Activision and Infinity Ward today announced plans to release new multiplayer maps as part of a Call of Duty 2 PC update that will also include PunkBuster anti-cheat software and additional support enhancements. The patch is scheduled for release in early 2006, and we will, of course, have it available on our fileserver network as soon as it's released.

Recently certain UK media outlets have been reporting on rumors that French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal might be interested in taking over SCi, who recenrly purchased Eidos. Today VU issued a statement saying any such rumor is incorrect, "In view of articles published in the UK press, Vivendi Universal denies any interest in Sci Entertainment and also denies having made any offer."

Dungeons & Dragons Online will provide players with the definitive online D&D experience, complete with dramatic dungeon crawling, terrifying monster combat and challenging puzzles, character advancement and guild-based power struggles. D&DO: Stormreach will be the first MMORPG to offer integrated voice chat.

With England's World Cup win raising the profile of the sport throughout the UK, bringing with it an influx of more than 50,000 new players since the victory, Pro Rugby Manager is sure to entice fans with its complete and in-depth rugby gameplay, for the rock-bottom price of just £9.99.

Today Ubisoft announced that it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Taito to publish and distribute three of its titles in 2006. The first title to be released by Ubisoft will be Exit, a puzzle action game for people of all ages, exclusively for the PSP system in February.

With Act of War: High Treason Eugen Systems and Atari are introducing a massive amount of new features and content to enhance and extend the overall experience. High Treason will expand into naval warfare with over a dozen different vessels, such as AEGIS cruisers, frigates, aircraft carriers and submarines. Less scripting, better AI and camera handling.

Runestone Game Development is pleased to unveil Seed, a new and genre-shattering massively multiplayer game featuring advanced AI, interactive story, and a truly mutable world. Slated for release in April 2006, with beta test sign ups starting in January 2006, Seed will have no combat, no dungeons, no elves.

Tactica Online, developed by Imaginary Numbers, is a fast-moving turn-based strategy RPG set in the conspiracy and intrigue of Leonardo da Vinci's world.

Strategy First and Slitherine Software are thrilled to announce that their strategy game, Legion Arena, has shipped and is now available in North American stores nationwide.

Alpine Skiing 2006 captures the essence of the sport by allowing players to take part in each of the four disciplines of alpine skiing: Downhill, Slalom, Giant Slalom and Super G. Alpine Skiing 2006, aka Ski Alpin 2006, is known in North America as Bode Miller Alpine Skiing. This English/German demo features 3 skiers (including Bode Miller), three slopes, and allows you to try out one race in three game modes (quickstart, practice and arcade).

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror is scheduled to be released in North America spring 2006 and will not only see the return of Gabe Logan, but also Theresa, Lipan et Lian Xing. The PSP version will allow you to give commands to the rest of your team a la SOCOM, and a multiplayer wi-fi mode is also par of the new features. Sony promises near PS2 quality graphics due to the usage of streaming technology.

Greek publishing and distribution company hell-tech announced that it has secured the publishing rights to Moon Byte Studios/Replay Studios' Crashday for Greece, former Yugoslavia, Turkey and South Africa. In Crashday it is your task to scrap your vehicle with breathtaking stunts or to wreck cars in aggressive street races.

MVP 06 NCAA Baseball is being produced by Electronic Arts Canada in Vancouver, B.C., and will celebrate everything that makes NCAA baseball unique -- aluminum bats, intense action, and stadiums filled with school spirit and packed with passionate fans.

Paradox Interactive announced that they will be publishing the North American release of two titles from pan-European publisher Deep Silver, Rush for Berlin and Heart of Empire: Rome, both scheduled for Q2 2006.

Konami of Europe has announced Street Supremacy, a multi-player racing game, specifically developed by Genki for PSP. Due for release in March 2006, Street Supremacy is a high-octane racing title featuring a wealth of licensed vehicles.

LucasArts today announced its downloadable content plans for the Xbox version of Star Wars Battlefront II. Now available for free download, the newly added Assault mode on Kashyyyk adds another location for the Hero Free-For-All, a mode previously seen only when you selected Assault at Mos Eisley. In January LucasArts will release two new hero characters and 4 favorite maps from the original Battlefront, for only $4.99. Read more for details ...

Valve's SteamPowered website has been updated with details regarding the latest update for its online delivery system Steam. As promised this release add two new models (G.I.G.N and Guerilla), a nade exploit, bot fixes, and various other tweaks and fixes. Just restart Steam for the effects to take place.

Sonic Riders integrates extreme sports, high-speed racing and head-to-head battles, and offers a new racing experience with Sonic. Race at break-neck speeds through crazy environments varying from mega metropolises, to damp dark forests, to hot dry deserts and more. Head over to the official Sonic Riders website today and check out details on the story, characters, tracks, game modes, and much much more.

AND 1 Streetball will raise the bar for sports videos game with its revolutionary I-Ball Controls, an intuitive control system that gives you fluid and precise command over every offensive and defensive move. Not only will you do it, you will also feel it, and it will feel good.

U.S. prosecutors have charged three men with copyright infringement for selling modified Xboxs enabling them to play pirated games. The complaint alleges that ACME Game Store co-owners Jones and Bryant sold Xbox systems that Pei "Patrick" Cai modified with chips and hard drives. Undercover agents made the arrest after they paid $265 to have a mod chip, a hard drive and 77 pirated games installed on an Xbox. The 3 men face a maximum possible penalty of five years in federal prison.

EA just announced the FREE Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Warsome Booster Pack which delivers 3 all-new maps, including new vehicles plus new character and weapon skins. As a special holiday thank you to all Battlefield fans, this pack,valued at $9.99, will be given away FREE on Xbox Live!, starting December 22, 2005.

The new Sims 2: Open for Business addon will revolve around setting up businesses and making money. Construction company, restaurant, nightclub, or simply decide to work from home, it will all be possible. You will need to strategically place employees, or fire useless workers, in order to keep your customers happy.

Officers is a 3D RTS game with RPG-elements, where the player acts as a military commander. Among key features of the game is interaction between the gamer and the environment. Taking advantage of the SpeedTree technology, the developers enhanced the realism of tree models and their behavior. Three-dimensional, high-poly trees react as the living ones. Leaves are swaying, branches are shaking when e.g. missiles fly or explode near by.

Strategy First has released a small patch for the North American edition of G5 Software's Cuban Missile Crisis: The Aftermath. This update brings your retail game to v1.1 and fixes a bug found in the game tutorial, which may cause some user problems. You will need to restart the tutorial for the patch to take effect.