SOE and Sigil Games Online announced that early access for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes pre-orders will commence Jan. 26 at approximately 10:00 a.m. PST, several days before its Jan. 30th. official launch.

SEGA announced a new PSP exclusive puzzle/platformer Crush, developed by Kuju Brighton. Reminiscent of Exit, Crush is a thinking man's game, allowing you to transform a 3D world into 2D in order to overcome obstacles and move on in the game.

Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal is an action-adventure game featuring seven playable Looney Tunes characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tazmanian Devil, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Gossamer and a special secret character, all rendered in high-definition, next-gen graphics.

Aion is the ultimate MMORPG with strengthened interaction between players. Aion’s world consists of 3 realms - the heavens, the devildom and the dragon realm. Players will experience dynamic communications with the world of Aion as they conduct strategic battles.

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:

• Europa Universalis III (PC)
• Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (NDS)
• Sid Meier's Pirates! (PSP)
• Inuyasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel (NDS)
• The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean (PSP)
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  We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details ...

Blizzard has released a small update for its MMORPG World of Warcraft. This v2.0.5 mini update, requires v2.0.6 installed, fixes a couple of bugs and implements minor changes with the UI for optimization.

Wow expansion pack The Burning Crusade expands the game by tremendous bounds, adding new races, quest, lands, Battlegrounds, professions and items, raising the level cap to 70, and more. Blizzard announced that the expansion pack sold a worldwide total of nearly 2.4 million copies in the first 24 hours of availability.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars pits the armies of Earth against the invading alien Strogg in the ultimate online strategic shooter. Featuring strategic team play, persistent character promotions, day and nighttime combat missions, and the universe's most powerful weapons and vehicles.

In preparation for their potential deployment to Iraq, the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade and other units of the Army's Southern European Task Force based at the U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza in Caserma Ederle (Italy) are learning Iraqi Arabic with the Tactical Iraqi Language & Culture Training System game, developed by Alelo, Inc.

Inquisitor: The Samael's Book is a scary and dangerously addictive horror game, thanks to which you will experience many unforgettable moments, nightmarish dreams and sleepless nights. A plague of evil spreads around in the 18th century Europe. The Order of Inquisitors are sending you to fight against the forces of evil.

Cinema Empire is Comport Interactive's latest commercial sim products. Start small, work your way up and end up as the owner of the country’s largest chain of movie theatres. This demo features a tutorial and one campaign mission.

Alien Arena 2007 is a first-person online deathmatch shooter featuring 32-bit graphics, new particle engine and effects, light blooms, reflective water, hi-resolution textures and skins, hi-poly models, and stain maps. This v6.03 update adds 3 new maps, new characters, fixes bugs, cleans up code, improves the in-game browser and more ...

In Medal of Honor Vanguard you reprise the role of Frank Keegan, Corporal of the 82nd Airborne Division and engage in behind enemy lines missions throughout Europe, epic battles that turned America’s first paratroopers into heroes of WWII.

Crackdown pushes the action-driving hybrid genre into the next generation with the introduction of the first-ever truly 3-dimensional persistent playground, highly innovative co-op gameplay and an extensive prop interaction system. A 1.2 gig co-op enabled singleplayer demo is now available on XBL Marketplace, but only for Gold members at the moment.

A few PS3 firmware revisions in rapid succession! The PS3 has now received a new update, adding compatibility for the Sony-developed Edy payment system, allowing users to hook up a magnetic scanner through USB and use their credit card for online purchases. A few other minor tweaks, such as additional security, have also been implemented. If you read Japanese, here's the full fix list...

As a powerful ruler it's up to you to lead your people to victory through trade, espionage, diplomacy, and war. Handpick your most trusted and experienced Knights and struggle for sovereignty, dominance and riches. Sunflowers revealed that the second Knights of Honor patch will be released on Friday, 26th Jan. 2007.

THQ's The Sopranos will evoke the atmosphere, action and conflicts that are the cornerstone of the hit show, and is backed by key members of the all-star cast who will lend their voices and likenesses, including James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano.

Sandio Technology has engineered its 3D input technology into the 3DGame O', a 3D 6DOF Gaming Mouse. The Sandio 3DGame O' is a traditional 2D gaming mouse with advanced 3D gaming functions. PC users can now move forward, backward, sideways, yaw, pitch, jump, and crouch without using the keyboard.

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:

• Sam & Max Episode 3: The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball - Trailer #3
• Trackmania United - Webisode #1
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  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Blizzard has released new update patches for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos as well as The Frozen Throne. This upgrade brings your retail game to v1.21 and adds 2 new maps, tweaks to older maps and the usual exploit, bug and crash fixes. Read more for download links ...

Gears of War blends the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde. People who log onto Xbox Live may will be asked to update Gears of Wars, the patch is a minor compatibility update, no gameplay or functionality changes at this time.

A 120 page Games Market in China study conducted by Pearl Research forecasts the games market in China, inclusive of online, packaged PC and video games will exceed $1.3 billion in 2008.

Savage 2: A Tortured Soul features the same style of beautiful, expansive environments that truly immersed players in the critically acclaimed original; however, an entirely enhanced combat system, animation features, and gameplay elements will catapult Savage 2 light years beyond its prequel.

SEGA announced Virtua Fighter 5 for PS3 has gone gold and it on track for its Feb. 20th release date. Virtua Fighter 5 raises the bar for console fighting games including all the features fans know and love plus enhanced gameplay mechanics, additional characters and new fighting styles, as well as newly redesigned 3D environments.

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. While details are not available at this point Eidos revealed it will release the PC demo on Friday, which we will of course have available on fileserver network.