EA announced today that the latest version of its NASCAR videogame franchise, NASCAR 06: Total Team Control, has shipped and is available at retail stores. With new squad-based racing controls, players can communicate with teammates through the crew chief and spotter, working together to bring home top 5 finishes for the whole team.

Neocron developer Reakktor.com announced today that it is developing a free upgrade for its futuristic cyberpunk MMORPG Neocron 2. The upgrade called Neocron Evolution 2.1 will contain a sizeable graphics package updating i.e. the complete vegetation of the game world and weapon models. There will also be major changes to the game engine, with improvements to areas like shadows, physics and collisions. The upgrade will be released in quarter 4 2005.

Painkiller is a first-person horror shooter, designed to satisfy the gamer's hunger for intense, fast-paced action. You are Painkiller, a mercenary for hire, charged with cleaning out nests of the undead. But an unholy pact with a demon unknowingly puts you square in the middle of a fight for control of the underworld... with the future of humanity hanging in the balance.

Namco announced today a retail pre-order program for its upcoming fighting game, SoulCalibur III. Starting this month, consumers in the United States and Canada can pay $5 at Electronics Boutique, GameStop and GameCrazy stores to pre-order SoulCalibur III and receive a custom t-shirt when they pick up the game. Each retailer will have its own exclusive shirt design, featuring artwork of new and classic characters.

Got Game Entertainment and co-publisher Merscom today announced that Squad Assault: Second Wave for North American release has begun shipping to retail stores across the U.S. and Canada. A 3D real-time strategy game with multi-player, "Squad Assault: Second Wave" immerses players in a realistic, riveting recreation of World War II tactical combat.

The new game will follow the plot of the original "From Russia with Love" film, including the battle on the Orient Express and the boat chase sequence, but will expand the story with new action sequences. The development team approached the game as a director's cut of the film, which will allow the player to utilize such cool toys as the jetpack and a Q-copter as well as the trusty Walther PPK handgun.

Electronic Arts today announced a new look, feel and name for its Total Club Manager franchise. The game boasts an improved user-friendly interface and more than 2,000 clubs and over 20,000 players, providing football fans with the most complete, up-to-date and authentic football manager experience on PC.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today launched its eagerly anticipated PSP across the European market and throughout Australia and New Zealand. Up to 30 PSP game titles and 30 movies at launch, 60 games and 100 movies by Christmas!

Zoo Tycoon 2 gives you the chance to build the ultimate zoo and enjoy it firsthand. You can explore your 3D zoo world as a zoo guest or even care for your animals as a zookeeper. The Endangered Species expansion pack will give you even more to love about Zoo Tycoon 2! This developer diary is a Q&A with Blue Fang's lead desgner Linda Currie, talking about elevated paths in Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species.

Spartan: Total Warrior puts the player in control of a heroic warrior, engulfing the player into the midst of titanic clashes between mighty armies, blending mythical beasts and legendary monsters into the fray. Brutal combat meets epic warfare on the battlefields of the ancient world as you fight for your life, your freedom and your honor. Creative Assembly's Sophie Blakemore answers our questions ..

Cold War follows the story of Matt Carter a freelance journalist who finds himself in the midst of an international conspiracy that aims to control the U.S.S.R. Using only recovered weapons and improvised gadgets, he must now evade or overcome elite Soviet forces and defeat the conspiracy before he is sent to a Siberian prison camp or killed.

Kao Challengers, developed by Tate Interactive, is a witty and fast moving combination of action and platforming starring Kao the yellow kangaroo in his latest video game incarnation.

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

• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi [PS2] - Japan Trailer #3
• Everquest II: Desert of Flames - Trailer
• Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes [Xbox] - Trailerpack
• Spartan: Total Warrior - Trailers (2)
• Sword of the Stars - Trailer
• Tomb Raider: Legend [PS2/Xbox/PC] - Africa Trailer #2
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Long a popular independent comic, the award winning Bone was described by Publishers Weekly as "Charming, character driven fantasy with an elegant design and masterful storytelling." And now Telltale, a company that takes you to the worlds where characters like Bone play and invites you to play with them, will be creating new episodes for PC gaming.

Dive into an immersive adventure as you experience a living comic-book illustrated with 3D Comic Inking Technology. The game's expanded, free-roaming environments deliver a deep adventure with a variety of challenging missions, diverse game play and an improved combat system that allows players to face off against the largest number of characters from the Spider-Man universe ever assembled in one video game.

Developed by Brainbox Games and using the Unreal Engine, Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green is a FPS featuring zombies, frightening effects, and key environments seen in George A. Romero's Land of the Dead horror film.

Square Enix announced today that its PS2 exclusive Romancing SaGa will ship to retailers on October 11, 2005. Romancing SaGa, the latest in the legendary SaGa series, introduces a host of all-new game play elements and the most expansive story yet.

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.

Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure combines combat, action, adventure and stealth, using a thrilling graffiti-driven framework to tell its story of self-expression and the fight for creative freedom. A thug, an outcast, a rebel...the lead character, Trane, is all of these in Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure.

A community post in the VUG forums reveals that Irrational (although its Australia division, not Boston as the original) is working on an expansion pack for SWAT 4. The yet untitled addon will feature seven new maps, missions (one in a warehouse with lots of sniper hideouts while you rescue people from an office bombing), new pistols and machine gune, but also long-range grenade launcher, sniper rifles (previously only for the squads' designated sharpshooter), night vision goggles, glow in the dark sticks, and 10-player coop. The expansion is scheduled for February 2006 (thanks 10-David). Official announcement expected soon ...

In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Never Ending Tomorrow, players delve into a future world in which humanity is divided into two warring factions, the genetically altered Coordinators, and unmodified Naturals.

Electronic Arts and the GRAMMY Foundation today announced GRAMMY Pro Session: Video Game Music And Sound Design. The GRAMMY Foundation's Pro Session series gives students an insider's view into careers in the music industry.

BFNation is reporting that EA will be taking steps against groups renting Ranked servers for the sole purpose of 'padding' their stats, and that such behaviour will not be tolerated. Stats will be stripped from usrs, but also their clan members if they seem to have anomalous stats. Hosting partners will be asked to move the clan to a non-ranked server and not be allowed to lease another Ranked Server from said partner. If they switch to another hosting partner the server's IP itself will get blacklisted from the validated list.

Blitzkrieg II is created with a new focus on fast-paced gameplay, a strategic layer and new tactical opportunities. A completely new engine takes WWII into full 3D where players can command famous aces and units, strategically plan battles in multiple theatres, choose their reinforcements and use a wide range of new unit types such as aircraft and ships.

Rising Star Games has announced that it will be bringing the latest game from the Harvest Moon series, Harvest Moon: More Friends Of Mineral Town, to the Gameboy Advance this Autumn.