Electronic Arts and Maxis today announced that it's time for a new Spring wardrobe! The arrival of The Sims 2 Body Shop is just around the corner, and The Sims 2 team has been working hard to get this tool ready for you to create Sims as wild as your imagination.

Cenega Publishing have just announced a new title to be launched this year on the PC. Gooka: The Mystery of Janatris is a point-and-click action adventure game, where the gamer takes on the role of the main character, Gooka, a respected Judge whose success and convictions have earned him high respect from the law abiding citizens. Along with his son, Yorimar, Gooka possesses telepathic abilities, allowing him to see into the minds of others and even affect their actions ? a skill that the powerful criminal Houses of Janatris would risk everything to control. Read more for details & screens ...

'Samurai Warriors' stars the brave Sanada Yukimura, who leads an elite band of samurai and ninja. Sanada's journey will take him to the hallowed Japanese battlefields of Okehazama and Kawanakajima and inside the embattled walls of Osaka Castle where he will come face-to-face with gun-toting troops, echelons of ninja, and deadly kunoichi (female ninja). Read more for details and screens ...

Besieger introduces a world filled with feudal rivalry in which players can wage war as either Viking or Cimmerian warriors. Contenders can build flying vehicles for combat or siege towns on horseback in an effort to conquer factions such as Ogres, Werewolves, Centaurs, and other non-human races. The armored walls of a barricade can be shattered using a battering ram and competitors can pocket enemy buildings and equipment. Players can also retreat and accumulate forces behind their own armored citadel for a counterattack.

Matrix Games and Adanac Command Studies are pleased to announce the imminent release of a new Army-Level Napoleonic Wargame, Campaigns on the Danube 1805 & 1809. Read more for details ...

Lock and load your M-16 and grab your flak jacket, it's time to hit the jungle in Battlefield Vietnam. The Battlefield franchise is moving to a new era equipped with more firepower and beautiful yet ferocious new combat settings. Staying true to the over-the-top, action-packed multiplayer style that gave Battlefield 1942 its critical and commercial success, Battlefield Vietnam will drop players into some of the Vietnam War's fiercest battles.

As most people will know this week's news is mainly dominated by various announcements and revelations at the GDC (Game Developers Conference) in San Jose, CA. Microsoft is showing off various in house productions and we have screens & trailers from the following titles :

• Fable (Xbox) - Screens & Trailer
• Sudeki (Xbox) - Screens & Trailer
• Rise Of Nations: Thrones & Patriots (PC) - Screens & Trailer
• RalliSport Challenge 2 (Xbox) - Screens & Trailer
• Jade Empire (Xbox) - Screens & Trailer

Ubisoft announced today that Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow has shipped for the PC, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance and will be on store shelves nationwide, March 27. Developed by Ubisoft's Shanghai and Annecy studios, Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow tells the conspiracy-ridden story of black-ops agent Sam Fisher as he explores the shadowy world of international espionage.

Players will be able to take the reins of their preferred team through European and World Championships. Over 15,000 real players are included within the game. Managers can buy and sell players, train their squads and develop match tactics - with matches portrayed in real-time through a detailed 3D engine.

Chaos League is a new kind of game, combining Real-Time Strategy, RPG and Sports. In a fantasy heroic universe Chaos League offers new game-play possibilities. Don’t look for notions of fair-play or the command “Help opponent back on his feet” because they don’t exist ! However, if you’ve been longing to find in a sport’s game such commands as “Stamp”, “High Facial Kick”, “Holding on the Ground”, “Force Passage” or “Ball of Fire” …. Then at last you’ve found the game of your dreams. Read more for new screens ...

Wargaming.net releases a new map for its turn-based strategy game Massive Assault. This planet called Brimstone can be used both for World Wars against the A.I. and for the online games. Read more for download links ...

Microsoft Corp. today announced XNA, a powerful next-generation software development platform. XNA empowers developers to deliver breakthrough games while combating rising production costs and ever-increasing hardware complexity. Games for future iterations of all Microsoft game platforms — including Windows, Xbox and Windows Mobile-based devices — will be unleashed by tools and technologies from the XNA development platform.

