Konami confirmed that Metal Gear Solid: the Essential Collection is currently planned for the PS2, which includes the original Metal Gear Solid, the director's cut of MGS2 and MGS 3 in a commemorative package with artwork by renowned artist Yoji Shinkawa.

Crystal Dynamics has made Tomb Raider Underworld more realistic with fluid movements due to motion capturing. Set a few years after the last game, it also features persistent destruction and lush locales across the globe. Lara gets muddy in the game, but with the weather system, rain will wash it away.

Guitar Rising is a music video game where the player plays a real guitar as cued by the game’s visuals. Following rock music sequences and streaming notes, players play guitar melodies and rhythms. Beginner difficulty levels are designed for non-guitar players and hard difficulties will challenge experienced guitarists. Scheduled for released in late 2008, we will be checking out Guitar Rising at GDC in a few weeks...

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is Nintendo's latest incarnation in the popular Super Smash Bros. series of titles, featuring all-new characters ranging from Kirby and Wario to Samus and even Metal Gear Solid's Snake.

Firaxis' Sid Meier, known for titles such as Civilization and Pirates, revealed that he "would certainly like to play around with a MMO concept in future" and that he is "in the very early stages of exploring the possibilities of it." Firaxis is currently working on Civilization Revolution for consoles, Sid Meier indicated it was not for the immediate future, "I really can't say if that would be the next game we do or if it's still a couple of games down the road before we come to that," but it would certainly be a PC title, since "PC is still the best place to play a MMO."

Firefly Studios and Gamecock Media are delighted to announce Stronghold Crusader Extreme, featuring huge battles with over 10000 units on screen, a new Extreme Trail which will test even the best Crusader players and a new tactical aid bar which allows you to unleash super moves on your enemies.

Last week, it was revealed through a customer complaint that EA's Burnout Paradise requires a hard drive in order to play online, thus making that impossible with an Xbox 360 Core/Arcade. Oddly enough, this missing feature was never revealed, and now Criterion issued a statement in an attempt to justify the decision.

Octomania is a new online multiplayer family-friendly game offering challenging puzzle gameplay, and a variety of different play modes, with a story of mischief and mayhem filled with zany characters.

Beginning Feb. 8, 2008, fans of Rock Band on Xbox 360 will be able to participate in online activities including the opportunity to create their own rock band with friends, participate in a three-day Play & Win sweepstakes for a chance to win special prize packages, and join a virtual celebrity band.

White Gold: War in Paradise explores the shadowy background of modern low intensity conflicts, where the newest weapons often do battle with the antics of witchdoctors. An FPS with a handful of RPG elements thrown in for a good measure, White Gold offers a rich scenario in addition to the non-stop action.

Pendulo Studios is working on a follow-up to last year's hit title Runaway: A Road Adventure, an adventure game with 3D characters with a cartoon look and high-impact visual features that include 2D and 3D in an unmatchable style. Soon making its debut on the NDS, it seems South Peak Interactive is bringing Pendulo's adventure game to the Wii.

Belief & Betrayal is an adventure game where you investigate a murder and get involved in a dangerous church conspiracy, which has its roots through the centuries in the time when Judas got 30 silver coins for his betrayal of Jesus Christ. The title was delayed late last year, but Lighthouse has announced the new North American release date.

Showtime Boxing utilizes the Wii's innovative control schemes to put you in absolute of your boxer's attack and defense. Throw punches, dummy, dodge, block and duck all using the Wii Remote for the ultimate console boxing experience.

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:

• Twisted Metal: Head On: Extra Twisted Edition (PS2)
• The Spiderwick Chronicles (NDS/PS2/Wii/X360/PC)
• Devil May Cry 4 (PS3/X360/PC)
• The Experiment (PC)
• Zoo Tycoon 2 DS (NDS)
• My Horse and Me (NDS/Wii/PC)
• Downstream Panic! (PSP)
• Pet Pals: Animal Doctor (NDS)
• Culdcept SAGA (X360)
• 
  We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details ...

Project Origin continues F.E.A.R.'s supernatural suspense story of an escalating paranormal crisis that threatens to destroy a major American city. Alma, whose rage against those who wronged her triggered a chain of events that have spiraled completely out of control, now has free reign, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

The Club is a 3rd person action shooter focused on addictive and rewarding gameplay, testing your skills to the limit and offers relentless, frantic, and fast paced gameplay with a unique style, tone and storyline that drips with energy, attitude and anarchy. The Club PC demo is coming to our fileserver network later this week.

Midway's Surreal studio, known for The Suffering and Drakan, has been working on This is Vegas, originally called Only in Vegas which resulted in a Las Vegas lawsuit, since 2005. The game is an open ended world/sandbox type game where you must stop a businessman from "sanitizing" Las Vegas. You must create your own powerful empire to stop his takeover. Start your career promoting ultrahip dance clubs, gamble at high-end casinos, race the underground street circuit or get your hands dirty working the underbelly. The right choices will give you control of Las Vegas and put the sin back in Sin City. Coming fall 2008...

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters is an all-new sci-fi action adventure featuring many new and returning weapons and gadgets, drawing players into a galaxy spanning adventure set across new levels with diverse gameplay. While we wait for the official announcement, here are the first screens ...

While we're all waiting for a new installment in the Max Payne franchise, we might have to settle for a movie first. Starring Mark Wahlberg (known for The Departed, Planet of the Apes or The Perfect Storm) and directed by John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines, Flight of the Phoenix) shooting will commence on March 2 in Toronto. Max Payne tells the story of a cop who wages a one-man war on crime when his wife and child are killed by thugs, but it is unclear whether the movie will follow the game plot.

What would a Bully movie be about? Or a flick based on the controversial Manhunt series? We might never know. According to Variety's gaming blog, Take Two has been declining Hollywood offers for a Grand Theft Auto movie deal for many years, until it nearly materialized last year, with Eminem rumored as the protagonist. Just when everybody though the deal was sealed, something derailed, and the project with one of the major movie studios was scrapped.