Fischer.

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:

• Star Wars Lethal Alliance (PSP)
• Zatch Bell! Mamodo Fury (NGC)
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  We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details ...

Battlestations: Midway follows the story of naval recruit Henry Walker, whose first assignment as a gunner at Pearl Harbor is the starting point of an incredible career at the heart of the US Pacific Fleet in 1942, in what was to become one of the most inspirational military campaigns in history.

According to the latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu, it might be that Tekken 6 is not the first title in the franchise to arrive on the PS3. More details are expected in the near future, but rumor has it that Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection, originally announced as a PS2 title before it went to the PSP, might make an appearance on the PlayStation Store as a downloadable title. Tekken 5 DR is said to include a few optimizations such as an additional playable character, Jinpachi Mishima.

As with the PSP, Sony seems to be releasing new PS3 firmware revisions in rapid succession. In its mere 3 weeks of existence, the PS3 has now received its third update, addressing various issues such as 1080i problems, support for more USB devices, a restore system setting option, an HD backup utility, HDMI output format setting added, and now supports Bluetooth media remote. If you read Japanese, here's the full fix list...

In Superman Returns: The Video Game, you explore and protect the truly living city of Metropolis, one that is not only expansive (with 80 sq miles and over 9,000 buildings), but also changes dynamically with you as you affect gameplay.

Last year's Shot Stick returns with more responsive controls and new mechanics to master. NBA 2K7 combines incredible graphics, including new sweat technology details and animating hair, with a revamped post game, and hundreds of new shooting, passing, and dribbling animations.

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.

Blizzard has released a new upatch for its MMORPG World of Warcraft. This massive v2.0.1 update, for the French, German and UK editions of the game, revamps the honor system, adds arena skirmishes, and the usual slew of balance tweaks, bug and crash fixes...

The Dice Live Team is working on a Battlefield 2142 v1.10 patch, currently in beta testing, and will include added server options and a few gameplay enhancements along with a number of bug fixes. No word whether this update will also feature the reported new maps (Karlbo et Garmisch Partenkirchen) and supply line gameplay mode.

Another day, another batch of game trailers was released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• The Chronicles of Spellborn - The Howling Music Trailer
• Sam & Max Episode 2 - Situation: Comedy - Trailer
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  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Bold Games announced the results of the “Blitzkrieg” phase of its Custom Map Competition for Tripwire Interactive's WWII Eastern Front FPS Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45. The top prize is brand new, high-end gaming rig, with additional prizes of top graphics cards and gaming keyboards/mice.

Virtua Tennis 3 gives gamers the opportunity to experience new levels of realism never thought possible on a home console system with enhanced photo-realistic graphics and advanced player animations that perfectly match the behaviour and mannerisms of individual professional players.

If you need a break from the multiplayer mayhem, Ubisoft has now also released the Splinter Cell Double Agent singleplayer demo, while Take Two has issued a demo (only for North America) for its recently released basketball game College Hoops 2K7 (North Carolina V.S. Florida). Both demos are now available on Xbox Live, but for the time being only Gold members will have access to download them, silver membership holders will have to wait until next week, to shoot some hoops.

Rainbow operatives take to the chaotic streets of Las Vegas as an escalating terrorist siege in “Sin City” threatens to take world terrorism to new, uncontrollable heights. The future of global security hangs in the balance as you battle to defend classic Vegas locations and environments like Fremont Street, the Strip, and casinos. Ubisoft announced it is working on the first patch addressing various multiplayer issues and fixing bugs ...

As part of Activision's "Ratings Are Not a Game," a sponsored survey concluded that parents overwhelmingly agree that the ESRB rating system is a highly effective and influential tool for determining what videogames are appropriate for their children to play.

SOE and Sigil Games announced the Vanguard: Saga of Heroes pre-order program, available through select retailers. If you preorder, you get three days of early access prior to launch; a special account key that will grant you a unique exclusive in-game scroll, allowing your character to sprint for longer periods of time due to an endurance buff (one per account); a beta invitation; Guild Mail, a fun recruitment tool to help you build your guild before launch; and a king’s ransom of assets, including videos, wallpapers and screenshots.

American Civil War: Our Hearts were touched with Fire, from the creators of Birth of America, is a historically accurate, realistic and fun turn-based grand operational strategy game of the American Civil War (1861-1865).

CivCity: Rome is a new city building strategy game inspired by the world of Sid Meier's Civilization, allowing you to recreate the glory of Rome by building a small settlement into a mighty imperial city. Take 2 has released the first patch, bringing your retail game to v1.1, addressing game play issues, optimizing the map editor and fixes an graphical issue at 1024x768 or higher resolutions.

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:

• Star Trek: Legacy (PC)
• Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (NDS)
• Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP)
• Fight Night Round 3 (PS3)
• Pimp My Ride (PS2/X360)
• Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (Wii)
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  We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details ...