Midway announced today that former professional football standout and Hall of Fame inductee, Lawrence Taylor, will serve as the official cover athlete for Midway's new, unlicensed football videogame, Blitz: The League. Blitz: The League exposes the harsh realism and troubling, behind-the-scenes stories of a fictional professional football league.

Ascaron announced todya that it has signed Plastic Reality's third person stealth/action title, El Matador. Take on the role of a DEA agent, whose aim is to bring down the Narcomafia, an organised crime syndicate in Central & South America. You will need to use all your skill and cunning to achieve victory against these high overwhelming odds. El Matador has now been pushed from Q3 2005, to Q2 2006.

Codename: Panzers, Phase Two will bring armchair generals to the war-torn battlefields of Africa, Southern Europe and the Balkans where they will fight as the Anglo-American Allies, the German-Italian Axis or the Yugoslavian resistance. This multiplayer demo features two maps ("Road to Perdition" and "Factions) in Mission and Domination modes. The demo supports up to six players in Internet and LAN play and features units from early in the WWII timeline.

X-Men Legends II introduces the epic storyline of an uneasy alliance between the X-Men and the hated Brotherhood in a fight to reclaim Earth from Apocalypse's grasp. Impressive gameplay enhancements include more than double the superpowers and customization capabilities, the debut of several new playable characters, over 100 diverse types of enemies, and a breathtaking range of exotic and real-world environments—from the Madri Temple to Egypt.

While we are still waiting for Capcom to release RE4 on PS2, the sequel is already in the works, according to Japanese magazine Famitsu. For the very first time in franchise history, the next game in the series won't debut on a Nintendo platform, but is so far only scheduled for PS3 and X360. While it is way too early to speculate on a release date, Capcom producer Takeuchi Jun says "We would need 3 or maybe 5 years to fully exploit the capabilities of the new generation of systems, but right now this is the project Capcom is putting the most effort into." The preliminary scans floating around on the web do show RE5 will feature Chris Redfield from the original RE and Code Veronica. You can read the official RE5 announcement here...

This sharply-drawn side-scrolling shooter with World War II inspired graphics features customisable ships and high powered weaponary. With most of the world destroyed or enslaved by The Motorhead Empire it's up to the gamer to take on the spread of evil, struggling between freedom and slavery in this classically styled shoot'em up.

NHL 2K6 continues its legacy with more control, more emotion and more detail than ever before. Puck fans take command of tape-to-tape passing, behind-the-net plays and precision give-and-go attacks. Players dominate the ice with NHL caliber goaltending, skating, checking and puck handling with the deeply enhanced animation system. Featuring all-new presentation elements, commentary and cut-scenes, NHL 2K6 is the ultimate hockey experience.

In Crash Tag Team Racing players will be able to fuse two cars together on the fly to form a super vehicle outfitted with a turret gun with the all-new "clashing" technology. Players can continue their adventures on foot with out-of-car action, allowing them to traverse an amusement park-like world where they can interact with other characters, collect items and complete mini-missions.

On Wednesday July 20th, Bungie will release Autoupdate 4, a small file that updates your version of Halo 2 to mostly address cheating, strengthen security or minor, invisible bugs, but one thing you will notice right away, is that the Relic teleporter bug has been fixed, so you can no longer crouch jump to get through a locked teleporter. If you Xbox contains modded Xbox content, softmods, Action Replay saves, you will be permanently banned from matchmaking. Head on over here for more juicy details ...

Brought to you by Bohemia Interactive Studio, the creators of Operation Flashpoint, Armed Assault will reacquaint gamers with the ultimate in realistic, combat gaming. Armed Assault features a new engine with a fresh modern setting. Freedom of action and immersive complex environments, blended with a unique touch of total simulation.

Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006 is the next in the series of railroad simulators developed by Auran. Previously known as Engineers Edition, TRS2006 is being released as a full product later this year and sets new standards of realism and immersion in operating a virtual railroad. Aura has announced it will be releasing TRS2006 in September 2005.

Auto Assault combines vehicular combat with role-playing elements. Players explore a post-apocalyptic future in customizable cars, motorcycles, semis and even tanks. Players battle other players both in arenas and in epic race vs. race wars for control of the regions in a devastated Earth.

New results from Phoenix Marketing International indicate that recent news stories about video games are having some impact with regards to consumers' purchase choice of video game software. PhoenixMI conducted a qualitative and quantitative study to gauge consumer reaction about the slew of news events concerning video game violence and pornography.

Vietcong: Rising Sun is a new un-official add-on for Vietcong. This addon contains 4 new single-player maps, 8 new multiplayer maps, new skins, new sounds, night missions (with flashlight), coop, as well as a new Hold the Base multiplayer mode (thanks Virtual Vietnam). Read more for download links ...

German developer X1Software announced today that it is working on an un-official addon for Ubisoft's submarine sim, Silent Hunter 3: Seawolves will add sixty new cities across Europe, North America and the Pacific, new campaigns & missions (22 sp, 4 mp), and plenty of other enhancements. Read more for details ...

Pariah focuses on a robust immersive storyline that weaves survival elements into the traditional run-and-gun style of first-person action games. Digital Extremes has released a new patch for its FPS Pariah, bringing your retail game to v1.03 and fixes several game crashes, multiplayer and save game issues, adds a web based admin interface, etc. Read more for download links ...

Rebelstar Tactical Command is a turn-based strategy and combat game with role-playing elements, "Rebelstar Tactical Command" transports players to a not-so-distant future in which Earth is ruled by an evil empire.

After last week John Romero confirmed his Midway exit, it seems now a second high profile developer on the Gauntlet team has quietly left Midway. J.E. Sawyer, previously known for working on Black Isle Studio's Icewind Dale series, has posted a few messages on the Mistress' Lair website that last week Friday (July 15th) was his last day, and that he was teaming up with other former BIS employees over at Obsidian where he will be working on Neverwinter Nights 2.

CMR 2005 has gained an extra word in the title, so it’s now Colin McRae Rally 2005 Plus, due to its wireless multiplayer functionality. CMR 2005 Plus features over 30 rally cars, a diverse range of rally events, cups and championships to create a world of rallying for players on the move.

ESPN announced today the winning teams in the ESPN Ultimate Baseball Online Summer Classic, the first Beta test format tournament for the game. UBO is a unique online gaming experience that puts players in the shoes of a virtual baseball player. Each player views the game from their own perspective on the field and must communicate and cooperate with their teammates to succeed. Unlike most video games, these virtual players were rewarded for their collective on-the-field performance!

Hammer & Sickle is new turn based strategy game set in the award-winning Silent Storm universe, and currently in development by Nival Interactive.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has won its recent battle against importing and selling of its forthcoming PSP handheld from Japan. In a recent case against online retailer Nuplayer Ltd, Mr Justice Lawrence Collins ruled that Nuplayer had no arguable defence and Summary Judgement was given.

Microsoft Game Studios and Gas Powered Games today announced that their RPG Dungeon Siege II has gone gold. Gamers will once again journey to the beautiful fantasy land of Aranna on August 16, 2005, when Dungeon Siege II charges onto store shelves with a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Already revealed last month, Atari today officially announced that Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure is also heading to the Xbox & PC, and will see a simulatnious worldwide release in fall. 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.

Sam Stone is back to rescue the universe one bullet at a time against overwhelming hordes of time traveling enemies in Serious Sam 2. Built from the ground up with a completely new engine, Serious Sam 2 will be a shot of adrenaline to the hearts of first-person shooter fans across the world. In this first dev. diary Croteam's CEO Roman Ribaric talks about creating a game and editor at the same time.