NCsoft Corporation announces plans to begin open beta testing for its soon to be released online game, Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle. The free open beta period will begin at 12:00 AM Pacific Standard Time on Sunday, March 28 and last approximately one month. The game is scheduled for commercial release on April 28.

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. Read more for 30+ new screens ...

Mythic Entertainment, developer and publisher of the award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game "Dark Age of Camelot," today announced that it will use EMotion FX 2 in all current and future games as the next step in the evolution of the player experience.

Enlight announced today that it will ship TrackMania to retail stores across North America in June. A fast paced track racing game, TrackMania has been praised by reviewers across Europe for its blend of strategy elements with great racing action. Trackmania was shipped to retail stores in Europe before the holidays.

Expanding on its award-winning game soundtrack featuring original music from Snoop Dogg, Westside Connection and other hip-hop stars, Activision Inc. today announced True Crime: Streets of L.A.for the PC will feature 32 additional tracks from artists such as Alice In Chains, Queensryche, and 2004 Grammy Award Nominees Spineshank and Stone Sour. The massive soundtrack will capture the essence of The City of Angels, from the urban vibe of East L.A. to the hard rock streets of Hollywood offering more than 115 music tracks that will immerse players into the mean streets of Los Angeles. True Crime: Streets of L.A. for the PC will be available this spring.

Carmageddon developer Stainless Games has revealed their new project "NovaDrome". Situated on planet Nova, The NovaLords needn ew "volunteers" for their brutal gladiatorial racing sport. Your character has been abducted by the aliens and taken to Nova. You are given a vehicle, and sent straight into combat. The game consists of a series of automotive battles in many, varied purpose-built arenas, pursuing your unwanted career as an alien race’s source of sick entertainment.

Capcom today announced the release of Onimusha Blade Warriors for the PlayStation2. An action fighting game based on the award winning Onimusha world, Onimusha Blade Warriors challenges players to enter into battle alone, or with up to three other opponents for lighting quick multi-player action battles that show off their skills as a warrior.

Ubisoft is proud to announce today that a multiplayer demo of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow on PC will be available on Thursday, March 25th at 6.00 pm. The MP demo will weigh in at about 60mb, features the Mount Hospital level, playable in Neutralization game mode. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow tells the conspiracy-ridden story of black ops agent Sam Fisher as he explores the shadowy world of international espionage. Read more for details ...

Relic Entertainment has released a new patch for their 3D real-time strategy game Impossible Creatures. This upgrade brings your retail game to v1.4 and addresses a few bugs for the main game, the full patch/addon also adds 15 new base insects, 9 new abilities, new environments and multiplayer maps, as well as game balance tweaks. Read more for download links ...

PC Gamer's 10th anniversary edition has the first details and screens from Call Of Duty: United Offensive. Under development at Return to Castle Wolfenstein's Gray Matter Studios, Call Of Duty: United Offensive is the upcoming expansion pack for Infinity Ward/Activision WWII FPS. Along the lines of the the original CoD game, United Offensive will feature three single player campaigns (Battle of the Bulge for the US side, the Battle of Kursk for the Russian side and an unnamed battle for the British side) and is expected to ship this coming fall (thanks Homelan).

NDL announced today from the 2004 Game Developers Conference (GDC), that Gamebryo is being used by Blue Fang Games LLC for the award-winning Zoo Tycoon sequel titled Zoo Tycoon 2. Gamebryo provides the graphics engine and tools to help companies like Blue Fang Games generate 3-D graphics without sacrificing the development time necessary to create compelling content and gameplay. Zoo Tycoon 2 is scheduled to ship for Windows this Fall.

Desert Rats vs Afrika Korps is Real-Time Tactical game in full 3D with highly realistic graphics, real time shadows, localised damage effects, explosions, weather effects and much more. Missions range from recon operations in the desert and escort missions to large-scale sieges of desert fortresses. All missions start with a briefing, a recap of the historical background and a management phase. Read more to check out some new screens ..